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by Don Bleek | August 17, 2011 · 9:24 pm
Styling On Them Lames: Wale Wearing A Louis Vuitton Shirt & Nike Lebron 8 V2 Low Sneakers
Yesterday Tuesday (August 16), Maybach Music Group rapper Wale performed at the Heineken Red Star Access Roc Nation tour in Atlanta, Georgia. He was styling on them lames in a Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse graffiti print t-shirt; with a pair of Nike Air Max Lebron 8 V2 low Solar Red sneakers. On November 1, the D.C. native will be releasing his sophomore album Ambition. The first single off the project is “Bad Girls Club,” and it was released digitally on July 19, 2011.
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Tagged as louis vuitton, Nike Lebron 8 V2, Wale
Walking The Red Carpet: Kelly Rowland Styling On Them Hoes
The very attractive and talented Kelly Rowland was spotted in the UK, yesterday Tuesday (August 16). Rowland was all glammed-up as she walked the red carpet for the “X-Factor” press conference. There were hundreds of British fans cheering Rowland and the other judges on; upon their arrivals. Rowland was styling on them hoes in a green and black wave print dress from the Versace Fall 2011 Collection paired with black wedge ankle boots.
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Tagged as Kelly Rowland, Walking The red Carpet: Kelly Rowland Styling On Them Hoes
by Don Bleek | August 17, 2011 · 12:41 pm
Fly Boys: Jim Jones And Cam’ron Are Working On A Collaborative Album
First it was Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne, then it was Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka’s Ferrari Boyz, it’s rumored that Lil Wayne and Drake are dropping a collaborative LP; now Jim Jones and Cam’ron are doing a collaborative album, titled Fly Boys.
During a recent interview at Invasion Radio with DJ Green Lantern, Jim Jones announced that he is working on a collaborative LP with Cam’ron, titled Fly Boys.
“The Diplomats album is a grind in process…I think me and Killa’s Fly Boys album will be out right before the Diplomats album,” says Jim Jones.
On what’s the Fly Boys album is all about.
“It’s an album that we set out to do years ago, when we first started the Diplomats movement and we were setting up the different albums we were doing under the Diplomats Records. Juelz and Cam started going platinum and all that. Me and Cam was like we going do a Fly Boys album. We call ourselves Fly Boys. I think I’m pretty fly,” Jones added.
In my opinion, I think this would be a great look for Harlem and will open-up the doors for other aspiring rappers in Harlem.
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Tagged as Cam'ron, Fly Boys, Fly Boys: Jim Jones And Cam'ron Are Working On A Collaborative Album, Jim Jones
by Don Bleek | August 17, 2011 · 11:50 am
Interview In The UK: Big Sean Says His New Mixtape Will Be Out This Fall &Talks Drake Comparison, “The Throne” Tour & More
As I previous reported, rapper Big Sean is currently overseas touring. While showcasing his talents in the UK; Sean stopped by Tim Westwood’s BBC Radio 1xra show for an interview. During his segment, Sean said his upcoming mixtape will be out this fall, talked Drake comparisons and talked about being an opening act on Jay-Z & Kanye West’s “The Throne” tour. Below are some excerpts:
On working on mixtapes and dropping another one this Fall.
“I’ma keep working mixtapes, I’m gonna do another mixtape, put that out. The next month and a half or so,” he said. “That’s a real important factor. Mixtapes are different from albums, and I don’t want to ever lose that aspect of my career. That’s how I got on.”
On Drake comparisons and being friends with him.
“Drake is my homie,” said Sean. “He just borrowed an element of a flow that I made up in ’09 on [the mixtape] UKNOW BIG SEAN. … But he admitted. He was like, ‘Yo, I got that style from Big Sean.’ ‘Cause after he did it, the whole rap game did it.”
On being an opening act on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “The Throne” tour.
“Maybe… It would only be right.”
His relationship with producer No ID, who also produced on his debut CD Finally Famous: The Album.
“He was basically the album producer. He’s somebody who I learned a lot from. He really got his hands dirty and spent most of the time on the album,” he explained. “Taught me a lot as a man and how to handle myself. Really one of the good people in this industry, and that’s hard to come by. There’s a lot of fucking sharks, a lot of bitch-ass people in this industry, and he’s one of the real ones.”
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Filed under Interviews
Tagged as big sean, Interview In The UK: Big Sean Says His New Mixtape Will Be Out This Fall &Talks Drake Comparison "The Throne" Tour & More
Hip-Hop Is Still Alive: Jay-Z & Kanye West Debuts At #1 & Ace Hood Makes The Top 10
Hip-Hop is still alive! The numbers are in and just as many projected, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The collaborative disc moved a total of 436,079 copies in the first week. 320,893 (digital) 115,186 (CD). This marks Kanye West’s fifth #1 album and Jay-Z’s 12th. Miami’s rapper Ace Hood made the top 10. His latest offering, Blood, Sweat & Tears debuted at #10, with 25,000 copies sold. Gucci Man and Waka Flocka Flame’s collaborative LP Ferrari Boyz landed at #24, with 14,000 copies sold. Congrats to all!
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Tagged as Blood Sweat & Tears, Ferrari Boyz, Gucci Mane, Hip-Hop Is Still Alive: Jay-Z & Kanye West Debuts At #1 & Ace Hood Makes The Top 10, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Waka Flocka Flame, Watch the Throne
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Qatar 2022 World Cup Guide
The Ultimate Russia 2018 World Cup Guide
VARGAS SET FOR LIVERPOOL
Posted by isport on Thursday, 26 July 2012
The Peru international Juan Manuel Vargas is likely to move to Liverpool in the summer according to his agent. The 28-year-old has been in much demand amongst major European clubs after doing extremely well last season with Fiorentina, despite the fact that they were relegated from the Italian Serie A last season.
It was initially thought that Liverpool will be making the former Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson as the major summer signing this time around, but since the Icelandic midfielder joined Tottenham for around £ 8 million, Liverpool have been looking at various other targets in to strengthen their midfield.
Read more about VARGAS SET FOR LIVERPOOL
SQUAD SET TO BE ANNOUNCED
Posted by isport on Saturday, 12 May 2012
The Nigerian football authorities have said that they will be making an announcement regarding the squad for the matches against Namibia and Malawi in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Nigeria will be taking on these two teams in the hope of making it into the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. It is expected that the match will see a return of a number of big names. Nigeria have disappointed fans a lot in the recent matches in major tournaments, but will be hoping for much better performance if they get to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Read more about SQUAD SET TO BE ANNOUNCED
GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY MOVES CLOSER
Posted by isport on Monday, 5 March 2012
It has been a long-awaited decision in world football, but the FIFA President Sepp Blatter recently confirmed that it is conceivable that goal-line technology will be present at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Goal-line technology is one of the most controversial issues in world football right now, with a number of football associations is demanding the inclusion of this technology at all levels of the game in the future.
This would solve a number of problems involving the goal-line clearances, which are subject to the decision of the referee right now. However, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been unwilling to introduce technology into football up until now, as it would slowdown the game considerably.
Read more about GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY MOVES CLOSER
BRAZIL STILL NOT READY
Posted by isport on Tuesday, 7 February 2012
It seems that Brazil is still not ready to host the FIFA World Cup 2014, as there have been many reports of slow construction and the capacity of the public transportation.
Brazilian officials are now finding it difficult to defend the collapse of six office buildings near the Maracana Stadium. The Maracana Stadium is undoubtedly one of the most iconic locations in Rio de Janeiro, but the stadium has been in construction mode for quite some time now. Many also expect the construction work to carry on into 2013 as well.
Read more about BRAZIL STILL NOT READY
World Cup 2010 - Teams already through
Posted by isport on Sunday, 15 August 2010
Takeshi Okada's Japan became the first team to book their place after earning a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Uzbekistan in Tashkent, becoming the first team through on sports bet coupons.
Shunji Okazaki grabbed the only goal of the game after nine minutes to book a fourth successive finals berth.
Takeshi Okada: "We played very well. I think we should continue playing this style in the remaining matches."
AUSTRALIA (6 June, 2009)
The Socceroos eased into the World Cup without so much as even conceding a goal in the six matches it took them to qualify.
A 0-0 draw against Qatar in Doha wrapped things up for Pim Verbeek's team after they picked up 14 points in Group A of the final Asian qualifying phase.
Read more about World Cup 2010 - Teams already through
Some of the very best players in the world will be on show at the 2010 World Cup. Flair players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas will be trying to outscore each-other. Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba will be fighting and scrapping for the ball just like the defenders such as Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic do.
Or will midfielders like Frank Lampard and Nani take centre-stage? No-one knows, but we can all be sure it will be a fantastic World Cup 2010.
Copyright © 2019, Qatar 2022 World Cup Guide
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Home » Glossary » Eve White
Eve White
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Agent for commercial and literary fiction and non-fiction, children's fiction (home 15%, overseas 20%). No submissions by email. No reading fee. Will suggest revision where appropriate. See website for up-to-date submission requirements.
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'Nothing gives an author so much pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned authors.'
Poetry Writers' Yearbook article
'An electric thrill that is totally addictive'
Virginia Kidd Agency Inc.
The Essential Guide to Writing for Children 1
How not to serial 7
My Say - Timothy Hallinan
John Jenkins Aug 11
Typing without Repetitive Strain Injury
Children's editorial services story
Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society Do the right thing Bookbarn International
Jacketflap
AP Watt Ltd
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By JAKE BLEIBERG Associated Press |
Updated: Thu 10:48 AM, Jul 11, 2019
DALLAS (AP) — A Texas man who had been missing for months was eaten, bones and all, by his pack of dogs, sheriff's deputies said.
This May 20, 2019 photo provided by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office shows a medical examiners truck on the property of Freddie Mack's home in Venus, Texas. Authorities said Tuesday, July 9 thatthe 57-year-old Mack, who had been missing for months, was eaten, bones and all, by his dogs. Johnson County Sheriff Adam King says Mack had serious health problems and it's unclear whether his 18 dogs killed him or consumed his body after he died from a medical condition. A relative reported Mack missing in May. (Johnson County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Medical examiners said Tuesday that DNA testing determined that pieces of bone recovered from the dogs' feces were those of 57-year-old Freddie Mack, according to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office.
Deputy Aaron Pitts said the 18 mixed-breed dogs apparently devoured all of Mack's body, his clothing and his hair, leaving nothing larger than 2- to 5-inch bone fragments.
"Never have we ever, or anyone we've spoken to, heard of an entire human being consumed," Pitts told The Associated Press. "The bones were completely broken up and eaten."
Mack had serious health problems, and it's unclear whether the dogs killed their owner or consumed his body after he died from a medical condition. "Either way, it is a very gruesome event and we extend our sympathy to Freddie Mack's family," Sheriff Adam King said in a statement.
In May, a relative reported the reclusive Mack missing from his home near Venus, a community of fewer than 4,000 people about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, saying the family hadn't heard from him since mid-April.
The aggressive dogs stopped the family from entering Mack's property, and posed problems for deputies, who were eventually able to look around while keeping the dogs away with a "distraction method," according to the sheriff's office.
The deputies couldn't locate Mack and, after days of searching, investigators returned to comb the property. Amid the high grass, they found animal feces containing bits of human hair, clothing and bone. The larger fragments were sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Remains Identification, and were eventually matched to Mack through family DNA testing.
Pitts said two of the dogs were killed by their mates, 13 were put down because of their "aggressive nature" and three have been put up for adoption.
The deputy said that Mack kept his dogs well fed and cared for. The only other time the deputies had dealt with him was in 2017, when Mack called from the hospital to ask if someone could check on his dogs, Pitts said.
"This man loved his animals," he said.
Dramatic rise in children entering foster care due to parents’ drug use, study finds
'Turn off your phone!' More brides opting for an 'unplugged wedding ceremony'
Caught on video: ‘Porch pirate’ snatches heart transplant medication
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Local Doctor Founds Village Life Outreach Project
By Dan Hurley • Jan 30, 2019
Chris Lewis, MD visits with a patient in Tanzania
In 2003, Dr. Christopher Lewis traveled to Tanzania during his family medicine residency training at the University of Cincinnati. He worked at a hospital in a rural village and quickly discovered how difficult it was for anyone in the surrounding villages to access healthcare. The only way anyone could see a doctor was by making an arduous, daylong walk to the hospital. A pregnant mother who would have been Dr. Lewis' first patient died making this journey to the hospital while she was in labor.
When his month was over Lewis wasn't ready to leave and made it his goal to come back. In the next six years he made eight trips back to Tanzania and founded the nonprofit Village Life Outreach Project. The group partners with villages, implementing sustainable projects to fight poverty and improve health and educational outcomes.
Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss the Village Life Outreach Project are President and Founder Dr. Christopher Lewis. He is also the University of Cincinnati Vice Provost for Academic Programs and a UC College of Medicine Associate Professor of Family Medicine. Also joining the program are UC Department of Emergency Medicine Associate Professor and UC Health Emergency Room Physician Dr. Stewart Wright; and University of Cincinnati Environmental Engineering student Grace Aldredge.
UC College of Medicine
Experts From UC Discuss E-Cigarettes And The FDA Decision To Regulate Them
By Mark Heyne • May 24, 2016
http://vaping360.com/what-is-vaping/ / commons.wikimedia.org, available for use
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it will regulate electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, the same way it regulates traditional tobacco products. Many smokers turn to e-cigarettes to stop smoking; despite some claims of effectiveness, there are still concerns, as the health risks of e-cigarettes are largely unknown.
UC Conducting A Clinical Trial On A New Drug To Protect Individuals From HIV Infection
By Mark Heyne • May 4, 2017
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati are conducting a clinical trial to determine if a new drug, cabotegravir (CAB), is a safe and effective method of protection from HIV. The UC clinical trial is part of a study being done by the HIV Prevention Trials Network.
Learning About Celiac Disease And Gluten Intolerance
www.thebluediamondgallery.com, available for use
While going gluten-free may seem like a trend for some, it’s a necessary precaution for those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Gluten – found in wheat proteins, rye, barley and triticale – causes inflammation in the small intestines of those who suffer from the immune disorder or have gluten-sensitivity. Eating a gluten-free diet helps to control these symptoms and any associated discomfort.
The Potential Links Between Teens With ADHD And Developing Bipolar Disease As An Adult
By Mark Heyne • Mar 15, 2017
The diagnosis of mental disorders is largely based on looking at a patient's history to determine signs and symptoms that, collectively, lead to a recognizable syndrome. Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD, can include hyperactivity, fidgeting, trouble focusing or the need to get up frequently. But youth at risk for bipolar disorder often initially present signs of having ADHD.
Grace Project, Photographs Showing The Beauty & Strength Of Breast Cancer Survivors, Coming To Town
By Mark Heyne • Apr 11, 2017
Grace Project
The loss of a woman's breasts to cancer can take an emotional and psychological toll and affect how she views herself as a woman. Photographer Charise Isis founded the Grace Project to empower women who have had mastectomies, creating portraits showing the strength and beauty of cancer survivors.
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HomeNewsOZZY OSBOURNE isn’t quitting touring
OZZY OSBOURNE isn’t quitting touring
December 28, 2018 Mark Millar News 0
Ozzy Osbourne will “still tour”, despite being in the middle of his “farewell tour” named ‘No More Tours 2’. The 70-year-old rocker has backtracked on his decision to put an end to his touring days, as he says the despite playing what should be his final shows, he won’t actually stop touring, and should have instead named his last tour the ‘Slowing Down Tour’.
He said: “People have gotten that all wrong. The tour should have been the Ozzy Osbourne ‘Slowing Down Tour’.” Instead, the Black Sabbath frontman is planning on scaling back the shows he does, because he says he’s getting too old to travel the world all year.
Speaking to Pasadena Star-News, the ‘War Pigs’ hitmaker added: “What I’m actually doing is not going out on January 1 and coming back on December 31. I’ll still tour, but not as extensively like I have been for the last 50 years. “I mean, I have grandchildren now and I’m 70 years old and I don’t want to be found dead in a hotel room somewhere. I’m going to do it at a more leisurely pace and do some shows in Vegas … but I’ll never stop.
“The whole lifestyle I have lived, it has all come down to the fact that there are people who want to hear me and as long as they want to hear me, I’m there.” Ozzy will return to the stage for more of his ‘No More Tours 2’ tour in 2019, after having postponed a number of gigs thanks to a hand infection.
And the rocker is excited to complete the tour, especially his planned show at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. He said recently: “I was really looking forward to doing the Hollywood Bowl. I’m going to make those shows up next year. It could have been a lot worse. I could have been dead.”
No More Tours 2
Pasadena Star-News
NOEL GALLAGHER expected being a solo artist to be “hard work”
MARIAH CAREY set a new one-day streaming record with her classic Christmas hit ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’
OZZY OSBOURNE to kick off “NO MORE TOURS 2” European tour @ Dublin’s 3ARENA
September 3, 2018 Mark Millar Gigs, News 0
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy®- winning singer and songwriter OZZY OSBOURNE today revealed details about his forthcoming “NO MORE TOURS 2,” a reference to his 1992 “No More Tours” trek. The […]
Top Ten Ranked: Black Sabbath
July 29, 2016 Landon Murray Top Tens 0
Rarely in music do bands come around that are as amazing and important to a single genre as the Birmingham based Black Sabbath. Many people consider Led Zeppelin to be the cornerstone of the hard […]
BLACK SABBATH announce Irish and UK dates as part of ‘THE END’ – THE FINAL TOUR
June 10, 2016 Mark Millar Gigs, New music, News 0
It started nearly five decades ago with a crack of thunder, a distant bell ringing and then that monstrous riff that shook the earth. The heaviest rock sound ever heard. In that moment Heavy Metal […]
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Zora! Let The People Sing!
Nykieria Chaney is encrypting her mark on the world through her many dynamic talents. Taking the U.S. spoken word scene by storm, Chaney began as a student at Alabama State University(A.S.U.). There, she won several poetry slams and competitions including the Extemporaneous Speaker Competition and the Black Entertainment Television (B.E.T.) at A.S.U. Talent Search Contest.
She has since performed at many of the world renowned poetry and open mic hot-spots in the U.S., including the Nuyorican Poetry Café in New York, NY, Uptown Saturday Nights in Charlotte, NC, The Spoken Word Café in Chicago, IL, Nokturnal Escape in Jacksonville, FL, Spoken Word Revolution in Orlando, FL, and Apache Café in Atlanta, GA.
Nyki,” as she is affectionately called by friends and family, powerfully delivers works that do not simply scratch the surface of any controversial issue but offer a verbal stronghold on taboo and unaddressed subjects. This gift continuously yields her a number of winning titles in poetry slams across the United States. Other benefits reaped from her oral harvest are features of her writings and performances by No Labelz Magazine, Sistah Speak of St. Louis, MO, GBF Magazine, Women in Music, radio station 103.1FM of Orlando, FL and 89.3FM of Atlanta, SisterLove of Atlanta, GA, A&U Magazine, Lesbian Memoirs, Punany Poets, The Nalo Movement, and many other magazines, ezines, and anthologies.
Playwright/Director
Nykieria’s play Bend, Don’t Break debuted during the 2009 United Arts Festival to sold out crowds. It was both a dream come true and a sobering moment as she realized that sometimes you have to blaze the path that you wish to follow. Following that motto she went on to write and direct Behind The Rainbow, a play speaking on taboo topics in the LGBTQ Community. It was also in 2009 that Nykieria partnered with the FL Department of Health and Sisters Organizing to Survive (SOS) to write her leading play, Positively Infected, a dramatic performance focusing on HIV/AIDS and how black women are infected and affected by this disease. The performance shows that there is no face of AIDS in the black community as each of us is just as likely to be infected when we fail to protect ourselves.
In 2010 Nykieria created Cre8ive Nsights Inc., a Literary and Performance Arts Company aimed at assisting to eradicate a disease that claims the lives of over 18,000 people each year. Utilizing literature, performance, dance, and other expressive arts, Cre8ive Nsights develops programs using literature and performance arts to educate communities on the realities of HIV and AIDS.
Through these many avenues of creative expression Nykieria has proved herself as an indubitable wordsmith and acquired a loyal fan base that is widely divergent and composed of people all nationalities, sexes, and orientations.
Purchase The Book On Amazon
Purchase Atlanta Zora Tickets Here
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The poor master and the rich servant
Michael Caine has revealed his reasons for voting for Brexit, saying that the British public voted for “freedom” rather than as a result of racism or anxiety over immigration.
Speaking to Sky News while promoting his new film Going in Style, the actor said that he was confident that Britain’s exit from the EU would be “all right”.
“I voted for Brexit. What it is with me, I’d rather be a poor master than a rich servant,” he said. “It wasn’t about the racism, immigrants or anything, it was about freedom.
“Politics is always chaotic,” he added. “In politics, you’re always going into areas you’ve never been before, so you’re going to get lost and then you’re going to find your way, and then it’ll be all right.”
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Renewable energy resources exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to other energy sources, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency is resulting in significant energy security, climate change mitigation, and economic benefits.[8] The results of a recent review of the literature[9] concluded that as greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters begin to be held liable for damages resulting from GHG emissions resulting in climate change, a high value for liability mitigation would provide powerful incentives for deployment of renewable energy technologies. In international public opinion surveys there is strong support for promoting renewable sources such as solar power and wind power.[10] At the national level, at least 30 nations around the world already have renewable energy contributing more than 20 percent of energy supply. National renewable energy markets are projected to continue to grow strongly in the coming decade and beyond.[11] Some places and at least two countries, Iceland and Norway generate all their electricity using renewable energy already, and many other countries have the set a goal to reach 100% renewable energy in the future. For example, in Denmark the government decided to switch the total energy supply (electricity, mobility and heating/cooling) to 100% renewable energy by 2050.[12]
A study of the material consumption trends and requirements for wind energy in Europe found that bigger turbines have a higher consumption of precious metals but lower material input per kW generated. The current material consumption and stock was compared to input materials for various onshore system sizes. In all EU countries the estimates for 2020 exceeded and doubled the values consumed in 2009. These countries would need to expand their resources to be able to meet the estimated demand for 2020. For example, currently the EU has 3% of world supply of fluorspar and it requires 14% by 2020. Globally, the main exporting countries are South Africa, Mexico and China. This is similar with other critical and valuable materials required for energy systems such as magnesium, silver and indium. In addition, the levels of recycling of these materials is very low and focusing on that could alleviate issues with supply in the future. It is important to note that since most of these valuable materials are also used in other emerging technologies, like LEDs, PVs and LCDs, it is projected that demand for them will continue to increase.[53]
A: Modern solar panels typically last twenty to thirty years before there’s a noticeable increase in output loss. Most residential solar providers offer a 20- to 25-year warranty, but many such warranties only guarantee a certain power output (e.g., a guarantee of 80% output for twenty years). Carefully read through the fine print to make sure you understand the warranty and what it covers.
By Ellen Coleman—As an American of non-specific cultural identity, I look with envy at families with strong cultural tradition. I wonder who "my people” are. What family traditions will my children (now grown) want to pass on to their own children? Their exposure has been such a mixed bag of “ritual”—making tamales for Thanksgiving, potstickers for family reunions, fried eggplant for Fourth of July. What will be their choice of comfort music? What kinds of homes will they make, what spiritual paths will they take?
Biomass is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms. It most often refers to plants or plant-derived materials which are specifically called lignocellulosic biomass.[99] As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly via combustion to produce heat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel. Conversion of biomass to biofuel can be achieved by different methods which are broadly classified into: thermal, chemical, and biochemical methods. Wood remains the largest biomass energy source today;[100] examples include forest residues – such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps –, yard clippings, wood chips and even municipal solid waste. In the second sense, biomass includes plant or animal matter that can be converted into fibers or other industrial chemicals, including biofuels. Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, bamboo,[101] and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil).
Green Energy Corp’s™ Microgrid as a Service (MaaS) package is a cloud based, subscription service enabling third party developers to utilize GreenBus® and Green Energy Corp expertise in financing, building and deploying microgrids. Included in the MaaS package is the microgrid toolset comprised of software, design and engineering packages, equipment recommendations, construction methods, operations and maintenance support, and financial instruments all delivered from a hosted environment.
“Hurricane-Broken Air Power Base Has an Alternative to Rebuild for Resilience” • Rebuilding the hurricane-wrecked Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida will come with a massive price tag, but experts say it offers a chance to make the base more resilient to the effects of extreme weather. Hurricane Michael hit Tyndall as a Category 4 storm. [Infosurhoy]
These high strength magnets are usually made from rare earth materials such as neodymium iron (NdFe), or samarium cobalt (SmCo) eliminating the need for the field windings to provide a constant magnetic field, leading to a simpler, more rugged construction. Wound field windings have the advantage of matching their magnetism (and therefore power) with the varying wind speed but require an external energy source to generate the required magnetic field.
A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun's energy directly into electric energy. The term "solar vehicle" usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's propulsion. Solar power may be also used to provide power for communications or controls or other auxiliary functions. Solar vehicles are not sold as practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. However, indirectly solar-charged vehicles are widespread and solar boats are available commercially.
The expansion is thanks largely to innovation on the policy front, which has opened up opportunities in regulated electricity markets. The number of corporate renewable energy deals signed under utility green tariff programs continues to grow, representing around 25 percent of corporate renewables procurement so far this year. At the same time, utilities are incorporating corporate renewables into their long-term planning — and thinking about solutions beyond green tariffs to better meet the needs of existing corporate customers and smaller loads.
Technologies promote sustainable energy including renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power,[citation needed] geothermal energy, bioenergy, tidal power and also technologies designed to improve energy efficiency. Costs have decreased immensely throughout the years, and continue to fall. Increasingly, effective government policies support investor confidence and these markets are expanding. Considerable progress is being made in the energy transition from fossil fuels to ecologically sustainable systems, to the point where many studies support 100% renewable energy.
Despite these diverse developments, developments in fossil fuel systems almost entirely eliminated any wind turbine systems larger than supermicro size. In the early 1970s, however, anti-nuclear protests in Denmark spurred artisan mechanics to develop microturbines of 22 kW. Organizing owners into associations and co-operatives lead to the lobbying of the government and utilities and provided incentives for larger turbines throughout the 1980s and later. Local activists in Germany, nascent turbine manufacturers in Spain, and large investors in the United States in the early 1990s then lobbied for policies that stimulated the industry in those countries.
Additions of small amount (0.5 weight %) of nanoreinforcement (carbon nanotubes or nanoclay in the polymer matrix of composites, fiber sizing or interlaminar layers can allow to increase the fatigue resistance, shear or compressive strength as well as fracture toughness of the composites by 30–80%. Research has also shown that the incorporation of small amount of carbon nanotubes/CNT can increase the lifetime up to 1500%.
Thermal storage technologies allow heat or cold to be stored for periods of time ranging from hours or overnight to interseasonal, and can involve storage of sensible energy (i.e. by changing the temperature of a medium) or latent energy (i.e. through phase changes of a medium, such between water and slush or ice). Short-term thermal storages can be used for peak-shaving in district heating or electrical distribution systems. Kinds of renewable or alternative energy sources that can be enabled include natural energy (e.g. collected via solar-thermal collectors, or dry cooling towers used to collect winter's cold), waste energy (e.g. from HVAC equipment, industrial processes or power plants), or surplus energy (e.g. as seasonally from hydropower projects or intermittently from wind farms). The Drake Landing Solar Community (Alberta, Canada) is illustrative. borehole thermal energy storage allows the community to get 97% of its year-round heat from solar collectors on the garage roofs, which most of the heat collected in summer.[58][59] Types of storages for sensible energy include insulated tanks, borehole clusters in substrates ranging from gravel to bedrock, deep aquifers, or shallow lined pits that are insulated on top. Some types of storage are capable of storing heat or cold between opposing seasons (particularly if very large), and some storage applications require inclusion of a heat pump. Latent heat is typically stored in ice tanks or what are called phase-change materials (PCMs).
Another economic measure, closely related to the energy payback time, is the energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) or energy return on investment (EROI),[131] which is the ratio of electricity generated divided by the energy required to build and maintain the equipment. (This is not the same as the economic return on investment (ROI), which varies according to local energy prices, subsidies available and metering techniques.) With expected lifetimes of 30 years,[132] the EROEI of PV systems are in the range of 10 to 30, thus generating enough energy over their lifetimes to reproduce themselves many times (6–31 reproductions) depending on what type of material, balance of system (BOS), and the geographic location of the system.[133]
The waste we generate ends up in landfills, where it decomposes and produces landfill gas made of approximately 50 percent methane. This gas can be captured and used to fuel electric generators. Since large landfills must burn off this gas to reduce the hazards arising from gas buildup, this method of renewable energy is one of the most successful.
Renewable energy technologies are getting cheaper, through technological change and through the benefits of mass production and market competition. A 2011 IEA report said: "A portfolio of renewable energy technologies is becoming cost-competitive in an increasingly broad range of circumstances, in some cases providing investment opportunities without the need for specific economic support," and added that "cost reductions in critical technologies, such as wind and solar, are set to continue."[99]
Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed to be five times total current global energy production, or 40 times current electricity demand, assuming all practical barriers needed were overcome. This would require wind turbines to be installed over large areas, particularly in areas of higher wind resources, such as offshore. As offshore wind speeds average ~90% greater than that of land, so offshore resources can contribute substantially more energy than land stationed turbines.[44] In 2014 global wind generation was 706 terawatt-hours or 3% of the worlds total electricity.[45]
Green energy is the term used to describe sources of energy that are considered to be environmentally friendly and non-polluting, such as geothermal, wind, solar, and hydro. Sometimes nuclear power is also considered a green energy source. Green energy sources are often considered "green" because they are perceived to lower carbon emissions and create less pollution.
A Darrieus type vertical axis wind turbine (the egg-beater type) can in theory work almost as good as a horizontal axis turbine. Actual measurement of one of the better designs out there, the UGE VisionAir5, does not bear that out though: It measures in at a pitiful 11% efficiency at 11 m/s wind speed, while a Bergey Excel-6 HAWT clocks in at 22% efficiency for that same wind speed, twice as much. You can read about it in Paul Gipe’s article. Besides efficiency issues, a Darrieus VAWT unfortunately has a number of inherent issues that put them at a disadvantage: Since they are usually tall and relatively narrow structures the bending forces on their main bearing (at the bottom) are very large. There are similar issues with the forces on the blades. This means that to make a reliable vertical axis turbine takes more material, and more expensive materials, in comparison to a horizontal type turbine. For comparison, that same UGE VisionAir5 weighs 756 kg vs. the Bergey Excel-6 at 350 kg. Keep in mind that the UGE turbine only sweeps about half the area of the Bergey, the latter is a much larger turbine! This makes VAWTs inherently more expensive, or less reliable, or both.
Interest in recycling blades varies in different markets and depends on the waste legislation and local economics. A challenge in recycling blades is related to the composite material, which is made of a thermosetting matrix and glass fibers or a combination of glass and carbon fibers. Thermosetting matrix cannot be remolded to form new composites. So the options are either to reuse the blade and the composite material elements as they are found in the blade or to transform the composite material into a new source of material. In Germany, wind turbine blades are commercially recycled as part of an alternative fuel mix for a cement factory.
As part of the Paris agreement nearly 200 countries, rich and poor, pledged to cut or curb the greenhouse gas emissions they produce through the burning of fossil fuels or the cutting of forests. Countries also pledged to create the Green Climate Fund, mobilizing $100 billion by 2020 from both public funds and private industry to help the poorest nations.
Renewable energy, after its generation, needs to be stored in a medium for use with autonomous devices as well as vehicles. Also, to provide household electricity in remote areas (that is areas which are not connected to the mains electricity grid), energy storage is required for use with renewable energy. Energy generation and consumption systems used in the latter case are usually stand-alone power systems.
“Volkswagen Converting Zwickau Automotive Plant to Produce Electric Vehicles” • In a move that it believes is the first of its kind in the world for a major car factory, VW is converting its auto factory in Zwickau, Germany from internal combustion vehicle production to manufacture of electric vehicles. The plant makes 330,000 cars per year. [CleanTechnica]
In 2011 Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, and Mark Delucchi published a study on 100% renewable global energy supply in the journal Energy Policy. They found producing all new energy with wind power, solar power, and hydropower by 2030 is feasible and existing energy supply arrangements could be replaced by 2050. Barriers to implementing the renewable energy plan are seen to be "primarily social and political, not technological or economic". They also found that energy costs with a wind, solar, water system should be similar to today's energy costs.[153]
Concentrated solar power plants may use thermal storage to store solar energy, such as in high-temperature molten salts. These salts are an effective storage medium because they are low-cost, have a high specific heat capacity, and can deliver heat at temperatures compatible with conventional power systems. This method of energy storage is used, for example, by the Solar Two power station, allowing it to store 1.44 TJ in its 68 m³ storage tank, enough to provide full output for close to 39 hours, with an efficiency of about 99%.[110]
Currently, flying manned electric aircraft are mostly experimental demonstrators, though many small unmanned aerial vehicles are powered by batteries. Electrically powered model aircraft have been flown since the 1970s, with one report in 1957.[186][187] The first man-carrying electrically powered flights were made in 1973.[188] Between 2015–2016, a manned, solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, completed a circumnavigation of the Earth.[189]
Buying a wind turbine generator such as the Windmax HY1000 to produce wind energy is not easy and there are a lot of factors to take into account. Price is only one of them. Be sure to choose an electrical machine that meets your needs. If you are installing a grid-connected system, choose an AC mains voltage generator. If you are installing a battery-based system, look for a battery-charging DC generator. Also consider the mechanical design of a generator such as size and weight, operating speed and protection from the environment as it will spend all of its life mounted at the top of a pole or tower.
What? You are still reading? If we did not talk you out of a wind turbine by now there may still be hope! There certainly are situations where a small wind turbine makes perfect sense: If you are off-grid you should definitely consider adding a wind turbine. Wind and solar tend to complement each other beautifully; the sunny days tend to be not very windy, while the windy days tend to have little sun. Wind turbines generally produce most energy in the winter, when solar panels fall short.
A recent UK Government document states that "projects are generally more likely to succeed if they have broad public support and the consent of local communities. This means giving communities both a say and a stake".[194] In countries such as Germany and Denmark many renewable projects are owned by communities, particularly through cooperative structures, and contribute significantly to overall levels of renewable energy deployment.[195][196]
Other cities won’t have it so easy. Take Atlanta. Residents buy energy from Georgia Power, which is owned by investors. As things stand, Atlantans have no control over how their power is generated, though that may change. In 2019, Georgia Power, by state law, has to update its energy plan. Ted Terry, director of the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club, says the nonprofit is working with Atlanta officials to incorporate renewables, primarily solar, into the state’s plan. Developing such energy sources on a scale that can power a metro area with 5.8 million people, as in Atlanta, or 7.68 million in the San Francisco Bay Area, or 3.3 million in San Diego, will prove challenging. But it doesn’t seem impossible. In 2015, California set a goal of deriving 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Its three investor-owned utilities—Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric—are poised to achieve that goal just two years from now, or ten years early.
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Air Force Celebrates F-35 IOC
— Brian Everstine8/8/2016
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein speaks to airmen at Hill AFB, Utah, on Friday during a ceremony celebrating the declaration of F-35 initial operating capability. Screenshot photo
Air Force leadership celebrated its newest operational aircraft at its main operational base, saying the F-35A will soon be the backbone of the fleet. “The F-35 will soon become the quarterback of the joint force,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said during a ceremony at Hill AFB, Utah, celebrating the Aug. 2 declaration that the F-35 has reached initial operating capability. Hill is home to the 388th Fighter Wing and associated 419th Reserve Wing that are the first to fly the aircraft operationally. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said there is still work to do as the F-35 moves toward full operating capability, including keeping costs down so the Air Force can continue to move toward the total fleet goal of 1,763 aircraft. “But most important of all, we need to continue the focus on our people,” James said during the ceremony. “Those that fly, those that maintain, those that support this unit and others.” The new aircraft will give the Air Force an “unmatched advantage” in wars to come, officials said. “I have a message to our adversaries,” Goldfein said “It sucks to be you.”
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Angelo Reyes
ACTING PORTFOLIO
PRODUCER PORTFOLIO
Angelo Reyes was born the middle child to an Italian-Filipino family who moved from Italy to Virginia Beach, VA when he was 10. He struggled with his cultural identity which eventually led him into exploring acting.
Angelo has appeared in various TV shows and movies such as Tyler Perry’s The Have and Have Nots and House of Cards.
After years of acting as well as an opportunity to write and produce tv shows, Angelo felt that he was destined to take his skills and apply them to a higher purpose.
He moved to NYC to formally study acting and writing which opened a new creative world for him. Angelo learned to take his passion of enacting stories to a new level by wholly owning the creative process from beginning to end through writing and producing.
He has spent the last couple years developing multiple human impact stories that ignite emotion and awareness with consciousness around inclusion and diversity.
Angelo developed his passion to write stories that were relatable and was able to portray characters based on real life and tying in the Filipino culture.
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About 31 results.
2016 Recopa Sudamericana
Description. Lang: en
The 2016 Recopa Sudamericana (Portuguese: Recopa Sul-Americana 2016) was the 24th edition of the Recopa Sudamericana, the football competition organized by CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major South American club tournaments, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
The competition was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Argentine team River Plate, the 2015 Copa Libertadores champion, and Colombian team Santa Fe, the 2015 Copa Sudamericana champion. The first leg was hosted by Santa Fe at Estadio El Campín in Bogotá on 18 August 2016, while the second leg was hosted by River Plate at Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires on 25 August 2016.River Plate defeated Santa Fe 2–1 on aggregate to win their second Recopa Sudamericana title, repeating their triumph in 2015.
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Recopa Sudamericana 2016 Scores
Recopa Sudamericana 2016 Wikipedia
Recopa Sudamericana 2016 Goles
Recopa Sudamericana 2016 Gano
2016 Recopa Sudamericana Tournament
2016 Copa Sudamericana Tournament
2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals Tournament
2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Sports league season
2016 Copa Libertadores Tournament
2003 Copa Sudamericana Finals Football match
2016 Argentine Primera División Tournament
Iván Rossi Argentine soccer player
Milton Casco Argentine soccer player
Club Atlético River Plate Soccer team
Arturo Mina Soccer player
2015–16 Primera División of Chile Sports league season
2016 Copa do Brasil Football league season
2016 Recopa Sudamericana Sports league season
2016–17 Argentine Primera División Tournament
Tomás Andrade Soccer player
Jonatan Maidana Soccer player
Enrique Bologna Argentine soccer player
Augusto Batalla Argentine soccer player
Cienciano Soccer club
estadisticas.conmebol.com
www.conmebol.com
Desc: The 2016 Recopa Sudamericana was the 24th edition of the Recopa Sudamericana, the football competition organized by CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major South American club tournaments, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Recopa_Sudamericana
Type: Event, Thing
Result Score: 521.97
2016 Copa Sudamericana
Desc: The 2016 Copa Sudamericana was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Copa_Sudamericana
Type: Thing, Event
Desc: The 2015 Recopa Sudamericana was the 23rd edition of the Recopa Sudamericana, the football competition organized by CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major South American club tournaments, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
Result Score: 76.35
Desc: The 2019 CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana was the 27th edition of the CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana, the football competition organized by CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major South American club tournaments, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
Desc: The 2013 Recopa Sudamericana was the 21st edition of the Recopa Sudamericana, the football competition organized by CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major South American club tournaments, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
Desc: The 2018 CONMEBOL Recopa was the 26th edition of the CONMEBOL Recopa, the football competition organized by CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major South American club tournaments, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals
Desc: The 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals were scheduled to be the two-legged final that would decide the winner of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana, the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Copa_Sudamericana_Finals
2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Sports league season
Desc: The 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 60th season of the Série A, the top level of professional football in Brazil, and the 13th edition in a double round-robin since its establishment in 2003.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Campeonato_Brasileiro_S%C3%A9rie_A
URL: http://www.conmebol.com/secciones/recopa.html
Desc: The 2014 Recopa Sudamericana was the 22nd edition of the Recopa Sudamericana, the football competition organized by CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major South American club tournaments, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
2016 Copa Libertadores
Desc: The 2016 Copa Libertadores de América was the 57th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Copa_Libertadores
Desc: The 1998 Recopa Sudamericana was the tenth Recopa Sudamericana, an annual football match between the winners of the previous season's Copa Libertadores and Supercopa Sudamericana competitions.
Football match
Desc: The 2003 Copa Sudamericana Finals was a two-legged football match-up to determine the 2003 Copa Sudamericana champion.
Desc: The 2003 Recopa Sudamericana was the 11th edition of the match-up contested between the winners of CONMEBOL's two continental tournaments.
2016 Argentine Primera División
Desc: The 2016 Argentine Primera División - Copa Axion Energy was the 126th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season began on February 5 and ended on May 29.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Argentine_Primera_Divisi%C3%B3n
Iván Rossi
Argentine soccer player
Desc: Iván Javier Rossi is an Argentine professional footballer. He plays as a defensive midfielder, currently for Huracán on loan from River Plate in the Argentine Primera División.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iv%C3%A1n_Rossi
Type: Person, Thing
Milton Casco
Desc: Milton Óscar Casco is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as left back for River Plate and the Argentina national team.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Casco
Desc: Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires, and named after the British English name for the city's estuary, Río de la Plata.
URL: http://www.cariverplate.com.ar/
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Atl%C3%A9tico_River_Plate
Type: Thing, Organization, SportsTeam
Soccer player
Desc: Arturo Rafael Mina Meza is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays as a defender for Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor in Süper Lig.
Mina was called up for the 2015 Copa América making the cut for the final 23 this time around.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Mina
2015–16 Primera División of Chile
Desc: The 2015–16 Campeonato Nacional season was the 85th season of top-flight football in Chile. Cobresal was the defending champion.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_Primera_Divisi%C3%B3n_of_Chile
2016 Copa do Brasil
Football league season
Desc: The 2016 Copa do Brasil was the 28th edition of the Copa do Brasil football competition. The competition was contested by 86 teams, either qualified through participitating their respective state championships, by the 2016 CBF ranking or those qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores and the team with the best 2015 Série A record.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Copa_do_Brasil
Desc: The 2016 Liga Profesional de Primera División season, also known as the Campeonato Uruguayo Especial o Campeonato Transición, was the 113th season of Uruguay's top-flight football league, and the 86th in which it is professional.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Uruguayan_Primera_Divisi%C3%B3n
2016–17 Argentine Primera División
Desc: The 2016–17 Argentine Primera División – Torneo de la Independencia was the 127th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The tournament was named in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Argentina.
The season began on August 26, 2016 and ended on June 27, 2017.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_Argentine_Primera_Divisi%C3%B3n
Tomás Andrade
Desc: Tomás Gustavo Andrade is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Brazilian club Athletico Paranaense, on loan from River Plate.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_Andrade
Jonatan Maidana
Desc: Jonatan Ramón Maidana is an Argentine professional football who plays as a centre back for Toluca.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonatan_Maidana
Type: Thing, Person
Enrique Bologna
Desc: Enrique Alberto Bologna Gómez, known as Enrique Bologna, is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for River Plate.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Bologna
Augusto Batalla
Desc: Augusto Martín Batalla Vargas is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Unión La Calera, in the Chilean Primera División. He is a former Argentina U20's international.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Batalla
Desc: Club Sportivo Cienciano is a professional football club based in Cusco, Peru. The club was founded in 1901 and was originally the team of the Faculty of Science of the University of Cusco, from which it takes its name.
URL: http://www.cienciano.com/
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cienciano
Type: SportsTeam, Thing
Try searching in other languages: en - it - fr - de - es - pt
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WORK ETHIC BEYOND SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT
As one of the most prominent businessmen of our time, Mr. Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Jr. surely took the members of Anvil Business Club in attendance through a very insightful journey on how he made a difference in Alaska Milk Corporation (AMC). His topic was not limited to just business and sports and how these two can be integrated, but also touched on ethics, succession, and even gave good humor on how to choose the right spouse.
The exchange forum started out with the story of when Mr. Uytengsu Jr. went to the United States for his secondary education and took up his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, specializing in Entrepreneurship, in the University of Southern California (USC). Fueled by his passion and dedication to the sports of swimming, he became the team captain of the university on his third year. According to Wilfred, “I would rather be a small fish in a big pond,” and “if you want something bad enough, work for it and be the best, or else do not even try.”
He wanted to be in a very competitive environment where he could face off with the best swimmers to continue improving in his chosen sport. Wilfred mentioned that studying abroad made a huge impact in his life because it pushed him to grow up and establish his independence. As he puts it, “No one knows you there, no one cares who you are, and you have to do your own laundry.”
After graduating from USC, Wilfred came back to the Philippines and joined his father in the family business. One thing that he immediately noticed upon joining is the importance of identifying where the fine line between family and business stands. And regardless of working in a family business setting, the culture of work ethic and the idea that no one is entitled should exist. . As he recollects, there were moments when he did not know whether he was talking to his father or the chairman of the company. One of the most impactful words that he had heard from his father were “you will never understand me because you never started your own business.” These words hit him hard and eventually got him to start his own business, GenOSI, the exclusive food processor supplying to major global and local restaurant chains. Backed by his father’s words and his own experience, he’s led Alaska Milk Corporation through the toughest times and made business decisions that eventually brought the company to where it is today. True to its slogan, “Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska”, the brand continues to be a part of every Filipino household and is consumed by both young and old.
Sports marketing is considered a non-traditional way of marketing for most Filipino companies. Alaska Milk Corporation was one of the pioneers of this strategy, which has successfully brought its brand closer to its consumers. It was the brainchild of Wilfred Sr. to franchise a basketball team and let his son study and handle this project. Wilfred Uytengsu Jr. turned this wild idea into a reality, thus the Alaska Aces was born and went on to become one of the most popular and successful teams in the PBA. After several seasons and championships, the sports marketing strategy proved to be successful in planting a deep root of loyalty and love for Alaska in the heart of Filipino people. Furthermore, Uytengsu Jr.’s love for sports extends beyond his duty as the president and CEO of AMC. He has successfully brought in the ‘Iron Man’, triathlon competition, to the Philippines, which immediately won the hearts of the Filipinos and has put our country on the map of the triathlon universe.
As the night progressed, the exchange of intellectual ideas went on when the Anvil directors and regents asked Wilfred about his thoughts about globalization.
For him, globalization is inevitable and it is normal that there will always be someone out there to compete with. Driven by his rule, which is, “you better be the best in whatever you do,” Wilfred always seeks to be the best. One of the key themes of his talk has been the value of work ethic and he even goes on to share that, “Being lucky without hard work will not bring success,” Wilfred always stressed out how the value of work ethic, hard work, and proper sense of entitlement make a huge difference when competing with other companies. Moreover, it is with proper execution and follow through that will help the business secure the success it is aiming for.
Ultimately, Wilfred ended the exchange forum with his thoughts on succession planning. According to his observation and experience, it is the established rules and guiding principles of a family code that will dictate if the business will be able to survive from one generation to another. It is natural that the family will keep on growing and more people, including in-laws, will be involved in the business. To him, family code solves conflicts and keeps everyone in harmony similar to how the Aboitiz family reached its 6th generation and is still a family run business.
THE MIRACLE OF HYBRID RICE: AN EXCHANGE FORUM WITH DR. HENRY LIM BON LIONG
Where it Began: Sterling Paper Group of Companies
Dr. Henry Lim Bon Lion came a long way from his childhood experiences. As a child, he did not grew up with a silver spoon, but their family had a modest Chinese bookstore in Binondo that helped them get by. He remembers back then that he would take note of luxurious cars and grand houses of friends in his mind, dreaming that one day he could attain those himself. After graduation, young Henry started working for the family business, Sterling Bookbinding that offered bookbinding services and photo albums. Henry’s father challenged him that if he could sell products at a higher price and higher volume, a feat then unheard of since cheaper prices meant selling more in volume and vice-versa. However, Henry managed to do it by providing higher quality products, which proved to be effective in the growth of their business. At age 23, Henry’s father died and being the eldest among the siblings, took the reins of their family business and expanded it to include lettersets, stamp albums, school supplies, and office supplies. He then renamed the business to Sterling Paper Products Enterprises. Mr. Lim Bon Liong could not stress the importance of quality in products. Back in the 1970s, they were the first adapters to computers. He hired as much as 25 artists to make the best designs and did focus group discussions to determine and deliver the best product to the market. Eventually, his brand Sterling Paper became a household name.
The Idea of Hybrid Rice
After the success of Sterling Paper, Mr. Lim Bon Liong met Yuan Long Ping, a Chinese agricultural scientist who first developed the hybrid rice. Back then when the Philippines was importing rice from Vietnam while China has solved their food problem from hybrid rice, Mr. Lim Bon Liong saw an opportunity in hybrid rice that can make the Philippines self-sufficient in rice.
Bringing and developing the hybrid rice seeds to the Philippines to make them more adaptable to the Philippine climate and for mass production were no easy tasks. They had to pay for an overpriced lot that has the ideal conditions to develop their hybrid seeds during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, which meant they had to rely more on their capital instead of loaning from a bank while businesses were slowing down. Moreover, in 1998, Mr. Lim Bon Liong spent additional large sums of capital for Research and Development to discover the ideal hybrid rice seed variety that can produce more yield than the average rice seed.
On November 2000, tragedy happened when a car hit the family van carrying Henry, his mom, and brother. Henry’s mother and brother died in the accident, but every cloud has a silver lining. On January 2001, Henry’s scientist claims that he saw his mother early morning instructing him to check the rice fields. When the scientist went out to the rice fields, he discovered the ideal hybrid rice variety that they set out to look for. Since then, they were able to commercially produce the rice seeds and sell them to farmers.
Mr. Lim Bon Liong once said there are two basic principles in making a strong dynasty: first is a peaceful country and secondly, rich and strong farmers. He is determined to achieve a strong dynasty for the Philippines with the hope of a proper cooperation from the current administration.
Asides from Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong sharing his story behind Sterling Paper Group of Companies and his hybrid rice, he also offered four tips for the entrepreneurs of Anvil Business Group on diversifying businesses:
1. Grab Opportunities - During the Asian Financial Crisis, Dr. Henry bought a few floors of a building because it was selling for a bargain price during the Asian Financial Crisis. Now, the property is significantly worth more.
2. One Thing Leads to Another – Since he had nothing to do with the office floors, he decided to utilize it by setting up a call center company, which is also a booming industry.
3. Be Top 5 in the Industry – In any business, Dr. Henry Lim Bon Lion believes that you should aim to be in the top 5 of the industry or else don’t go into it.
4. Focus on the Business – It took painstaking time, effort, and capital for Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong to develop and market his hybrid rice before it became successful. For a diversified business to work, the focus should be there even when the times get tough.
All in all, the exchange forum with Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong was inspirational and fruitful to Anvil members as they got to know the speaker and learned from his experiences as a successful businessman in various industries. Truly, Anvil Business Club is grateful to have such a successful and inspiring speaker grace the club’s event.
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Mufasa, Simba and the rest of "Disney's the Lion King" characters will be here through Dec. 9.
‘Lion King’ extends run
By Gary Chun
gchun@starbulletin.com
The King of Beasts will be staying in Honolulu a little longer.
Due to "outstanding turnout and demand," the Blaisdell Concert Hall run of "Disney's the Lion King" has been extended through Dec. 9, Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced yesterday.
Individual tickets for the new shows go on sale at 9 a.m. June 16 at the Blaisdell Center box office and Ticketmaster outlets. (Group sales of 20 or more, and entertainment packages arranged through sponsor Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, can be purchased now. Call 591-2211.)
Prices are $30 to $150.
Jack Lucas, the show's tour promoter and president of WestCoast Entertainment, said that 85 percent of the tickets for the first six weeks of "Lion King's" original run have already been sold.
Dates for the extended run had been tentatively blocked out, so no other concerts were booked at the concert hall for that period, said Sidney Quintal, director of the City Department of Enterprise Services.
Lucas said the now-13 week run of "Lion King" could have a $40-million impact in Honolulu.
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GCC ‘terrorist Hizbullah’ declaration may backfire
Published in Iran
The decision by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on 2 March declaring Hizbullah a terrorist organisation is the latest in a string of moves by Saudi Arabia to blunt the perceived increase in Iran’s regional influence. The resolution will have dire consequences for Lebanon’s already fragmented and gridlocked institutions, but may have an effect opposite to that intended by the GCC; it could push Lebanon further into Iran’s orbit.
The GCC verdict followed Saudi Arabia’s decision on 19 February, which halted its four billion dollar aid to Lebanon’s state security institutions, and the subsequent GCC states’ ban on their citizens from visiting the country. At the heart of these decisions is the perception of increasing Iranian influence in Lebanon, especially after the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 world powers. GCC states were furious over Beirut’s decision not to endorse an Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation statement criticising attacks on Saudi diplomatic offices in Tehran in January. Lebanon’s dissociation from international actions that may interfere with its fragile sectarian balance is seen by the increasingly assertive Saudi regime as a sign of Beirut’s proximity to Iran. Saudi Arabia believes this proximity is proven by the inability and unwillingness of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to disarm Hizbullah, and by the group’s activities in Syria. Saudi officials had already conveyed these concerns to Lebanon’s deputy prime minister and defence minister, Samir Mouqbel, in January, and had indicated that Saudi Arabia might reverse its decision if Lebanon were to change course.
The Saudi move will seriously impede Lebanon’s economy, which is heavily reliant on GCC tourism, investments, and five billion dollars in remittances sent by Lebanese nationals working in the Gulf. These remittances will dry up if GCC states act against the 750 000 Lebanese workers. It is possible that the GCC will impose further sanctions on Lebanon, which will be disastrous since the country relies on Gulf support to maintain its banking sector and currency.
However, these measures may have the opposite and unintended impact of pushing Lebanon closer to Iran. Already the Islamic Republic has offered to compensate for the shortfall if Beirut officially requests assistance. Further, those most affected, ordinary Lebanese citizens, may become disillusioned with the GCC – particularly Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, the measures will have little effect on Hizbullah, which is not reliant on GCC funds for its social service, patronage or any other activities, and because this will further increase the chasm in weaponry and training between it and the LAF. The party has thus confidently criticised the GCC, suggested that GCC states were cooperating with Israel, and pointed out that the GCC decision would have a harsher impact on average Lebanese nationals.
The Saudi and GCC positions will not collapse Lebanon’s confessionalist political system, whose sectarian nature prevents strong parties from dominating political institutions. Power balancing and coalition formation are promoted through the stipulation of cabinet and government positions on a sectarian basis. Although many within the March 14 coalition – Hizbullah’s rivals – have supported Saudi Arabia and criticised Hizbullah, talks to elect a president have continued between March 14 and the Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition. Lebanese politicians benefit from the system, and fear that too strong appeals to identity politics could result in a situation similar to that which sparked Lebanon’s fourteen-year civil war in 1975. Further, global powers – including the USA and France – regard Lebanon’s stability as paramount, especially in light of the growth of the Islamic State group, and have acted to mitigate the effects of the GCC decision by offering to mediate between the two parties.
What the GCC and Saudi positions indicate is an increasing willingness – especially by Saudi Arabia – to adopt aggressive stances to weaken Iran and ensure GCC allies close ranks – as happened in January when Saudi allies severed ties with the Islamic republic. Small and relatively week states such as Lebanon and Yemen will increasingly be forced to support one or other side in this Cold War-like regional atmosphere. In Beirut’s case the risk is larger because of the spillover of the Syrian conflict into Lebanon, especially with Hizbullah’s involvement in Syria. The Lebanese political establishment needs urgently to resolve its political problems, elect a new president immediately since the twenty-two month wait for a consensus candidate has imperilled much of the country’s institutions, and citizens have been forced to resort to patronage and sectarian networks to ensure the partial provision of state services.
Evolving Saudi foreign policy: Same goal, different threat perceptions
By Afro-Middle East
The accession to the throne of Salman Bin Abdulaziz has led to a reprioritisation of Saudi Arabian foreign policy. The rise of the Islamic State group (IS) and resurgence of Iran are now perceived as posing a more acute threat to the regime than that of democratic/participatory Islamists such as the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Salman has thus sought to include these groups in a coalition with like-minded regional states to counter balance Iran and IS. Relations with Turkey and Qatar have consequently improved. However, the evolving nature of regional coalitions and the drop in the oil price will limit the kingdom’s ability to influence the foreign policy decisions of other regional states. Moreover, domestic matters, such as youth unemployment, will increasingly force the regime to look inward in the struggle for regime survival.
Saudi foreign policy has historically been governed by four main principles. These include territorial integrity, regime protection, economic prosperity and the promotion and preservation of its form of monarchical Islamic governance. However, because the Saudi kingdom possessed little influence and military strength during its initial stages, protection from a global power was usually sought and took the form of partnerships with the United Kingdom and the USA. These partnerships, together with its vast oil wealth, have enabled it to grow in strength. From the mid-2000s, Riyadh has acted more as a regional hegemon and deployed its financial and military power in the pursuit of its national interest. Although foreign policy in the kingdom is an elite-driven process, because the country is a monarchy, the king possesses disproportional influence. Domestic regime protection is the most significant thrust informing Saudi foreign policy.
Under Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia aggressively increased and diversified its bilateral relations. In 2006 and 2007 alone, Abdullah visited China, Russia, India and Pakistan. These visits were mainly a consequence of Saudi Arabia’s opposition to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and overthrow of the Saddam regime. The kingdom viewed Iraq under Saddam as a bulwark against Iran, which it views as a regional competitor. It perceives Iran as posing a threat to it domestically in terms of inspiring its minority Shia population, who face much state-sponsored discrimination. Regionally it worries that Iran’s military and economic power, if allowed to flourish, will dilute the kingdom’s regional influence, especially amongst the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The kingdom also views itself as the protector of ‘Sunnis’ and ‘Arabs’ from what it believes is ‘Shia’ and ‘Persian’ Iran, but this is of less importance in its calculations than the Islamic republic’s potential to undermine its domestic and regional interests.
The MENA uprisings
The kingdom, however, maintained warm relations with the USA, even when it emerged that the removal of Saddam had enabled Iran to gain influence in Iraq. A key factor informing this was the US opposition to Iran’s nuclear programme and the administration’s implementation of strict sanctions on the Islamic republic. This changed following the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings. Three issues were critical in shaping this evolution. First, the kingdom was opposed to the forced resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 and the US’s role in enabling this; Abdullah and Mubarak were close allies. The kingdom felt that the USA betrayed Mubarak, and that the US would take a similar stance if Abdullah were in that position. This was especially critical in light of the fact that, at the time, the main actors to gain from the uprisings were democratic Islamists. Riyadh views these groups as posing a normative threat to its monarchical form of Islam and still bemoans the fact that senior MB figures refused to support its role during the 1990–91 Gulf War.
Second, Riyadh felt let down over the Obama administration’s failure to intervene in Syria in September 2013, even when Bashar al-Asad was alleged to have used chemical weapons. Last, the kingdom is opposed to the Iranian nuclear deal, fearing that the deal will allow Iran to increase its regional and global influence. This is especially since the Islamic republic shares economic and energy interests with many Gulf states including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is influential in Lebanon and Syria through its alliances with Hizbullah and the Assad regime, and has more popular legitimacy in light of its holding of elections. The kingdom was especially angered at not being informed about the initial US–Iranian negotiations, which paved the way for the November 2013 interim agreement. It thus has become wary of future US support.
Riyadh thus responded by adopting a more assertive and independent foreign policy. First, it adopted a policy of containment. Through the use of its vast cash reserves (over seven hundred billion dollars in 2011) it sought to stifle protest movements from spreading to Gulf and Arab monarchs. Morocco and Jordan were invited to join the GCC and successfully provided funding to withstand protests. The kingdom also attempted to contain the uprisings through strengthening GCC cooperation and increasing the council’s capacity. GCC forces were deployed to Bahrain in 2011 and successfully supported and protected the Hamid regime, while in December 2013 the GCC concluded an agreement to establish a unified command and shared Gulf police force.
Second, Riyadh sought to reverse the successes gained by Islamists in countries such as Egypt. Through supporting former regime officials, together with the UAE and Kuwait, to the tune of between twenty-five and forty billion dollars, the Morsi regime was overthrown and replaced by former military head Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Riyadh supported the Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi administration in Yemen in its attempts to confront the Yemeni Islah party in light of Islah’s links to the MB, and Saudi–Emirati relations strengthened, partly as a result of the UAE’s actions in Tunisia and Libya, which were targeted at undermining democratic Islamists. This culminated in the March 2014 decision, adopted by Gulf states, declaring the MB a terrorist organisation and the withdrawal of the Kuwaiti, Saudi, and Emirati ambassadors from Qatar in protest over Qatar’s support for the group. Even though Riyadh supported opposition groups in Syria, this was more because it saw an opportunity to weaken Iran by removing the Assad regime, which is closely allied to the Islamic republic. Moreover, Saudi assistance to Syrian opposition groups sought to distinguish between Islamists such as the Syrian Brotherhood and more Salafi groups such as Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, supporting the latter.
Following King Abdullah’s death in January 2015 and the ascension to the thrown of Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi foreign policy priorities have been reformulated. This resulted from both domestic and regional factors. Immediately following Salman’s accession, rhetoric toward the Brotherhood changed, and kingdom officials stated that the group as a whole was not viewed as a terrorist organisation. Further, relations between Qatar and Turkey dramatically improved at the expense of those with Egypt and the UAE.
The Iranian nuclear deal and rise of IS have been key influences in these decisions. The kingdom views these threats as posing a greater threat to it than that of democratic Islamists. It fears an Iranian resurgence after the nuclear deal, especially as this may diminish its regional influence.
IS on the other hand has been active in Saudi Arabia, claiming bombings on mosques frequented by Shi'a and special forces. Further, the group’s leadership has been critical of the Saudi regime, advocating internal rebellion and censuring its relative lack of support for Palestinian independence. This is aside from the normative threat that the group poses to the regime because of its use of religious texts legitimising its form of governance.
Salman has thus moved to adopt a policy of tolerance toward more democratic Islamists, with leaders from Ennahda, Hamas and the Islamic Action Front all visiting Saudi Arabia in 2015. It has also re-established ties with the Yemeni Islah party. Further, the kingdom has sought to form a coalition to confront Iran and IS. It stepped up coordination with Turkey and other countries to support and arm opposition groups in Syria, while in December it spearheaded the creation of an ‘anti-terrorism’ coalition together with thirty-four other, mainly Sunni, countries. The coalition excluded Iraq and Syria in light of their governments’ close ties to the Islamic republic – even though Iraq and Syria were designated as two of the coalition’s main areas of focus, and Iran is currently the only Gulf state with ground troops fighting IS. In addition, in January 2016, the kingdom severed diplomatic and trade ties with Iran following the storming of the Saudi embassy by Iranian protesters angered by the execution of influential Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Nimr’s execution seemed calculated to coincide with the unfreezing of Iranian sanctions and was an unsuccessful attempt to stall the improving relations between Iran and Western states.
Yemen has provided the best example of Salman’s reprioritised foreign policy. Being paranoid over Iran’s support for Houthi (Ansarullah) rebels, and fearing that the Islamic republic would now be in control of four Arab capitals, in March 2015 Saudi Arabia commenced airstrikes on Houthi positions. The strikes were part of a ten-member Saudi-led coalition and were without initial US endorsement. The Yemeni Islah party has been empowered, especially in its attempts to consolidate control of the city of Taiz, and a coalition ground force, consisting of around 5 000 troops has since been deployed. Thus far the effort has had some successes; the Hadi administration has re-established control over Taiz and much of the country’s south and in recent weeks has been gaining ground in and around Sana’a. However, Houthi fighters, in coalition with military units loyal to Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdallah Saleh, remain in Sana’a and many northern regions, and will be difficult to dislodge in light of their institutional links and grass-roots support.
Salman’s renewed relations with democratic Islamists constitute tolerance and not necessarily rapprochement. Although Salman has had warm relations with Turkey’s president (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) and the previous emir of Qatar (Hamid bin Khalifa Al-Thani), the decision to re-engage democratic Islamists is more the result of Riyadh’s belief that these groups have been weakened and no longer pose an immediate threat to the regime’s survival. Moreover, the regime has concluded that these Islamists possess some influence regionally, and that this influence will be useful in combating Iran and IS. Last, it is notable that Salman has utilised similar means to those of Abdullah in implementing Saudi regional aspirations. Financial and military assistance has been provided to sympathetic parties, and Salman has not held back from endorsing direct military action. Further, US–Saudi relations have largely remained apprehensive since Salman’s accession.
Regionally the main consequences of the shifts in foreign policy under Abdullah and reprioritisation under Salman will see an intensification of regional conflicts, especially those involving Iran or its proxies. Finding political solutions to the Syrian and Yemeni conflicts will thus become exceedingly difficult. Yemen peace talks scheduled for January have already been postponed indefinitely, while the Munich truce between the Syrian regime and opposition fighters is already proving difficult to implement. This will result in the worsening of conditions for civilians trapped in the middle of this battle, which increasingly resembles a regional cold war.
Salman’s ambitions will however be constrained by various factors. First, coalition formation in the region is notoriously difficult. The balance of power is influenced more by domestic factors than states’ hard power resources, making coalition formation improbable and short term in nature. The UAE, for example, is more fearful of domestic Islamists than it is of Iran, making it unlikely that the country will defer totally in a coalition with the Saudis. This is currently being observed in Yemen, where the Emirates is sceptical of Islah and has thus refused to finance and arm the party. Moreover, economic ties are likely to ensure that coalition formation is loose and more issue specific. The UAE and Oman have important economic ties with Iran, while Qatar and Iran jointly share the South Pars / North Dome gas field. All three of these countries refused to fully follow the Saudi lead and sever diplomatic relations with Iran after the Saudi embassy attack. Qatar and Oman maintained the same level of diplomatic engagement with Tehran, while the UAE downgraded relations but did not fully sever diplomatic ties. Further, Turkey is dependent on Iranian gas, especially since Ankara now has tense relations with Russia, and has thus offered to play a mediating role between Saudi Arabia and Iran, despite the Erdogan regime’s opposition to Iran’s interests in Syria.
Second, the drop in oil and liquefied natural gas prices will impede the kingdom’s attempts to use its vast oil wealth to influence other, poorer regional states. The price drop has even meant that it has had to utilise its cash reserves to fund domestic programs, causing these to drop by over a hundred billion in 2015 alone. Riyadh has increased levies on petrol and gas by fifty per cent and sixty-six per cent, respectively, and the GCC is mulling the introduction of a form of value-added tax with income tax soon to follow. The funding it was able to provide to regional states in 2011 to stall protests and ensure state alliances will thus be curtailed. Some have argued that this is one of the reasons informing the kingdom’s provision of loans instead of grants to the Sisi regime.
Last, the country will increasingly be required to focus internally. Following the uprisings it sought to stymie domestic rumblings through increased social spending and utilised over a hundred billion of its reserves for this purpose in 2011 alone. However, issues still remain, especially within the country’s restive youth population. Unemployment amongst the fifteen to twenty-four year old group stands at over thirty per cent, and around two-thirds of the country is under thirty. The 2016 budget allocates around twenty-three billion to education and a significant amount to other social services; however, much more will need to be done, including providing employment and a sense of purpose for qualified graduates. This is one of the reasons accounting for Salman’s appointment of his youngest son Mohammad bin Salman (aged thirty) and the relatively young Muhammad bin Nayef (aged fifty-six) as deputy crown prince and crown prince, respectively. The kingdom is seeking to reconnect with its youth population in an attempt to quell descent and ensure its perpetuation. This will be increasingly difficult, especially in light of its lifting of subsidies and implementation of taxes.
Things however can change quickly, and chances for miscalculations abound, especially in light of the complex regional and international alliances involved. Moreover, opposition to Salman’s policies from within the royal family is manifest; the allegiance council did not unanimously endorse the appointment of Mohammad bin Salman as deputy crown prince and de facto prime minister. However, for the time being, while Salman is still at the helm, Riyadh’s foreign policy will mainly be concerned with confronting Iran and IS. Relations with democratic Islamists will improve as the regime seeks to create a bloc to balance Iran, consequently intensifying conflicts in Syria and Yemen, and inflaming sectarian tensions in the process.
Does Pakistan’s refusal to join Saudi Arabia in Yemen indicate a pivot towards Iran?
Published in Pakistan
Allegedly, the current Saudi-led onslaught on Yemen has already caused destruction that resembles the destruction wrought in Syria over the last four years. However, the war in Yemen, like the Syrian crisis, cannot simply be viewed through a domestic Yemeni lens, for Yemen has become a playground for various regional forces carving out their alliances and rivalries within the matrix of the greater Middle East cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. These alliances, rivalries and the intentions of the various actors – including those who are geographically only peripherally attached to this regional system – must be understood within the framework of this confluence of multiple aims and objectives.
Two of those peripherally-attached countries are Turkey and Pakistan. While Turkey straddles the boundaries between the Middle East and Europe and Central Asia, and Pakistan occupies the area separating the Middle East from South Asia, both countries are often inextricably drawn into the conflictual Middle East regional system, usually despite their best efforts. The war in Yemen is illustrative of these dynamics. Pakistan’s response to the Saudi war on Yemen is a good recent case to explore these machinations.
Pakistani-Saudi relations
The history of Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations is long, and has frequently been described by roleplayers in both countries as strong and dependable. The close collaboration between the two states in the 1980s against the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan is often cited to substantiate this point. Additionally, the Pakistani ruling party and its prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, also enjoy exceptionally close ties with the Saudi royal family. When Sharif’s government was overthrown in 1999 by the then-military chief General Pervez Musharraf, Sharif chose Saudi Arabia for his exile, and has since benefited from Saudi largesse, both in his personal capacity and on behalf of Pakistan during his current tenure as prime minister. Examples range from 200 tonnes of dates gifted to Pakistan to a $1.5 billion loan to support the Pakistani economy – both in 2014.
The general Pakistani population also holds the kingdom in high regard, and a recent survey showed that ninety-five per cent of Pakistanis view Saudi Arabia favourably. The prestige that Saudi Arabia claims for itself as the caretaker of the two holiest Islamic sites no doubt plays a significant role in this sentiment.Military cooperation between the two countries is also decades old. Pakistani pilots flew Royal Saudi Air Force jets in 1969 to repel incursions from South Yemen; more than 15 000 Pakistani troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s and 1980s; and Pakistani troops were deployed to protect the kingdom from Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf war in 1990. Pakistan also assisted Saudi Arabia in providing trainers and anti-aircraft and anti-tank weaponry to Saudi-backed rebels in Syria. And there is much speculation that Pakistan, the only Muslim state with a nuclear arsenal, could include Saudi Arabia under its nuclear umbrella in the event of Iran becoming a nuclear weapons power, or that it might transfer nuclear weaponry or weapons technology to Riyadh.
It was therefore not far-fetched to assume that Pakistan would support Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Expectations for such support were bolstered by Saudi and other Gulf officials, and by a visit of the Pakistani defence minister, Khawaj Asif, to Riyadhas the Sharif government mulled over the level of support it could offer to the Saudis in Yemen. Arab media, especially the Saudi Al-Arabiya channel, were reporting that Pakistan would despatch jet fighters and warships to take part in the Yemeni campaign, Operation Decisive Storm. However, after various high level delegations from Pakistan, including military officials, cabinet members and the Pakistani prime minister had visited and assured the Saudis of Pakistani support, Sharif put the matter to the Pakistani parliament for a decision. In aunanimous decision, the parliament decided to turn down the Saudi request for assistance in Yemen, fearing that it could spark Shi'a-Sunni sectarian violence inside Pakistan. Parliament was also concerned about stretching the army too thinl by engaging in a foreign war while Pakistan itself faced multiple internal insurgencies.
Saudi and Gulf anger
That the Saudis were upset by Pakistan’s stance was obvious to most observers of the two countries, despite Saudi attempts at suggesting that they regarded the Pakistani decision as anissue internal to Pakistan. In contrast, the sharp outburst by the UAE foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, calling Pakistan’s decision to withhold troops ‘contradictory, dangerous and unexpected’ indicated that senior decision-makers within the Gulf Cooperation Council, especially Saudi Arabia, were bitterly disappointed by Pakistan. Thereafter, diplomatic initiatives between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia over the former’s support for the Saudi war in Yemen came to a standstill, despite a meeting between Pakistani president Mamnoon Hussain and the Saudi king, Salman bin Abdul Aziz. The meeting was, at best, symbolic rather than a real effort to evaluate and reinvigorate bilateral relations.
It remains unclear whether Pakistan’s decision on Yemen indicates the country inclining toward Iran as the latter furthers its reconciliation with western countries, and whether a new Pakistani-Iranian relationship will be at the expense of the South Asian state’s previous cosy relationship with Saudi Arabia. It is possible that the decision was simply a demonstration of Pakistan’s desire to chart an independent foreign policy formed solely in its national interests – particularly its concern to contain sectarian tensions internally, as parliamentarians suggested during their five-day deliberations on Yemen. Certain Pakistani commentatorswould certainly prefer their country to act simply on the basis of its own interests, and not to become embroiled in battles between other Muslim states.
Iran replacing Saudi Arabia?
Caution must be exercised with respect to the question about Pakistan’s allegiances. From the perspectives of the two antagonists – Saudi Arabia and Iran – the battle over Pakistan is most likely azero-sum game, with Pakistan being forced to choose one over the other. After all, Iran freed from sanctions would be able to provide similar kinds of support to Pakistan as Saudi Arabia, especially in terms of oil concessions and economic aid. With Iran expected to receive around $100 billion just from funds held in escrow from past oil sales, it is likely to be able provide cheap oil and aid to Pakistan.
The Pakistan foreign ministry welcomed the Iranian nuclear deal, expressing its desire to expand trade between the two countries, and to continue with the Iran-Pakistan pipelineproject, which will likely run from Asalouyeh in the Iranian Southern Pars gas field, through the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Sindh, to Karachi and Multan. Multan might also become the site from where the pipeline will extend towards Delhi in India. The pipeline project will go a long way in helping Pakistan solve its energy needs, and will also build on Pakistani collaboration with China, which seems willing to step in and bolster Pakistan in the event of a Gulf or Saudi withdrawal. China is busy constructing the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that will link southwestern Pakistan to northwestern China, playing a crucial role in regional integration of China, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Myanmar. Mushahid Hussain, a senior Pakistani political figure and chair of the Pakistan-China Institute, described the project as an integration of South Asia and East Asia into a ‘Greater South Asia’. He provides a window into how the Pakistani foreign policy establishment might be calculating a decreasing dependency on Gulf and Arab partners.
Another, more important, factor that might push Pakistan closer to Iran is security. Pakistan shares a 904 kilometre-long border with Iran which has seen them cooperate in addressing the Balochi insurgency affecting both countries for decades. Further, because of Iran’s influence in Afghanistan and among politicised Shi'a groups in Pakistan, it represents a force that Pakistan would not want to convert into an enemy. The same cannot be said of Saudi Arabia. While it does have influence over certain Sunni militant groups in Pakistan, most of them depend on logistical support from within the Pakistani security establishment. In other words, between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the former is more capable of negatively affecting Pakistan’s security. Iran has a ready network of suppliers to funnel weapons into Pakistan through Balochistan, a route that is not available to Saudi Arabia.
It should, therefore, not come as a surprise that Pakistan might begin inclining more towards Iran than in the past. Saudi Arabia could play the card of drying up Pakistan’s foreign remittances – as it has done with Yemenis and Somalis previously – by forcefully repatriating Pakistani workers in the kingdom. Their wages remitted to Pakistan represent nearly one-third of its total remittances. Together with remittances from Pakistanis in the UAE, the combined amount accounts for half of the country’s annual total of $18.4 billion in remittances. But it is doubtful whether Saudi Arabia would be ready for such a shock to its economy; Pakistanis represent the second largest group of foreign workers employed in the kingdom after India.
Another indicator that might give a better sense of how Pakistan is juggling its relationships with Iran and Saudi Arabia is the level of diplomatic activity with Iran. While Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have had no high profile exchanges – except for the meeting between Salman and Sharif – since the Pakistani decision to remain neutral on Yemen, the Iranian foreign minister, Javed Zarif, visited Pakistan in April as well as early August; the April visit was while the Pakistani parliament was deliberating on whether to support the Saudi campaign in Yemen. And, earlier this week, on 25 August, a technical delegation from Iran’s commerce ministry landed in Pakistan to explore the possibility of increasing the bilateral trade between the two countries to $5 billion.
Pakistan’s decision to stay out of the Yemen conflict is not simply based on concerns that Shi'a-Sunni sectarian tensions might increase within its populace, or that it could not afford to distract its security apparatus away from the various insurgencies within its borders. Rather, it represents a larger regional shift that will likely see Pakistan pivot away from Saudi Arabia into Iran’s embrace, a move that will also be supported by China. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies must be sensing this shift. What steps Saudi Arabia will take to counter this possibility in Pakistan and other countries as Iran grows in confidence remains to be seen. Within the Middle East regional system, the Saudis have played on the hackneyed fault lines of Arab-vs-Persian and Sunni-vs-Shi'a in order to rope in countries such as Jordan and Egypt, as witnessed in the Yemen campaign. Is this a viable option, however? Instead of visiting destruction upon a country, as in Yemen, in order to gain the upper hand in its cold war with Iran, Saudi Arabia might be better off engaging Iran directly. Pakistan seems to be choosing a less hostile course – even if it is not a preferred method of Saudis policymakers. If other countries in the region, especially Turkey, follow the same course, Saudi Arabia might quickly find itself running out of options in its bid for regional hegemony over and against Iran.
Politics and media in the Middle East: The post-AlJazeera era
Published in Middle East General
By Olivier Da Lage
We have to admit that there was a pre-AlJazeera era and a post-AlJazeera era. There is no doubt that the start of broadcasting in November 1996 by the Qatar-based Arab satellite channel has profoundly changed the media and political equation in the entire Middle East. Countless articles, many books, and research papers in many languages have been devoted to "the AlJazeera phenomenon".i
State broadcasting authorities and newspaper managers in the Middle East, international broadcasters elsewhere, and governments in the region and beyond had to rethink their policies, change the way they addressed their people and the people of their neighbouring countries. Competitors were forced to set themselves up with the aim of luring away AlJazeera viewers. Where this succeeded (e.g. with Al Arabiya), it was because these other broadcasters emulated AlJazeera's formula of field reporting, and tough questioning of political figures on live interviews. Those viewers who were attracted to other channels usually continued watching AlJazeera for the sake of comparison.
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Djokovic Was Approached to Fix Tennis Match Early in Career
admin January 18, 2016 Headlines, Tennis No Comments on Djokovic Was Approached to Fix Tennis Match Early in Career
Over the last decade, 16 players of top 50 ranked players have been flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they have thrown matches. All of these players, including winners of Grand Slam titles, were allowed to continue competing.
TIU has a zero-tolerance approach to betting-related corruption and Chris Kermode, head of the Association of Tennis Professionals, rejected claims that evidence of match-fixing had “been suppressed for any reason or isn’t being thoroughly investigated”.
World tennis number one Novak Djokovic confirmed that members of his support team were approached about throwing a match in Russia back in 2007 and he has, since then, questioned whether betting companies should be allowed to sponsor big tennis tournaments.
”I was not approached directly. I was approached through people that were working with me at that time,” he said. ”Of course, we (rejected) it right away. It didn’t even get to me – the guy that was trying to talk to me, he didn’t even get to me directly. There was nothing out of it.”
”We have, I think, a sport (that has) evolved and upgraded our programs and authorities to deal with these particular cases,” he said. ”There’s no real proof or evidence yet of any active players (being involved in match-fixing), for that matter. As long as it’s like that, it’s just speculation.”
”Honestly it’s on a borderline, I would say,” Djokovic said. ”Whether you want to have betting companies involved in the big tournaments in our sport or not, it’s hard to say what’s right and what’s wrong.”
As for Roger Federer he has heard enough speculation about match fixing and now wants the names of the suspected players. According to BBC and Buzzfeed News, tennis authorities have suppressed evidence of match-fixing and overlooked suspected cases involving players ranked in the top 50. The reports states that these players had never faced sanctions and more than half would be playing at this year’s Australian Open. The players were not identified by name.
”I would love to hear names,” Federer said. ”Then at least it’s concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it. Was it the player? Was it the support team? Who was it? Was it before? Was it a doubles player, a singles player? Which Slam?”
”It’s super serious and it’s super important to maintain the integrity of our sport,” Federer added. ”So how high up does it go? The higher it goes, the more surprised I would be.”
TIU chief Nigel Willerton declined to say whether any players at the Australian Open were being monitored for suspected match-fixing.
The problem of suspicious betting and match-fixing is not going away. Stay tuned to see if names and sanctions will be handed out.
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> 新聞故事
> Harlequin sponsors RAD Conference on dance and wellbeing
Harlequin sponsors RAD Conference on dance and wellbeing
In an ongoing commitment to raising the health and safety standards for dancers, Harlequin Floors is delighted to be exclusive sponsors of the ‘Dance and Lifelong Wellbeing’ conference which takes place on 26th, 27th and 28th April 2013 at the Royal Academy of Dance and London College of Fashion.
Combining interviews, presentations, panel discussions, demonstration classes and a live performance, the conference will bring together leading experts in dance, health, community arts and education to explore the ways in which dance can enhance lives.
"Harlequin Floors is delighted to be a part of such an important event” said Mark Rasmussen, Group Marketing Manager for Harlequin Floors. “Our sponsorship of the conference is further evidence of our commitment to delivering the very highest standards of health and safety for the world’s dance community.”
Harlequin will be present on all three days of the conference and delegates can collect literature and discuss their requirements or find out more about how dancing on the correct floor can make a difference to injury rates.
Mark Rasmussen will be taking part in a panel discussion entitled ‘Who Cares?: the health and wellbeing of professional dancers’ at 1.45pm on Saturday.
Conference highlights include a unique opportunity to hear Robert Cohan, Founder Director of The Place, reflect on his role as teacher and mentor to a generation of British contemporary dancers.
The Academy’s President, Darcey Bussell, will be present on the opening day and Gillian Lynne, the internationally renowned choreographer and a Vice-President of the RAD, will give the keynote address followed by a reception.
The conference will offer a range of perspectives on dance as a means of enhancing lifelong wellbeing, including dance and longevity, dance in the community, dance and disability, dance and fitness and the benefits of dance to physical and emotional health.
Recognised as world leaders in advanced technology flooring for dance and performing arts, Harlequin works closely with academics researching the relationship between floor qualities and preventing injury to dancers. The company develops floors with characteristics that performers prefer due to their safety, feel and durability.
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Butler, Alan
Alan Butler is British and an engineer by profession and for the past thirty years has been a full-time researcher and writer with a number of successful books to his credit(a). His area of interest is principally ancient civilisations which led to the publication of Civilization One[623] and Before the Pyramids[646] co-authored with Christopher Knight. The sequel to Civilization One was Who Built the Moon in which Butler and Knight offer evidence that our Moon is artificial!
Even more extreme is his claim in Intervention[966] that at critical junctures in man’s history, humans from the future have returned to intervene!.
Butler also wrote a book on the Phaistos Disc – The Bronze Age Disc[504].*In it he contends there is support for his 366-degree geometry. The Disc having 30 divisions on one side and 31 on the other, which, with, a calendar alternating 30-day months and 31-day months would result in a 366-day year! Sylvain Tristan supports this idea(d) .*
He has only touched briefly on the subject of Atlantis in a number of his books, but this appears to be about to change with a forthcoming offering due in 2014 entitled The Dawn of Genius[938] which promises to deal more fully with Plato’s island. In chapter nine he expresses the view that Plato’s Atlantis story is probably a conflation of a number of historical tales of which the Minoan Hypothesis provides some of the threads. He rejects an Atlantic location as contrary to geology and Plato’s nine thousand years to be archaeologically unsound.
Guy Gervis wrote a positive review of Civilisation One, while A more critical view of Butler is offered by Jason Colavito(b).
In 1999, Butler published City of the Goddess[1065], which deals with Washington, DC’s direct connection with Freemasonry and its veneration of the Great Goddess! Then in 2015 America: Nation of the Goddess[1066] will be published. It has been co-authored by Butler and Janet Wolter, wife of TV presenter Scott F. Wolter. We are already informed that among the gems contained in it, is the revelation that “every baseball diamond is actually a temple to the Goddess.” I’m not making this up. Jason Colavito was equally surprised(c).
(a) http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Butler/e/B000APK0AU
(b) http://www.jasoncolavito.com/1/post/2013/11/alan-butler-moon-built-by-time-traveling-humans-washington-monument-signals-mithras-worship.html
(c) http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/alan-butler-and-janet-wolter-claim-baseball-diamonds-are-goddess-worship-cult-sites
*(d) http://spcov.free.fr/site_nicoulaud/en/geoalan.php*
Tagged 366-degree geometry, Alan Butler, Christopher Knight, Freemasonry, Guy Gervis, Janet Wolter, Jason Colavito, Minoan Hypothesis, Phaistos Disk, pyramids, Scott F.Wolter, The Moon, time travel
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Sustainable Materials Search
Brenda Stanfield
Sandra Roedel
Donna Parrish
Jenya Zhilina
Brenda Stanfield, AIA, LEED AP+
"What gives me the greatest satisfaction in our work is to make a connection between an architect or designer and a material previously unknown that becomes part of a building project-the timeliness of it when it happens! I also love discovering the next latest and greatest material or technology that I can share with our clients. The world of material technology has exploded during the last decade making it an exciting time to be in this industry."
Brenda's interest in art and design through all her primary and secondary education years eventually led her to study interior design and architecture, first at the University of Missouri, earning a Bachelors in Interior Design, and then to the Boston Architectural Center and Washington University in St. Louis where she earned her M.Arch. Her professional career included a year with Cambridge Seven Associates and 16 years at The Architects Collaborative. During her years as a practicing architect, her skills evolved from design to mastering the process of programming and planning--collecting, assembling and disseminating information, which would become the foundations for new and renovated building projects. These skills are the ones she put to use in her own business, Building and Design Resources, launched in 1993 as a resource for information, designed to serve all those in the building industry. It was her own need for information during the recession of the early 90s that was the inspiration for this business, but it is her love of information and the desire to share it, along with her practical experience, that keeps it relevant.
Sandra Roedel, LEED AP
Sandy's background reveals clearly what drew her to Building and Design Resources. Her education includes two Associates degrees, one from New York's Fashion Institute and one in textile design from RIT, and a BA in Art History from Wellesley College. After a professional career that included interior design for friends and family, being a clothing buyer for The Lodge in Harvard Square, and being a co-founder and operator of Bakers' Best, a specialty food shop/cafe, where she focused on interior design and display, purchasing, baking and the hospitality aspects of the business, she followed a mid-career interest in libraries and the invaluable services they offer. This interest brought her back to school to earn a Masters in Library Science from Simmons College. After an introduction to the world of special libraries working as an assistant librarian for Prentice Hall, she found her way to BDR.
Sandy's keen sense of hospitality makes her a welcome presence in all of her libraries. She is resourceful in life and in her job, and is tenacious in finding the right answers, especially when it's a totally new topic on a subject or material she has never researched before. She loves being a part of the design process, loves her job with BDR and looks forward with enthusiasm each and every day as she heads to the libraries of our client firms. As Brenda says, "what more could a 'boss' ask for!"
Donna has worked in the architecture, design, and art industries for over twenty years. She earned an MArch in Architecture from the University of Virginia, a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design, and has completed numerous specialized study and professional development programs, such as the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. Her work at Building & Design Resources has refined her skills in library management, product research, and online database maintenance, as well as helped to strengthen communication between professionals in BDR's vast network.
Her understanding of architecture and design allows her to better suit her research and maintenance models for the architects and interior designers she supports. Her other interests include exhibition planning, architectural photography, environmental psychology, and art education, each of which she has pursued in equal measure.
As an architectural historian and an experienced archivist with over 10 years of experience with Massachusetts architectural firms, Jenya knows the importance of the complete life cycle of records, whether organizing active project paper and digital architectural and administration documentation or sorting through old moldy blueprints. For legal, historical, design and construction administration purposes, she creates and implements record management and archival systems tailored specifically to the needs of each of our architectural firm clients. She coordinates and maintains materials in off-site storage, making both security and accessibility her top priorities. Once Jenya's Record and Information Management (RIM) and Archival Systems are in place, they can easily be maintained by office staff, for which she provides orientation and training.
Jenya's sunny personality, combined with her efficient and systematic approach to records management, has made her essential with many of our clients. While wearing her "historian" hat, she has even featured some of the architectural projects, with which she has been involved, in publications. Jenya takes pride in preserving the legacies of the firms she serves. She is a member of the Society of Architectural Historians as well as of the Society of Americans Archivists.
Originally from St.-Petersburg, Russia, Jenya is currently a PhD candidate at the Russian Academy of Arts working on a dissertation on H.H. Richardson. While in Russia, she also taught at the Academy of Arts and at the European University, both in St. Petersburg-courses on the History of New England Architecture and on Historic Preservation in New England. She has been living with her family in Boston for the past fourteen years.
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rock alternative rock alternative political metal Add to favorites
Rage Against the Machine is an American rap metal band, formed in 1991 in Los Angeles, California. The band's line-up comprises vocalist Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. Critics have noted Rage Against the Machine for its "fiercely polemical music, which brewed sloganeering leftist rants against corporate America, cultural imperialism, and government oppression into a Molotov cocktail of hardcore punk, hip hop, alternative metal, and funk." Rage Against the Machine drew inspiration from early heavy metal instrumentation, as well as rap acts such as Afrika Bambaataa, Public Enemy and Beastie Boys.
In 1992, the band released its self-titled debut album, which became a commercial success, leading to a slot in the 1993 Lollapalooza. The band did not release a follow-up record until 1996, with Evil Empire. The band's third album The Battle of Los Angeles was released in 1999. During their initial nine year run, they became one of the most popular and influential political bands in contemporary music.
Shortly after breaking up in 2000, the band released the cover album Renegades. De la Rocha & Morello both started low-key solo careers; the rest of the band formed the rock supergroup Audioslave with Chris Cornell, then-former frontman of Soundgarden, which disbanded in 2007, and in April of that year, Rage Against the Machine performed together for the first time in seven years at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The band has continued to perform at many live venues and festivals around the world since 2007 but have not recorded any new studio material, as of yet.
Due to a popular Facebook Campaign in 2009, the band managed to beat Joe McElderry, winner of the X Factor 2009, to the UK Christmas number one spot. This broke the chain of X Factor winners reaching the Christmas number one spot. To celebrate, Rage Against The Machine held a free gig to show their gratitude towards their fans.
1) Killing in the Name
2) Bulls on Parade
3) Guerrilla Radio
4) Bombtrack
5) Wake Up
6) Know Your Enemy
7) Bullet in the Head
8) Testify
9) Sleep Now in the Fire
10) Take the Power Back
11) Renegades of Funk
12) Freedom
13) Calm Like a Bomb
14) People of the Sun
15) Settle for Nothing
16) Fistful of Steel
17) Township Rebellion
18) Vietnow
19) Born of a Broken Man
20) Maria
21) Down Rodeo
22) Mic Check
23) Revolver
24) Voice of the Voiceless
25) Tire Me
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Amy Byer Shainman, also known as the BRCA Responder, is a passionate patient advocate for those with BRCA and other hereditary cancer syndromes. While Angelina Jolie inherited her BRCA1 gene mutation from her mother, Amy inherited her BRCA1 gene mutation from her father. In 2010, Amy had two prophylactic surgeries to reduce her cancer risk drastically; a nipple sparing, skin-sparing mastectomy with reconstruction and oophorectomy with a hysterectomy.
Amy Byer Shainman, also known as BRCA Responder, is a patient advocate who provides support and education surrounding BRCA and other hereditary cancer syndromes. She's the executive producer of the award-winning documentary "Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer" and the author of the award-winning medical memoir "Resurrection Lily: The BRCA Gene, Hereditary Cancer & Lifesaving Whispers from the Grandmother I Never Knew." As a BRCA1 gene mutation carrier, Shainman has been featured in Cure Magazine, The Jewish Journal, and The Palm Beach Post, as well as numerous live and taped television and radio segments nationwide. As a digital ambassador for the National Society of Genetic Counselors gene pool, she is considered one of fifteen influencers who have unique perspectives and knowledge in the fields of genetics and genetic counseling. Her articles have been published in The American Journal of Managed Care, Jupiter Magazine, and Oncology Nursing News.
READ MORE ABOUT AMY
READ THE LATEST BLOG POST
Colors of Hereditary Cancer
PINK AND BLUE takes a profound look into the BRCA world examining what it is and how this mutation puts both women and men at a higher risk of developing numerous cancers.
Watch Now On iTunes
pinkandbluemovie.com
thebrcaresponder@earthlink.net
© 2019 BRCA Responder | Powered by Beaver Builder
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Tag Archives: Brendan Rogers
Posted on November 1, 2015 by Marc Jones
The management carousel is well underway in the Premier League this season with the sacking of Brendan Rogers, followed by Tim Sherwood, and may at the time of writing, improbably, soon claim the mightily successful José Mourinho. Leadership at professional football clubs is a curious thing. At its heart is the paradox that the manager is the single biggest factor in success, but rarely is the manager given a substantial length of time to demonstrate their worth. The opportunity to fail in the pursuit of success is not often tolerated and because of this stability, while highly valued, is rare. Currently, in the Premier League only five managers (Arsène Wenger, Eddie Howe José Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini, Roberto Martínez) have been with their team for more than two years. While 10 of the managers in the Premier League have been with their team for less than a year.
This short term approach in football is thrown into focus as I have started reading Winners and How They Succeed by Alastair Campbell and in his opening chapter he talks about how an approach to winning is encapsulated in three letters; OST.
O – Objective
S – Strategy
T – Tactics
To illustrate this in a football context Alastair used the example of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team, with an objective of win everything, a strategy of play better football than anyone else and the tactics to achieve this included the five-second rule where players pressed to regain possession in tight areas within 5-seconds of losing it and when in possession they would try to create a ‘free-man’ in the area where a passage of play might start.
There were countless other examples of this OST approach from other sports, business and politics. But what really interested me is how many of the examples were long term and took years to enact. Whether it is the strategy devised in 1994 to help Labour win power in 1997 through to other sports where change has been a process measured in years as evidenced in the work of Sir David Brailsford through to Sir Clive Woodward. I know that Sir Alex Ferguson is a counter example from football but it is difficult to imagine a manager at a top club being given that length of time before success in the modern era.
So time to succeed simply does not exist for managers in football. Of course managerial changes are to a degree an inevitability, but this short time in situ for managers has two immediate consequences for clubs and football more widely. First, the development of players is less of a priority than the purchase of players equipped to perform to Premier League standards immediately. Both Brendan Rogers and more recently Tim Sherwood have been more heavily criticised for perceived failings in the transfer market than their ability to develop young players – at which both actually seem pretty skilled. Second, the importance of a successful transfer policy is evident in that many clubs now seem to operate a transfer committee, where the purchase of players is decided by a group of individuals. Whether the manager does, or does not, have the final say differs depending on which press report you read. But this seems a classic fudge. The manger bears all the responsibility, but does not necessarily have all the power.
In an interesting article Alex Keble, writing in the Independent queried whether the sacking of Tim Sherwood was a victory for business over entertainment. It is a triumph for business in that it is financially important for Aston Villa to remain in the Premier League. But it is not very ‘business like’ in that Tim Sherwood was sacked ten games into a new season where he was presumably trying to enact a longer term approach for the club after a successful spell towards the end of last season. He presided over the sale of his two best players and the purchase of younger, talented, but unproven players. If he is the wrong person now, he was the wrong appointment eight months ago. Both his strengths and weaknesses as a manager were readily apparent at his appointment and little has changed since then. It is this type of muddled thinking that makes sustainable long term success unobtainable for so many clubs.
Of course there are clubs that are an exception, Swansea, Stoke City, and Southampton have all successfully ascended to the Premier league and flourished there. But as an outsider viewing many of the clubs in the Premier League it seems as though immediate improvement is the sole objective, the strategy is to change the manager when things are not going well and hope for a boost from the honeymoon period and the tactics vary accordingly. That half the managers in the Premier League have been with their team for less than a year is illustrative. A longer term strategy based on OST would help many clubs. The tactics to succeed at football really depend on the wider strategy and clear objective.
Alastair Campbell will be undertaking a residency at Staffordshire University on the 16th-18th November and will be giving a Public Lecture on the 16th November.
Posted in Business, Football, Leadership | Tagged Alastair Cambell, Brendan Rogers, José Mourinho, Management, Tim Sherwood | Leave a reply
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History & Religion
Diana Tsankova
Radio Bulgaria
Of Bulgarian yoghurt, “friendly” bacteria and the man who discovered it
published on 7/4/15 12:10 PM
Author: Diana Tsankova
Photo: library
Bulgarian yoghurt may be famous all over the world but few people know who actually discovered lactobacillus bulgaricus – the “friendly” bacteria used in its making. In 1905, Dr. Stamen Grigorov described the lactic acid microorganism which causes milk to ferment. Born and raised in the country, the ninth of twelve children in the family – who would have thought that the little boy from Stouden Izvor village would end up in Montpellier and graduate science at the university there with honours? With the support of patriotically-minded Bulgarians he went to study in Geneva where his perspicacity was noticed by foremost bacteriologist Prof. Léon Massol. It was he who assigned Stamen Grigorov the task of studying the flora of Bulgarian yoghurt. At that same time, Nobel prize winner Prof. Ilya Mechnikov was looking into the causes of ageing and ascertained that the greatest number of centenarians were to be found in Bulgaria. Regrettably, this is no longer so. But can one of the reasons for this phenomenon be found in Bulgarian yoghurt?
“Many manufacturers prefer to use cheaper starter cultures of lower quality,“ says Yulia Grigorova, chair of the Dr. Stamen Grigorov foundation and his granddaughter. “In recent years many leading companies have been very careful about quality and have been manufacturing excellent yoghurt. Of course it tastes different, because they have to make it marketable, more durable and give it a certain thickness. Whereas homemade yoghurt does not have the same density or consistency but it is this kind of yoghurt that has an excellent effect on the body’s microflora. As to longevity, the drop in consumption of real yoghurt is not the only reason. Many Bulgarians opt to live in the country when they retire and with good reason – the air there is very different.”
Organic food is growing more and more popular abroad and Bulgarian yoghurt can be said to be the purest food in our lands. But here too, there are problems, says Yulia Grigorova:
“This sphere too leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately some of Bulgaria’s top researchers have gone to work at laboratories abroad. They work in Japan, in China, countries that have been successful on this market, not to mention the former Soviet republics. Interest in organic food has been growing worldwide but we have not been taking full advantage of all of yoghurt’s qualities. And sometimes researchers in other countries know more about it than their colleagues here, in Bulgaria.”
And one more interesting fact from Dr. Grigorov’s biography – by an odd confluence of events, his name has not gone down in history as the father of the tuberculosis vaccine. So, it was Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin who put their names down as the men who discovered it.
“Before his return to Bulgaria, Dr. Grigorov started work on tubercular cells and continued his research as head physician of the hospital in Trun,” Yulia Grigorova goes on to say. “In 1906 - three months before the two Frenchmen made their discovery – he created the vaccine but there was no institution in Bulgaria powerful enough to back him, so it was the other vaccine that gained popularity. What is more, senior medical staff in this country paid no heed to his research or the excellent results he obtained. That is the reason why he left for Milan where he hoped to have the vaccine approved. As a matter of fact, his vaccine is not just for prevention but also for treatment. Nowadays, researchers base their work on it.”
The 110th anniversary of Dr. Stamen Grigorov’s discovery was marked with a science conference held in Sofia and a yoghurt festival in the town of Trun. Locals displayed their homemade yoghurt and cheese, took part in a competition for best animal product food; for the children a quiz was organized with questions about the life and work of the prominent researcher. In the words of Trun’s mayor Stanislava Alexieva from now on the small town will be staking more and more on green tourism.
“In future we shall endeavor to have demonstrations of how yoghurt is made at the museum in Studen Izvor village and we shall combine them with rural tourism. With the help of the local people who are engaged in animal husbandry, we shall organize a yoghurt tour – showing visitors how it is made, from the milking to the ready product.”
English version: Milena Daynova
Radio Bulgaria Life
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Your Power... use it.
This is a message to my Bernie Sanders supporting friends who are disillusioned by both candidates and are considering a "protest vote" for either Jill Stein or Gary Johnson.
I get it. I love that Bernie put a voice to what we know to be true--the destruction of our world, a system that is not working for Earth... or for people. I supported Bernie and love that he fought so hard for us. I, too, am righteously angry at the desecration of our world, of a system that perpetuates a destructive world view, at an economic systems that must change. We know that if Bernie had received even one tenth of the republican nominee's corporate media airtime, he would have been the democratic nominee.
He is not. He did, however, fight for progress on the democratic platform... and while changing the party platform isn't revolutionary, it isn't the entirely wrong direction either.
The reason this agenda has been so difficult to enact is NOT that Clinton-like democrats are in the pocket of the 1%. It isn't. Rather, it's because WAY too many people are not yet awake. They are angry and hurt, and they literally put people in power who not only do not believe in climate change, they spew lies about it. They are not only racist, they spread the message of the KKK. They not only think Earth is here to be used up and dominated, they actively work to dismantle wilderness protections, national parks and (if they had their way) would cut down every last redwood tree. Their world view is shaped by lies and fueled by fear.
Personally, I would like reality to intervene as soon as possible.
We now face a choice.
We have two nominees--one knows how to work within the existing (flawed) system for good, and one is willing to destroy everything we care about for his own ego. He is willing to use nuclear weapons. He is willing to actively dismantle environmental protection. He is frothing his supporters to violence against everyone else. He (with media complicity) is sending exactly the wrong message to children of how to treat others. Unless we strongly repudiate this, we will see more of it from his base of angry and violent supporters in the years to come.
It is just the beginning. Unless we stop it now.
We need to take a stand. We must be willing to be as clear about what we stand for as his supporters are angry and violent. We stand for Earth. We stand for human decency. We stand for respect. We stand for diversity and service to others. We stand for women, for native peoples, for people of color, for all faith traditions. Let us be a beacon of light for all. This election should not even be close.
Here is my request. Do not cast a protest vote. Cast a decisive vote that repudiates the republican nominee decisively, clearly and powerfully. If you do not like Hillary and claim there is no difference--that she is "the lesser of two evils"-- and you cannot bring yourself to vote for her--I would gently say this to you: In claiming to "vote your conscience" it is YOUR ego that is allowing you to feel powerless and victimized by the existing two party system. A protest vote will not change the system (though it may help you feel good). In fact, it won't be noticed... it will be misinterpreted. it will be a footnote in history. With a protest vote, you are choosing to sit this one out. You are playing the victim and not claiming your power.
Please don't do that.
Right now, you have the power to use that vote to send a clear message. Your vote can decisively repudiate an agenda that is 100% wrong. Not by a little bit. but by a LOT.
Writer and Earth Activist Starhawk says "The Universe only grants more power to those who are willing to use the power they have."
I urge you: do not sit it out or cast a protest vote. Cast your vote for Hillary Clinton. Get your friends to do the same. And then work as hard as you did for Bernie to hold her to task on the things that matter.
P.S. The two choices are best compared by looking at the speeches this week. One is repudiated by the Anti Defamation League for its anti semitism and is filled with distortions and lies, and the other is FLOTUS.
The reason I loved Michelle Obama's speech so much is that it came from her heart--from a place of authenticity and truth. And it is a clarion call to human decency. I urge you to listen to it. Here.
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Sponsor a Meal
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After the SRO building he’s lived in for the past 13 years on Chicago’s far North Side was sold to a high-end developer last summer, Lamont Burnett along with more than a hundred other tenants were facing imminent eviction. Most, having nowhere else to go, would soon be homeless.
So Lamont helped organize his fellow tenants. Last October, they met with the new owner to address the deteriorating living conditions — including chronic bed bug infestations and broken plumbing — that led to a building code violations complaint with the city. With the help of several legal aid and housing groups, they also petitioned the city to ensure no evictions would take place until the new owner submitted a relocation plan, which is required by city ordinance. The tenants then went public, holding several press conferences outside the building and at City Hall, and garnered news stories in the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times.
They ultimately won a court injunction against any evictions taking place until a relocation plan, including cash reimbursements for moving and move-in expenses, was in place for all residents.
“I wouldn’t exactly say justice was done,” says Lamont, “but we accomplished something by preventing the new owner from just kicking us all out on the street.”
Lamont, 51, has been a regular at CHI meals for more than a decade. A lifelong Chicagoan who grew up one of 12 children in the Robert Taylor homes on Chicago’s South Side, he subsists on a monthly disability check after a near-fatal stroke in his early 30s left him unable to work. CHI has been a lifeline not only for the nutritious, delicious dinner that he can count on every Wednesday, but also for the friendships that he’s made breaking bread with his fellow guests.
“I come for the company, and the programs, especially arts and culture,” says Lamont.
One of his favorite outings with CHI so far was the architectural boat tour along the Chicago River he enjoyed last year. “That’s the first time I’d ever been on a boat!” he admits.
Without CHI, he adds, “a lot of us would be in trouble. A lot of people who come to the meals have no other resources. There are others out there that provide food, but they don’t go the distance [CHI] does.”
Recently, Lamont was able to move in to another low-income housing unit not too far from his previous place. He’s satisfied with his new digs, which he says are cleaner and more spacious than the 7x7 room he had lived in before. He has his own closet and a full ceiling instead of the overhead fencing in his former building (typical of many SROs). But he’s learned that the city has plans to rehab the building soon and he’s on the waiting list for a low-income unit in his former home once it’s redeveloped.
For now though, he says he’s happy where he is and what he and his fellow residents were able to accomplish.
“I know I can’t save everybody,” he says. “I just want to make sure everyone gets their fair share.”
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Wild Card Game Stats Breakdown
Tyler Dencker· 10 months ago
162 games, 100 wins, 851 runs, a record-setting 267 home runs, and all comes down to this.
Yankees vs. Athletics. Winner advances to the ALDS against the Red Sox. Loser goes home.
But since this is baseball, nothing is that simple – so with that being said, here’s an in-depth stats breakdown of the biggest game of the year for both teams.
Wild Card Facts
Since the one-game Wild Card was implemented in 2012, the home team is 5-7. Only two teams have advanced by scoring three runs or less. The 2015 Astros were one of them (they faced the Yankees).
The Yankees have hosted two Wild Card games in the past three years (2015 and 2017). The only players to appear in both were Greg Bird, Didi Gregorius, and Brett Gardner.
Record-wise, this year’s Yankees team is the best team to ever play in a Wild Card, and their opponent, the A’s, are the 3rd-best. Here is a list of the top five:
2018 Yankees (100-62)
2015 Pirates (98-64)
2018 Athletics (97-65)
2015 Cubs (97-65)
Yankees vs. A’s This Season
The Yankees have played the A’s six times this year – three times at home, and three on the road. They were 3-3 overall: 2-1 at home and 1-2 on the road.
The A’s have averaged 5.5 runs per game against the Yankees this season, while the Yankees have averaged just 4.7 runs per game. The A’s also have the Yankees bested in average, as they’re hitting .246 against the Yanks – compared to the Yanks .229 average.
One stat category the Yankees have the A’s beat in for the season series is home runs – the Yankees have hit 10 while the A’s have hit eight.
Speaking of home runs, Aaron Judge is one Yankee who has played well against the A’s this season. He has at least one RBI in each game he’s faced off against them. Fellow outfielder Aaron Hicks has at least one RBI in four of the six games he’s played against the A’s this season as well.
Yankees Starter: Luis Severino
Luis Severino will take the mound for the Yanks.
It’s been a tale of two halves for the young ace, as he was spectacular during the first half of the season but was among the league’s worst in the second half.
Regardless, Severino statistically pitches better at home. Here are his home and road splits (home number on the left, away number on the right:
Starts: 15 at home // 17 on road
Yankees record: 13-2 // 11-6
ERA: 2.74 // 3.99
BAA: .217 // .255
HR per 9 innings: 0.78 // 1.0
Strikeout rate: 30.1% // 26.6%
Severino is statistically better at home.
The current A’s roster has 64 career plate appearances against Severino. Here are their numbers against him:
.271 AVG
1 home run (Mark Canha)
5 walks
15 strikeouts
4 extra-base hits
One player that has batted well against Severino is Jed Lowrie. Lowrie is 6 for 11 against Severino with 2 runs and 3 RBI. Lowrie has also faced Severino more than any other active player on the A’s – no one else on the A’s with more than 5 plate appearances against Severino has an average better than .250. Khris Davis, for example, is 1 for 10 against Severino with 1 double, 3 strikeouts, and a walk.
A’s starter: Liam Hendriks
As for the A’s, they will choose to “bullpen” for the game, and Liam Hendriks will be “The Opener.”
For those who don’t know, this means that the A’s will not use a starting pitcher, but will rather use a handful of relievers to pitch their way through the game.
The A’s have used Hendriks as “The Opener” eight times this season and the team is 4-4 as a result. Hendriks even started against the Yankees in early September in a game the Yanks won 5-1. However, Hendriks did his job, pitching one inning of perfect baseball.
It is almost impossible to tell who will pitch in this game and when for the A’s, but here is how Hendriks has fared against current Yankee players in his career (in 20 total plate appearances).
0 home runs
1 walk
6 strikeouts
Andrew McCutchen has faced him the most with 5 plate appearances, and he’s 2 for 5 with a double, a triple, a run, and 3 RBI.
It’s easy to read into these numbers, but being that Hendriks will likely only pitch one inning, there are too many variables to consider.
Yankees At Home This Season
As we all know from last postseason, the Yankees like to play at home.
The team was 53-28 at home this season, the 2nd-best record in the majors behind only the Red Sox.
Aaron Judge is one player who performs far better at home – he leads the Yankees with a .352 batting average at home (compared to a .212 average on the road). He also has 18 home runs and 45 RBI at home compared to only 9 home runs and 22 RBI on the road.
Didi Gregorius is another example of a guy who simply plays better at home. He leads the Yankees with 55 RBI at home, compared to just 31 on the road. He also has 19 home runs at home and only 8 on the road.
One last thing – the Yankees are 6-0 in their last six postseason games in the Bronx.
The Yankees roster is full of difference makers, but if there’s one guy I’m putting my money on to make a big impact in this game, it’s mid-season acquisition Luke Voit.
Here are Voit’s numbers in September (24 games):
.333 average
10 home runs
22 RBI
19 runs scored
.414 OBP
Voit also recorded at least one hit in 18 of the 24 games, and registered at least one RBI in 14 of the 24 games.
Everything you’ve read so far is a fact… so now it’s time for an opinion .
My prediction for the game: Severino goes five strong, Voit homers at least once and the Yanks bullpen closes it out for a 6-3 victory.
It’s going to be a fun one in the Bronx – but the only stat that matters at the end of the day is who gets the W. Let’s go Yanks!
Also, check out the most recent episode of The Bronx Pinstripes Show. The guys broke-down all these numbers, including the rosters, matchups, and much more!
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Graduate study/
Admission to graduate study/
Welcome from the graduate dean
Administration and contact information
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Types of admissions
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The university encourages qualified international students to seek admission to VCU. U.S. government regulations and VCU admission policies require nonimmigrant applicants to demonstrate:
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International students are advised to refer to university and program admission requirements in this bulletin for other information requested of all applicants. An applicant must have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in the United States or an equivalent degree from a recognized foreign institution. Official academic records must be submitted.
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To ensure maximum benefit from academic study at VCU, all non-native English-speaking applicants, regardless of immigration status, must provide evidence of English language proficiency before admission and/or enrollment in the university.
An applicant may satisfy university English proficiency requirements by obtaining a satisfactory score on the TOEFL. The university minimum TOEFL score requirement is 550 (paper-based) or 80 (Internet-based). Some graduate programs will accept satisfactory scores on the IELTS as evidence of English proficiency. The university minimum IELTS score requirement is 6.5. The PTE is also accepted with a minimum score of 65. Individual programs may require higher scores. TOEFL, IELTS and PTE scores are valid for two years.
The Office of Admissions reserves the right to require additional testing and study in the VCU English Language Program prior to full-time enrollment in university courses. The university offers a full-time English-as-a-Second-Language noncredit program. For information on the VCU English Language Program, including fees, international students can contact the English Language Program, Virginia Commonwealth University, Box 843043, Richmond, VA 23284-3043, United States; (804) 828-2551, or by email: oie-elp@vcu.edu; or visit the ELP webpage. online.
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Because of the amount of time required to process applications from international students and for international students to obtain their visas, prospective students should apply well in advance of the international application deadlines. The deadlines are April 1 for fall semester, Oct. 1 for spring semester and Feb. 1 for summer session. Students also must meet specific program deadlines. All required admission documents must be submitted no later than eight weeks prior to registration if appropriate immigration documents are to be issued. Applicants who are unable to meet this credential deadline will need to defer the intended semester of entry.
Revised 4/08/2014
University Graduate Council
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Proof of current visa type must be submitted with the application for applicants who are in the United States on student visas. F-1 students and J-1 visiting scholars admitted to VCU must submit copies of all immigration documents to the VCU international student adviser prior to enrolling in classes.
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Because immigrant applicants usually are in the United States at the time applications are submitted, these students are required to meet the same application deadlines as U.S. citizens.
If educated in the United States, immigrant students will be considered for admission under the same academic policies as those applied to U.S. citizens. If educated outside the United States, the same academic records are required as those for nonimmigrant students.
VCU requires detailed information concerning U.S. immigration status. Proof of permanent residency or application for permanent residency must be submitted with the admission application.
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When Crewmembers Duke It Out
Disputes aboard a vessel are usually resolved with words and amicable negotiation. Occasionally, they are resolved with fists and weapons. This column explains the circumstances under which a vessel owner can be held liable for personal injuries or death resulting from a fight between crewmembers aboard a vessel.
The Seaworthiness Standard
More than sixty years ago, the United States Supreme Court considered the question of whether a vessel owner could be held liable for injuries or death resulting from a shipboard fight between two crewmembers. It answered the question "yes."
Boudoin v. Lykes Brothers Steamship Co. Inc. 75 S. Ct. 382 (1955) arose out of a fight between plaintiff Boudoin, an oiler on a Lykes vessel, and Gonzalez, a deck maintenance man on the same vessel. After a drinking party aboard the vessel, Gonzalez became drunk and struck Boudoin with a liquor bottle. Gonzalez left the scene and returned with a large knife. Boudoin was taken to the vessel's hospital outside of which Gonzalez created a disturbance including threatening the mate.
Six hours after the incident, Gonzalez was ordered to the master's cabin. He refused to make any statement about what had happened. He was then ordered to clean the vessel's hospital but instead left the vessel. Later, he returned with bottles of liquor. The captain caught him, took away the liquor, and placed him in irons. The next day, Gonzalez left the vessel without permission. He returned two days later whereupon his absence without permission was noted, and he was fined. When the vessel returned to the United States, the master fired Gonzalez although he later worked on other vessels owned by Lykes.
Boudoin sued Lykes for his personal injuries. He alleged negligence and breach of the warranty of seaworthiness owed to him by Lykes. The district court entered judgment for Boudoin holding: 1) Lykes breached the warranty of seaworthiness by employing Gonzalez on the vessel; and 2) the vessel's officers were negligent. It relied on a Second Circuit case in which the court analyzed the doctrine of seaworthiness. The Second Circuit noted that as to the vessel itself, seaworthiness does not mean the vessel can withstand every condition encountered. Rather, the vessel must be reasonably fit for the intended voyage. Similarly, with respect to the crew, seaworthiness does not mean each crewmember must be competent to face all conditions. Rather, each crewmember must be "equal in disposition and seamanship to the ordinary men in the calling." The district court found Gonzalez was not equal in disposition and seamanship resulting in the vessel being held unseaworthy and its owner being held liable for Boudoin's injuries. The court of appeals reversed.
The United States Supreme Court agreed with the district court's analysis and reversed the court of appeal, resulting in the vessel owner being held liable. The Supreme Court noted the warranty of seaworthiness owed to a seaman is a type of liability imposed without fault. However, it made clear a vessel owner is not liable for injuries resulting from "every sailor's brawl" or "every time a seaman gets drunk". It recognized "sailors lead a rough life and are more apt to use their fists than office employees." It applied the same standard for judging the seaworthiness of the vessel to judge the seaworthiness of the crewmembers. It posed the question "was the assault within the usual and customary standards of the calling" or did it involve a seaman "with a wicked disposition, a propensity to evil conduct, a savage and vicious nature?" If the former, then it was part of the risk assumed by a seaman and therefore not a breach of the warranty of seaworthiness. If the latter, then the vessel became "a perilous place" and the warranty of seaworthiness was breached. The court said "a vessel bursting at the seams might well be a safer place than one with a homicidal maniac as a crew member." While expressly disavowing any suggestion that Gonzalez was a homicidal maniac, the court held there was sufficient evidence for the district court to have concluded Gonzalez had a savage disposition endangering the lives of other crewmembers working aboard the vessel.
Vessel Owner Liability Not Found
The seaworthiness standard for crewmembers fashioned by the United States Supreme Court in Boudoin has been relied on by courts since then to judge whether a vessel owner should be held liable for personal injuries or death suffered by a crewmember in a shipboard fight. The lack of knowledge by the vessel owner of a crewmember's vicious tendencies is not a defense to liability. Surprisingly, many courts have held vessel owners not liable for injuries caused by fighting aboard a vessel in circumstances that would likely lead to liability in the case of non-seafarers.
Kirsch v. United States of America, 450 F.2d 326 (9th Cir. 1971) involved a fight between chief steward Kirsch and third assistant engineer Hutchison. Kirsch allegedly failed to arrange for Hutchison's bed to be made up. Kirsch and Hutchison met to discuss the matter. Hutchison lost his temper and struck Kirsch twice with his fist. Kirsch then fell over the raised threshold of the room where they were meeting. Kirsch did not try to hit Hutchison. After Kirsch fell, the fight ended and Kirsch was able to carry out his duties until the end of the voyage. He sued the United States as vessel owner for his injuries. The district court held Hutchison's presence on the vessel rendered it unseaworthy. The Ninth Circuit disagreed.
It noted Hutchison had been in three previous fights during his thirty year career, all of which fights had occurred ten years before his fight with Kirsch. It also noted Hutchison had been in one fight after the incident with Kirsch. Nonetheless, the Ninth Circuit reasoned the short-lived fights involved only the use of hands and did not evidence sufficient brutality or viciousness to rise to the level of conduct rendering the vessel unseaworthy under the criteria set forth in Boudoin. It noted a seaman's shipboard conduct "is not measured by the same standard as the conduct of ordinary men ashore." Accordingly, it found five shipboard fights in his career did not evidence Hutchison had a savage or vicious nature such as to make the vessel on which he was serving "a perilous place."
Vessel Owner Liability Found
Cases in which the court found a crewmember's conduct sufficiently egregious to meet the Boudoin standard for imposing liability on the vessel owner for injuries resulting from a shipboard fight are relatively rare. The rarity of such cases reflects a high tolerance by the courts for the stresses of life at sea. Indeed, one court noted "all men are to some degree irascible." Further, the courts have considered "the rigors of work at sea for long periods of time in close confines of a vessel may lead not only to quarrels but to physical challenges." The occasional cases in which vessel owner liability was found involved dangerous weapons and egregious conduct.
Liability was imposed on the vessel owner for the death of a crewmember in Miles v. Melrose, 882 F.2d 976 (5th Cir. 1989.) Melrose was the chief cook on the M/V Archon. Jackson was the chief steward/baker and the decedent, Torregano, was the steward's assistant. Melrose was not happy with the working conditions aboard the M/V Archon and asked the captain to be relieved of his duties. The captain informed him he would be put off the vessel at the next port of call. On the same day, Melrose argued with Jackson. He accused him of being a weak steward, and too permissive with Torregano. Jackson believed Melrose to be under the influence of alcohol at that time as well as hostile and angry.
Approximately one hour after his argument with Melrose, Jackson went to Torregano's cabin and found him dead, lying in a pool of blood. In the hallway outside Torregano's cabin, Jackson found Melrose standing naked with a bloody towel wrapped around his arm. The autopsy revealed Torregano suffered sixty-two stab wounds and cuts including wounds on his back which indicated they were inflicted when Torregano was unable to defend himself. Torregano died as a result of stab wounds to his heart and chest. Melrose was found to have a blood alcohol level of .19.
Torregano's mother, Mercedel Miles, sued the owner of the M/V Archon alleging among other things, that the M/V Archon was unseaworthy as a result of Melrose's presence as a crewmember. The jury found the vessel owner to have been negligent and attributed 7 percent comparative fault to Torregano. The jury also found the M/V Archonwas seaworthy. Miles moved for the judge to enter judgment in her favor despite the jury's verdict. The court denied the motion. Miles appealed.
The Fifth Circuit reversed. It held the district court erred when not entering judgment in Miles's favor based on the unseaworthiness of the M/V Archon even though the jury had found otherwise. The court found the viciousness of the attack led to the conclusion Melrose had an "especially dangerous disposition" and was not "equal in disposition and seamanship to the ordinary men in the calling" which rendered the M/V Archon unseaworthy. The court also held there was insufficient evidence to attribute any comparative fault to the decedent.
A vessel owner can be held liable for personal injuries or death resulting from a fight between crewmembers based on an unseaworthiness theory. The imposition of such liability is relatively rare but will occur if the seaman inflicting the injuries or death has a savage and vicious nature beyond the customary standards of seamen.
Outside Link: www.pacmar.com/story/2018/03/01/maritime-law/when-crewmembers-duke-it-out/596....
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Kiss Makes People Angry, And So Does Bruce
Bruce Springsteen's recent tour of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa found "The Boss" and the ESB playing some unlikely covers. Not everyone thought this was a good idea. Some of my closest friends actually got so twisted by the cover of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" that they waged a Facebook war against Mr. Springsteen that is still continuing, calling out Bruce for using a capo on his guitar, not singing the melody precisely as Bon Scott, playing it in a different key, and most recently, posting the now viral video of Billy Joel and Brian Johnson's performance of "You Shook Me All Night Long" from MSG last week, with the accompanying commentary, "Leave the vocals to Brian, Bruce. This is how it's done!" (It is?)
This all seems very unreasonable to me and exemplifies the phrase "You are so missing the point!"
I understand not being a fan of Bruce Springsteen. I don't understand the anger. And this is not just my handful of friends who "don't get Bruce." It seems that people don't just not like Bruce Springsteen. They despise Bruce Springsteen. It's personal.
I've seen this same phenomenon with Kiss and in many cases, it has little to do with the band's catalogue of songs. People who have admittedly never listened to the band, dislike the band strictly because of the make-up and choice of...uh...clothing. (And maybe because Gene & Paul can be idiots occasionally.) But this hatred is deep. "This band is a fucking joke!" I've heard that more than a few times from people I respect. It's personal.
You know who makes me that angry? Almost no one unless I've actually heard the music.
But, of course, I've expressed my ire and frustration right on these very pages over many different singers and songwriters, though usually it has more to do with the hyping of said singers and songwriters and not so much the output, which with me, is usually just a take it or leave it relationship.
"I do love the reason they won't perform at the show: 60-year-old guys in wigs arguing over who gets to put on the kitty-cat makeup."
This comment left on yesterday's post seems to be missing the point, with all due respect to our good friend who posted it. If it were a friendly neighborhood softball game being played by the Knights Of Columbus and a melee broke out over who gets to be the Mets and who gets to be the Yankees, I'd understand. But aside from being a tad over the top...just a tad...is Kiss's get-up that much different than say...Pink's, a performer who flies around on a trapeze with bombs bursting in air? Or the countless bands and performers from The Stones to The Who to David Bowie to Black Sabbath to The Ramones to every single bearded 25 year-old moody singer-songwriter with a guitar and deviated septum? Costumes, antics, make-up, neon-pink boas, simulated on-stage fellatio, explosions and even silence (see Dylan and Van) have been a part of rock and roll for years. No one discusses these people with the same fury and disgust as they do Bruce and Kiss, at least not that I have witnessed on such a regular basis.
This is not about Kiss, or whether they belong in the RNRHOF. I have an opinion, but I think the HOF discussions have been exhausted, so I'll skip it for now. I just find the mystery of what pushes people's musical buttons so strongly worth exploring.
Squints said...
Yeah, don't understand that. I thought "Friday On My Mind" wasn't done well, but yeesh, it's a gesture. (Then, again, I'm a longtime fan.) "Stayin' Alive" was actually cooler than I thought it would be, while "Highway to Hell" fits perfectly what has become the band's somewhat demoralizing monotempo of late.
I disdained Kiss early on because it was my bubba's favorite band. Figured it out and embrace the good stuff now.
kevin m said...
I'm sure if you were in the audience during Bruce's shows when he burst into AC/DC or the Bee Gees, you would have had a big grin on your face along with everyone else. Same for the Bill Joel show with Brian Johnson's guest spot.
Kevin, I had a big grin on watching the videos from my office. That comment wasn't for me, was it?
philo said...
For me (because of the make up) you knew what you were getting with Kiss. I didn't to listen to them much but I got it. Springsteen I was also ambivelent to as well. But he got much more radio play at the time than Kiss.
The constant bombardment of genius by many always ruffled my feathers. Never was into the early Blinded by the Light stuff. Just seemed someone craming too many words into each verse. I think every artist at one time has an explosive creative period and when he started writing " I'm On Fire", "Pink Cadillac", even "Dancing in the Dark". It was that "Tunnel of Love" time that I turned him off and never really came back.
A couple days ago I anonymously wrote a comment which Sal, rightfully, did not post. I purported to be a KISS fan of limited intelligence and spelling skills. My aim was of course to ridicule KISS and their fans. When Sal didn't post it I felt like an asshole so I made myself listen to the solo videos, and download his compilation. I play in and write songs for a hard rock band. On closer inspection, I discovered that "Deuce" sounds exactly like something I wish I'd written. KISS indeed wrote some great songs. Even the ones I don't like show a level of craft I respect. Maybe some day I'll learn to listen before I snark.
I guess Bruce's working-class hero image is no more or less an image than KISS's stage make-up. But I suspect I'd be mercilessly hounded by Bruce fanatics for noticing this. Don't hate the guy -- far from it -- but I really had problems with this wch routine the moment it was put over the top with the American flag and jeans and red cap. I guess I missed the relatively unassuming guy from Freeport, NJ who happened to be a rock star ... as opposed to this new headbanded hero of the downtrodden routine. To his credit, he seemed to grow out of this as the 80s wore on, but that was a hard pill to swallow at the time, and I feel vestiges of it to this day in how he conducts interviews, and the mildly annoying realization that he seems to have drunk his own Kool-Aid.
Shriner said...
I never understood how some music (or bands) can make people angry, either.
You don't like the music/artist -- fine, don't listen to it/them. Radios have an off button for a reason.
There are plenty of bands/artists I don't like or just don't get the love for (and I tried "Summerteeth" over the past few days and apart from 1-2 songs, it just floated by like it never existed, but I digress...)
But why the hate, bro? Life is too short to be angry over things that shouldn't matter to you personally.
"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" (ob Morrisey lyric) maybe?
I can somewhat understand when an artist's *politics or personality* override their music and *that* becomes irritating -- but, again, there's still an off button.
But all that said: I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel anymore when "Rock 'n Roll Part 2" shows up somewhere....
wool said...
I am no Kiss fan but if people want to be entertained at a live rock and roll show with theatrics makeup and wailing guitars...more power to them. Who am I to dictate what floats your boat? Kiss has certainly paid their dues...
Noam Sane said...
For Shriner (and Sal)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb5NFA_XUbs
No Sal, my comment was not directed at you. Just in general. By the way, I downloaded the Brisbane show with the Bee Gees and AC/DC covers and it's an amazing show with the Wild/Innocent album included as well.
Gene Oberto said...
Sunday, on "The Good Wife" (Yup! I'm a fan...) Alicia Florrik is being deposed and is asked a question that is unseemly and posed to cause embarrassment. She replies that she has been questioned many times and has come to the conclusion that when a question asked is personal, the questioner has no case and no evidence.
I feel the same about people that make their dislike of any artist personal. Disagree with the music, the persona or the fact that the artist can't play a note.
Discuss your reasons why you think the artist and his music is lacking, that's cool. When you make it personal, it just tells me you got nothing to say.
Bombshelter Slim said...
RNRHOF? Grammys? Charts? Like... who cares?? It is, and should be, about the music. I have a prayer I throw out to an audience occasionally: "If you like what you hear, tell your friends. If you don't like it, tell a lie!" I must say, I don't like KISS, but I'd be challenged to identify any of their tunes other than "Beth" or "Rock&Roll All Night" (or whatever it's called). But I don't tell people that... I tell people about what I DO like, and maybe somebody, somewhere gets it.
Jim H. said...
"RNRHOF? Grammys? Charts? Like... who cares?? It is, and should be, about the music. " well, that train left the station many moons ago! In the last 30-some years it's ALWAYS been about popularity, and not 'quality' or 'great music' or whatever you want to call it, or define it.....i grew up in the Philly suburbs in the 70s, and never 'got' Bruce, and DID seem him live in 1978, but to me teenage ears, and now, there's too much drama and 'big show' to what he does...does he stink? of course not! i always figure guys like him and Elton John and Billy Joel and other i've never liked didn't survive this long NOT knowing what they're doing or not being good songwriters, i just ain't a fan of what they do, simple!
Sometimes you can dislike an act just for who they are and what they represent. That's how I feel about KISS. It's not rational but it's how I feel. They might be good but to me they will always suck.
Gene Simmons is an A-hole. Enough so I will never hear the good things in their music. There is not enough that is special in their music for me to make the effort to listen to them with fresh ears.
Also like Led Zeppelin's fans, KISS's fans turn me off more then the group itself. I'm a Deadhead but many Deadheads are an embarrassment.
Bruce Springsteen fans are cool.
Allan R.
"In the last 30-some years it's ALWAYS been about popularity"... well I guess popularity is about popularity, and music is about music. Folks can follow the money, so to speak, if they like... but the music leads to the big rewards. THAT train is ALWAYS in the station, you don't need no ticket just get on board...
when is the discussion on Grand Funk?
Don't push your luck, Anon. I can and WILL make a case for Grand Funk. ;)
Please don't make me listen to grand Funk. I had several of their albums back in the day and don't to go back to "E Pluribus Funk". "Limousine Driver" OK. I can go there.
Strutter, Cold Gin, Deuce, Black Diamond--who cares if they looked like idiots?
Ray Manzareks's organ makes me angry. I think it has to do with being horribly car sick and hearing "Light My Fire" for the first time in 1968. I can't stomach the Doors. That sound makes me want to do a Clockwork Orange jump out the window.
Jeff in Denton TX said...
I'm a fan of both Bruce and KISS. I don't even mind some of the KISS cheese-metal of the 80's (in smaller doses that their much better 70's stuff). I was late to the party on both artists. Scared of KISS as a child in the 70's, I finally started to like them in the late 80's when a college friend of mine introduced me to their back catalog.
The BitUSA-era Bruce was my introduction to him and I really liked that material at the time, though it's the album of his I listen to the least these days (along with "Greetings...NJ").
I suppose some folks can't get past politics or personality when it comes to musicians. I'd hate to go without listening to Merle Haggard's music just because his political leanings are far to the right of my own. Sure, Gene Simmons is, as the title of his most recent solo album attests, an "Asshole". Doesn't mean I'll stop liking "Deuce" or "Calling Dr. Love." I take the music on its own terms and like it or not on that basis. If my beliefs happen to line up with those of an artist I like, great. If not, so what?
I am completely stunned how some harmless covers performed as affectionate gestures to fellow artists, fans, and citizens of a particular country (and a nice hat tip to the songs themselves from a truly great songwriter) had people in such a tizzy. It's irrational to be so caught up in someone you don't like to begin with. One would think you wouldn't waste your time. If you're a Bruce fan, you know he does covers live and so naturally one might have an urge to compare and contrast, but the level of negative criticism seems to miss the point- he was having fun. He didn't go into the studio record and release them as a new record. Oy!!!
As for Kiss, there are definitely some good songs. And I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the piece of mush known as "Beth". ;) They were fun, my younger brother and cousins adored them. They meant a lot to many. Were they ever the classic era Stones? No, very few are.
In general regarding musical dislike... you can tell when it's an informed opinion, where someone separated the chaff from the grain. In other cases the artist's persona is the culprit- the artist annoys them/is someone they probably wouldn't like if the artist wasn't the artist but was just some person in their circle. As you said it's personal. It can be a physical thing- you can't handle the vibrations of a particular voice, even if beautiful. The level of anger and venom I don't understand...it's misdirected.
Your current playlist is my heart. "Wee Small Hours" in particular is one of my favorites of all time, just stellar, the title song (this original album version) being one of the great vocal performances, especially if you really listen.
FD13NYC said...
Love the song of the day!
peabody nobis said...
Okay, Sal, enough with defending these rich old farts! Let's get back to introducing new music...
I see that Beck's newest is on your playlist, but, so far, no word from the big guy. Fill us in, O Great Swami!
Also, too, Jake Bugg...what do you think of this kid? Seems interesting to me, but I'm just an old fart with a keyboard.
Peabody, the Beck record is a disappoinment. I admit to not being a huge fan to begin with. I've always felt he was a jack of all trades and master of none. But I went in fresh with the new one.
It grabbed me right out of the box. First three tunes are stunning. But then, it becomes this very same-y mess. All style, no substance, until the last two tunes, which are also very good.
Basically, another okay record given the "greatest record since Revolver" hype.
That's about what I figured...when you like something a lot, nobody has to ask you about it. It does have it's moments, but it's an unusual format these days; it's an album.
What I mean is that all the music is meant to be listened to together, not randomly on a mp3 player. It loses quite a bit when played that way.
I suppose I was happy that it wasn't a reprise of "Midnight Vultures", which I bought fresh off glowing reviews, only to be nonplussed by the result. Oh well, live and learn.
patty is STILL linda mccartney!
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Testing What They're Made of:
A Conversation with Lois McMaster Bujold
— by Jeremy L. C. Jones —
Miles Vorkosigan is back. He's been around, here and there, for the last few years, but with the release last month of Cryoburn he's really back. It's been a while, definitely. His story could've ended with A Civil Campaign or with Diplomatic Immunity. But, for now, he's back and death is on his mind.
Miles Vorkosigan's creator, Lois McMaster Bujold, is very much alive and on the brink of yet another career reinvention, detour, or leap of faith. Bujold has been publishing novels for a quarter of a century now. In 1985, she sold her first three novels — completed manuscripts all, not proposals — in one fateful sale to Baen Books. Since then her bibliography has grown to include more than 30 books (including omnibus editions) of science fiction and fantasy.
Bujold has been nominated for and won just about every major speculative fiction award, often more than once. For all the laurels, Bujold remains a fan's writer, a reader's writer. "To me," said Bujold, "the value of fiction is in the joy it brings to its readers, for all the varied values of joy — and of readers — that one can imagine."
Bujold is best known for the Vorkosigan Saga, which features Cordelia Naismith and, later in the chronology, Naismith's son, Miles Vorkosigan. Vorkosigan is a dashing, complicated figure, short in stature, big in personality. He is quick of wit and somewhat hyperactive. When assassins failed to kill a pregnant Naismith, Vorkosigan was poisoned in utero, resulting in a bone disorder that has left his spine crooked and skeleton brittle. He is both frail and larger than life, endearing and annoying — the perfect protagonist for sweeping, character-based space opera — a brat, conman, (sort of) soldier, outlaw, commander, ambassador, entrepreneur...
Vorkosigan is, as Bujold says below, "a character with a lot of potential scope." And characterization is Bujold's strong suit.
Bujold writes "about characters on spiritual journeys through their lives. The SF (or the fantasy, or the speculative theology) is just there to give them interesting challenges, to test what they are made of. Plots and settings explore characters as much as the other way around."
Bujold has lived a life of reading, travelling, studying and, of course, writing — a life doing what she loves to do, testing herself and what she's made of.
And what does she enjoy about writing?
"I enjoy the writing when it is going well, when the ideas and images are boiling up as fast as I can write them down," she said.
Below, Bujold and I talk about how things have changed, how they stay the same, and what the future holds.
You've been publishing since 1985. In nearly three decades of publishing, what changes have caught you off guard? Pleasantly surprised you? Has the business side of writing ever made you want to give up?
I am a shy person when allowed. I regard a lot of the PR — book tours, speeches, appearances, media interviews — with much the same dismay as a non-swimming parent would contemplate the prospect of jumping into a raging torrent to rescue their child. One doesn't really see how any good can come of it, but one can't not jump. ("My baby book, help, it is drowning!") I need to get in touch with my surly side more, I suppose, to learn to say "no" to nice people who like me.
I have certainly been pleasantly surprised by the burgeoning of the audiobooks market, which is entirely tech-driven. It has gone from very constricted distribution of bulky and awkward physical media, to essentially unlimited distribution through MP3 downloads over the Internet, which people load up on their iPods or whatever and take along everywhere. Blackstone Audiobooks has brought all of my titles, both fantasy and SF, into availability, and has been producing more royalties in the past couple of years than my backlist paper book sales (but see below), nearly all sold as downloads through their partner Audible.com and other on-line outlets.
At the same time, the independent distributor implosion of the mid-90's, the increase in the number of competing titles, and the rise of e-book sales have been nibbling away at mass market paperback sales, which are down from even a few years ago, and way down from a few decades ago.
The business side of writing has been good to me — without ever achieving the highly visible sales spikes of the most famous bestselling writers, I have nonetheless managed to sell a startling number of books spread stealthily over the past quarter-century. Baen, in their latest PR, claims to have sold over two million of my books, and that's not counting the fantasies from Eos/HarperCollins, e-books, audiobooks, or foreign translations, now up to twenty languages. Some of those latter markets are really tiny, but they do add up.
Fred Pohl once remarked to me, almost twenty years ago: "The good news about a writing career is that the sales curve is asymptotic. The bad news is that it starts at zero." I certainly experienced the long, shallow left-hand slope in the 80's and early 90's. (In my first three years of writing, from late 1982 to late 1985, in which I wrote three novels, I made a grand total of $250.) We'll see if he's right about that right-hand rise...
What are some of the things you learned from Jim Baen? Did you ever disagree? What footprints did he leave in the Miles Vorkosigan universe?
Jim, very patiently and bit-by-bit, taught me a lot about the business of writing, about which I knew almost nothing when I started, talking me down off the ledge of my newbie-writer paranoias. He told me once that from his point of view I only budged about half an inch, when being edited.
Jim would have liked, I suspect, if I had written the Vorkosiverse as the continuing military adventures of Mercenary Admiral Naismith. (The novella "The Mountains of Mourning" was written by me, in part, to settle the question of whether the banner on the front covers should read "A Miles Naismith Adventure" or "A Miles Vorkosigan Adventure".) To Jim's credit, he took what he got instead in pretty good humor, though I suppose the awards helped. He never did love Mirror Dance, or Miles's clone-brother Mark, I thought, though when I turned in the 167,000 word draft, he manfully said, "We'll find the paper somehow." Squirming a bit, he did try to talk me into making Mark muscular instead of fat, in the first draft; I thought that missed the point of Mark's essential transgressive qualities. Baen never did put on the paperback cover the fact that the book had won a Hugo (my third for best novel), but that may have been an oversight.
Jim also once told me, when I was whinging about my books not selling as well as someone else's (a favorite pastime among writers, alas — we are a green-eyed bunch) that my books were "too smart" to be bestsellers. To this day, I don't know if he meant that sincerely, or if it was just a very sly way to get himself off the hook. Like I'm going to argue...?
How much outlining or preplanning did you do for the Sharing Knife series? Did it change much as you wrote it? What were the challenges (and joys) of making the transition from an interstellar future to a pre-industrial past?
The story really began with a very simple, classic, soldier-meets-girl seed crystal. The decision to use a Midwest-American-frontier-inspired background instead of the default European medieval, and for the sharing knives, both symbol and technology of sacrifice, created the beginnings of the backdrop, which as usual grew in detail and implication — and consequence — as I wrote.
There were snags and pauses, also as usual, but no real dead ends. Each pair of books came with an inherent shape built in, though the details of what should fill that shape were a constant surprise. Most of my false starts and wrong turns were fixed in the outline stage, when it's cheap and easy, which is why I use a constantly-mutating rolling outline the way I do.
I wrote what became the first two volumes of the tetralogy as one volume, split subsequently for publisher-economic reasons; Beguilement and Legacy really should be stacked up and read as one book. The second pair, Passage and Horizon, had a brief period at the beginning where I thought they might be one fat book, making a trilogy, but they split early on — into "There" and "Back Again" — and their events are more naturally rounded as a result.
I loved the chance to get outdoors, at least in my imagination, with all of these books, and of course relished being able to incorporate the landscapes and lake experiences of my lost Ohio childhood. Not to mention the old river lore passed down by my father, who loved the great river system of the region going back to his own childhood with his father on the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh. Three generations of love of the muddy Midwest waters, moving or still.
How do you sustain a character like Miles Vorkosigan over so many books and stories?
Well, it certainly helps to have a character with a lot of potential scope, who can act in many different sorts of stories. Plot and character are closely intertwined, and create each other. The two elements have to coordinate — the classic example being, if you dropped Othello and Hamlet down in each other's plots (or Bertie Wooster down in either's), in no case would you get a 5-act tragedy. Othello would run the wicked uncle through no later than Act Two, and Hamlet might well dither around and dither around until he established Desdemona's innocence. Not sure what Bertie would do, though the prospect does invite wonder...
Miles can do adventure, mystery, occasionally romance, comedy or tragedy. He can't do women's issues, and he's not terribly good at humility, nor deep spirituality. (Although he did a bravura job on abject, once.) Hence the need for Cordelia, Ekaterin, Ista, Cazaril, and so on.
The fact that Miles grows and changes over time means that neither of us has to get bored.
In the recent CryoBurn, you've returned to a Miles Vorkosigan novel after a few years away. Did you miss Miles? Had he changed much while you were apart?
He and I have both aged a comparable amount, I think. I would have been content to leave him with his well-earned happy ending at the close of A Civil Campaign. I did manage to find a second organic series-closure with Diplomatic Immunity. CryoBurn brought us both face to face with some issues of aging and mortality I had spent seven books ducking — in a sense, the whole of CryoBurn is an extended meditation on death, thematically speaking, but I think we were both ready to grapple with that at last.
I was surprised at how fast his "voice" came back to me, I must say. Practice, I suppose.
The drabbles were written to stick a sock in the outcry for an immediate sequel right then that I actually don't want to write ever, and to prevent fannish speculation from galloping off in all directions. And because they were a kick to do — all that concentrated story folded into such a small space, like literary origami. Five small spaces, I suppose, like the fingers of the hand or the gods of Chalion.
I must mention, the first hardcover printing of CryoBurn contains, bound in the back, a CD-ROM with a dozen of my prior series books as various open-format e-texts, starting with Cordelia's Honor, including the e-text for CryoBurn itself, essays and interviews, and other fun tidbits. About the only things missing are Memory and The Vorkosigan Companion, both left out by accident in the scramble last spring when the table of contents was being put together. I figure it will give us something else to include should I ever do another book with Baen with this value-added feature.
What are you working on now and what's next?
Last winter I got on a strange, abrupt roll and started a book for Ivan (Lord Vorpatril, a long-running secondary character in the Vorkosigan series, to those not already on a first-name basis with him), probably as the result of the accumulated power of fannish suggestion. It went well for a couple of months, but derailed when I went out of town and then plunged into some long-overdue and disruptive house maintenance projects in the Spring. These dragged on, as construction generally does, until overtaken by the unexpected extension of book launch madness season for CryoBurn — I'd been expecting the noise to start up in November, and last about three weeks, but between the release of the e-ARC at the beginning of August and the shifting forward of the release date to October 19th, it looks to occupy three months, first to last. We'll see what happens with the writing when I finally get my life and brain back in mid-November. No contract yet, so no deadline pressure, which I prefer just now. Nonetheless, there are too many chapters to abandon, so Ivan'll have to be brought up to scratch before I can involve myself in any other novel-length project. There are, so to speak, special challenges in making a dedicated slacker the hero of one's supposed action-adventure novel. I'm feeling more and more on Ivan's side about that, personally.
Notions for the last two Chalion books have been rattling around in my head for years, but neither has reached critical mass yet. It feels like it's about time to remake myself as a writer yet again, think of something new and unexpected, but really, the pleasures of slacking loom ever larger.
I've been wondering what the heck retirement means for a writer. At the end of a long career, I can at last... stay home and write books? Puzzling. I have been more-or-less retiring piecemeal, dropping chores or outgrowing life-phases. Right now I have two part-time jobs, one as a writer, the other as a writer's secretary/bookkeeper/housekeeper/publicity manager. I think the next thing I would like to retire from is being an author — all those time-consuming PR chores that were an exciting challenge once, but are now more of an energy drain than an energy boost. I mean, they are all very well, but they aren't writing. Or slacking, for that matter.
Tora wrote on November 2nd, 2010 at 12:39 pm:
Just for completeness -- Bujold has mentioned that _The Vorkosigan Companion_ has been 'found' on the Baen CD-ROM. It's there - just not listed in the Table of Contents for the CD. It's in the folder labeled 'novel' I think.
Also, woohoo! for a new Vorkosigan book with Ivan as the main protagonist!!! Certainly the fans have been waiting for that one for years (at least since 2002, I'm sure of).
Diane D. wrote on November 3rd, 2010 at 5:14 pm:
So -- you had tried to retire Miles in order to give him a "happy ending". Interesting, understandable, and pleasingly different from A.C. Doyle's similarly unsuccessful "I'm sick of this guy (Holmes); please let me leave him dead!"
Eric Francis wrote on November 3rd, 2010 at 7:13 pm:
The happiest words in the world: Two more Chalion books!
Mike wrote on November 7th, 2010 at 4:11 pm:
Ironic that the only thing missing from the CD is Memory?
I'm going out later today to buy Cryoburn, after seeing it.
More to look forward too with the Ivan book as well as the Chalion bks. Hmm, 5 Chalion bks, 5 deities, coincidence?
Vicky wrote on November 9th, 2010 at 1:01 pm:
Thanks for the interview. Your Vorkosigan series may be "too smart" for some, but they hold a place of pride among the favorites on my bookshelf, and "Civil Campaign" is in my top ten books of all time. I've been especially pleased to see Ivan grow up and hope you'll finish his novel!
joanna wrote on May 1st, 2012 at 3:37 pm:
What I would give to see another Aral/Cordelia book. I do understand why she feel finished with them. But who doesn't want more of something they enjoyed?
ISSUE 50, November 2010
Jeremy L. C. Jones is a freelance writer, editor, and teacher. He is the Staff Interviewer for Clarkesworld Magazine and a frequent contributor to Kobold Quarterly and Booklifenow.com. He teaches at Wofford College and Montessori Academy in Spartanburg, SC. He is also the director of Shared Worlds, a creative writing and world-building camp for teenagers that he and Jeff VanderMeer designed in 2006. Jones lives in Upstate South Carolina with his wife, daughter, and flying poodle.
www.jeremylcjones.com
The Immense Costs and a Shred of Optimism: A Conversation with L. E. Modesitt, Jr. by Jeremy L. C. Jones - May 2014
The Blue Collar Craftsman & the Salesmen on Mars: A Conversation with Ben Tanzer by Jeremy L. C. Jones - April 2014
Beyond the Boundary: A Conversation with James L. Cambias by Jeremy L. C. Jones - March 2014
Dark Hearts & Brilliant Patches of Honor: A Tribute to Manly Wade Wellman by Jeremy L. C. Jones - February 2014
Driving through a Cloud with Pat Cadigan by Jeremy L. C. Jones - January 2014
A Craftsman of No Small Skill: A Conversation with David Drake by Jeremy L. C. Jones - December 2013
Hard Truths in Our World: A Conversation with Bradley P. Beaulieu by Jeremy L. C. Jones - November 2013
Deep into the Dark: A Conversation with Lavie Tidhar by Jeremy L. C. Jones - October 2013
Organic Synthesis: A Conversation with Ken Liu by Jeremy L. C. Jones - September 2013
Decadence & Buckets of Blood: A Conversation with Holly Black by Jeremy L. C. Jones - August 2013
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Internet Verse Search Commentaries Word Analysis ITL - draft
NET ©
Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, 1 revive me once again! 2 Bring me up once again 3 from the depths of the earth!
NIV ©
Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
NASB ©
You who have shown me many troubles and distresses Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
NLT ©
You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth.
MSG ©
You, who made me stare trouble in the face, Turn me around; Now let me look life in the face. I've been to the bottom; Bring me up,
BBE ©
You, who have sent great and bitter troubles on me, will give me life again, lifting me up from the deep waters of the underworld.
NRSV ©
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
NKJV ©
You , who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
[Thou], which hast shewed
<07200> (8689)
me great
and sore
<06869>_,
shalt quicken
me again
<07725> (8799)_,
and shalt bring me up
from the depths
<0776>_.
You who
have shown
me many
and distresses
Will revive
, And will bring
me up again
ynlet
bwst
Urah
twmhtmw
*ynyyxt {wnyyxt}
twerw
twbr
twru
*yntyarh {wntyarh}
rsa (71:20)
LXXM
(70:20) osav
A-APF
edeixav
V-AAI-2S
P-DS
yliqeiv
N-APF
pollav
epistreqav
V-AAPNS
ezwopoihsav
P-AS
T-GPF
abusswn
N-GPF
thv
T-GSF
ghv
N-GSF
anhgagev
NET © [draft] ITL
Though you have allowed me to experience
and distress
, revive
me once again
! Bring me up
NET © Notes
1 tn Heb “you who have caused me to see many harmful distresses.”
2 tn Heb “you return, you give me life.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will revive me once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “you return, you bring me up.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will bring me up once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
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 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 ALL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
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Lie Strong
Who is at fault when we do not tell the truth?
By Mary Anne Medina
There was irony in the air this February, the month in which we celebrate the birth of George Washington, the first president of the United States.
Washington is famously known for a story from his childhood in which he could not tell a lie when questioned about chopping down a cherry tree. It has inspired people for generations. This year, however, another American icon’s story was an inspiration killer. After years of questions, Lance Armstrong, an athlete best known for defeating cancer and winning the Tour de France seven times, finally admitted that he lied to us all. The founder of the LiveStrong Foundation has come clean and admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.
Floyd Landis, a former Armstrong teammate, has filed a whistle-blower, or qui tam, lawsuit, in which the government is expected to join. This lawsuit is on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which funded Armstrong's Tour de France cycling teams from 1999-2003. The sponsorship paid $10 million a year for a total of $50 million. The writ of qui tam, or a claim under the provisions of the Federal False Claim Act, allows a private individual who possesses knowledge of past or present fraud that has been committed against the federal government to bring suit on its behalf. These whistle-blower lawsuits are deemed one of the most successful ways for the government to combat fraud, waste, and abuse.
Others that may file suit are USPS and SCA Promotions, a Dallas-based insurance company that paid Armstrong a performance bonus of $12 million for winning the Tour de France three times and testifying that he did so without using performance-enhancing drugs. The Sunday Times is seeking to recover $1.5 million in damages and other costs resulting from a 2004 suit.
Armstrong, certainly, is not the first prominent public figure to lie. But, does this recent divulgence of information—which clearly illustrates the magnitude of lying under oath—shake the very core of what our legal principles and systems are based upon? After all, our legal system is based on investigating—deposing, verifying, and fact finding—in order to assess damages, liability, truth, and, if warranted, punishment.
A few years ago, the head of BP told us that no oil was leaking into the Gulf, which might have been believable if it weren't for the live camera feed showing otherwise. We all watched in horror day after day as gallons of oil spewed relentlessly into the Gulf of Mexico. He clearly did not learn from other past presidents that the truth will be found out—figures like Richard Nixon who shamelessly said, "I cannot tell a lie," or Bill Clinton who defiantly said that he did "not have sexual relations with that woman." The list of prominent figures attempting to evade truth is, sadly, a long one, e.g., Martha Stewart, Barry Bonds, and Bernie Madoff to name a few.
But for more common cases, what do we do about those people who lie about a claim when testifying under oath? Who is liable for the direct bearing that such testimony will have on a claim or legally protected right?
Statistics are rarely kept that track those who lie under oath. However, they are maintained for the amount and continued growth of fraud in the insurance industry. The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimates that fraud costs more than $80 billion a year in the United States, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau reports a 19 percent increase in questionable claims.
Statistics show that fraud and deceit in the field of claims has risen not only on the part of claimants and insureds, but also adjusters and agents. The damage and risk that fraud is causing has become a huge problem for insurers. While insurers continue to invest in fraud prevention technology, social media sites continue to explode in popularity and, thus, vast amounts of information. More than 75 percent of insurers now report using social media sites to compile data for fraud and claims investigations.
Social media sites now provide an astonishing amount of information at our fingertips, but perhaps more astonishing is the fact that those putting information out there do not realize the exposure to which they’ve left themselves open. Gone are the days of hiring expensive surveillance to monitor the actions of a claimant who is unable to work due to an injury. Now, you can become "friends" with them over various social media sites, and their lives in comments and photos become an open book—and at no cost to you. Suddenly, that seriously injured individual can be found tweeting about the large fish that he caught in the Gulf, and pictures of his great catch can be viewed on Facebook.
What are those in the claims and related industries supposed to do when our decisions about liability and damages hinge on the statements and testimony of those involved? How do we know that when we are making a liability decision or offer of settlement the testimony that we have based those decisions upon is the truth? The American public, U.S. Postal Service, and others held Armstrong to the same standard as everyone else, and yet today, we know he lied.
When investigating claims, we must seek to establish the truth and proceed with our decisions based upon that information. In the insurance industry alone, lies and fraud exact a high cost that is being passed on to the consumers of those services that carriers are in the business of protecting. Costs for lying to an insurance company include:
Your insurance may be canceled
Your claim may be denied
You and others will face higher insurance premiums
You may be denied obtaining insurance in the future
You may be found guilty under the law and fined $100,000-$200,000
Depending on the jurisdiction, you may face jail time.
As in the Armstrong saga, lying and fraud come with consequences, and lying to your insurance company will bring a host of possible costs no one wants to pay.
Mary Anne Medina is an instructor and course developer for Vale Training Solutions. She has extensive experience in claims process redesign and claims handling training, with an emphasis on liability loss adjusting. She has been a CLM Fellow since 2010 and can be reached at MMedina@vale-ts.com.
Who’s at Fault When Jingle Bells Crash Down?
Who’s at Fault When a Product Fails?
Who’s at Fault When It’s Party Time?
Social Media and Liability
The NFL and Traumatic Brain Injuries
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The Seeds of the Miami Heat’s Championship
Home Uncategorized The Seeds of the Miami Heat’s Championship
The Miami Heat’s title run began in earnest when LeBron James signed as a free agent in 2010. But the seeds were planted over 40 years ago, when MLB star Curt Flood and NBA Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robertson challenged the “reserve clause,” a one-sided rule that bound a player to his team for his entire career.
Think about your life and the decisions you are allowed to make living in a democratic country: You can live and work in any city you desire. And, given your chosen profession, you can work for whatever company that makes the best offer. In other words, you are a free agent the moment you enter the workforce. What if you are a professional athlete: employers choose you and then offer a contract, which you can either accept or reject. In the NBA and NFL, the salary and length of years is pre-negotiated. If you do not like the offer, you are “free” to not sign the deal. You just can’t play professional sports in the United States. It is not a bad system, per se. The draft system downside is more than offset by the paycheck upside.
Players have the ability to earn their free agency through years of service. In the NBA, after four seasons, a former first-round pick typically is free to sign with any team. It has not always been that way. From the beginning of professional sports in the late 1800s until 1975, players were the property of teams in perpetuity or until that player became expendable.
Then, in the early 1970s, Flood and Robertson challenged the legal basis for the reserve clause. The clause made it impossible for a player to establish his value in a free market.
Flood played 15 years for the St. Louis Cardinals, but was traded after the 1969 season to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood refused to go because he did not want to live in Philadelphia and sat out the entire 1970 season, forfeiting his $90,000 salary.
Flood challenged the reserve clause by suing Major League Baseball. While Curt Flood lost his legal battle at the Supreme Court, he helped pave the way for free agency.
Oscar Robertson, one the greatest NBA players of all time, sued to stop the proposed merger between the NBA and the ABA (the American Basketball Association) claiming rival leagues are good for players since the ABA offered higher salaries to sign players. With no competition from a rival league and no free agency, NBA owners had little incentive to negotiate in good faith and pay players what they were worth.
In 1975, thanks to an abitrator’s ruling, MLB granted free agency to players with six years of experience. In 1976, the NBA settled the Robertson lawsuit and agreed to grant players free agency, but gave teams the right of first refusal.
Many owners (and, unfortunately, even a few players) claimed that free agency would destroy professional sports as rich, big-market teams hoarded talent. In reality, it has turned out to be the exact opposite: Players became more vested in the financial success of professional sports, which has brought about significant growth in revenues, salaries and franchise values.
Every professional athlete since 1975 is the direct beneficiary of these legal battles. Primarily because the ABA was bidding on players, the average NBA salary jumped from $35,000 in 1970 to $200,000 in 1976. The average NBA salary today? $5.15 million.
Today, we grapple with $200-million contracts, not $90,000 salaries. And franchises are worth billions. Few pro-athletes appreciate Curt Flood and Oscar Robertson’s profound contributions to their bank accounts and working conditions. Charles Barkley wonders: “How can anybody drawing a paycheck in sports today not know about Curt Flood? How did his contributions get so overlooked? Athletes had no say in where they played until Curt Flood stood up and refused to be traded.”
Which brings me to LeBron James and The Decision.
LeBron’s decision to jump teams in 2010 was a polarizing moment in the NBA, even if it was largely overblown. Many would have preferred LeBron to play his entire career in Cleveland, his hometown team, but after seven seasons, he was an unrestricted free agent. LeBron earned the right to decide what team he wanted to play for.
Now that LeBron is an NBA champion, public sentiment might shift. Ever since The Decision, which he admitted was in poor taste, he has conducted himself with great class. Said James at his first press conference as an NBA champion, “Last year, I let a lot of things get to me. I felt I had to prove everyone wrong. I was humbled in the 2011 NBA Finals. This year, I got back to the basics.”
LeBron has been a model citizen, handling his affairs, both on and off the court, with class and dignity. And this despite the odds being against someone from a single-parent household and not going to college. LeBron did not just beat the odds; he obliterated them. But he will never satisfy his critics, many of whom yearn for the good ’ole days when players were “loyal” to their teams. But it was never loyalty. It was the just the reserve clause.
Fans prefer when teams develop talent through the draft system. They don’t appreciate when three NBA players conspire to win titles through free agency. Unlike the Oklahoma Thunder, which drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Of course, the Thunder once played in Seattle before deciding to take its entire team to Oklahoma City.
Marc Isenberg
Twitter: @marcisenberg
Email: marc.isenberg@gmail.com
About Marc Isenberg
Marc Isenberg is a nationally-recognized athlete advocate for high school, college and pro athletes. A national columnist for Basketball Times, Marc is a frequent speaker at elite basketball camps and athletic programs and teams, including UCLA, RbkU and the Orlando Magic. In 2012, Marc, with Nolan Smith of the Portland Trail Blazers, founded Hoops Family , an organization devoted to educating and mentoring basketball players—and advocating on their behalf.
Marc’s publications
Money Players: A Guide to Success in Sports, Business & Life
Compete: A Guide for College-Bound Basketball Players (in partnership with iHoops)
Go Pro Like a Pro
Marc Isenberg / About Author
Nationally-recognized athlete advocate for high school, college and pro athletes. A national columnist for Basketball Times, Marc is a frequent speaker at elite basketball camps and athletic programs and teams, including UCLA, RbkU and the Orlando Magic. In 2012, Marc, with Nolan Smith of the Portland Trail Blazers, founded Hoops Family , an organization devoted to educating and mentoring basketball players—and advocating on their behalf.
More posts by Marc Isenberg
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2012 NBA Finals Preview
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NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Parker Jackson-Cartwright couldn’t have had a more discerning audience sitting along one of the baselines…
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Coming into this series I knew that Miami had an uphill battle without question. The focus it would take to…
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Thank You LeBron
[h2]It’s Time For All of the Haters to Just Let It Go and Finally Give LeBron James the Props He…
2012 LeBron James Skills Academy – Day 1 Recap
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The first day of the LeBron James Skills Academy – relocated from James’ hometown of…
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Saturday’s Day II of the LeBron James Skills Academy was made up of two more…
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Game one was a total domination in my opinion by the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were more aggressive and got…
If you maintain a high standard of excellence with the little things, you'll never have to worry about the big things.
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Home Rare Books and Special Collections - Bibliographies Queen's College Collection : Thomas Bray Library
Queen's College Collection : Thomas Bray Library
Title Queen's College Collection : Thomas Bray Library
Collector Bray, Thomas, 1658-1730
Subject Bray, Thomas, 1658-1730--Library
Theology--Bibliography
Church history--Bibliography
Devotional literature--Bibliography
Description Bibliography of 142 titles identified with Thomas Bray (1658-1730) and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, among the rarest books in the Queen's College Collection. Bray and his associates attempted to address the intellectual and spiritual needs of New World colonists by providing books in large numbers. Although the Bray libraries are said to include books in all branches of literature, those in the Queen's College collection are in the areas of theology, church history and devotional literature.
Physical Description 16 p.
Note Queen's College Faculty of Theology is an affiliated college of Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's.
Compiler Kean, Lauren
Malik, Mona'a
Publisher Memorial University of Newfoundland Libraries
Contributors Queen's College (St. John's, N.L.)
Digitization Date 2010
Resource Type Document
Collection Digitized Bibliographies of Rare Books and Special Collections
Sponsor Archives and Special Collections
Source Original held in Archives and Special Collections.
Repository Memorial University of Newfoundland. Libraries. Archives and Special Collections
CONTENTdm file name 233.pdf
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Switch to the Postgraduate English Forum
Keywords Aesthetics Drama Film Gender Studies Joseph Conrad Memory Modernism Music and Literature Myth Poetry Postmodernism Psychoanalysis Religious Studies Review Shakespeare Short Story Subjectivity Theory Urban Aesthetics Victorian William Blake
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No 31 (2015): September Representations of Hair in Mid-Victorian Arthurian Poetry Abstract PDF
Jasmin Böhm
No 27 (2013): September Review of Helen Groth, Victorian Photography and Literary Nostalgia. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. PDF
Kathy Rees
No 5 (2002): March Phrenology and Representations of Physical Deviance in Victorian Fiction Abstract PDF
Tamara S Wagner
No 10 (2004): September The End of 'Progress': Herbert Spencer's Evolutionary Psychology and George Eliot's 'The Lifted Veil' Abstract PDF
Elizabeth Throesch
No 11 (2005): March The Shadow of Oscar Wilde: A Study of Subversive and Clandestine Sexuality in Four Novellas from The Savoy Abstract PDF
Matthew Brinton Tildesley
No 14 (2006): September Under the Guise of Art: Victorian Aesthetic Pornography Abstract PDF
Amanda Di Ponio
No 14 (2006): September Mary de Morgan: Out of the Morrisian Shadow Abstract PDF
Marilyn Pemberton
No 16 (2007): September “Pure beauty of line”: Gerard Hopkins and William Butterfield Abstract PDF
Martin Dubois
No 17 (2008): March Seeds of Darkness: Joseph Conrad and Ernest Dowson Abstract PDF
No 30 (2015): March The Thing-Cultures of Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy and William Morris’s News from Nowhere Abstract PDF
Caroline Warner
Durham University Department of English Studies | Research English At Durham
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Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Symposium - International Astronomical Union
Volume 96: infrared astronomy
THERMAL STUDIES OF PLANETARY SU...
Symposium - International Astronomical Union, Volume 96 (Infrared Astronomy)
1981 , pp. 89-106
This volume was published under a former title. See this journal's title history.
THERMAL STUDIES OF PLANETARY SURFACES
David Morrison (a1)
University of Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Ground-based and spacecraft observations of planets, satellites, and asteroids in the thermal infrared have provided a wealth of information on planetary temperatures, dimensions, and surface properties. Internal heat sources have been revealed for Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, and active volcanism on Io has been discovered and monitored. The thermophysical properties of Mars have been mapped for nearly all the surface by spacecraft, and ground-based observations have given similar information for the Galilean satellites of Jupiter. Infrared radiometry thus sheds important light on significant problems of dynamics, interiors, and surfaces of solar system bodies.
COPYRIGHT: © Reidel 1981
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Algeria: Senator Djamel Ould Abbes arrested on corruption charges
Jul 9, 2019 | Fraud, General, Politics | 0 |
Senator Djamel Ould Abbes(picture above), Algerian Senator who was close to former President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was placed in pretrial detention on accusations of corruption. He was formerly secretary-general of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN). Before being appointed as the FLN secretary-general, he was minister of health between 2010 and 2012 and then he became a senator at the Council of the Nation. He was vice president of the senate. He waived his parliamentary immunity last month following rising pressure against the FLN.
He was charged with squandering of public funds, abuse of power, violation of public procurement procedures to sign contracts illegally and falsification of public documents.
Some former government senior officials, including two former prime ministers, Abdelmalek Sellal and Ahmed Ouyahia, were already in custody.
Anti-corruption campaign and popular protest over Bouteflika’s decision to run for a fifth consecutive term, despite having suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013, caused these arrests. Bouteflika resigned on 3 April 2019 after nationwide protests demanding his resignation.
Army Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah vowed to prosecute government officials and associates of the former president suspected of corruption, in an effort to appease demonstrators.
Presidential election set for July 4 was postponed after the only two little known potential runners had their candidacies rejected. Opposition parties and demonstrators have asked for a free and fair presidential election in 6-months’ time.
Aljazeera and Xinhua reported.
PreviousFrance: Wife of former Interpol chief, sues agency
NextChina: Aircraft Carrier Builder Jailed 12 years for Corruption
Maldives: Personal financial declaration incomplete
Singapore: Bunker corruption investigations
Romania: Lack of progress in anti-corruption says European Union
Mongolia: Former president Nambar Enkhbayar jailed for corruption
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A Conversation with Jeri Jones
March 13, 2014 by Jill Bernstein
As an independent chronicler of all things downtown, DPJ takes a comprehensive approach to covering the urban living movement in Phoenix and, with this Conversation series, spotlighting the people who make it move.
“We need to do a better job of leveraging it all.”
Jeri Jones is a relatively recent transplant to Phoenix. After 20 years in Denver, Jones moved to Phoenix as the CEO for employer and individual business (the commercial and business program) for UnitedHealth Group only two years ago. She came to town just as the company was consolidating its workforce from five locations to two, including the main location at CityScape in downtown Phoenix. Still based in Phoenix, she moved into a new regional position with UnitedHealth to run their Medicaid program across the West about six months ago.
The consolidation made UnitedHealth one of the largest employers in downtown. Jones mentioned that initially the employees were not sure about the move. “People were a little nervous about moving downtown,” she said. “It took a little bit to win the hearts and minds of our team that it was going to be a good move, and a lot of fun.” To make the transition easier, UnitedHealth worked with local businesses to engage employees through activities like scavenger hunts that helped familiarize them with downtown. “Now that it’s been a year and a half,” said Jones, “everyone loves it.”
“We need to give people more options for living downtown; options that appeal to a broad spectrum of people.”
She values the impact that changes to downtown have had, including the building of the stadiums, the growth of downtown restaurants and businesses, CityScape and the building of the light rail. During her time in Denver, she watched that city go through many of the changes Phoenix is experiencing now. “I watched the same thing happen in Denver,” she said. “Before the light rail you would go downtown and there would be very few people on the street. Then came the light rail, which made it so easy to go downtown, to go to events.”
From Jones’ perspective, downtown now needs to go to the next level. “We need to give people more options for living downtown; options that appeal to a broad spectrum of people. We need to continue to combine residential with park-type areas. If people are going to live downtown, they need more green areas, places to be where they don’t have to feel like they are in a concrete jungle,” she said. “I feel like we are still in a little bit of a concrete jungle.”
In addition to building more residential options, and making sure there is green space, Jones believes that the key is to continue getting the word out about what is going on downtown, about what is available to see and do. “We need to do a better job of leveraging it all,” she said. “We need to be better at getting people downtown. We (UnitedHealth) do a lot of events in the evening and try to keep people down here. And with out-of-town visitors we encourage them to stay downtown, to get out and discover downtown restaurants.”
“Getting a cross segment of businesses involved in changing a city is the fastest way to do it, as opposed to just the city.”
Jones serves on the board of Downtown Phoenix Inc. and sees DPI as significant for the future of downtown because of the cross section of businesses, public sector and community leaders involved. “Getting a cross segment of businesses involved in changing a city is the fastest way to do it, as opposed to just the city. It seems like some of the previous attempts by different groups with different visions got a lot accomplished, but I am hopeful that having the umbrella of DPI over it all, bringing more diversity to the process, will make a difference.”
She singled out Dave Krietor, CEO of DPI, for his outstanding work bringing people together. “We have a lot of work to do and we have a great group of people. I love how Krietor is bringing all the different aspects of the neighborhood together. Sometimes I feel we’re not moving fast enough.”
As a resident of North Central Phoenix, Jones feels connected to downtown both through her work and her leisure activities. She enjoys the theater, eating out, concerts, and shopping downtown, and was almost tempted to strap on skates at the temporary CityScape ice rink this winter.
As to her role on the DPI board in particular, she says, “Hopefully, my role is to provide a different view because I didn’t grow up in it. Plus, coming from Denver and bringing a sense of what I witnessed there. Also, as one of the largest employers in downtown it’s important that we continue to get our employees more involved in downtown.”
It is clear that she has both a personal and a professional passion for downtown, and for what a vibrant urban core can mean to a city.
In this story: Conversation, Dave Krietor, Downtown Phoenix Inc., Jeri Jones, UnitedHealth Group
Categories: Build Here, Build Here PHX, Downtown District, DPJ Blogs, Engage, Engage PHX, Hotels, Light Rail, Live Here, Real Estate, Walkability
March 25, 2014 A Conversation with Ed Zito
February 20, 2014 A Conversation with Mo Stein
April 10, 2014 A Conversation with Tim Eigo
May 13, 2014 A Conversation with Mike Ebert
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Nexus Weighs in on Candidates for Local Office
May 30, 2012 at 1:19 pm by Daily Nexus Editorial Board
Das Williams: Assemblymember, 37th District
Democrat Das Williams and Republican Rob Walter are competing for the position of assemblymember representing California’s 37th district, the recently redrawn region encompassing the southernmost half of Santa Barbara County and areas of Ventura County reaching to Oxnard.
Currently representing the geographically similar 35th Assembly District, Williams is the clear choice, holding political experience unmatched by his opponent, a Los Olivos attorney who last ran for political office in 1972 in the state of Michigan.
Williams, an Isla Vista native and Bren School graduate, has made a point of cham- pioning student interests and environmental concerns, even meeting with UC faculty and students at the capital earlier this month to discuss preventing further educational budget cuts. Although he drew disappointment from the campus community after sign- ing the state budget with a $650 million cut to the UC system, he signed a petition the following October that vowed to oppose all such cuts in the future.
In Williams’ most recent and highly publicized piece of legislation — a proposed $10 tax on patrons of strip clubs that serve alcohol — he takes a stand against sexual violence by heavily taxing the businesses he believes are conducive to such crimes.
Walter seems to stray from issues relevant to student voters as he throws his attention away from Williams’ usual stomping grounds of education and the environment and instead focuses on social issues, holding a hard-line conservative stance against same-sex marriage and abortion rights. He also advocates for a less active state legislature with lower salaries and fewer meetings.
Salud Carbajal: County Supervisor, 1st District
Santa Barbara County 1st District County Supervisor Salud Carbajal is running unopposed for his current position after his opponent Carole Lieff, a self-described “free- dom fighter and shit-disturber,” dropped out of the race and moved to Montana in early May. Carbajal, who has served a two-term tenure as supervisor, has tried hard to balance the economic dichotomy of demographics within his district and has proven himself to be capable of the task. The 1st District includes both the wealthy Montecito area and sta- tistically underprivileged Eastside Santa Barbara neighborhoods. In order to support the diversity of his constituents, Carbajal has pushed for combating gang activity, instituting truancy programs and opposing cuts to law enforcement as well as efforts to cut down on county spending and pension reform.
Carbajal also champions support for environmental causes as a major campaign platform and points toward his efforts to reduce the use of pesticides and facilitate the development of clean energy sources. In addition, he opposes further expansion of oil drilling operations along the Carpinteria and Gaviota coastline, which is an issue of major contention in the county. Overall, Carbajal has done a solid job as supervisor thus far, compiling an impressive list of accomplishments and listening closely to the needs and concerns of those he represents.
Hannah-Beth Jackson: State Senator, 19th District
We, the Daily Nexus Editorial Board, consider Hannah-Beth Jackson the most quali- fied candidate for the 19th Senate District, which encompasses Santa Barbara County and northern Ventura County.
Jackson has been known to vote across party lines and work with both Republicans and Democrats to pass legislation, yet she remains committed to a traditionally Democratic stance on major issues including education, environmental protection, health care and economic growth.
In terms of education, that means securing steady funding for local schools and roll- ing back student fees in the California university systems to make education at all levels affordable without compromising quality. During her time in office, she was named “Outstanding Public Official” by the California Teachers’ Association.
In addition to her strong stance on maintaining education standards, Jackson has been a longtime supporter of small businesses and reinvesting money back into the local economy. To do this, she advocates rewarding large companies that develop their business and keeping manufacturing within California borders, rather than outsourcing labor and money. In dealing with large corporations, Jackson has pledged her continued support to close loopholes that allow the biggest businesses to evade proportionate taxa- tion.
Another key focus of Jackson’s political efforts involves the protection and manage- ment of California’s environment, including a significant span of undeveloped coastline. She has chaired the Assembly Natural Resources Committee as well as the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and was recently endorsed by the Sierra Club. She also advocates the development of alternative energy to offset depen- dency on foreign oil and the protection of local coastline from offshore drilling.
Finally, Jackson’s political record sets her apart from her two opponents, Jason Hodge (D), with whom she will compete in the primaries this June, and Mike Stoker (R) whom the victorious Democratic candidate will be up against in the general election. Her six years (from 1998-2004) in the California Legislature, in addition to her experience as an educator and small business owner make her the most experienced candidate.
Furthermore, her unwavering support for education, environmental conservation and efforts to stimulate California’s economy by keeping jobs here make her the best, most promising candidate. Vote for Jackson if you like smart kids, trees and being employed.
Joyce Howerton: County Supervisor, 4th District
Despite her lack of experience in state-level politics, Joyce Howerton proves the best candidate for 4th District Supervisor, exhibiting political aptitude that is remarkably less sketchy than that of incumbent Joni Gray, a Democrat who has held the position since 1998. Republican Peter Adam — a farmer and businessman who calls himself a “fiscal libertarian” — has the smallest following but will likely swing the race into a runoff between the top two candidates in November if one fails to win more than 50 percent of the votes.
Howerton, a three-time mayor of Lompoc, holds an extensive record of social and environmental efforts, working to better conditions for the homeless population, farm workers and other underrepresented communities through her leadership in the Santa Barbara County Action Network, North County Rape Crisis Center and Child Protection Center as well as her work on the Santa Barbara Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Although Gray’s political experience surpasses that of her activist-minded opponent, she fails to claim the incumbency advantage due to personal and political ties to the Lompoc Community Housing and Community Development Corporation, which faced a whirlwind of controversy when it unexpectedly shut down this past winter. LCHCDC, which includes the only facilities serving the homeless of the county’s poorest area, failed to provide financial records involving public monies and as of 2007, the organi- zation stopped filing annual reports to the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Gray’s chief of staff, Susan Warnstrom, was President of Lompoc Housing’s Board of Directors and her husband, George Wittenberg, acted as the legal counsel for the facility. Since 2006, Gray — an attorney herself — was even a partner for the legal firm defending Lompoc Housing, putting her in a conflict of interest that was only resolved once the controversy became public. In light of such shady internal workings, the 4th District is ripe for change and Howerton is more than capable and willing to offer it.
Since conservatives outnumber liberals in the 4th District, Adam is likely to swoop up some of Gray’s past support; however, the rancher’s inexperience in dealing with local policymaking makes Howerton the top contender.
Lois Capps: Congressional Representative, 23rd District
The Daily Nexus editorial board has long supported current congressional representative Lois Capps, a Democrat who has represented California’s 23rd District since her husband Walter died and left her his congressional seat 14 years ago. Though opponents have doubted her humble beginnings as a public school nurse, Capps has proven to the residents of her district — a long, narrow strip spanning much of Southern California’s coast — that her political priorities truly reflect their concerns, and that she has the thoughtful know-how to achieve progressive change. Capps advocates heavily for environmental preservation, has worked with UCSB’s own Palm Center to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” mandate and continues to fight for lower student loan interest rates. In comparison, her opponents, former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado and former actor Chris Mitchum, have little successful political experience between them. The moderate Maldonado served as a State Senator from 2004 until Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated him for Lt. Gov in 2009 after John Garamendi was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. During his bumpy career in the State Senate, he was accused of accept- ing thousands of dollars’ worth of lavish gifts from California power companies whose local power plants would have been threatened by a bill heightening seismic safety standards, had Maldonado not objected to the proposal. Mitchum spent the majority of his career on the silver screen and began his political career with six years on the Screen Actors’ Guild Board of Directors. He ran as the Republican nominee for 35th District State assemblymember in 1998 but lost to current 19th State Senate District candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson. Despite these losses, Mitchum has contributed an honorable amount of time to in-need communities, serving on the Autistic Treatment Center’s Honorary Advisory Council for eight years and as a board member for the Liberty Program — which helps integrate former gang members into crime-free lifestyles — for three.
While Capps has had a relatively easy time keeping her position over the years, likely due to her skillful balance of political passion and a kind-hearted ambition to serve her constituency, this election is likely to see a closer race. As a result of redistricting, much of the regions now contained in California’s 23rd District will be shifted into a new 24th that will include a stronger Republican presence. As a community, it would be irresponsible to turn our backs on the State Senator who sided with the minority following 9/11, advocating against a sudden surge in power to the executive branch. Lois Capps makes her decisions based on her region’s best interests, a tried-and-true tactic that has become all too rare in today’s political realm. It’s an honor to have the offer of continued service from a representative who works tirelessly to remain accountable.
Congressional Representative (23rd district)
California’s 23rd District representative serves approximately 640,000 citizens of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura coun- ties. Congressional representatives serve two-year terms and have the power to introduce bills which become laws if they are approved by the House of Representatives, Senate and president.
California State Senator (19th district)
California State Senators comprise the upper house of the state gov- ernment’s legislative branch with California’s 19th State Senate District representing the residents of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as well as the Simi Valley. The primary responsibility of state senators is to respond to district members’ needs and represent them when creating and passing legislation for the state.
35th Assembly District
California’s 35th Assembly District refers to the lower house of the legislative branch of the state government. The 35th District includes all of Santa Barbara County and much of Ventura County, and is cur- rently represented by Das Williams. The 80-member Assembly is led by the Speaker, who controls committee assignments and directs legislative processes.
County District Supervisor
Santa Barbara County is divided into five districts, with UCSB and Isla Vista joining Ventura and the Vandenburg Air Force Base in the 3rd District. Current 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr oversees vari- ous issues throughout the district including environmental protection, public health and safety, transportation and education.
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Heads Up: B.o.B, Cee-Lo Green & Flo Rida Play Houston July 20th
Watch Conan Enter The "Danger Zone" With Archer And Battle Russian Mobsters
Interviews, TV/Movies
The Rockets Teach The Warriors A Lesson In Hand Down, Man Down
Big Boi, Girls, Killing Joke & Beirut Added to 2011 Free Press Summerfest Lineup
Hidden Colors 3: Rules of Racism [@hiddencolorsmov @tariqelite]
Day & A Dream Presents: The TUT Session [@tuthouse1 @justkels88]
Kelsey McDaniel
Interviews, Music, Profile
Quiet as it’s kept, the South has been busy. Chattanooga, Tennessee artist Kevin Adams better known as YGTut or Tut, released his debut project Preacher’s Son in late 2014; a 16-track project comprised of personal stories, life lessons and a whole lot of character.
With over 100,000 listens on SoundCloud alone and endless support on social media, it seems as though listeners are impressed. Tut not only came out swinging, he’s backed by a team of artists doing the same. They affectionately call themselves The House. They, especially producer KToven, lent their talents to the unique and well-rounded sound that complements Tut’s southern lyricism on Preacher’s Son, which we recently found out is all off clear memorization, Tut doesn’t write any of it down. His music seems to embody his personality perfectly. As he speaks, it is evident that he and his team are not only working hard, they are doing it right and for all the right reasons.
As many have listened to and made a connection with the music found on Preacher’s Son, we got the chance to chat with Tut regarding everything from his personal story and influences to his connection with TDE artist Isaiah Rashad and much more, as well as who The House is and how they came to be. We found that he is an open book with a hell of an interesting story and so much more to come.
Preacher’s Son is your debut project, correct? How do you feel about its reception so far?
Yeah this is our first project, me and KToven. It took us about 8 months to put it together. I think it’s doing good; a lot of people have been reaching out, saying it’s been helping them get through certain situations and that feels good to hear. I was really just giving a message about my situation, the shit I go through personally and the things that people around me go through, from my perspective. I’m just glad people are able to relate, I like where it’s going.
Being a Preacher’s Son, has your dad and your family been supportive of what you’re doing?
My pops is supportive; he’s always been there for me. When I was a kid, he would ask if I wanted be a preacher when I grew up and I would tell him no, I don’t know if that’s my calling. Over time we have had our ups and downs. There were times he didn’t necessarily see what I was trying to do with it, he thought I was just trying to talk about “bitches and hoes”. I got a little more substance to it. He texted me the other day and said, “I listened to some of the stuff on your album and you’re good, you’re damn good. It’s major to see everybody finding out about the music and liking it.” He said he was proud of me.
What inspired you to become an artist?
I’ve always been fascinated with rap, even when I was a kid. I don’t even remember how old I was; I just remember riding around in the car with my pops and listening to Nappy Roots and A Tribe Called Quest. That inspired me from jump. I always had hip-hop influences around me. I wasn’t that Preacher’s Son that was always in the church. I grew up in the church but I was probably in the streets more than I was in the church back then.
Once my pops took me to a studio for the first time on MLK Blvd, he took me to a studio called Big G’s Grill. It was a restaurant. They had a studio in the back with an engineer and everything. I did my first track, it was the first time I ever recorded and I was like, “this shit kinda tight”.
My pops gave me a bunch of studio equipment and come to find out, some of it was Too Short’s old equipment. Once I got that, I started fuckin’ around with Fruity Loops. Then I met KToven in high school in Little Rock. He told me that my beats were bullshit and I should come to his crib. Since then, we’ve been pretty much recording together.
“Sheba” from Preacher’s Son is a pretty heavy track, what inspired you to write that?
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. It’s crazy how that song came about. Eric (part of Tut’s management) & I were sitting at the crib listening to a sample with a choir singing in the back and I liked how it sounded. Then we were watching Kevin Gates on some high shit, we thought he was washing a girl’s feet and that would be a hard concept for a song. Then I went to church that Sunday and my pops was talking about Sheba and it came full circle. The washing feet concept is just help people and do for others. Be of some service and don’t always be about self. Don’t nobody win that way. Shit always comes out bad. It’s basically on some work together shit.
I feel like as an artist, that’s what we are here for. That’s why we make music, to help people get through their day-to-day situations. It’s our job to make some shit that will get them through. Not just for money.
Who is part of The House?
Me, Isaiah Rashad and Michael Da Vinci started The House. We came up with it in college. I’ve known Rob (Da Vinci) since 9th grade, we ended up going to TSU (Tennessee State) together and he introduced me to Isaiah. Black Metaphor actually produced our first track together. On the production side we have KToven, The Antydote, Cody Jordan, D Sanders, Chris Calor and The House Band. Basically, its all these musicians that we picked up around the city.
What is next for you?
The video for “Holy Water” is coming out soon. I’m doing multiple shows and SXSW in March. We are still working on the calendars. I’m trying to come out to Texas, y’all be showing me a lot of love. I’m working on this next project that will probably come out around the fall.
What is your outlook on where southern and even your local hip-hop scene is going?
It’s looking up. There’s a lot of talent in Chattanooga. Isaiah (Rashad) was the first to come out, and now I’m starting to get some attention in my direction. It can only go up from here. I know for sure that we got a lot more shit on the way. I was recording last night; I’m in the studio right now. Chattanooga is on the come up; it’s the first time attention has been on us in this kind of scale in a long time. Not only in the music area, everywhere. People are expanding their businesses whether it’s fashion or a restaurant or whatever.
Download Preacher’s Son here
preachers sontut
Video: Javon Johnson – “Juan” [@flemingdrx]
Video: Future – “Gangland” [@1future]
Writer. Hennessy connoisseur.
TUT Returns, Passing A Little “Sleezy Money” In The Process | @ygtut
Chattanooga Shines As TUT & Isaiah Rashad Ride “G35” [@tuthouse1 @isaiahrashad]
Big K.R.I.T. & TUT – “Riding Dirty” [@bigkrit @tuthouse1 @ktoven]
TUT Goes “Outside” With KToven [@tuthouse1 @ktoven]
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Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
Revision as of 12:29, 19 September 2009 by Simon Harley (Talk | contribs) (Made Changes.)
2 Term Organisation
The College was commanded by a Royal Navy Captain on the Active List. He had command of the ship Pomone, upon whose books all the College's naval staff were borne. An Engineer Captain had charge of the extensive College workshops. There were on average thirty officers and warrant officers on the naval staff, with another six in charge of the College's tenders.
The professorial staff was headed by a Headmaster. There were five departments; Modern Languages, History & English, SCience, Navigation and Mathematics, each with a Head of Department. The remaining staff consisted of Senior Masters, Masters and Naval Instructors.
Term Organisation
The Cadets were organised into six terms based on when they entered the college. Each term was named after a famous naval officer. For example, in May, 1914 the six terms were named; "Blake", "Drake", "St. Vincent", "Exmouth", "Greynvile" and "Hawke". Each term had two "Officers of Term", a Lieutenant and an Engineer Lieutenant, assisted by three to four "Cadet Captains" selected from the term's cadets. In some cases a "Chief Cadet Captain" was also selected.
Davies, E. L.; Grove, E. J. (1980). The Royal Naval College Dartmouth: Seventy-five years in Pictures. Portsmouth: Gieves & Hawkes Limited. ISBN 0-85997-462-6.
Pack, Captain S. W. C. (1966). Britannia at Dartmouth: The Story of H.M.S. Britannia and the Britannia Royal Naval College. London: Alvin Redman Limited.
Retrieved from "http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php?title=Royal_Naval_College,_Dartmouth&oldid=11456"
Royal Naval Colleges
Royal Navy Education
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The fourth annual retrospective of the year's postings at this address.
Two Group Portraits
News from Home
The Honest Badger Thief of Lubeck
Artist unknown (Views of Iceland)
In Suðarsveit
Reykjavík Blues
More Katazome
More Stasys
Postcard reproduction of a poster for Stephen and Timothy Quay's short film Stille Nacht I: Dramolet (1988). The letters "R. W." in the intricate calligraphy commemorate the Swiss writer Robert Walser, whose body was found in a field of snow on Christmas Day in 1956.
The Museum of Modern Art's special exhibition devoted to the work of the Quay brothers closes on January 7, 2012.
Labels: Quay Brothers, Robert Walser
Sumargestur
A song by the young Icelandic musician Ásgeir Trausti. The title, I'm told, means something like "Summer Guest," and the song is addressed to a migratory bird.
Labels: Iceland, Music
From today's New York Times:
Each slaughter of innocents seems to get more appalling. A high school. A college campus. A movie theater. People meeting their congresswoman. A shopping mall in Oregon, just this Tuesday. On Friday, an elementary school classroom.
People will want to know about the killer in Newtown, Conn. His background and his supposed motives. Did he show signs of violence? But what actually matters are the children. What are their names? What did they dream of becoming? Did they enjoy finger painting? Or tee ball?
All that is now torn away. There is no crime greater than violence against children, no sorrow greater than that of a parent who has lost a child, especially in this horrible way. Our hearts are broken for those parents who found out their children — little more than babies, really — were wounded or killed, and for those who agonized for hours before taking their traumatized children home.
President Obama said he had talked to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut and promised him the full resources of the federal government to investigate the killer and give succor to his victims. We have no doubt Mr. Obama will help in any way he can, for now, but what about addressing the problem of guns gone completely out of control, a problem that comes up each time a shooter opens fire on a roomful of people but then disappears again?
The assault weapons ban enacted under President Clinton was deficient and has expired. Mr. Obama talked about the need for "common sense" gun control after the movie theater slaughter in Aurora, Colo., and he hinted during the campaign that he might support a new assault weapons ban, presumably if someone else introduced it.
Republicans will never do that, because they are mired in an ideology that opposes any gun control. After each tragedy, including this one, some people litter the Internet with grotesque suggestions that it would be better if everyone (kindergarten teachers?) were armed. Far too many Democrats also live in fear of the gun lobby and will not support an assault weapons ban, or a ban on high-capacity bullet clips, or any one of a half-dozen other sensible ideas.
Mr. Obama said Friday that “we have been through this too many times” and that “we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”
When will that day come? It did not come after the 1999 Columbine shooting, or the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, or the murders in Aurora last summer.
The more that we hear about gun control and nothing happens, the less we can believe it will ever come. Certainly, it will not unless Mr. Obama and Congressional leaders show the courage to make it happen.
I have little to add to the above because there really is nothing there that can be disputed, nothing there that hasn't been known for years. Over and over the same kind of incident has taken place, and over and other in response we've heard the same empty verbiage from the NRA and its allies, the same tired list of reasons why we shouldn't actually ever do anything effective that might have a chance of preventing these atrocities from happening, atrocities that would set us on a swift path to war if they were perpetrated by a foreign country, but which we're seemingly willing to aid and abet at home. Enough is enough; it's time to draw the line. We don't need "a conversation" about gun control; we need gun control, the stricter the better, the sooner the better. And if you don't agree, don't waste your stale breath on me; try to square your consciences with the families of the victims.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence
Violence Policy Center
Charles Blow: "A Tragedy of Silence"
Larry Alan Burns: "A conservative case for an assault weapons ban"
Gail Collins: "Looking for America"
Adam Gopnik: "Newtown and the Madness of Guns"
Bob Herbert: "War at Home" (link now broken)
Nicholas Kristof: "Do We Have the Courage to Stop This?"
Brothel, with Orchestra
I borrowed a copy of this brief study of the Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti because I was curious to see what Mario Vargas Llosa would have to say about Los adioses, the peculiar, ambiguous novella that is the only Onetti of any length I've read. As it turns out, he devotes only a few paragraphs to it, and I'm going to put off reading the rest of El viaje a la ficción until I've had a chance to read more Onetti, but in the meantime I did dip into a few sections, including the book's somewhat eccentric twenty-page preface, in which Onetti is not referred to at all until the final sentence.
I also came across a few gossipy literary anecdotes, such as the one in which Onetti, while reading Cortázar's "El perseguidor," reportedly smashed a windowpane with his fist when he read of the death of Johnny Carter's little daughter; and the following, in which Vargas Llosa speaks of his own encounters with the Uruguayan:
Only in San Francisco did I have a chance to chat with him a bit, in the smoky, dark little bars in the vicinity of the hotel. It took some effort to provoke him to talk, but when he did it he said intelligent things, though impregnated with corrosive irony or ferocious sarcasm to be sure. He avoided talking about his books. At the same time, behind his gruffness and lapidary jokes, there appeared something vulnerable, someone who, in spite of his culture and his imagination, was unprepared to face the brutality of a life which he distrusted and feared. One night when we were discussing our working methods, he was scandalized that I worked in a disciplined manner and with a schedule. Working that way, he declared, he would not have written a line. He wrote in gusts and impulses, without forethought, on loose sheets at times, very slowly, word by word, letter by letter — years later Dolly Onetti confirmed that this was exactly the case, and that while he worked he sipped glasses of red wine diluted with water — in periods of great concentration separated by long parentheses of sterility. And then he pronounced that sentence which I would repeat many times afterwards: that the difference between us was that I had a matrimonial relationship with literature and he an adulterous one.
A footnote appends two briefer and possibly apocryphal anecdotes to the above. In one, Vargas Llosa writes that "when my novel The Green House won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 1966, and [Onetti's] Body Snatcher was a finalist — two novels that centered around whorehouses — Onetti is said to have declared that it was to be expected that I would win, because my brothel had an orchestra and his did not." Onetti is also said to have told an interviewer for a French television program, who seemed fascinated by the fact that the Uruguayan had only one tooth remaining in his mouth, "At one time I had a magnificent set of teeth, but I gave them to Mario Vargas Llosa."
(The translations are mine.)
Update: A passage in one of Cortázar's letters supports the anecdote about "El perseguidor": "Speaking of Montevideo, I had one of the greatest rewards of my life: a letter from Onetti in which he says that 'El perseguidor' had him in a bad way for fifteen days (lo tuvo quince días a mal traer)." (Letter to Francisco Porrúa, August 14, 1961, from the 2000 edition of Cartas, Volume I.)
Labels: Juan Carlos Onetti, Mario Vargas Llosa
I don't know if these are actual covers for the catalog of the Vilnius Book Festival or just posters, but either way I am in awe. The artwork is by Stasys Eidrigevičius.
Labels: Art, Dust jackets, Illustration, Stasys Eidrigevičius
Notes for a Commonplace Book (11)
Leszek Kołakowski:
In short, the word “happiness” does not seem applicable to divine life. But nor is it applicable to human beings. This is not just because we experience suffering. It is also because, even if we are not suffering at a given moment, even if we are able to experience physical and spiritual pleasure and moments beyond time, in the “eternal present” of love, we can never forget the existence of evil and the misery of the human condition. We participate in the suffering of others; we cannot eliminate the anticipation of death or the sorrows of life...
There are, of course, people who consider themselves happy because they are successful: healthy and rich, lacking nothing, respected (or feared) by their neighbors. Such people might believe that their life is what happiness is. But this is merely self-deception; and even they, from time to time at least, realize the truth. And the truth is that they are failures like the rest of us...
Happiness is something we can imagine but not experience. If we imagine that hell and purgatory are no longer in operation and that all human beings, every single one without exception, have been saved by God and are now enjoying celestial bliss, lacking nothing, perfectly satisfied, without pain or death, then we can imagine that their happiness is real and that the sorrows and suffering of the past have been forgotten. Such a condition can be imagined, but it has never been seen. It has never been seen.
From "Is God Happy?," The New York Review of Books, December 20, 2012.
According to the label, these katazome (stencil-dyed) calendar pages were "made by Haruo Kuriyama in Kyoto" and distributed by Yasutomo Co. in San Francisco. The artist who designed them, however, is almost certainly Takeshi Nishijima. The page for February is missing from this set.
Click on the katazome label below for earlier related posts.
Labels: Calendars, Japan, Katazome, Printmaking
Re-reading Camus
I found revisiting The Plague as La peste considerably more difficult than re-reading The Counterfeiters as Les faux-monnayeurs. I sailed through the first seventy pages or so, then bogged down, though more so in the philosophical passages, some of which are quite long, than in the narrative and dialogue sections. When I referred to Stuart Gilbert's translation, which I kept at hand as a crib (though I mostly relied, heavily, on a dictionary), I was surprised to find that, although it reads well as the English-language novel I first encountered it as some thirty-five years ago, it diverges rather radically from the terse style of the original, even more so than Dorothy Bussy's dated but generally faithful rendition of Gide.
It's hard to read La peste today without very quickly noticing the curious fact that although the novel is set in a predominately Arab country (Algeria), there are virtually no Arabs in it. There are also very few women, and the few that do appear are either kept largely offstage (Rieux's wife) or reduced to entirely passive roles (Rieux's mother, who when not doing housework mostly sits silently with her hands folded, and who is probably based on the author's mother). The half-dozen characters of any consequence — Rieux, Tarrou, Rambert, Grand, Cottard, and Paneloux — are thus all males of European descent. To some extent these omissions are understandable, given what Camus set out to do, which was to write not a social novel but a moral and philosophical one in which the introduction of a social dimension might have been a distraction, although it still might be regarded as peculiar that Camus thought that he could only investigate moral and philosophical matters as they were refracted through one kind of lens.
In the end, however, even though Camus was in fact raised in Algeria and the lyrical passages in the book exude the particular ambience of the city of Oran, the novel is no more about Oran than Kafka's "The Great Wall of China" is about China. That La peste is, at least in part, an allegory about the German occupation of France during World War II has been widely noted, but one could be ignorant of that connection, or even ignorant of World War II, and still grasp the author's essential purpose, which was to consider how one might act in the face of a universe that is not made by us and does not operate for our benefit, but which accords us, or at least some of us, the freedom to make moral choices about how we will respond to that indifference.
Labels: Albert Camus, French, Novels
Re-reading Gide
When I was in my late teens I went through an intense phase of devouring every single page of modern French literature I could get my hands on. In a fairly short period I read essentially everything that was available in translation by Camus, all of Sartre's novels and plays (but none of his philosophy), the major works of André Gide, and all 2,000 pages or so of Roger Martin du Gard's The Thibaults and Summer 1914, as well as various bits of Malraux, Cocteau, Artaud, Ionesco, and others I've no doubt forgotten about. (Did I actually read, or just own, a copy of Mauriac's Viper's Tangle?) Eventually I took two years of French in college, but I never got to the point of trying any of the literature in the original, and in any case by then I was moving on to other things, especially Spanish and Latin American writers. I read some Zola, Balzac, and Flaubert in and out of college, but after 1980 or so I pretty much went cold turkey on French lit. Over the years, as I needed to thin out my library to make room, I donated just about everything, only retaining The Counterfeiters, The Plague, and the doorstop-sized Martin du Gards, which had been out-of-print and devilishly hard to find in the first place. I put a lot of effort into reading Spanish and let my French go, convincing myself that I just didn't really like the language. As for the literature, the time when the century-old struggles between Catholics and positivists or gossip about the philosophical debates between Camus, Sartre, and de Beauvoir could be viewed as crucial cultural concerns seemed to be long past, and later movements in French letters, most of which appeared to be centered more around philosophy or psychoanalysis, didn't appeal to me.
I can't say that it was entirely chance that led me not only to revisit The Counterfeiters but to attempt to read it in French, even though it's true that I would not have done so had I not found an ancient Gallimard edition on a shelf in the foreign-language section of a used bookstore. The truth is, I'd been thinking about the book on and off, and I had also been thinking about testing out my French on something, which is why I had made a point of looking on that particular shelf. The Gide was, in fact, the only book there that would have been likely to appeal to me. It was fated, clearly; I bought the book home and put it on a shelf for a few weeks while I finished some other things. Then, with some trepidation, a paperback dictionary (which turned out to be excellent for my purposes), and a copy of Dorothy Bussy's translation to use as a crib as needed, I dived in.
I'll leave it to a psycholinguist to explain how one can neglect a half-learned second or third language for thirty years or more without losing it altogether; in my case I suspect that my Spanish, which I work at fairly conscientiously, may have supported the underlying grammar. That, and the fact that English is fairly permeated with French loan words, probably made the difference. Gide writes clearly and is not particularly slangy; I suspect I might have more trouble with a contemporary writer. But in any case, making it through the novel's nearly 500 pages was hard work, but it was rewarding hard work. I rediscovered the qualities that had given me a fondness for the book when I first read it in translation, and found nuances (and one or two excised passages) that deepened my appreciation. In short, a successful experiment, which I hope to repeat soon with La peste, which happens to be the only other novel I currently own in both English and French.
As to Gide's novel itself, although it is set no later than 1907 and was written in the 1920s, I found that it held up quite well. Gide's analysis of character is profound and plausible throughout (though perhaps slightly less so in the case of some of the female characters), and except for one conversation about psychoanalysis there is little in the book that now seems glaringly dated. The book's structural innovations, which apparently gave the author no end of trouble, still seem fresh and even daring after several generations of postmodernism. This is, after all, a book in which there is an omniscient narrator but much of the action is depicted through the journal of one of the characters, Édouard, and in which parts of the narrative are presented to us as flashback as the journal is read by someone else; it is a book in which that same Édouard is writing a novel, also called The Counterfeiters, which he is basing on the events that take place around him; it is a book in which Édouard reads aloud a few pages of a draft of that novel (complete with ridiculous personal names — Audibert and Eudolfe) to another character in part to find out how he will react so that he can include that reaction in the book he is writing. It is, in its final pages, a book whose violent climax — horrifying but not really surprising, since Gide has been pointing us towards it — so mystifies Édouard that he decides to omit it from his own novel, since he can make no sense of the motivation that lies behind it. The novel shifts focus radically but seemingly without effort; major characters at the beginning (Vincent, Lady Griffith) are ignored for hundreds of pages and then dispatched summarily, while characters seen at first only obliquely, like Laura, emerge into the spotlight only to recede again. Even Olivier and Bernard, the two schoolfellows with whom the book begins, become less important as the book winds on, while Édouard, whom we barely meet for the first hundred pages, becomes more and more the center of gravity. Somehow Gide manages to keep all these balls in the air and still pull it off without letting the machinery interfere with what is, in many respects, a solidly realistic, almost Dickensian, narrative.
As for Gide's influence, re-reading it now I see the traces of Les faux-monnayeurs where I would not necessarily have expected it. It almost certainly had an effect on Julio Cortázar, who translated L'immoraliste and speaks admiringly of Gide in his letters; Édouard's ruminations on the technique of the novel are echoed by the novelist-philosopher Morelli in Hopscotch. It surely influenced The Empire City, the messy but often brilliant novel by Paul Goodman (another admirer of Gide); and its erotic and family dynamics, as well as Vincent's descent into depravity in Africa, may well have influenced Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. And since then? Is Gide much read in the US today, outside of the academy? I honestly don't know. But I suspect that even after the hyperkinetic experimentation of Pynchon, Barth, and David Foster Wallace, this cagey novel still has lessons to teach.
Labels: André Gide, French, Novels
Let the Wind Blow
Personally, I'm all for heading for the nearest high ground, but I do like this new song by Zachary Richard.
The CD version of this song (on Le fou) seems to be slightly different. Some of the "musicians" in the video are apparently actors.
Labels: French, Louisiana, Music, Zachary Richard
Questo misero modo
tegnon l’anime triste di coloro
che visser sanza ’nfamia e sanza lodo.
Mischiate sono a quel cattivo coro
de li angeli che non furon ribelli
né fur fedeli a Dio, ma per sé fuoro.
Inferno, III
I have rarely employed this blog for political discussions, not because I have no opinions on such matters (people who know me well know that I am, in fact, stridently and perhaps tiresomely partisan), but because this particular space was intended to be, for the most part, reserved for joy, and there is, for the most part, precious little joy or for that matter integrity in the political sphere. But at a certain point it becomes dishonorable to keep silent. I have minimal influence on others and most of what I say here may largely be preaching to the choir, but it must be said nevertheless. I will try to be brief.
It may be surprising that someone like myself, who has no religious beliefs, would adopt the essentially Manichean attitude expressed in Dante's condemnation of those "who were not rebels, nor faithful to God, but who were only for themselves," but I have strong views (though not theological or metaphysical ones) about what is right and wrong, or what, if the terminology pleases you, constitutes Good and Evil. Put simply, compassion and honesty are good, cruelty and lying are evil. In spite of that, I have modest expectations of others, including those who take it upon themselves to lead us. I worship few idols, in politics or elsewhere, and I don't necessarily expect to find perfection or even idealism in public life. It's commendable when one finds a relatively selfless politician, but I don't regard it as necessary. A certain amount of self-interest, in our leaders and in ourselves, is not only forgivable but normal and probably inevitable; it is, in fact, largely how political systems work, by balancing the competing needs of factions that are looking out for their own interests and implicitly doing harm to the interests of others. Saints, when you find them -- and there's that theological language again -- are deserving of recognition, but they are also rare, and expecting sainthood is not only naive but dangerous; history is littered with the victims of self-declared purists.
But if corruption is our natural state (I do not exempt myself), it is nevertheless the case that there are degrees of that particular vice, and that there is a difference between those who through frailty or selfishness allow their motives to become mixed and those who deliberately, relentlessly, systematically manipulate public life and consciously sacrifice the general welfare for the inordinate benefit of a few, or who use fanaticism and bigotry as the tools with which to consolidate their power and privileges. As someone whose own ideology is solidly on the left, I have at times taken issue with the policies of the current administration, but I refuse to be reduced to the trivialization of declaring whether I "support" President Barack Obama's presidency or whether I think his motives and methods are largely "good" or "bad." Like everyone else I have my impressions, but they are ultimately of no importance (and in any case, too complex to be reduced to a simple "yes" or "no"). What is important is that a choice must be made -- by me, by everyone else -- and that how that choice is made will have profound consequences.
That our country's political system is, and has been for many years, a dysfunctional nightmare, is not in question. The size of the country, the vast opportunities it offers for corruption, and our sordid history -- never healed and all-too-often barely acknowledged -- of conquest, genocide, slavery, exploitation, racism, and fanaticism, are all inimical to the spirit of a democratic polis. Even the letter of democracy -- the principle of universal suffrage -- has been increasingly threatened by efforts to suppress the vote. (Always, that is, the vote of certain people, though we have even seen serious suggestions that the right to choose US senators should be taken away from the electorate and returned to the state houses, where it resided before the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment). The fog of disinformation and outright lying perpetrated by right-wing cable outlets and websites has served to confuse and mislead a population already long divided along regional, racial, and social lines, and has encouraged a fatal cynicism about the potential positive role of government and law in promoting the general welfare. Congress, the body that in effect invented the country and which was intended by the Constitution as the ultimate legal embodiment of the sovereignty of the people, is now perhaps the most universally despised institution in the country, on both the left and the right. None of this will be set right in this election, or, most likely, in our lifetimes.
But there is a difference between illness and death, and in a little over a week we will learn, assuming our creaky electoral machinery doesn't simply freeze up entirely, whether we intend to leave open the possibility that "government of the people, by the people, for the people" is a goal worth striving for that might at some future time actually be achieved, or whether we will simply surrender ourselves once and for all to the barons of neo-feudalism and the armies of hatred, fanaticism, and greed that have gathered around them. There is no middle ground.
The Devil's Lexicon
Another video from Gonwards, the upcoming Peter Blegvad - Andy Partridge - Stuart Rowe collaboration, releasing October 22nd from Ape House Records. The whole package has been described as, in part, "a re-imagination of the myth of the Blues," and in this film (by Marina Lutz) this element comes through explicitly. But of course, this being a Blegvad-Partridge project (like the earlier Orpheus the Lowdown), the Devil not only meets the musician at the crossroads, he actually brings him into being out of the raw materials of creation.
André Gide (in the voice of Édouard):
To strip away from the novel every element that does not specifically belong to the novel. Just as photography in the past liberated painting from its concern for a certain sort of accuracy, so the phonograph will no doubt shortly purge the novel of the reported dialogue on which realists so often pride themselves. Exterior events, accidents, injuries, belong to the cinema; the novel should abandon them to it. Even the description of the characters does not seem to me to properly belong to the genre. No; this doesn't seem to me the business of the pure novel (and in art, as in everything else, purity is the only thing I care about). No more so than it is the business of drama. And let no one argue that the playwright does not describe his characters merely because the spectator is intended to see them recreated in the flesh on the stage — for how often does a stage actor irritate and baffle us because he is so unlike the person our own imagination had figured better without him? The novelist does not as a rule give sufficient credit to the reader's imagination.
(From The Counterfeiters. I have messed liberally with Dorothy Bussy's translation.)
I'm not sure if Édouard's manifesto constitutes good advice or bad advice at this point; it certainly seems to have been prophetic, at least of later tendencies in the French novel. Having just finished reading Bleak House, which would seem to embody, in its glorious way, everything that Édouard wished to jettison, I find it alternately bracing and appalling. What exactly is the role of the novel in a culture in which the dominant forms of narrative are moving pictures? (And remember that Gide put these words in Édouard's notebook in 1925, before talkies and long before television.) Is the novel simply to be (as many novels now are) a transcript of what we would see and hear if we were watching the same story on TV?
On an unrelated note, can there be any doubt that Cortázar's Morelli is simply Édouard under another guise?
NB: Quoted at least twice in Cortázar's letters, including one addressed to Mario Vargas Llosa in 1970: "Toutes choses sont dites déjà; mais comme personne n'écoute, il faut toujours recommencer." (André Gide)
Labels: André Gide, Notes, Novels
Tales of a Sea Cow
I saw most of this "documentary" by Etienne de France this summer at the Listasafns Íslands (National Gallery of Iceland) in Reykjavík, where it was playing in a continuous loop. As far as I can tell only this trailer is available online.
The Stellar's sea cow is believed to have become extinct in the 1760s.
Labels: Enigmas, Film, Iceland
A Working Museum
I didn't really know what to expect with this one since I only knew Amy Rigby from three songs, which was exactly two and a half songs more than I knew of the work of Eric Goulden a.k.a. Wreckless Eric. But I liked those three songs enough (even though two of them weren't her own compositions) that I plunked down my $15 through Kickstarter and gave it a shot. As it turns out, it's a pretty likeable record. As the song list on the cover implies (it's typed by someone who evidently learned to type using the same method I did, which is to say no method at all), this is very much a homemade production, cranked out by two veteran musicians who have kicked around a bit, have been working together for a while, and who have also been a married couple for the last few years.
Amy Rigby is an American, Goulden a Brit. They're a bit of an odd couple musically, at first glance, Rigby coming across as a typically self-aware, acoustic guitar-toting singer-songwriter, though with an appealingly off-beat delivery and a skewed sense of humor, and Wreckless Eric being more of a '70s punk rocker and looking a bit worse for wear, as do many of us of his vintage even if we weren't ever punk rockers back in the day. They wind up complementing each other quite well, as it turns out; Rigby can stomp around and rock out with the best of them, and Goulden writes intelligent, melodic pop that deserves better than the horrible pub sound systems and rowdy audiences he probably had to endure in his original heyday (aw, but I bet he loved it, at least some of the time).
The highlights here for me are Rigby's "Do You Remember That?," a slightly different version of which I first heard via the Radio Free Song Club, and "Rebel Girl" (which is apparently a posthumous tribute to someone, though I don't know who), and Goulden's "A Darker Shade of Brown" (which contains the plea "Aw, God save us from sanitized sex") and "Zero to Minus One." There are one or two misses, by my count, but really this is a solid record, produced with handmade care without the involvement of the bean-countership, which at this point has pretty much given up on this kind of music anyway.
As for the title, the explanation is in the liner notes:
We've called this album A Working Museum, because at this point, with a combined musical career of 70 years, that's probably what we are. There's something unnatural (though hopefully not undignified) about people our age making pop music and hacking around the club circuit, but that's what we do.
Here, by the way, is a video of Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric from a few years back, doing a version of Eric's much-covered "Whole Wide World," plus the beginning of "Take the Cash." See if you can tell whether they're having a good time.
From Germ to Gem
A video sneak peek at Gonwards, the upcoming Peter Blegvad - Andy Partridge - Stuart Rowe collaboration, due out October 22nd from Ape House Records. This should be fun.
Labels: Peter Blegvad
A poem in the pocket
To follow up my earlier post on Héctor Abad Faciolince's memoir El olvido que seremos, I should mention the same author's more recent book Traiciones de la memoria, ("Betrayals of Memory") which itself is a bit of a spin-off.
The title of El olvido que seremos ("the oblivion we will be") was taken from the handwritten text of a poem found in Abad Faciolince's father's pocket when he was assassinated in 1987. That scrap of paper, which is now lost, evidently bore an attribution to Borges, but, curiously, the poem was not to be found in any of the authorized editions of his work. Moreover, when Abad Faciolince contacted a number of Borges scholars and biographers, as well as his widow Maria Kodama, they unanimously dismissed it as a fake, and its origin appeared murky. A Colombian poet, Harold Alvarado Tenorio, would later claim to have received the poem, along with four others, directly from Borges, but then changed his story and declared that he had written them himself and passed them off as the work of the master. (Neither version of his story appears to be true, nor would they be the last Alvarado Tenorio would advance.) Abad Faciolince followed the convoluted trail of the poems back to their original printed source, in a limited-edition pamphlet published in Argentina in 1986 by a press called Ediciones Anónimos, and eventually uncovered what seems to be almost incontestable evidence that they were in fact written by Borges. Traiciones de la muerte includes a number of illustrations of the parties involved and of the various editions of the poems. It's a somewhat bizarre and obsessive but ultimately satisfying exercise in literary detective work.
As for the poem that started all this, here is the original text, followed by the translation that appears in a review of Oblivion (the English-language edition of El olvido que seremos) in the Nation. (The translation is not specifically credited, but is probably by Natasha Wimmer, who translated Jorge Volpi's original Spanish-language review.)
"Aquí. Hoy."
Ya somos el olvido que seremos.
El polvo elemental que nos ignora
y que fue el rojo Adán y que es ahora
todos los hombres, y que no veremos.
Ya somos en la tumba las dos fechas
del principio y el término, la caja,
la obscena corrupción y la mortaja,
los ritos de la muerte y las endechas.
No soy el insensato que se aferra
al mágico sonido de su nombre.
Pienso con esperanza en aquel hombre
que no sabrá que fui sobre la tierra.
Bajo el indiferente azul del cielo
esta meditación es un consuelo.
Already we are the oblivion we shall be—
the elemental dust that does not know us,
the dust that once was red Adam and now is
all men, the dust we shall not see.
Already we are the two dates on the headstone,
the beginning and the end. The coffin,
the obscene decay and the shroud,
the death rites and the dirges.
I am not some fool who clings
to the magical sound of his own name.
I think, with hope, of that man
who will never know I walked the earth.
Beneath the blue indifference of heaven,
I find this thought consoling.
In addition to "Un poema en el bolsillo," which follows the trail of the Borges poem, Traiciones de la memoria includes two shorter pieces, "Un camino equivocado" and "Ex futuros." It was published by Alfaguara in 2009. One of the other participants in the affair, an editor named Jaime Correas, has published his own version in a "non-fiction novel" (which I haven't read) entitled Los falsificadores de Borges. It is said to be supportive of Abad Faciolince's conclusions.
Labels: Borges, Héctor Abad Faciolince, Poetry
Nunca acepté resignado la muerte de mi hermana, ni nunca podré aceptar con tranquilidad el asesinato de mi padre. Es cierto que él, de alguna manera, estaba ya satisfecho con su via, y preparado para morir, dispuesto a morir si era necesario, pero abominaba esa muerte violente que evidentemente le estaban preparando. Eso es lo más doloroso y lo más inaceptable. Este libro es el intento de dejar un testimonio de ese dolor, un testimonio al mismo tiempo inútil y necesario. Inútil porque el tiempo no se devuelve ni los hechos se modifican, pero necesario al menos para mí, porque mi vida y mi oficio carecían de sentido si no escribiera esto que siento que tengo que escribir, y que en casi veinte años de intentos no había sido capaz de escribir, hasta ahora.
I'm not going to say much about Héctor Abad Faciolince's extraordinary memoir El olvido que seremos except to say that you should read it, and if you need more reason than that (which naturally you do, unless you are in the habit of taking recommendations from perfect strangers without further explanation), I invite you to read Jorge Volpi's long and thoughtful review in the Nation. The English-language translation, which I haven't examined, is entitled Oblivion; it was published in the US earlier this year by Farrrar, Straus & Giroux.
Labels: Colombia, Héctor Abad Faciolince
Briefly noted (Harry Mathews)
An online journal called The Quarterly Conversation is devoting a good part of its Fall 2012 issue (#29) to a special feature entitled An American in Oulipo: The Harry Mathews Symposium, including separate articles about The Conversions, the first three novels considered collectively, Cigarettes, My Life in CIA, and other works. As far as I can tell the journal has no print edition, which is a drag since I find reading more than three or four paragraphs at a time on a computer screen to be uncongenial (says the blogger). Still, it's nice to see that there's still some interest out there in Mathews's work.
Labels: Harry Mathews
Dining with Ólafur
The stone above, which lies on the island of Vi∂ey or Videy in Kollafjörður Bay across from the city of Reykjavík, Iceland, memorializes Ólafur Stephensen, the first native Icelander to serve as the country's governor during the period of Danish rule. In addition to his historical importance, Ólafur was, in the words of the island's official website, "renowned for his hospitality," and an account written by a young eyewitness who would later become one of Britain's greatest naturalists certainly bears this out, though "feared for his hospitality" might be closer to the mark. Here's a bit of background:
In June 1809, at a time when Denmark was officially at war with Great Britain, a British commercial vessel named the Rover arrived off Reykjavík, lured by the prospect of trade with an island that was, as far as the Danes were concerned, strictly off-limits to English merchants. Among the passengers was a Danish native named Jorgen Jorgenson, who in the course of a series of farcical events that ensued that summer would seize control of the capital and proclaim himself "protector" of Iceland, and William Jackson Hooker, who, as a protegé of the great naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, had tagged along on the Rover in order to conduct research on Icelandic botany. Hooker's specimens and journals would be lost on the homeward voyage, but he was able to reconstruct enough from memory to publish a two-volume Journal of a Tour in Iceland, in which he records how Ólafur Stephensen (an old friend of Joseph Banks) entertained his guests.
When we sat down to table, a little interruption was caused by the breaking down of the chair upon which his Excellency had seated himself; but this was soon settled, as there fortunately was still a vacant one in the room to replace it. The arranging of a dinner-table is attended in Iceland with little trouble, and would afford no scope for the display of the elegant abilities of an experienced English housekeeper. On the cloth was nothing but a plate, a knife and fork, a wine glass, and a bottle of claret, for each guest, except that in the middle stood a large and handsome glass-castor of sugar, with a magnificent silver top. The natives are not in the habit of drinking malt liquor or water, nor is it customary to eat salt with their meals. The dishes are brought in singly: our first was a large turenne of soup, which is a favorite addition to the dinners of the richer people, and is made of sago, claret, and raisins, boiled so as to become almost a mucilage. We were helped to two soup-plates full of this, which we ate without knowing if any thing more was to come. No sooner, however, was the soup removed, than two large salmon, boiled and cut in slices, were brought on, and, with them, melted butter, looking like oil, mixed with vinegar and pepper: this, likewise, was very good, and, when we had with some difficulty cleared our plates, we hoped we had finished our dinners. Not so, for there was then introduced a turenne full of the eggs of the Cree, or great tern, boiled hard, of which a dozen were put upon each of our plates; and, for sauce, we had a large basin of cream, mixed with sugar, in which were four spoons, so that we all ate out of the same bowl, placed in the middle of the table. We petitioned hard to be excused from eating the whole of the eggs upon our plates, but we petitioned in vain. "You are my guests," said he, "and this is the first time you have done me the honor of a visit, therefore you must do as I would have you; in future, when you come to see me, you may do as you like." In his own excuse, he pleaded his age for not following our example, to which we could make no reply.
We devoured with difficulty our eggs and cream; but had no sooner dismissed our plates, than half a sheep, well roasted, came on, with a mess of sorrel (Rumex acetosa), called by the Danes scurvy-grass, boiled, meshed, and sweetened with sugar. It was to no purpose we assured our host that we had already eaten more than would do us good: he filled our plates with the mutton and sauce, and made us get through it as well as we could; although any one of the dishes, of which we had before partaken, was sufficient for the dinner of a moderate man. However, even this was not all; for a large dish of Waffels, as they are here called, that is to say, a sort of pancake, made of wheat-flour, flat, and roasted in a mould, which forms a number of squares on the top, succeeded the mutton. They were not more than half an inch thick, and about the size of an octavo book. The Stiftsamptman [governor] said he would be satisfied if each of us would eat two of them, and, with these moderate terms we were forced to comply. For bread, Norway biscuit and loaves made of rye, were served up; for our drink, we had nothing but claret, of which we were all compelled to empty the bottle that stood by us, and this, too, out of tumblers, rather than wine glasses. It is not the custom in this country to sit after dinner over the wine, but we had, instead of it, to drink just as much coffee as the Stiftsamptman thought proper to give us. The coffee was certainly extremely good, and, we trusted it would terminate the feast. But all was not yet over; for a huge bowl of rum punch was brought in, and handed round in large glasses pretty freely, and to every glass a toast was given. If at any time we flagged in drinking, "Baron Banks" was always the signal for emptying our glasses, in order that we might have them filled with bumpers, to drink to his health; a task that no Englishman ought to hesitate about complying with most gladly, though assuredly, if any exception might be made to such a rule, it would be in an instance like the present. We were threatened with still another bowl, after we should have drained this; and accordingly another actually came, which we were with difficulty allowed to refuse to empty entirely; nor could this be done, but by ordering our people to get the boat ready for our departure, when, having concluded this extraordinary feast by three cups of tea each, we took our leave, and reached Reikevig [sic] about ten o'clock; but did not for some time recover the effects of this most involuntary intemperance.
Occupied since the 10th century, Vi∂ey is no longer farmed, but the farmhouse in which Stephensen entertained his guests still stands on the island, and there is now a small café inside it which serves excellent food, though not, to be sure, on the scale described above. There is a large hearth in a back room that may well have been used to prepare the meal served to Hooker and Jorgenson. Most of the island now looks like this:
The island may be the quietest place on earth, the only sound being the cry of an occasional shorebird startled by our footsteps. It is easily accessed by passenger ferry from Reykjavík, and is well worth a visit.
Sir William Jackson Hooker became the first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew; his son, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, who succeeded him at that post, was a great friend of Charles Darwin's. Jorgen Jorgenson's entire extraordinary career is admirably recounted in Sarah Blakewell's The English Dane: From King of Iceland to Tasmanian Convict.
Labels: Iceland
If more proof were needed that the best things often turn up by accident, during a brief ride on a passenger ferry in Reykjavík the captain switched on a recording of what was, as far as I could tell, someone singing the old Don Gibson country tune "Oh Lonesome Me" in Icelandic. When the boat docked, several tunes later, and I went to ask the what the record was, someone had already beat me to the punch, and the captain gave us both an introduction to Kristján Kristjánsson, better known as KK (pronounced "Cow Cow"), and his frequent collaborator Magnús Eiríksson, who usually goes by Maggi Eiríks or just plain Maggi.
22 Ferðalög, the CD that was playing on the boat, includes Icelandic-language versions of a number of old pop and folk chestnuts, including "Freight Train," "Daisy Bell" ("A Bicycle Built for Two"), and "Baby Face," as well as some songs I recognize but can't put a name on. As far as I can tell (knowing virtually no Icelandic), none of the melodies are new, and the "translated" lyrics may have at best only a rough fidelity to the original. The songs range in style from Tin Pan Alley to country to calypso to Hawaiian, and all are played with deft, swinging arrangements on two guitars. KK, who has the better voice, takes most of the vocals, with Maggi apparently playing the lead lines on guitar. The record was reportedly a big success in Iceland, and has led to two sequels (which I haven't heard), Fleiri ferðalög and Langferðalög. If I'm not mistaken, "ferðalög" means travelogue, and the record is, in fact, perfect traveling music, ingratiating without ever being sappy.
I didn't actually catch up with 22 Ferðalög (via download) until I got home, but before I left I did find a copy of Þrefaldur ("Triple"), a relatively inexpensive set that includes three earlier CDs by the pair, Ómissandi fólk, Kóngur einn dag, and the live album Lifað og leikið, dating from 1996 to 2000, and displaying a harder, more rock-oriented side to their work. Except for some American blues covers on the third CD (sung in English), most of the songs here seem to be originals, and good ones at that. Again, it's hard to judge songs without knowing the language, but the tunes and musicianship are first-rate. The live CD is more of a mixed bag stylistically than the first two discs, but it includes two of KK's best songs, the lovely road song "Vegbúi" and the haunting "Grand Hótel," as well as an eight-minute version of "Everyday I Have the Blues" that lets Maggi air it out on guitar.
KK (on the right in both photos) was born in Minnesota in 1956, though his parents were evidently Icelanders and the family moved back to Iceland when he was ten. He later studied music in Sweden. I haven't found much information on Magnus Eiríkson. It appears to be very difficult to obtain the pair's CDs in the US (and I don't know whether they ever tour here), but their music can be downloaded as mp3s from IcelandMusic.com. There are a few YouTube videos of KK out there, with or without Magnús, but the sound quality on most isn't great, though this version of a song called "Dalakofinn" seems to have been taken directly from a CD.
Thórbergur Thórdarson, or Þórbergur Þórðarson to use the Icelandic form of his name, was born in 1888 on a turf farmstead named Hali in Suðarsveit, an isolated district on the southeast coast of Iceland. Said to be too frail for farm work, he moved to Reykjavík, where he tried his hand at various occupations before taking up the pen. He eventually became one of Iceland's most important modern writers, though his name is scarcely recognized outside of the country. The Stones Speak, a memoir of his childhood, which has been published this year in an English-language translation by Julian Meldon D'Arcy, suggests that he deserves to be more widely known.
The Stone Speaks begins with the stranding of a French schooner in 1886, a momentous event in local history which provided local farmsteads with an unaccustomed bounty of such luxuries as French bread, red wine, and cognac, as well as more utilitarian items like fishing tackle, rope, and nails. It proceeds to the wedding of his parents shortly after, and his difficult birth two years later, and then examines in detail the farm buildings, livestock, and the rugged but beautiful terrain, caught between the sea and the glaciers and volcanoes of the hinterland. If the book were only that it would be of great historical and anthropological interest, for the precarious way of life of the farmers and fisher folk of the southeast coast had in many ways remained all but unchanged for centuries. In a region where supplies of wood were limited to what washed up on the shore and where horticulture was marginal at best, the inhabitants of Suðarsveit lived in houses constructed from turf and stone, cooked and heated with dung, relied on midwives and herbal remedies for medical care, and ate whatever their livestock provided or what they could harvest from the sea.
It quickly becomes evident, however, that Thórbergur is no mere documentarian, but a vivid and imaginative recreator of his own childhood self in all its idiosyncracies. (An Esperantist, socialist, and occasional nudist, Thórbergur was accounted a great eccentric by his contemporaries.) He captures not only the strange otherworldliness that was part and parcel of rural life, including a belief in the active presence of ghosts, "hidden people," and other supernatural entities, but also what Joseph Campbell called "the spontaneous animism of childhood," in which not just farm animals but natural features of the landscape and even everyday objects were seen as possessing souls and characters of their own, and in which personal names and even ordinary nouns and adjectives held potent and uncanny visual associations:
With the adjective 'mad,' an elliptical stone used for weighing appeared hanging in thin air before me, but with the adjective 'crazy' there appeared a sheep's head with horse-shoe shaped horns on a living sheep butting its right horn under something, a bar in a gate for example, with its head leaning over a little to the right. When someone was said to be 'mad and crazy,' the weight first appeared and then the sheep's head immediately after. A rather large sheep's head with horse-shoe-shaped horns also appeared in association with the man's name Ari, but then the sheep didn't butt anything. It stood still, or was moving, and I saw its face from the front at an oblique angle.
The Stones Speak is only the first of four volumes, collectively entitled Í Suðursveit, which Thórbergur devoted to memories of his childhood; the remaining three are as yet untranslated. As far as I can tell, the only other of Thórbergur's books to have been translated into English, long out-of-print but not difficult to obtain second-hand, is In Search of My Beloved, which is an abridgement of Íslenzkur aðall. There is also a slender volume, which I haven't seen, called In the Footsteps of a Storyteller, comprising excerpts from his writings (mostly, I think, from The Stones Speak), accompanied by photographs. Though the text is in English and German, it is, like The Stones Speak, barely obtainable outside of Iceland.
There is now a museum at Hali devoted to Thórbergur; its dramatic exterior wall takes the form of a uniform edition of his writings. The district is no longer as isolated as it was in the past, as Iceland's ring road now runs through it, and there are guesthouses as Hali and nearby farms. An evocative if somewhat romanticized video shows scenes from Suðarsveit today.
The Listasafns Íslands (National Gallery of Iceland) is currently exhibiting a group of some fifteen paintings by an unknown artist or artists, possibly done in Denmark before 1785, and purporting to depict the volcanoes and other natural features of Iceland. The paintings are rarely shown and appear not to have been reproduced in any form except for the single image above, which is taken from the museum's website. They are part of an excellent small exhibition called Inspired by Iceland, which includes everything from 19th-century landscapes by recognized Icelandic masters to contemporary video and multimedia presentations.
According to information available at the exhibit (but apparently not on the museum's website or anywhere else), the canvases were donated to the museum in 1928 by the heirs of Baron Tage Reedtz-Thott, who was prime minister of Denmark from 1894 to 1897. They were probably once owned by Count Otto Thott, a noted 18th-century antiquarian distinguished by a bequest of 200 Icelandic manuscripts to the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
Though the paintings are inscribed with identifying place-names, their topography doesn't correspond to the real world, and it is thought to be unlikely that the artist or artists ever actually set foot in Iceland at all. In addition to the fifteen pieces that are currently displayed, there are apparently nine others in the museum's collection; numbers inscribed in the corners suggest that they may have once been part of a series of 32 or more.
The example shown, while striking, is somewhat atypical in its use of livid red; its strangeness, however, is shared by the entire series. As in many or perhaps all of the others (I am working from memory so I can't be sure), some tiny human figures have been included, perhaps to provide scale, but most of these figures have their faces obscured or turned away. This may or may not have been because drawing faces was beyond the technical skills of the artist(s), but in any case the effect is distinctly uncanny. One of the more interesting examples shows three white conical forms, which seemingly spiral up like the Tower of Babel; I'm not even clear what these forms are supposed to be — ice mountains? giant stalagmites?.
The Listasafns has wisely shown great restraint in restoring the paintings, which are presented unframed. They are pockmarked and blemished here and there, and the canvas on some is frayed a bit where it attaches to the backing, but if anything these reminders of their age and previous neglect only increase the impact of the images. Pending further research (which is reportedly underway), it's too soon to classify these works with a facile label such as "naive art," but it's not too soon to declare that they are both very beautiful and very, very odd. Hopefully the entire series will be fully annotated and reproduced before too long.
Update (February 2013): Below are thumbnails of two other images in the group.
These two were taken from a document entitled "List of objects proposed for protection under Part 6 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (protection of cultural objects on loan)" prepared by the Compton Verney Art Gallery in preparation for an exhibition in 2010.
Labels: Art, Iceland
He found some leftover pizza in the fridge, tossed it into the microwave, and watched it revolve on the glass plate like some slow-motion juggler’s trick. It tasted like cardboard when he pulled it out but he didn’t much care. The hunger was there, but appetite was another story; still, the beer he had opened to go with it didn’t taste half bad. Bill had lived on his own long enough that he could manage for himself in the kitchen if he had to, but mostly it wasn’t worth the dishes or the bother. Living mostly on take-out took a chunk out of his budget, but since it was pretty much his only indulgence he could swing it without any problem. He had never entertained in his apartment, except when his family flew in for a visit, and even then mostly they wanted to go out on the town while they were there.
The view from his balcony wasn’t so much of the river as over it, although naturally that wasn’t the way they put it in the real estate listings. The city had grown up along both shores, leveling hills and filling in marshes and brackish pools, abolishing the topography as it went. There had to be hundreds of thousands of living human beings, right at that moment, just in the buildings that were visible from where he stood. They were out there in the projects, in the office towers where people were still working late at their desks, at the stadium in the distance that was lit up for a home game, in the cars whose headlights were moving soundlessly along the encircling expressways, and yet he knew barely a soul among them. He had felt the same way once before, years ago, peering through the window of a Shanghai high-rise, when he realized that no one in that unimaginably vast metropolis knew his name or what had brought him there, that he was a stranger from another country who barely spoke the language and had no real reason for being there that he could clearly articulate, even to himself, that whatever his life was going to be about was of infinitesimal concern to the people whom he passed in the street or who waited on him in the crowded markets, that he was only of flickering interest even to his teachers and fellow students in the university where he attended classes five days a week. He had reconciled himself to the fact of his irrelevance and made it safely through, just as he would make it through tonight, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something, somewhere deep down in his gut, was slowly, relentlessly hollowing him out from inside. No one around him would notice, of course, because it wasn’t necessary for you to have anything inside you in order to get by, in fact it made it easier, you fit in better with everyone else who was in the same predicament, showing up on time, keeping your head down and your desk in order, breathing in, breathing out, going through the motions. He had abandoned some indispensable part of himself somewhere along the way, but one of the symptoms of the disorder — maybe the hardest of all to bear — was that he could no longer remember clearly just what it was that was now lost to him forever. All he knew was that it wasn’t somewhere lying ahead, in his future, waiting to welcome him with fanfares and open arms when he finally landed on the shore. It wasn’t even in his past, for if he had ever truly been the person that he now knew that he would never become, then there would always be a piece of that being tucked away somewhere deep within, no matter how scarred over or neglected it became, something he could call on in his darkest moments, if only to have it reproach and mock him him for forsaking it. But even that was to be denied him. He knew that now.
He flipped the TV on with the remote and lay down on the bed, still wearing the same pants and shirt he had worn to work, setting the half-empty bottle on the nightstand. He flipped from channel to channel, watching the news. In the other room his BlackBerry chimed every few minutes but he didn’t bother to get up and answer it.
Labels: City, Novella
The police had cordoned off the sidewalk and were beginning to make arrests. Something in the air was making Héctor’s eyes water, and the cops were wearing masks that made them look like giant grasshoppers and which might have made him laugh if he hadn’t been so frightened. A dozen or so protestors had planted themselves on the sidewalk and were refusing to move, waiting for the cops to come and put plastic handcuffs on them and drag them off to the waiting vans. Héctor didn’t know which way to turn but whenever he saw two or three cops coming he moved off in the opposite direction as quickly as he could. He remembered some minnows he had seen once in a store, how they darted from one end of the tank to the other, desperately trying to avoid being scooped up in the net, as if they knew that their fate lay in being impaled on a fisherman’s hook. The strobe lights on the police vans kept flickering, making him woozy and even more terrified than he already was. He wished that he had never decided to go for a walk, that he had never let his curiosity get the better of him. Whatever this protest was about it surely wasn’t his business to get mixed up in, and now if he got arrested he was certain they’d find out he had no papers and send him packing. How could he pay back what he owed the polleros for bringing him across the border if he couldn’t stay in the city and work? How could he ever come north again, with no money? His cousin was going to be furious when Héctor called him from jail. Maybe they’d stick him in some prison and let him rot, surrounded by strangers. Héctor had never been in prison but he’d heard the stories. If you were lucky, they said, you only got beaten by the guards; if the other inmates went after you, you were finished.
A voice was issuing from a bullhorn, shouting insistent commands, but Héctor couldn’t understand what it was saying. There were screams from across the street, a concussion, and then the mist of whatever it was that was stinging his eyes suddenly hit him head-on, blinding him, burning his nostrils and throat. He bent over, choking and retching, and as he stumbled someone running by struck Héctor’s head hard with his elbow in his haste to escape. He dropped to his knees but immediately forced himself up again. Unable to see, he staggered away from what seemed to be the center of the fumes and the noise. People were rushing past, shoving, grasping, crying, and through his closed eyelids he sensed the pulse of the strobe lights, the shadows of figures moving all around him. He trod on something soft that he thought must have been a human hand, but whoever it belonged to was evidently either unconscious or simply oblivious to the pain.
He struck something hard with his shoulder and knew at once that it was the wall of the building that soared above. Feeling his way along its surface, clambering over fallen bodies, he bashed his leg hard against a standpipe and let out a cry. He touched one of the building’s glass doors, tugged desperately at the handle, but found that it was locked tight. He could hear the sickening sound of a truncheon being struck against a body, no more than a few feet away, and winced in anticipation of the coming blow, but it didn’t arrive. As he reached the corner of the building something jutted against his chest and he realized that it was the cordon set up by the police. He grasped it with one hand and ducked underneath, then slipped away down the side street, still unseeing and in terror for his life.
Blick auf die Unterstadt
This postcard "view of the lower town" of Eupen, Belgium, was printed by Kunstverlag Ferdinand Schweitzer in Aachen, across the German border, probably between 1935 and 1940.
Once part of the Duchy of Limbourg, Eupen was incorporated successively within France, Prussia, and the German empire. Transferred to Belgium by the Treaty of Versailles, it became a hotbed of pro-German and pro-Nazi sentiment between the world wars, and was annexed to the Third Reich in 1940. Having survived fierce fighting during the Battle of the Bulge and the loss of a substantial portion of its male population to conscription into the German Army, the town was once again returned to Belgium at the end of the war.
"Luftkurort," in the lower margin, is, according to Wikipedia, "a title given to towns or cities ... which are health resorts which have a climate and air quality which is considered beneficial to health and rest."
Below, from st.vith.com, is an advertising label produced by the Schweitzer company.
Kahn + Selesnick are at it again, with a new project, Truppe Fledermaus. Worth keeping an eye on. Sly Frank Zappa reference below:
Labels: Art, Kahn + Selesnick
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Chelation Therapy Getting Big Test In T.O.
Published on Toronto Start Page E5
Gus Zalagenas walks up to his golf ball and takes a mighty swing. It’s incredible enough that he’s this spry at age 84. But that’s nothing when you consider that two years ago, this senior was so debilitated by coronary artery disease, he couldn’t even walk across the room without collapsing in complete exhaustion. Now he’s able to play 18 holes without blinking an eye. What happened to transform this elderly man from playing his final round to becoming a new swinger?
His life changed when a neighbour suggested he try chelation therapy, a process that’s normally used to clean the blood of dangerous heavy metals that poison the body. But many are convinced it has other applications – including clearing clogged arteries. The practice has both its supporters and detractors, but after years of controversy, some formerly skeptical physicians are taking a second look at the treatment.
And now one of them, a well known Toronto naturopath, has been chosen to take part in a U.S. National Institutes of Health study on the treatment to see if it’s really the miracle cure some believe it to be.
“It improves the flexibility of the artery and opens up the circulation,” Dr. Fred Hui insists. “We need a trial to confirm and show to the scientific community there is something to it.”
To qualify for the trial, you must be over 50 years old, a non-smoker and have suffered a heart attack.
Here’s where you can find more information about this potentially beneficial process and take part in the study.
Chelation Q&A
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05. Conference Proceedings & Working Papers
Pan-Commonwealth Forum 6 (PCF6), 2010
Quality Assurance Issues in Work Integrated Learning through Open and Distance Education in Nigeria
2010_AwonugaO_QualityAssurancesIssues.pdf (76.05Kb)
The trend at which distance education is moving these days has become increasingly noticeable in leaps and bounds. This is very much evident from the increasing enrolment in open and distance learning (ODL) institutions (Cavanaugh, 2005 and Fozdar & Kumar, 2006). Open and distance learning has a major impact on philosophy and practices of education regarding how students learn, how they can best be taught, and how educational resources could be more efficiently organised for the purpose of instructional delivery. ODL institutions are not only imparting knowledge as an educational mode which is an alternative to the conventional system, they are also striving in the areas of ‘Work Integrated Learning’ (WIL) which is made up of vocational and technical education, continuing education, teacher education and also high technology-based education (UNESCO, 2002; Mehrotra & Sacheti, 2005 and Bourne et. al, 2005). // Work integrated learning (WIL) is an arrangement between two resource groups, namely: an educational institution and an industry, in order to assist learners who are workers in the industry develop functional skills that are relevant in the world of work. It is a training curriculum which purposefully integrates training into productive and relevant work and therefore, remains a valuable link between training and productive work. The purpose of this training model is to give learners the opportunity of matching theoretical learning with practice. It is also aimed at ensuring that instructions carried out in the educational institutions are put to practice or have practical guidelines obtainable in the industry. Work integrated learning allows for professional work experience to be combined with classroom studies through many forms. This includes internships, cooperative education, clinical rotations, community service and studying abroad. Among the ideals of WIL is to promote and encourage learning in an integrated academic and work environment, though there are observable differences in how WIL’s philosophy and curriculum design is interpreted and implemented compared with many other programmes. Distance education through Work Integrated Learning has much to offer the world of work because it is responsive, flexible, promotes independent learning, and will fosters teamwork as well as individual achievement and the immediate transfer of skills in the work setting. It also encourage income-generating livelihood for those who intend to diversify their means of livelihood through acquisition of new skills while in a particular trade. According to Mishra, (1994) and the World Bank,(2008) such acquired skills enhances productivity and sustains competitiveness in the global economy. Taking cue from this background, the National Open University of Nigeria offers through the Centre for Lifelong Learning & Workplace Training (CLL&WT) many programmes which are in the category of work integrated learning (vocational technical education) for improving skills and capacity building of adult learners. Programmes floated in this area, include mobile phone repairs, call centre skill among others. These are highly skilled oriented programmes that involve intensive practical work that have a positive bearing on national development via employment generation. // In Nigeria, the term ‘WIL’ is not in trend but literally, it is synonymous with cooperative education which is a work integrated learning in which the time spent in the workplace forms an integrated part of the academic programme of study. As much as vocational technical education in distance learning is seen as a subset of work integrated learning, it falls into two general categories. One category is vocational training such as apprenticeships, where student works in their various trades, while undertaking formal training at a training institute typically a polytechnic, industry training organisation or private training enterprise. The other category is where a tertiary student, as part of his/her degree programme, goes out into the relevant workplace, typically over the holiday period and documents this experience. The student is assigned a grade for the work and/or report which forms an essential part of the degree programme. // This paper therefore reviewed the present status of work integrated learning and its quality assurance at the National Open University of Nigeria. It also examined the role of open and distance learning (ODL) system in providing effective and dynamic work integrated learning using the advent of National Open University of Nigeria’s experience in the delivery of vocational training programmes in the area of mobile phones repairs and call centre skill development for the people working.
Awonuga, Olukayode O
Open and Distance Learning (ODL)
Technical/Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Pan-Commonwealth Forum 6 (PCF6), 2010 [249]
Unemployment Challenge In Nigeria: Vocational Education Through Open & Distance Learning Model To The Rescue
Ojewumi, A K; Olasupo, M O (2013-11)
The paper reviewed the present status of unemployment situation in Nigeria with emphasis on university graduates. Effort was also made to examine the role vocational education through open distance learning can play to ...
Integrated Multi Channel Technology Based Delivery of Skills Training: Changing Lives in Bangladesh
Shahnewaz, Khan (2013-11)
Bangladesh is a country of enormous possibility. But, even after that, majority of its people have to live in poverty, malnutrition, unemployment, superstition and many other forms of deprivation. Development workers, ...
Integrating Technical/Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Open and Distance Learning (ODL): a Strategy for Delivering Skills Training to the Doorstep of Nigerians
Idris, Amina (2010-11)
Nigeria is a country with a population of more than 140 million people, and a total land area of about 923,768sq. Km. As a developing country, and indeed, as other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria continues to ...
Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) through distance: A panacea for youth unemployment: The case of Nigeria
Idris, Amina; Aluko, Ruth (2013-11)
Since October 2007 after UNESCO hosted the Youth Forum as part of its General Conference in Paris, the question is: “How far have developing countries gone with the employability of youths thereby facilitating their ...
The Role of TVET in Developing Skills for Kenyan Rural Women through Open Learning: A Case of Samburu Women at Coastal Region
Kithinji, Anne P K (2013-11)
The modern girl’s dream is to live and work in an urban locality regardless of her background. This reverie is based on the perception that an urban setting has so much to offer including better education, dream job and ...
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Joseph Nourse (1754-1841)
America’s First Civil Servant
As first Register of the Treasury, Joseph Nourse was a highly respected and distinguished civil servant. With a career that spanned 40 years and six presidential administrations, Nourse played a key role in administering the finances of the new Republic.
Born on July 16, 1754, in London, England, Joseph Nourse was the eldest son of James Nourse (1731-1784) and Sarah Fouace (1735-1784). In March 1769, the Nourse family — James, Sarah, their nine children, and two servants — left England on board the Liberty, bound for America. They arrived two months later in Hampton, Virginia and eventually established Piedmont, their family farm in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia).
During the American Revolution, Nourse served first as military secretary to General Charles Lee, and then by 1777 as deputy secretary of the Board of War. He returned briefly to the family farm, but in 1779 was back in Philadelphia where he continued his civil service as Assistant Auditor General for the Board of Treasury. One of his duties included authenticating Continental currency by affixing his signature to it. In 1781, the Confederation Congress elected Nourse Register of the Treasury, a position he held under the Articles of Confederation and then under the first six presidents of the United States.
Moving with the Federal government from Philadelphia to the City of Washington in 1800, Nourse quickly established his family in nearby Georgetown, just across Rock Creek. He first purchased a property at 3101 P Street. In 1804 he acquired a much grander home, “Jackson’s house on Cedar Hill,” as Nourse always referred to today’s Dumbarton House. As Register of the Treasury, he and his wife, Maria Bull Nourse (1765-1850) whom he married in 1784, were invited to many formal events at the President’s House and to the residences of other prominent social and political leaders of the fledgling Federal city.
With the election of President Andrew Jackson, Joseph Nourse was forced from office in 1829. In his retirement, he remained an active participant in local and national religious organizations he had long supported. He served as an officer for the National Monument Society, maintained his personal and family accounts, and continued to enjoy his role as a devoted husband, father and grandfather. Joseph Nourse died at his Mount Alban home in northwest Washington in 1841.
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SpaceX will start sending combat lasers into space
by space · September 19, 2018
Company Ilona Mask SpaceX has confirmed plans to deliver American weapons into space.
President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX Gwynne Shotwell during the annual press conference of the US Air Force announced that the company is ready to participate in the deployment of weapons in space for the protection of the United States. “If it is required for the defense of the country, then we will do it,” Shotwell said.
It is noted that at the moment the United States is working on the idea of creating orbital weapons of directed energy, such as space lasers, for detecting and destroying missiles from Russia, China and North Korea. According to the former head of NASA and the current Assistant Secretary of Defense for Technical Affairs Michael Griffin (Michael Griffin), by 2023, America plans to create in space a “touchscreen” to counter hypersonic missile systems in Russia and China.
Earlier it was reported that the US Air Force could deprive the founder of Tesla and SpaceX Ilona Mask access to state secrets because of his use of a live jamb with a drug. The department drew attention to the drug-using Mask, as his company SpaceX carries out space launches by their order and the founder of the company has access to classified information.
Next story A global catastrophe is inevitable
Previous story Scientists called the cause of the death of ancient civilizations
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You are here: Home Staff Visiting Researchers
AHMADI Hanen
received the Telecommunications Engineer Diploma from the National Engineering School of Tunis (ENIT), El Manar University, in 2011. In 2012, she has got the Research Master's Degree in Communication Systems from the same university. She worked as a telecommunications consultant. She is currently working towards the Ph.D. degree in Telecommunications at Innov'COM Laboratory in Tunis under the supervision of Professor Ridha BOUALLEGUE. She has been a Visiting PhD student at the Headquarter of the ELEDIA Research Center (University of Trento, Italy) and now she is the Director of the ELEDIA@Innov'COM. Her research areas of interest include the Wireless Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks.
ALVAREZ Yuri
was born in Langreo, Spain, in 1983. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in telecommunication engineering by the Universidad de Oviedo, Spain, in 2006 and 2009, respectively. He was a Visiting Scholar with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, in 2006 and 2008 and a Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher with the Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, in 2011,2012 and 2013. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Area of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC), Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Oviedo, Gijón, Spain. His interests and research studies are focused on the reconstruction of electromagnetic sources from field measurements, antenna measurement techniques, RF techniques for indoor location, and inverse scattering and imaging techniques. Dr. Álvarez was the recipient of the 2006 University of Oviedo M.S. Award to the Best Telecommunication Engineer and the 2011 Regional and National Awards to the Best Ph.D. Thesis on Telecommunication Engineering ("The Sources Reconstruction Method for the Diagnostics and Characterization of Radiating Systems").
DAO Minh-Son
received the Ph.D. degree from the International Doctoral School in Information and Communication Technology of the University of Trento, Italy, in February 2005. He worked as scientist at GraphiTech, Italy, from 2005 to 2007. He has been a JSPS Post-Doc at the Media Integrated Communication Lab (MICL), Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University from 2007 to 2010. From 2010 to 2013, he has been a member of the MultiMedia Signal Processing and Understanding LAB (mmLAB), University of Trento, Italy. From 2013 to 2015, he has been a senior researcher at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan. He is currently a Principal Lecturer of the Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), Brunei Darussalam, and the Director of the ELEDIA@UTB. His main interests include data mining and big data intelligence analytics for distributed monitoring and event detection, Internet of Things, and decision support systems in the fields of smart farming, healthcare, and smart cities and communities.
FUCHS Benjamin
received the M.Sc. and electrical engineering degrees in 2004 from the National Institute of Applied Science of Rennes, France, and the Ph.D. degree in signal processing and telecommunications and the “Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches” from the University of Rennes 1, France, in 2007 and 2016, respectively. He was during his Ph.D. a visiting scholar at the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA.
In 2009, he joined the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications of Rennes (IETR) as a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). He has spent three years (2008 as postdoctoral research fellow and 2011-2012 on leave from CNRS) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.
His current research interests revolve around synthesis and inverse problems in electromagnetics for antenna design and microwave imaging. More specifically, he is working on array synthesis, antenna diagnostic, electromagnetic field interpolation and phase retrieval.
MANEIRO-CATOIRA Roberto
received the Telecommunications Engineering degree from the University of Vigo, Spain, in 1995 and the Master of Information and Telecommunications Technologies for Mobile Networks degree in 2012 from the University of A Coruña, Spain, in 2012. He worked from 1996 to 1997 at Egatel company focused on the Research and Development in the field of TV and Radio digital communications. From 1997 to 2000 he was with Siemens Mobile Networks as GSM access network deployment manager. From 2000 to 2003 he worked at Nortel Networks as UMTS network integration manager. From 2003 he is fully dedicated to teaching Siemens Simatic Programmable Logic Devices as well as mathematics for different levels, both for private and public organisms. Actually he is working towards his Ph.D. about dynamic arrays for digital communications in the Electronic Technology and Communications Group (GTEC) at the University of A Coruña.
MANSUTTI Giulia
has just started the second year of her Ph.D. in Information Engineering at the University of Padova, Italy. Her research is mainly focused on antennas and electromagnetic propagation with a particular interest in self-adapting conformal phased-array antennas and plasma antennas. In 2015 she received the M.Sc. in Telecommunications Engineering cum laude from the University of Padova (Italy) with a thesis on self-adapting phased-array antennas. During the second year of her Master of Science (2014) she spent six months as an Erasmus student at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) in Barcelona, Spain. In 2013 she received the B.Sc. in Information Engineering cum laude from the University of Padova (Italy), with a thesis on energy management policies in Energy Harvesting Devices.
MORABITO Andrea Francesco
received the M.S. degree in Telecommunication Engineering (summa cum laude) from the University "Mediterranea" of Reggio Calabria, Italy, in 2007. Under the supervision of Professor Isernia, he is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in Computer, Biomedical, and Telecommunication Engineering, in the Department of Informatics, Mathematics, Electronics, and Transports of the same University. His scientific interests concern antenna synthesis and inverse electromagnetic scattering problems, with a particular attention to noninvasive diagnostics of breast cancer.
SALAS SANCHEZ Aaron
received the Physics degree in 2012, the M.S. degree in Engineering Mathematics in 2014 and the Ph.D. degree in Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Simulation in Engineering and Applied Science in 2018 by the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He was visiting scholar in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the University Federico II of Naples, Italy, in 2015. He is currently a Xunta de Galicia International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Applied Physics, University of Santiago de Compostela, that brings him the opportunity to be Visiting Posdoctoral Researcher in ELEDIA Research Center at University of Trento by two years. His main research interests are focused on numerical methods in solving electromagnetic problems and antenna array pattern synthesis.
VRBA Jan
was born in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1981. After bachelor program in electrical engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic in 2003 he continued Communications Engineering in the master program Electrical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from RWTH Aachen University in 2006 and 2013, respectively. During his bachelor and master studies he was awarded for his study results with scholarships from the Faculty of Electrical engineering and the Dr. Carl-Arthur Pastor Foundation, respectively. From 2011, he was a research and teaching assistant and from 2013, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague. He is a member of the editorial board of the Radioengineering Journal. His main research interests are interactions of electromagnetic field with matter and biological systems. Especially he focuses on development of novel microwave sensors for non-invasive blood glucose level monitoring and of a system for 3D non-invasive microwave temperature measurement during hyperthermia treatment. Furthermore, he conducts research in following two areas: electric and magnetic transcranial stimulations as well as electric field induced separation of oil-and-water emulsions without using chemicals.
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Speedplay’s founder rides obsession to success
Posted on Tuesday, September 5th, 2017 at 1:26 pm.
Written by Stephen Lam
Richard Bryne, the man that gave us Speedplay. Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly
The year was 1991. Richard Bryne thought he had a really good pedal design, so he took it to various companies in hopes that someone would bring it to market.
22 companies turned him down. Not to be dissuaded, Bryne, a self-professed incessant tinkerer, decided to build the pedals himself.
Moving the locking mechanism onto the cleat, miniaturized, dual-side entry, and an unrestricted free float that was unheard at this point. It was a radical design.
The Speedplay X pedal and its now iconic lollipop-shape was born. It would be interesting to hear what those 22 companies that turned down Bryne feel about the idea now.
The first production run was only about a 100 pairs of pedals. A pretty modest start. Today, the San Diego-based company, offers 10 different pedals (not counting axle materials and color ways), catering to the needs of the platform-loving gravity crowd as well as the WorldTour racers winning stages in the Tour De France.
Speedplay has come a long, but Richard continues to be the guy behind all of the R&D while his wife, Sharon, a former clerk for the Florida Supreme Court, handles the daily operations as the president of the company.
Here’s Richard answering our question in his own words.
So what do you really do for work?
Well, let’s give credit where credit’s due here. Sharon runs Speedplay. She is the brains behind the organization and the hiring, the H and the R. She handles almost all of the business activities of the company which leaves me free to either do nothing or be really creative.. I choose to consider it being creative. Sometimes it looks like I’m doing nothing. But we’ve made it work with a left-brain, right-brain type of arrangement where she’s really good at some things and I’m maybe really good at a really narrow band of something. Somehow we’ve made it work.
You mentioned you made the first Turbo Trainer prior to creating speedplay… How was that progression from turbo trainer to pedals?
Yes. The other thing that I did was the very first aerobar back in 1984 so I predated anything anybody else did. I tried to promote the idea or sell the idea and I just couldn’t find anybody that was interested in it at the time. I think a lot of the product, or the success of products is timing. You have to be on target when you introduce things. Sometimes timing is not right. The other thing that I did years ago pre-Speedplay was promoting these bikes that had a geometry that put the rider in a position for better aerodynamics and for time trialing.
It was called Scepter Bicycle Company. Bill Holland, who runs Holland Cycles, and I started that in I believe 19. Gosh, I’d have to go back but I think it was 1985.
We were trying to push the idea of it being more bimechanically and aerodynamically efficient back then and I’m telling you, we just could not convince people that there was an advantage to it and now if you look at time trial bikes, every single company produces the geometry position that we were pushing in 1985. It was until the triathlon world came along and when time trialing became a really valuable part of stage racing. America got more interested in international racing rather than in criteriums and one day road races. It was never going to find a home in this country.
How do you keep your ideas fresh?
Well, I think I got lucky because in the early days, I was a bike racer just like everybody else was a bike racer. But I got influenced by this aerodynamic movement that happened back when I started racing human powered vehicles around 1979. The focus there was purely aerodynamics, so people were building machines trying to set the world record on how fast a human could go.
I was involved in this community of engineers that were trying to make machines that were more efficient than the bicycle. The bicycle had kind of hit the limit of how fast you could go on it. And people were trying to see if you could go further if you broke the rules of what the UCI was saying was legal.
There were no rules. It was just who can propel a wheeled vehicle the fastest for 200 meters with a runout.
I was just like everybody else, time trialing and racing and everything. Then all of a sudden, I got in this machine that allowed me to go 25 miles an hour faster than I could go on my bicycle. I realized that aerodynamic barrier is huge… You don’t really notice it until you get into something that doesn’t have the same resistance and with the same motor. I was able to go 25 miles an hour faster than I could on my bike and I realized this aerodynamic thing is for real.
And I think maybe I was introduced to that world before a lot of other people were. So, as a bike racer, I started thinking how can I take some of the advantage that I was learning about aerodynamics in this racing world that I’m in part-time and transfer that to my regular racing bike.
You must have an engineering background then.
No, I’ve got no background in engineering whatsoever. I was simply just a tinkerer, and a bike racer looking for an edge. I think everybody’s always looking for an edge but I was really seeing if there was any way that I could do something… I like to think of myself as lazy, I don’t want to do anymore work than I have to get to the finish line.
That’s pretty unique.
I like to think I have the best job in the world because I can dream of things and I now have the capability to make the ideas that I have into a product. The way I look at products is that I use myself as sort of the test case. If I can make something that works better for me, then I have an opportunity to share it with others. And if it really makes a difference for me, I’m hoping that it will help other people make riding more enjoyable.
The double-sided pedal was a big example of that. I thought, you know, clipless pedals are already here so is there an opportunity to make them better where beginners don’t have to fumble to get them in at traffic lights?
Are you an uphill kinda guy or downhill kinda guy?
Downhill kinda guy.
Explaining his creation. All of it. Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly
Describe your product in four words:
High quality, high performance.
Your idea of a perfect holiday:
78 degrees, dry, at the beach. I love the water and I’m drawn to the water wherever I go.
One thing people don’t know about you… besides the reverse trackstand:
I was born outside the U.S. My mother’s Irish, my father’s American, I was born in Caracas, Venezuela.
If you were an animal in the wild, what would you be?
A badger. I don’t take any shit off anybody. They do their own thing.
How many golf balls can one fit in a school bus?
74 million. What kind of school bus are you talking about… A Blue Bird 73, a Top Flight or Nike? Are we putting any in the gas tank?
Where do you envision pedals to be like ten years from now?
You’ll have to wait and see.
Customizable stack heights! Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly
Favorite restaurants in San Diego:
Ken Sushi Workshop.
Are you a morning person or a night person?
I used to be a morning person, I’m more of a day person now.
Where do you get your design inspirations from?
The industrial revolution.
With bicycle parts, the collection that I have basically goes from the early days when the bicycle was invented to about the 1970s when it became a global commodity. There were incremental changes but I don’t think there’s been a whole lot since the 70’s that’s been a huge change.
But during the golden years of cycling, when France and Italy and even in the U.S., there were some really creatives that a lot of people don’t even know about but they were inspirational. Pino Moroni the Italian; Valentino Campagnolo, the guy behind Simplex derailleurs; there were guys that were making really novel, interesting stuff. Rene Heres the Frenchmen.
I remember when I first started seeing these really high quality bicycle parts and they were really inspirational to me and I thought, you know, I’d love to be in the business of making that thing that when you play with ’em you can see and feel the quality in them.
Those meant a lot to me.
Now, I look back at the industrial revolution, whether it was in Europe or in the United States, the products that people made had their passion and love. It’s sort of like they’re artistically made and they’re beautifully built. I’m inspired by that even today and I still try to buy those designs of people that made beautiful things.
Richard pointing out the design details on the Syzr cleats. Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly
Where do you find them?
Flea markets, antique stores, strange places. People don’t make this kind of stuff like they used to where it’s meant to last for four or five years and then be thrown out. I love to see that here… built to last.
Photo: Stephen Lam/ element.ly
Choose Your Bike Pedals Wisely
Tags: Featured, pedals, profile, Richard Bryne, Speedplay
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LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 29: Actress Annalise Basso attends the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
Getty Images Entertainment David Livingston
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 29: Sofia Vergara arrives at the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
WireImage Steve Granitz
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 29: Felicity Huffman attends the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Patrick McMullan David Crotty
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 29: Actress Yara Shahidi attends the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 29: Emma Stone arrives at the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
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Lotus news
2014 decision may look 'stupid' to outsiders - Kimi
ESPN Staff
July 25, 2013 « FIA limits media pit lane access | Hamilton not expecting to challenge for title »
Kimi Raikkonen: "There has to be an overall package that feels right to me" © Sutton Images
Kimi Raikkonen says his decision on where he will drive next year may look "stupid" to onlookers, but he will commit his future to whichever team feels right to him.
Raikkonen is in talks with Red Bull and Lotus over 2014 race drives but says he has yet to make a decision on where he will end up. However, he said he will sign wherever he feels happiest and he is not worried about what others may think.
"There has to be an overall package that feels right to me," Raikkonen said. "It might, whatever the decision, feel stupid to somebody else, but then it might just feel right for me. I have no idea what will happen and we have to wait and see what will come.
"There is no guarantee that the choice will be the right one in the long run, but I will be fine no matter what it will be. You have to live with the decision."
A lot has been made of Raikkonen's dislike for PR activities and the relative freedom he has been given at Lotus, but he said that it was not a defining factor in his decision.
"We cannot guarantee what will happen next year with any team or any car. There are a lot of rumours about PR days, that we [at Lotus] have 10 and another team has 100, but I have been in most of the top teams and I know exactly how it goes. If you count things that you do during the week and at the weekend, everybody has a different way of counting the days. At least in my knowledge the difference in the teams is just a few days and it's not going to be a deciding factor."
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They Make Great Pets?
Keeping exotic pets often has tragic consequences—for owner and animal alike.
Jason ZaskyJul 11, 2010
No doubt you’ve heard how Roy Horn (of Siegfried and Roy) was mauled by one of his tigers, how a two-year-old Florida girl was strangled by a twelve-foot Burmese python, and how Travis—a chimpanzee owned by the late Sandra Herold—literally ripped Charla Nash’s face off. What you probably haven’t heard is how common exotic pet ownership is these days, despite the myriad challenges of caring for creatures that aren’t well suited to living in a cage on Main Street USA.
Hoping to gain insight into why some people feel compelled to keep exotic pets, I interviewed Peter Laufer, author of “Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets” (Lyons Press), an eye-opening new book that goes beyond the headline-making attacks and addresses the less obvious considerations surrounding ownership of tigers, pythons, and chimpanzees, as well as other dangerous animals. Among other things, I learned that Travis wasn’t the only member of his immediate family to threaten the life of a human being. In fact, his mother, Suzy, also died as a result of gunshot wounds—and the teen-aged boy she encountered is still suffering the consequences.
Considering the subject matter, it’s apropos that Laufer spoke with me from his home in Bodega Bay, California—the town where Alfred Hitchcock filmed his 1963 masterpiece, The Birds.
Why don’t people think about the future when they choose exotic pets?
Two things are at work. When something is so compellingly cuddly and intriguing and cute, it’s hard to distance oneself from wanting to wrap one’s arms around the thing and take it home. The other thing is that people have a propensity to believe they are exceptional and singular. They say, “Yes, that was a problem for the guy down the street but it will be different with me, because I will love this animal in a way that will make it realize we can live happily ever after.” I have heard that many times.
What type of person wants a big cat, great ape, or giant snake?
There are a few types. One is the controlling type, which is why exotic pets seem to be popular with drug dealers and the rich and celebrated—from [the late drug kingpin] Pablo Escobar to Paris Hilton. There’s another type that wants them to instill fear in others. There’s an overlay there with the drug dealer who wants a tiger sitting next to him when he’s talking to his lieutenants.
Finally, there are those who want to impress, and the Burmese python is a typical “chick magnet” kind of an animal, where you unbutton your shirt to your navel, show off your gold chains, wrap your two- or three-foot Burmese python around your neck and walk down South Beach. Apparently there are some women who would be interested in you because of that snake who wouldn’t be interested in you otherwise. However, when that snake becomes twenty feet long and 200 pounds, then it becomes problematic and probably not all that intriguing.
Why do exotic animal owners excuse their pet’s behavior when they bite or attack?
They don’t want to admit that they’re wrong in their assessment of the relationship. They don’t want to believe that they are unsuccessful at transcending the wildness of the animal.
What does an owner do with an exotic animal when he or she wants to get rid of it?
There are zoos—one in Miami [MetroZoo] and a second one [Beardsley Zoo] in Connecticut—that offer amnesty. But there’s concern that if it’s known that there is amnesty with no questions asked, then people might be less reticent about getting an exotic pet. One can also seek a new home for the animal at a refuge, but most of the refuges are booked up. Some owners abandon them, which is what led to the Burmese python problem in the Everglades.
Everyone has heard about what Travis did to Charla Nash. But not many people know what happened to Travis’s mother Suzy. Can you talk about that?
Travis was bred in a facility in Missouri [Chimparty] where chimpanzees are bred for sale and profit. Travis’s mother lived in this compound and one day she got over the fence and onto a neighbor’s property. The neighbor [Jason Coats], who was then a teenager, shot her dead. He claimed that his life was threatened by Suzy and a couple of other chimpanzees that got loose that day. The owner claims that Suzy had already been sedated by a tranquilizer gun and was posing no threat. Notably, the young man was charged [with destruction of property and animal abuse] and successfully prosecuted for killing the chimpanzee. [He served thirty days in jail] and now has a felony conviction on his record.
Since Travis ran amuck and ravaged Charla Nash, he has filed with the governor’s office seeking for his record to be cleared—[arguing that the Nash incident] shows that he was correct in making the decision he made. The case is still pending.
What’s your sense of Coats? Did he deserve the penalty he received?
It’s hard to say. The two sides are strong when they tell the story. He was considered a bad seed by Suzy’s owner, but I met with him and found him to be an engaging fellow. He’s thoughtful and knows a lot about chimpanzees at this point, and feels confident that he did the right thing. I think it’s a little odd that he was found guilty being that he killed the animal on his own property. I feel sympathy for him, but I’m not quite ready to say, “He was right, and she’s wrong.”
Which states are laissez faire in regards to regulating trade and ownership of exotic animals?
The trend is toward more regulation, but things are still wide open in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin. There are places where there are overlays of municipal and local laws, and animal abuse laws play into how the trade is regulated, as does interstate trade law. But there are places where you can still do pretty much anything you want in terms of exotic animals.
Which states have the strictest laws?
I’d say California, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida. The poster-child problems like Travis tend to draw attention to the locale where the problem occurred and the result is a frantic effort by politicians to change the laws. Still, there seems to be a pervasive attitude that we ought to be able to do whatever we want with animals because they are property.
Peter Laufer’s Web site
The Great Wall of Rejection—Aussie academic Nick Hopwood on how his “failures” help keep rejection in perspective.
His Museum Sucks—Meet James Brown, curator of a museum of vacuum cleaners.
The Dull Men’s Club—Certifiably and reliably dull, its members celebrate the ordinary and unremarkable.
Consumer Reports—You’ve got a friend at Consumer Reports magazine.
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The Falcon Crew
The Jeda Quadrant
The Rebel Alliance
Forces of the Empire
Beyond the Jeda Quadrant
What is a ship? An empty shell of metal. What is a crew? That which gives the ship a soul.
Captain Han Solo
Han Solo is the leader of the Falcon Crew. He was born on the crime-infested planet of Corillia where he made a name for himself, running small-time smuggling operations with friends Lando, Lone Starr, Ardra, and Chewbaca. While in serious debt to druglord Jabba the Hutt, he ran a transport mission for Luke Skywalker and Obi-Won Kenobi that brought him headfirst into the middle of the Rebellion. Though initially resistant to any not-for-profit enterprise, he finally decided to remain in the Rebellion when he fell in love with Princess Leia. Han is 30 years and is the primary pilot of the Millenium Falcon, the ship he won off of Lando in a card game. He was raised by adoptive parents Blane and Moyra Solo. Han is a skilled pilot and a meatball engineer in his own right who values his independence and wit.
Princess Leia Organa
Princess Leia Organa grew up on Alderaan, raised by her adoptive mother Queen Ewura Esi. At a young age, she ran for office and was elected to the Imperial Senate in hopes of improving life for the people of the Jeda Quadrant. She grew sympathetic to the Rebel cause, despite Alderaan's proclamation of neutrality. When the Imperial Senate was dissolved, Leia became a cell leader for the Rebellion, working closely with Mon Mothma. She met Han Solo and Luke Skywalker while being held captive on the first Death Star. While initially resentful of Solo, she grew to love him. Leia was shocked to learn that Luke was actually her twin brother, and while she refused to accept the reality of her family situation, she is beginning to acknowledge it as a reality. Leia is the navigator of the Millenium Falcon. She has the potential to become a powerful Jedi, but has elected to wait until the conflict in the Quadrant ends before beginning training. Leia is vastly intelligent, but at times naive.
Commander Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker was raised by his aunt and uncle on a moisture vaporator farm on Tatoonie before fate swept his way. A chance meeting with Obi-Won Kenobi and Han Solo wisked him into the world of the Jeda Quadrant War. Luke was training to become a Jedi Knight when he first discovered that his father was Darth Vader, an Imperial enemy and Sith lord. Although Luke is vastly powerful in the ways of the Force, he is a liability because of his parentage and his inability to hide his emotions. Luke and the rest of the crew met Wizera during another ploy by Darth Vader to capture them and turn Luke to the Dark Side. Luke and Wizera fell in love, much to the dismay of both Kenobi and Vader. Luke is the weapons specialist of the Falcon crew and he's the secondary pilot due to his Jedi fast reflexes. As a person, Luke is brave, but not as strong as his twin, Leia.
Madeline Skywalker
Madeline Skywalker, born Madeline Oksis on Naboo, grew up in a sheltered family structure. At the age of 15 she left her suburban home and moved to the capital of Naboo. There, she defriended Queen Amidala and her handmaidens. In addition, Madeline met up with Jedi who recognized her potential to wield the Force and provided her with off-the-book training. She eventually fell in love and married a young Jedi apprentice named Anakin Skywalker. Their union was short-lived. Anakin fell to the Dark Side of the Force the very same day Madeline learned that they would be expecting their first child. Anakin disappeared and became Darth Vader while Madeline gave birth to twins, Luke and Leia. When the Emperor learned of the birth of the twins, he sent Vader to kill all the Skywalkers. Instead, only Madeline died for Obi-Won Kenobi managed to protect her childre. She was only 29 years old. Madeline's spirit remained trapped in The Lake for many years until a chance meeting with Luke and Wizera allowed her to escape. Madeline exists now on the mortal plane, often comforting and aiding Luke and Wizera in their many victories and defeats. She longs for the day when Leia will begin Jedi training, so that they two of them may finally be reunited. Madeline's inner strength reverberates in Leia's spirit, while Madeline's openess lives inside of Luke.
This is C3PO, human cyborg relations. Three-pee-oh, as he is lovingly referred to as, was constructed in a slave colony on Tatoonie, many years before Palpatine's rise to power. It is believed that he was created by Anakin Skywalker himself, although C3PO himseld does not remember much about his early years of life. He was passed from master to master until he eventually fell into the hands of the Rebellion. When the ship he was on was attacked, C3PO returned to Tatoonie where he met Luke Skywalker, who he officially belongs to now. C3PO has seen a great deal of battle in his time, yet he's never grown accustomed to it. Constantly complaining and always pointing out over-whelming odds, this protocol droid is fluent in over six million languages, making him an essential part of the Falcon Crew. He prefers to spend his time helping Wizera in her special engineering room and shudders at the thought of Imperial entanglements. Yet for all of his moaning and complaining, C3PO secretly knows that he's where he belongs.
Lieutenant Wizera
Wizera is a 5000 year old creature from a long dead world called W. She lived her teenage years as a rebel against societal conventions, costing herself the ability to have children. She was married at 16, but died shortly thereafter, only to have her corpse re-animated by a group of powerful beings known as the Ra Family. Wizera married once more and spent much of her immortal life questing for power. She met Luke while attempting to aid Darth Vader. The two fell in love and Wizera left her husband (Lordra) to live on the Falcon with Luke. Wizera is a free-spirit whose youth afforded her a great deal of sexual experience and fierce self-expression. She is incredibly powerful, with the ability to shift matter and energy, but restrains her powers in a promise to Luke.
Captain Lando Calrissian
Lando Calrissian was born on the crime-infested world of Corillia. For a while he ran jobs for Jabba the Hutt and other druglords along with Han Solo, Lone Starr, Ardra, and Chewbaca, but he tired of that life and returned to Corillia. There he fell in love with a woman named Susan, but on the night he intended to propose to her, she was killed. Lando worked as baron of Cloud City for several years before a forced betrayal of Han led him to join the Rebellion. Lando is a skilled engineer with significant combat experience. He is 30 years old and quiet by nature, made shy by his many failures.
Obi-Won Kenobi
Little is known about the past of the mysterious Obi-Won Kenobi. He became a Jedi at a very young age under the watchful eye of his master Qui-Gon Jinn. He promised the dying master that he would train a mysterious boy named Anakin in the ways of the Force. This turned disasterous when Anakin went over to the Dark Side and killed his wife Madeline. Obi-Won, under the name of Ben, hid for many years as the Jedi were slaughtered one by one, until a chance meeting with Luke Skywalker, Anakin's son. Kenobi helped to involve Luke and Han Solo in the Rebellion before he was slain by Vader. His spirit exists on the mortal plane now, as he continues to teach the ways of the Force to Luke.
R2D2 is a repair droid with an attitude. Originally part of the Naboo Defense System, R2D2 has been passed from owner to owner since the earliest days of the Rebellion. He's spent so much time with C3PO that the two of them are virtually counterparts. R2 has a noticable fondness for Luke, for it was because of "this little droid" that young Skywalker became involved with the Rebellion in the first place.
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CALL ON 01482 363 909
Hull House Builders Smash Targets, Council Reveals
New figures released by Hull City Council show that the city has beaten housing delivery targets set by central government, with over 2,500 new properties built in the township in the last three years.
House builders in Hull have certainly been very busy indeed, with 2,514 homes built between 2015 and 2018, a 165 per cent increase on the required target of 1,523 properties.
According to the Hull Daily Mail, over 100 councils around the UK have thus far failed to hit the requirements for housebuilding since 2015. Neighbouring local authority East Riding Council also succeeded surpassing a target of 2,891, with 3,307 properties constructed over the three-year period.
Hull City Council’s portfolio holder for housing John Black was quoted by the news source as saying: “I would like to congratulate our planning and housing teams for exceeding these tough government’s housing delivery targets over the past three years. This authority has a tremendous recent record on the delivery of new housing and this is just the latest example.”
The government’s Housing Delivery Test was brought in to form part of a revised national planning policy to check whether councils are indeed building sufficient homes in their area.
Earlier this year, the Centre for Policy Studies published a new report revealing the extent of the country’s housing crisis, showing that fewer new homes have been built in the last ten years than any decade since the second world war.
Despite the government’s plans to boost construction, newbuild completions are now forecast to be about 130,000 a year between 2010 and 2019, below the 147,000 seen during the noughties, or the 150,000 built during the 90s.
Director of the centre Robert Colvile explained that the crisis is “blighting the lives of a generation and robbing them of the dream of homeownership”. He went on to say that this isn’t just down to the financial crisis, however, but in fact forms part of a pattern that stretches back 50 years, during which time we’ve built fewer and fewer new properties.
However, recently released figures from the Land Registry show a year-on-year rise of 25 per cent in new build properties for September last year throughout England and Wales. Over the month, 11,270 houses of the 96,355 sales received for registration were newly built, while 73,463 were freehold. This represents a 1.3 per cent rise on September 2017.
If you have a housing project in mind, get in touch with us here at F&H Construction to see how we can help. We launched back in 2009, just after the recession, starting out as just two men in a van doing small jobs. Since then, we’ve gone from strength to strength and now employ a team of professionals, undertaking a wide variety of projects around the UK in both building and groundworks.
We’ve worked on the likes of civil engineering projects at wildlife parks and jobs for national utilities providers, as well as work for domestic properties.
House builders Hull
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info@fandhconstructionltd.co.uk
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By Verónica Bayetti Flores • @veroconplatanos • 4 years ago
Why don’t we hear about women victims of state violence?
Over the last month, the media has blown up with the high-profile cases of racist violence at the hands of the police: the death of Eric Garner in a chokehold by the New York City Police Department, and the shooting death of Mike Brown at the hands of the police in Ferguson — not to mention the ongoing militarization of the protests as well as the harm inflicted on protesters — has had the nation talking once again about racist police violence, and racist anti-Black violence more generally. But as coverage of these incidents increases, why aren’t we hearing much about cases of police violence against women and LGBTQ folks?
This increased coverage might make it seem like there has been a huge uptick in racist violence, but really, this is the way it’s been for a while. Social media has just given us alternative ways to communicate with each other about it, and we can see now more easily than ever how systematic the murder of people of color, particularly Black people, is — both at the hands of the state and with their complicity through our criminal (in)justice system’s inaction in cases like Trayvon Martin’s.
But media — social or otherwise — is created by humans, and we bring all our shit to it. We bring our internalized racism and our anti-Black bias. We bring misogyny, and homophobia, and transphobia, and we bring our desire for an easy narrative of innocence and worth at the hands of an evil system. I want to question the desire for “innocence,” and I want to question the usual ways that we calculate a person of worth.
So much of what goes into these calculations of innocence and worth is about race along with gender, sexuality, and class, and often those who are most at risk of violence at the hands of the state (or with its complicity) do not make the respectability cut: sex workers, Black and Latina trans women, immigrants, queer folks, or just folks who weren’t gonna go to college and were doing whatever they had to do to survive in underground and criminalized economies. Their deaths are thought of as inevitable at best, deserved at worst.
The truth is, the death of Mike Brown is not unusual. Black bodies appear to be disposable in the American psyche, and Black men are major targets of police violence. Most of the time when a Black man is the target of violence at the hands of the police, few of us outside their communities hear about it. But when cases are elevated to the mainstream, they are usually men or boys who are deemed “innocent” — which then is called into question by media outlets who seek to construct them as thugs (see #IfTheyGunnedMeDown). But an important question here is who is even allowed the privilege of being constructed as an innocent, ever?
How are the deaths and beatings of women — cis and trans — at the hands of the police or with their complicity so much less compelling? I think the obvious answer here is misogyny and transmisogyny, not on one specific occasion or by one specific person, but at the systemic level: what tweets get tweeted and retweeted, what events seem newsworthy, and what bodies are deemed to hold value.
I want to mourn the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin, and I want to question why the deaths of Renisha McBride and Islan Nettles and Kathryn Johnston haven’t gotten similar traction. Why the beating of Marlene Pinnock isn’t on all of our lips. Why the nation is not familiar with the names of Stephanie Maldonado, or of Ersula Ore. And how many women’s names do we not know because they don’t dare come forward? Because the violence they experience at the hands of the police is sexual, and the shame and stigma around sexual violence silences them?
The truth is that, in the predominantly male-led civil rights organizations who lead efforts to respond to police brutality, in the male-dominated media that covers them, and in the hearts and minds of many people in this country, women who are of color, who are sex workers, undocumented immigrants, transgender (or, god forbid, more than one of those at once) are rarely candidates for “innocence,” and are often blamed for their own deaths, forgotten, or hardly counted at all. Women of color who are targeted by the police, and Black women in particular, are seen as so disposable, so far from being moral actors, that their lives and deaths are just passed over by the mainstream — their victimization and murder just another facet of the American landscape. Aiyana Jones’ case is the last time that I can remember a Black girl’s murder by the police gaining significant national attention; she was seven years old.
I stand with the people of Ferguson. I see and share their rage. And I want to also see national rage for the deaths of women of color. I want to see widespread rage for the staggering number of trans lives lost. As a nation, we’re at a tipping point on racist, state-sanctioned violence, and we have the opportunity and power to turn our collective rage into systemic change. We must be diligent that demands that come out of this historical moment are for all of us, from all of us.
Verónica Bayetti Flores
Verónica Bayetti Flores has spent the last years of her life living and breathing reproductive justice. She has led national policy and movement building work on the intersections of immigrants' rights, health care access, young parenthood, and LGBTQ liberation, and has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, and demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color. In 2008 Verónica obtained her Master’s degree in the Sexuality and Health program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She loves cooking, making art, listening to music, and thinking about the ways art forms traditionally seen as feminine are valued and devalued. In addition to writing for Feministing, she is currently spending most of her time doing policy work to reduce the harms of LGBTQ youth of color's interactions with the police and making sure abortion care is accessible to all regardless of their income.
Verónica is a queer immigrant writer, activist, and rabble-rouser.
Read more about Verónica
Verónica Bayetti Flores Verónica Bayetti Flores
Why do the cops keep protecting white supremacists?
Everyone Deserves to Live: A Feminist Conversation about Gun Violence
This past weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, dozens of police assaulted and arrested community members holding an anti-racist canned food drive and potluck on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
The community potluck was a response to the wave of right-wing backlash since a racist Jim Crow-era confederate statue on the campus was finally toppled three weeks ago. In response, white supremacists have gathered at the pedestal of the former “Silent Sam” statue with heavy police protection – ...
This past weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, dozens of police assaulted and arrested community members holding an anti-racist canned food drive and potluckRead More
Last Friday in Columbus Ohio, Donna Castleberry Dalton, a 23-year old woman and mother of two was shot and killed by an undercover police officer after he forced her into his car and attempted to arrest her during a “prostitution sting.”
Dalton’s friends and family are challenging the official police narrative of events. CPD Officer Andrew Mitchell is claiming he shot Donna Dalton 8 times in self-defense after she stabbed him in the hand during the attempted arrest. But the fact Dalton was not handcuffed at the time of the murder suggests ...
Last Friday in Columbus Ohio, Donna Castleberry Dalton, a 23-year old woman and mother of two was shot and killed by an undercover police officer after he
This piece was coauthored by Mahroh Jahangiri and Jess Fournier
In the wake of another horrific school shooting in Texas, I am feeling many things, and I imagine that you reading this are too. Sadness, at the loss of ten children the same age as my sister, who will never get to grow up. Rage, at our morally bankrupt politicians and their latest spineless suggestions (less doors in schools, anyone?) that mention anything and everything but guns.
Disappointment, at the fact that this has happened again, despite the badass young people who restarted a national ...
In the wake of another horrific school shooting in Texas, I am feeling many things, and I imagine that you reading this are too. Sadness, at ...
Black women▪Ferguson▪Michael Brown▪police violence▪Women of Color
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Xi to meet FIFA boss as China harbours World Cup ambition
AFP , Monday 12 Jun 2017
China's football-mad President Xi Jinping will meet FIFA chief Gianni Infantino in Beijing on Wednesday as the world's most populous nation harbours ambitions of hosting the World Cup.
Xi will greet the president of football's world governing body at the palatial Great Hall of the People.
"We hope we can strengthen our cooperation on football with international organisations, including FIFA, and also with other countries," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular press briefing.
"As to whether China will host the World Cup, this is a dream shared by many Chinese. We also hope we can see that happen as soon as possible," Lu said.
The meeting follows widespread speculation that China will bid to host the event either in 2030 or 2034.
Xi wants his country to host the global football extravaganza and also hopes China's national team can one day win the sport's most prestigious trophy.
But China, who languish at 82nd in FIFA's world rankings just below Benin and the Faroe Islands, look certain to miss out on qualification for Russia 2018.
China have appeared in just one World Cup, in 2002, where they lost all three group matches and failed to score a goal.
Qatar, who are part of the Asian Football Confederation, are due to host the 2022 World Cup, meaning China will not be eligible to bid for the 2026 tournament because of FIFA's policy of rotating between host continental governing bodies.
Chinese Football Association vice president Zhang Jian, a member of the FIFA Council which devises its global strategy, said last year he would back a Chinese World Cup in 2030.
Three major Chinese companies have signed sponsorship deals with FIFA in the space of a year, fuelling speculation that China is preparing a World Cup bid.
But the Asian giant already faces stiff competition from Europe's football governing body UEFA, which is eyeing the 2030 tournament.
This would leave 2034 as the next hope for Beijing.
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The Green Hornet Movie Trailer shows promising remake of classic
The Black Beauty
As a kid in the 1960s, The Green Hornet was one of this bloggers favorite television shows. The reason wasn't the character of Britt Reid / The Green Hornet, or Kato, played by Bruce Lee. It was because of the car: The Black Beauty. A cool, lethal vehicle that plays a starring role in the 2011 big screen remake The Green Hornet.
If the recently released trailer is a decent representation of what to expect from the film, it's going to be a hit, and The Black Beauty will be its star.
The Green Hornet stars Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chao, Tom Wilkinson, and Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz in what can be described as an "origin" picture which will explain how The Green Hornet came to be. Here's the video trailer:
While the movie is obviously set in modern America, what remains as the connection to its 1960s TV past is the Chrysler Imperial that is converted to become The Black Beauty. It's a car that Chrysler should make for purchase today (without the machine guns, of course); it would turn around that car maker's fortunes overnight.
As was the case when a kid, I'll see The Green Hornet for the car first, then for Cameron Diaz.
Rock the Casbah!
The Green Hornet Movie Trailer shows promising rem...
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Car of the Week: 1960 Pontiac Bonneville
By: bearnest | January 14, 2013
Story and photos by Brian Earnest
Jack Canfield didn’t really have a “Plan B” when he went to Colorado to adopt a cool Oldsmobile convertible a few years back. But when things didn’t work out and it looked like he was about to get gypped, Canfield unexpectedly stumbled into a pretty nice backup plan.
“I was looking for a ’57 Olds Ninety-Eight convertible. I was all excited and talked to the fella that owned it, and after I talked to him four or five times we worked out a price and I gave him some money down,” recalled Canfield, a resident of New Brighton, Minn. “I was supposed to come down and pick the car up, and he had told me there was no rust whatsoever on the car, and I was paying a fair enough price and I didn’t want any rust.
“So we get down there and he happened to have a hoist in his garage and we put the car on the hoist and I could tell right where all the rust spots were. I said, ‘I can’t take this car. It’s not represented right. I’d like to have my money back.’”
Unfortunately, the owner of the Olds wasn’t in the mood for refunds.
“He said, ‘No, I can’t give you your money back, but I have another car — a 1960 Bonneville convertible — that’s about 90 percent done with a restoration, and I might want to sell that,’” Canfield continued. “So we went and looked at the car and I was happy with it.
“I was a little concerned. I didn’t think he should have kept my money, but it was his prerogative, I guess. But after I saw the [Bonneville] I said, ‘I’m interested, let’s work out a price.’ The next morning before we left to come home from Grand Junction, Colo., he called and said, ‘OK you can have the car.’”
Canfield still wasn’t sure if he had been taken in the deal after he went to pick up the handsome Bonneville. The car didn’t start at first, and it was temperamental for many months after he got it home.
“For two years I worked on getting it started. It would start, then it wouldn’t start,” Canfield said. “So I got a little bothered with that, and I took it to one of my old customers, and he put his meter on it and he found out there was only 3 volts going to the points system, and what happened was there had been two resistors put on instead of just one, and it was cutting the voltage down.
“So I took that second resister off, disconnected it and it started right up and it’s been starting ever since for the last 7 or 8 years.”
Indeed, Canfield has been so pleased with the beautiful Pontiac ragtop that he has collected three of them. “I have two more, so I can compare when one is not [running right],” he joked. “One does not have bucket seats like this one. One is just about as nice as this, all-white with a white top, bucket seats that has factory air conditioning, so it’s very nice.”
Canfield had his dark red convertible for about a dozen years and has been showing and driving it periodically for “the last 7 or 8 years.” Before he began taking it to hobby car gatherings, Canfield had a few details to finish up on the car. He went through a couple of starters before he discovered the extra resistor. He said he’s also rebuilt the carburetor twice. The power top needed some electrical work, the transmission was a bit balky, and there was some chrome and stainless steel that needed attention.
The heavy lifting on the restoration had been done by the previous owner, however, including the bodywork, paint and new interior.
“It’s the original Coronado Red,” he said. “He did the whole interior out of leather. It’s not vinyl, it’s leather. A lot of times when they replace that now they replace it with vinyl because leather is a little costlier.”
It wouldn’t seem right to cut costs on Pontiac’s top-of-the-line machine for 1960. That year, more than 17,000 of the luxurious drop tops were built at a base price of $3,478. You could also buy Bonnevilles in two-door and four-door hardtops. Any of them were a good choice for buyers who wanted smooth cruising and handsome looks combined with a big V-8.
By 1960, the Bonneville nameplate was entering its fourth year. The model had debuted in 1957 as a spectacular, fuel-injected, convertible-only offering. Only 630 Bonnevilles were built that first year, but that was enough to get the model rolling into the future. In 1958, a coupe was also offered and the Bonneville became its own series. A four-door joined the lineup in 1959 — the same year the all-new, redesigned “Wide-Track” Ponchos arrived.
The Bonnevilles were certainly some of the most visually appealing American cars on the market for 1960, with their signature split grilles, distinctive fender scripts, V-shaped crest on the lower front fenders and beltline moldings that ended with three dashes of chrome at the rear. Quad headlamps were integrated into the corners of the grille with two pairs of round tail lamps capping off the long, rounded “fins” in back. Padded dashboards with walnut inserts, courtesy lamps and padded rear seat cushions were just a few of the creature comforts.
The interior is a dazzling combination of stainless and wood trim with pleated upholstery. Canfield’s car is dressed inside with red leather and carpet to match the Coronado Red paint. The black convertible top is hidden under a red boot. “I really enjoy and appreciate the interior. I think it’s one of the finest-looking interiors of the ’50s and ’60s,” Canfield noted.
Under the hood was a 389-cid V-8 that drank through a Carter four-barrel carburetor. The setup produced about 281 hp with the synchromesh and 303 with the optional Hydra-Matic.
Canfield’s car features several noteworthy options, including fender skirts, power steering and brakes, a stainless tissue dispenser below the dash and cruise control. “This was the first year they had cruise control, and it also has the brake lights so when you put the emergency brake on, there is a light that shines so you don’t burn the rear brakes out… There is also a three-mast power antenna and naturally, the power steering and power brakes,” he added. “It’s got the Day-Night mirror; bucket seats, which is very, very sought after; it also has the rear trunk light — you can wheel it out and put it by the front wheel so you can change a tire at night.”
Canfield never dug much into the history of his first Bonneville. He’s not sure how many owners had their hands on the car earlier in its life, and the odometer had been restarted at zero during the car’s restoration. Since then he’s put only a little more than 1,000 miles on the convertible. That’s not many over the span of about eight years, but he insists they have been very happy miles. “It’s just like a modern car because I put radial tires on it, so it drives down the road at 60 or 70 [mph] just as nice as a modern day car, the only difficulty is that it doesn’t have disc brakes. And it’s a heavy car — probably about 4,600 lbs.
“We took it to Back to the 50’s all three days and we take it to the local car shows. I try not to drive it more than 20, 25 miles from home. That’s about it.”
Canfield figures three 1960 Bonneville convertibles is just about the right number for him now, but he admits there probably wouldn’t be any if that Oldsmobile he was after had just been a little cleaner. He’s not complaining, though.
When a backup plan works out this good, you just roll with it.
“I didn’t want that Oldsmobile because it had rust … But I wouldn’t have wanted this if that car hadn’t had rust,” he laughed. “It’s turned out very nice. I’ve been blessed.
“I’ll keep hanging onto this one, I think. I couldn’t ask for anything better, really.”
Got a car you’d like us to feature as our “Car of the Week“? We want to hear from you! E-mail us and tell us all about it.
The ultimate Model T books is back, in paperback!
The late Bruce McCalley was the nation’s preeminent author on the Model T Ford, and his seminal work is now back, and in paperback. With 616 pages packed with all things Tin Lizzie, it is the complete Model T book available. Quantities of this reprint are very limited, so get yours while supplies last.
Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805-1942
This is the only book with detailed histories behind the 5,000 automobiles built from 1805-1942, most illustrated with period photographs. This extremely desirable resource covers all of the well-known and little-known vehicles built during this period, including steamers, electrics, motor buggies, high wheelers, cyclecars, high-volume production cars and one-offs among its 5,000-plus entries.
topobzor.info/doogee-x5-max-pro/
60's Cars, Car of the Week
Bonneville, convertible, Pontiac
Only surviving Lemans-winning Jaguar D-Type at Amelia Island
Rolling Bones Exhibit at Saratoga Automobile Museum
Mickey Movie
Salt Preservation: Portion of Bonneville Salt Flats resurfaced
Liquidation of Yow Collection hammers home 69 cars
2 thoughts on “Car of the Week: 1960 Pontiac Bonneville”
Paul V. Battaglia January 22, 2013 at 9:13 am
Jack Canfield should have pushed that seller for his money back-truly. Second, would you or anyone else then go ahead and do business with that seller on a second car right afterward? NO. I am very glad this all worked out for Canfield in the end, but the fact that Canfield also had problems with staring his Bonny speaks volumes about the seller-a slick guy.
I am not entirely convinced that this story is accurate. I have a difficult time fathoming the buyer would not engage the services of an apprasier beforehand. Is common horse sense that rare, Brian??
Very truly yours,
Paul 800-225-7264
Log in to Reply ↓
Ray Franks January 25, 2013 at 12:12 pm
I don’t know that the seller was trying to be slick, or just dumb! I’ve been working on old cars for forty years (heck, even my ‘new’ stuff is old now!), and I’ve come across stuff where, like the resistor, if one is good, two aer more better! Oh, well…
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Calgary: Field of Crosses
Richard White November 7, 2016
Great cities have great visionaries. Drive along Calgary’s Memorial Drive or by Memorial Park on 12th Avenue SW and you realize Calgary has benefitted in many ways from its early 20th century visionaries. A hundred years later today's visionaries are building on their vision.
Calgary loves to celebrate its history?
Too often Calgary has been and is criticized for not preserving and celebrating its history. Yet, when it comes to war memorials, we have done more than our fair share, including being home to the second largest War Museum in Canada.
What sparked this blog was the annual “Field of Crosses” that sprouted up last week along Memorial Drive almost like magic.
It is one of the most recent additions to Calgary’s evolving Memorial Drive which has payed tribute to the men and women of the Calgary region who have fought in various wars over the past 100 years. It first started with planting of trees and continues with the temporary placement of 3,200 crosses, each bearing the name of a fallen soldier from Southern Alberta.
The crosses, lined up row-by-row, create our own “Flanders Field.”
Link: Calgary: History Capital of Canada?
The crosses are planted in an unused patch of grass along Memorial Drive just west of the historic Centre Street Bridge on November 1st each year leading up to Remembrance Day (November 11th). Like an annual art installation the white crosses with red poppies and Canadian Flags (there are also a few American flags) weave their way along the narrow grassy field like military regiments on a maneuver.
It dramatically changes the Memorial Drive experience.
Over the 11-day period, over 10,000 people will visit the site to pay their respects. On the afternoon I was there, there were about 100 people milling around including a busload of junior high students. - all were very respectful.
The “Field of Crosses” was the vision of Murray McCann a prominent Calgary businessman who witnessed something similar along a USA highway. An epiphany for him - he was so overwhelmed he had to pull over and stop.
With the help of a $100,000 contribution by the McCann Family Foundation and with tremendous support from the City of Calgary Parks department and hundreds of volunteers his vision of a Field of Cross in Calgary was realized in 2009 and every year since.
"The City annually makes the park available across the Bow River from Calgary’s dynamic downtown. The Field of Crosses committee prepares the park for housing over 3,200 crosses during the month of October and up to November 12th when the crosses are removed. All city departments, which are impacted, have been super cooperative and supportive of the Field of Crosses project. This demonstrates their recognition and appreciation of the role the military played in allowing us to live the lives we live today," says Susan Schalin with the McCann Family Foundation.
A Brief History of Memorial Drive
After the First World War the City of Calgary decided to plant a tree for each fallen soldier along Sunnyside Boulevard (now Memorial Drive). The first trees were planted on May 11, 1922 by Mayor Samuel Adams. The planting continued until 1928, creating a spectacular boulevard with a grand total of 3,278 trees as living legacy.
It is hard to believe that this was Memorial Drive a one time.
Backstory: Many of the poplar trees (Populus Wobbstii) that now line Memorial Drive are nearing the end of their life cycle. However, the City has been taking cuttings from the original trees and today more than 1,500 offspring are growing in Grand Forks, BC to be used as part of a regeneration program. The original trees are thought to have come from Drumheller to Calgary by miners. It is hard to believe that Calgary was once almost treeless. All of the trees but one along Memorial Drive are female (female poplars bear the cotton which provides food for ducks, carries seeds and provides nesting material for birds and animals along the river.
Mega Facelift
Memorial Drive got a mega facelift in 2010, with new planters in the median to allow for more trees and poppies and decorative lampposts and banners. In 2011, The Calgary Soldiers’ Memorial designed by Calgary’s Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative was unveiled a few blocks west of 10th Street next to the Bow River. It lists the names of over 3,000 soldiers who died in various wars and conflicts on massive white marble slabs thrusting out of ground. Illuminated from below, at night the memorial becomes a to pensive, eye-catching sculpture.
The Calgary Soldiers' Memorial
Poppy Plaza located along Memorial Drive at 10th St. NW is another Boutin design. It is dominated by two menacing-looking rusted steel sculptural shapes (some say bomb-like) and eight large letters that spell “MEMORIAL.” Quotes about war are water jet cut into the steel and backlit to remind visitors of the hopes and sacrifices involved in wartime activities. There are also two illuminated sentinels the Bow River on the south bank, which at night shimmer on the endlessly moving Bow River suggesting a connection with the constant movement of time.
Poppy Plaza driving east along Memorial Drive.
Collectively the war memorial elements along Memorial Drive are called “Landscape of Memory,” a City of Calgary project funded by the ENMAX Legacy Parks Fund.
To me, the “Field of Crosses” is not only a memorial but a very significant piece of public art as it is so visual (public art doesn’t have to be permanent). This is the kind of meaningful public art we should foster - something that captures the public’s attention and motivates them to come and see it again and again. Something that clearly speaks to the public rather than being obtuse.
Perhaps one of the keys to help accomplish this is to make public art more of an event; something temporary, a pop-up exhibition, so there is an urgency to come and see it before it gets taken away.
Geroge V. Bittman bench sits in the trees above the field offers a pensive place to reflect on the Field of Crosses and what they mean. He was co-creator and chairman of the Memorial Drive "Field of Crosses" project. He died in 2011.
Wouldn’t it be lovely too if the “Field of Crosses” become the catalyst to create more ways to celebrate our history? Perhaps it will inspire someone creative way to celebrate Calgary’s tremendous "sense of community" with an annual flood memorial each June in memory of great floods of Calgary?
Calgary Military Museums: A Must Visit
Putting the public into public art
Poppy Plaza Revisited
BL writes: "Excellent blog Richard. We arrived back in the desert last night and took a taxi home, about ten minutes. Most of the drive is through Cathedral City, the mostly Hispanic bedroom community between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. Along the roadside they have a flag display every year in memory of the young kids from Cathedral City who gave their lives for "their" country. It is a shame that most of these kids came from the families of illegal immigrants and the number of Hispanics is unusually high because the Hispanic army units are given some of the highest risk assignments. Sobering when you drive by."
In Calgary, History, Icons, walking Tags Calgary, Remembrance Day, Memorials, Poppy, cross, Soldier, miltary, war, peace keeping
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Defence Industry Reports
HERNDON, Va., July 2, 2019
Serco Awarded $8 Million Task Order Supporting U.S. Navy
NEWS PROVIDED BY Serco Inc.
Serco Inc., a provider of professional, technology, and management services, announced today that the Company has been awarded a one-year task order worth approximately $8.3 millionfrom the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific for upgrades to Giant Voice Mass Notification Systems at multiple locations in the Western Pacific Region. The Giant Voice Mass Notification System is a voice announcing system using exterior speakers to warn the local community at and near naval installations of impending danger due to an emergency.
Serco will provide production and installation services, which includes: pre-installation testing and check-out, retrofit installation, inspection, pre-setup, optimization, training, and systems operational verification testing.
"Serco has a 20-plus year legacy of rapidly providing highly reliable support to meet the emerging requirements of the Navy," said Dave Dacquino, Serco's Chairman and CEO. "Serco is proud of the base modernization services we are providing to help secure our bases, and detect and respond to threats."
This task order was awarded under Serco's $232 million Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (ATFP) Naval Electronic Surveillance Systems (NESS) Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (ID/IQ) contract. As the sole winner of the contract, Serco supports NIWC Pacific delivering technical services to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), program executive offices, other DoD agencies, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marine Corps and other government programs.
Known for building and maintaining C5ISR systems for various branches of the Department of Defense, Serco delivers lifecycle sustainment engineering, systems integration, hardware procurement, software development, technical support, installation and testing, operations and maintenance solutions.
About Serco Inc.
Serco Inc. is a leading provider of professional, technology, and management services. We advise, design, integrate, and deliver solutions that transform how clients achieve their missions. Our customer-first approach, robust portfolio of services, and global experience enable us to respond with solutions that achieve outcomes with value. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, Serco Inc. has approximately 6,000 employees and annual revenue of $1 billion. Serco Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Serco Group plc, a $4 billion international business that helps transform government and public services around the world. More information about Serco Inc. can be found at www.serco-na.com.
SOURCE Serco Inc.
http://www.serco-na.com
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Author: - August 02, 2017 0 US F-16 fighters due in Korea for rotation
It will be the fourth test of a Minuteman-3 ICBM from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this year. The Minuteman III ICBM launch is created to "validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system". North Korea has alarmed the global community by the pace and progress of its missile development program, and in July leader Kim Jong-Un conducted two tests of an ICBM - the first time he had demonstrated ICBM capability.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 USA not seeking to topple North Korea regime: Rex Tillerson
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said Sunday that the USA has now successfully intercepted test targets 15 times for its THAAD weapon system, though the latest test involved a medium-range missile, and not the long-range kind being tested out of North Korea.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Iran, the USA & the nuclear deal
The U.S. Congress last month also enacted legislation imposing new sanctions on Iran targeting the missile program, rights abuses and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. "There are a lot of alternative means with which we use the agreement to advance our policies and the relationship with Iran, and that's what the conversation generally is around with the president as well", he added.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Thornberry on Military Transgender Tweet
Military". Get breaking KHTS Santa Clarita News Alerts delivered right to your inbox. The president tweeted, "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming ... It is my hope that the president's policy never becomes law. "What you saw in the form of a tweet was representative of an announcement". "We will await formal directive, and we are awaiting that".
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 India set to block $1.3 bln Gland Pharma-Fosun deal
Private-equity backed Gland Pharma and the cabinet committee, chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. The setback highlights the difficulties faced by China's once-prolific acquirers, which are facing mounting pressure at home and overseas. HNA Group recently scrapped the purchase of an in-flight entertainment provider, while Dalian Wanda Group agreed to sell most of its hotels and tourism-related assets including theme ...
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Mom Of Two Dies After Complications From Butt Implants!
Bynum had the alleged procedure on July 15. By that night, she was dizzy and had tightness in her chest, so she called 911. Medics rushed her to Mount Sinai St. They said they were also unable to confirm whether the operation was performed legally, although her brother claimed the clinic was licensed. As the investigation into her untimely death continues, the family's lawyer, Jack Yankowitz , said the injection was given to Latesha by someone "representing himself as a doctor".
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Israelis March Demanding Access to Temple Mount and Building of Third Temple
Israeli marchers clashed with local Palestinians when settlers attacked east Jerusalem residents at Temple Mount's Council Gate. More than 1,000 Jews braved a searing heat wave Tuesday morning to visit the Temple Mount on Tisha b'Av , the saddest date on the Hebrew calendar, while thousands more sat on the floor - a traditional Jewish sign of mourning - at the Western Wall Plaza to commemorate the destruction of ancient Jerusalem by the Roman Empire in the year 70 CE.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Anthony Scaramucci mistakenly listed as dead in Harvard Law School alumni directory
Next to his name, there was reportedly an asterisk indicating he had died since the previous release back in 2011. The Harvard directory is only published every five years, so it seems Scaramucci would stay dead on paper till 2022. The error came to light just after Scaramucci's departure from the White House on Monday. Scaramucci's job didn't get off to a great start: in his first 10 days he hit headlines for threatening to fire his entire team and launching a foul-mouthed tirade against ...
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Income Tax raids against Karnataka minister disrupt Rajya Sabha, Congress questions timing
Accusing the government of misusing power to intimidate its opponents ahead of the crucial Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat, the Congress created a ruckus in Parliament and questioned the timing of the Income Tax raids at the Bengaluru resort where the party's MLAs have been housed.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Clock Running Out on North Korea
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act punishes Russian Federation for using the internet to attack vital components of our infrastructure and imposes catastrophic economic sanctions on Iran and North Korea for their support of terror organizations, continued antagonistic missile tests and their threats to bring terror and chaos to America.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Kelly Called Comey To Express Anger Over Firing, Sources Say
Speculation also includes Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom Mr Trump has hinted at removing from the Department of Justice. The new chief of staff is already exercising more control and authority in managing the White House. It will be a test for Kelly as he seeks to manage the internal crises in the White House, while at the same time working to assure and maintain support of establishment figures leading into the 2018 and 2020 elections.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 A Facebook group thought these empty bus seats were women in burqas
A Norwegian anti-immigrant group is being mocked online after its members made Islamophobic comments about what they thought were women in burqas - a photo that actually depicted empty bus seats. The image, showing six empty seats on a bus, was posted and shared with the group's nearly 13,000 members by journalist Johan Slattavik , who captioned it, "What do you think of this?" "I'm shocked by how much hate and fake news is spread there".
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 USA set to test launch ICBM amid tensions with North Korea
A commercial airliner flew past the location where North Korea's July 4 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) would land in the Sea of Japan less than 10 minutes later, according to a USA official. missile expert Michael Elleman concluded that Hwasong-14's re-entry vehicle "disintegrated" before it landed at sea. According to reports the project is being overseen by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ministry of National Defense.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Venezuela sends two top opposition leaders back to jail
Two opposition leaders, Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma, have been re-arrested following the vote. He urged the Government to immediately release all those being held for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression, noting that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considers the detention of both Lopez and Ledezma to be arbitrary.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Trump dictated son's false story of meeting with Russian lawyer
The Times was preparing to break its story as Trump was departing the G-20 Summit in Germany on July 8. However, Trump Junior updated his statement after more details were leaked in the media regarding his visit to Russian Federation.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 WashPost: Trump Dictated Son's Statement on Russian Meeting
The Post , citing multiple people with knowledge of the situation, said the original plan in response to the Times' reporting was to issue a truthful statement ahead of the story, but then Trump personally made a decision to have the statement say Trump Jr.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Trump dictated statement for son on Russian Federation meeting
But a few days later news broke that Trump Jr. arranged the meeting, believing he would obtain harmful information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonTrump dictated statement for son on Russian Federation meeting: report Kate Hudson mocks Scaramucci: "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" Tennessee Republican won't seek reelection to House MORE .
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Thai ex-PM Yingluck defiant as verdict looms
Neither had she been involved in any corruption with the rice program as alleged by the prosecutors, Yingluck told the nine-judge Supreme Court, which is scheduled to deliver a verdict on the case on August 25. "I hope that there will be justice", she told the crowd. Under Thailand's new law, Yingluck is permitted to lodge an appeal without submitting new evidence.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Pence says United States backs Georgia in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation over Russian objection
In retaliation for the sanctions , Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the USA diplomatic mission in Russia must reduce its staff by 755 people. Speaking alongside presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, Pence sought to assure the Baltic leaders that the USA would not be intimidated by Putin's announcement Sunday that USA missions would be stripped of 755 staff members and two properties.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation jets intercept Russian military planes near Estonia
Lithuania and Estonia both now host four foreign air-force jets on their airfields. a measure meant to protect NATO's airspace in the Baltic, in an area that directly borders Russian Federation. The worldwide air corridor over the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea is narrow and the Nordic country has experienced several air violations by military and civilian aircraft from neighboring Russian Federation.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Anthony Scaramucci mistakenly listed as dead in Harvard Law alumni directory
Kate Hudson roasted outgoing White House media chief Anthony Scaramucci on Instagram after he was sacked just 10 days into his new job. "Regrettably, there is an error in the Harvard Law School alumni directory in the listing for Anthony Scaramuccci", a spokeswoman told the Washington Post in a statement.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Mumbai University Results Will Be Out By August 5: Maharashtra Chief Minister
More trouble for Mumbai University (MU) students is on the cards as Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Sanjay Deshmukh on Tuesday admitted that there would be further delays in the declaration of some of the key results like that of Commerce and Law.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Trump's attorney previously denied POTUS involvement in Russian Federation statement
According to an exclusive report by the Washington Post , while aboard Air Force One, the president became personally involved in the creation of his son's statement which was issued to the New York Times in response to its investigation into the meeting.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 Hospital building in Oxford fails safety tests
The report, by fire safety consultancy Trenton Fire, made a number of recommendations to improve fire safety before the building can be reoccupied by inpatients, including replacing the cladding. The review will present an interim report before the end of 2017 and a final report no later than spring next year. Taller office buildings in Dublin are set to be examined for fire safety risks.
Author: - August 02, 2017 0 'Cash me ousside' girl faces court on string of charges
The grand theft auto charges stem from a police call by Danielle's mother to report her daughter had stolen both her purse and her vehicle in two separate incidents past year. The state attorney's office also claims that the young cyber-star was found in a vehicle with cannabis earlier this year. At this stage it's unknown if she will also be facing charges for a seperate incindent in which her friend allegedly threw ice-cream at a woman which in turn sparked a series of brawls.
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Philippines Threatens to Cut Ties with Iceland Over UN Probe
South Africa's ruling party secrets emerge in Zuma hearing
Jeremy Hunt will fight for a ‘Brexit for everybody’ as PM
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Barry weakens, but U.S. officials warn of heavy rain — RTHK
China holds military drills on southeast coast
Washington police kill man at immigrant detention center
U.S. will not blacklist Iran's foreign minister, for now
Kellyanne Conway Snaps Back at Reporter: 'What's Your Ethnicity?'
Bianca Devins death: Instagram flooded with pink clouds to drown out g
Joe Biden unveils health care plan that would preserve and expand Obamacare
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China GDP growth slows to 6.2 percent in second quarter
Ryanair to cut flights and close down some bases amid Boeing crisis
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← The best profession in the San Francisco Bay Area may not be what you think
Top 30 City Rents Vary By Thousands →
Laurene Powell Jobs just bought a stunning $16.5 million dollar San Francisco home with some of the best views of …
Laurene Powell Jobs has a new addition to her collection of San Francisco Bay Area homes.
According to The Mercury News, Powell Jobs, who was married to the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, purchased a stunning house in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood for $16.5 million.
The 6,000-square-foot charmer is situated in San Francisco’s Russian Hill, where the median real estate price is about $2.5 million, according to Redfin. That’s $14 million below what Powell Jobs paid.
The home’s original listing price was set at $16.9 million, meaning Powell Jobs got a deal, albeit a $400,000 one. Still, by San Francisco standards, that’s pretty good.
The house boasts six bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms with contemporary design, lush outdoor space and breathtaking views of the city. That square footage includes a family room, a recreation room, a study, a dining room, a kitchen, a laundry room, a wine cellar and an observation terrace extending off of the Master Suite.
The home’s bay windows will afford Powell Jobs and her guests panoramic views of the city, including sights of downtown San Francisco, the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.
This makes Powell Jobs’ fourth home in the Bay Area, according to The Mercury News. She owns properties in Los Altos, Woodside and Palo Alto, where her company Emerson Collective is based.
This is, however, Powell Jobs’ closest home to the heart of San Francisco meaning she’ll be closer to the new west coast bureau for The Atlantic, the magazine in which Powell Jobs owns a majority stake.
Whatever the reason for purchasing the home, Powell Jobs sits comfortably as the sixth wealthiest woman in the world with a net worth of $20.7 billion. Who wouldn’t jump at a good piece of San Francisco real estate if they could?
Article source: http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-laurene-powell-jobs-new-16-million-dollar-san-francisco-home-2018-5
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Czech, Please
Older Fathers Increase the Risk of Autistic Kids
Why Men Are More Likely to Do the Driving
Centre Seminars: Coffee Houses, Part 1 and 2
The Tebow Ad Was Charming
Responsible Fathers in Super Bowl Ads
Beyond Rebuilding 4
The background one needs for this joke is:
1) Mrs. G's first name is Susan; and
2) The Gruntleds still haven't forgiven Neville Chamberlain for selling out Czechoslovakia.
I sent this message to our eldest daughter:
"I am going to take Mom to the Czech Republic. They have the best Sue datin' land."
I cc'ed Mrs. G., and waited for her to open email. I knew she had opened this message when a belly laugh emanated from her corner of the bedroom.
She forwarded the message to her relatives.
Daughter #1 replied: "Feel the inter-state GROAN. Don't just hear it, FEEL it."
My father-in-law replied: "Very possibly the worst pun I have ever heard or read (or smelled)."
A new large-scale study in California found that father's age, more than mother's age, increases the risk of having an autistic child. The core finding:
The new study suggested that when the father was over 40 and the mother under 30, the increased risk was especially pronounced — 59 percent greater than for younger men.
Posted by Gruntled at 11:03 AM 4 comments:
Eric Morris wrote a Freakonomics blogpost about why men are more likely to drive when a couple travels together. It drew such a disparate and impassioned response that he wrote another. The core finding is this:
The 2001 National Household Transportation Survey ... showed that, on a typical day, when household members shared a car men were more than three times more likely to be the driver as opposed to a passenger.
This an issue in our family. There are three female drivers in the Gruntled family now, and they all almost always prefer that I drive. I always ask Mrs. G. (we were trained as '70s feminists in gender power, after all) and she almost always asks me to drive.
I can think of two reasons for the gender imbalance in who drives, both well rooted in sex differences.
First, men as a group find spatial problems easier to solve. So if we are taking a trip that might include parallel parking, the ladies in our family would rather that I handled it. This varies quite a bit from individual to individual, so your mileage may vary. Still, the sex difference in handling spacial issues is well-attested, so it should show up as a tipping factor in some driving decisions.
Second, women like to look at their conversation partner when talking, whereas men often do not. If she is driving and talking to him, she may often turn to look at him to see his reactions. Taking her eye off the road while driving is scary to both of them. On the other hand, if he is driving and talking to her, she can look at his face without danger, while he will be much less tempted to swivel to look at her at each turn in the dialogue.
Centre College has launched a web seminar series. This gives me another chance to talk about coffee houses and public life. The first two episodes have been posted on YouTube. I am pleased to share them.
Posted by Gruntled at 3:32 PM 2 comments:
The Super Bowl ad that succeeded in getting the most publicity was the Focus on the Family spot with college football star Tim Tebow and his mother. Pam Tebow was a missionary in the Philippines when she was pregnant with the Tebow's fifth child. She was so ill from a tropical disease and the treatment for it that doctors told her to have an abortion. Pam and her husband rejected that option. After a difficult pregnancy, they had their "miracle baby," who has gone on to obviously glowing health. At the end of the ad, Tim Tebow humorously tackles his mother, which lets her say, smiling, "you gotta be tough."
I can't find a direct link to the ad, but if you go to the Focus on the Family site and click on "The Tebow Story," a link to "Watch the Tebow spots" will appear immediately.
The actual ad that they made is charming. It is very low key. It says nothing about abortion, or even the medical difficulty that Pam Tebow and her family went through.
The controversy, though seems to have brought out the irrational in some people. Before the ad aired, tens of thousands of emails were solicited objecting to it, by people who had not seen it. Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, went so far as to say that "I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it." Alterian SM2, a company that tracks social media content about Super Bowl ads, said that before the ad aired, negative comments far outweighed positive. After people had actually seen the ad, though, most people liked it.
The ads in the Super Bowl had a strong discourse about masculinity for married fathers. Some, such as the Dodge Charger ad, saw marriage and fatherhood as an imposition - worthwhile, but making a man deserving of masculine compensation in the form of a muscle car.
Others, though, took a more positive view of marriage and fatherhood, more as a challenging adventure. The Google ad, "Parisian Love," did this cleverly, through a series of queries that implied the life course of a man from pre-courtship to wedding and child.
My favorite ad was for Dove. The galloping romp through a man's life from boyhood to responsible, happy marriage and fatherhood is charming. I was particularly interested to note that they suggest having three kids, rather than the customary two of earlier ads. And the conclusion is that married fatherhood is not an imposition, but a great life.
I personally am not interested in the product, but I like this development in the Zeitgeist.
Reply to "Overcoming the Presbyterian Power Trap: Toward an Authentic Multicultural Witness in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)" by J. Herbert Nelson II.
This is the fourth in a series of responses to the five articles in Beyond Rebuilding, which were written in answer to my Rebuilding the Presbyterian Establishment.
Like Rev. Nelson I want the leadership of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be made of men and women drawn from all the classes, ethnicities, and cultural groups of America. I have every confidence that if the church seeks leaders who are faithful, loyal, and thoughtful Presbyterians, such a mixture will naturally emerge. We may differ on whether that is happening fast enough, and on whether the season of affirmative action is still needed, or whether the need has passed.
On a larger question, though, I think Rev. Nelson and I may disagree. Neither of us wrote specifically enough in our short essays to settle the point, so I don't want to be too definitive here. I would welcome further dialogue on these points.
I agree with Rev. Nelson that the leadership of the church should have a multicultural background. I do not agree that what the church should be seeking is a multicultural future. The church, like any viable institution, has and constantly recreates its own culture. The culture of the Presbyterian Church should be Presbyterian. This has a definite meaning for our polity, as the name presbyterian suggests. It also has a strong foundation, and is supposed to have clear limits, in our confessional constitution. The Presbyterian Establishment should be able to bring in people from all backgrounds and shape them into Presbyterians.
The content of Presbyterian culture is not rigid or fixed, as the church's changed culture about women in leadership and racial exclusion shows. Leading the discussion about whether and how to change while still being true to the theological convictions of the church is what an establishment is for. But I contend that the aim of a Presbyterian establishment is not to produce a multicultural witness, but to be a group with a multicultural background that gives a Presbyterian witness.
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Home Features Bioengineering aids recovery for swallowing disorders
Bioengineering aids recovery for swallowing disorders
University of Canterbury researchers at the Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research have revealed an innovative new treatment for people with swallowing impairments.
Research Report, Prof Maggie-Lee Huckabee and Esther Hernandez, Biomechanical Engineer in the Rose Centre, 19.1.17
Client, Fiona Clayton, SSAC.
Swallowing impairments, also known as dysphagia, impact on people affected by stroke or other neurological disorders. The new treatment will make a big difference to potentially thousands of lives, says Professor Maggie-Lee Huckabee, Director of the Rose Centre.
“Food and drink sustain us – physiologically, nutritionally, socially and culturally. They are critical to maintaining health, but equally valued for the human engagement that emerges from sharing a drink with a friend, or a meal with family.
“Individuals who struggle with eating and drinking can develop chest infections or require feeding through a tube, and consequently experience exclusion from many social engagements.”
New thinking brings solution
Historically, swallowing has been considered a reflex, and thus amenable only to rehabilitation programmes that focus on increasing strength of muscles in the throat. More recent research suggests that the cortex – the thinking part of the brain – plays a significant role in modulating this ‘pseudo-reflex’.
This new understanding led UC’s researchers to approach the problem differently, using bioengineering application to facilitate recovery. Bioengineering applies engineering principles to biological systems, and can include elements of electrical and mechanical engineering, computer science, chemistry and biology. This approach is central to the Rose Centre’s clinical research programme.
The Biofeedback in Strength and Skill Training (BiSSkiT) software-driven treatment protocol was developed through a collaboration between clinical researchers and medical bioengineers; including Professor Huckabee and Esther Guiu Hernandez at the Rose Centre, and Associate Professor Paul Gaynor and Adjunct Professor Richard Jones, in UC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Rather than focusing on strengthening, the innovative skill training protocol in the BiSSkiT software takes a different approach.
“Swallowing relies on precision and speed in movement, not strength,” says Professor Huckabee.
“With BiSSkiT, a small device that measures the electrical activity of muscles involved in swallowing displays that information through the software as a waveform on a computer screen. When patients see what is happening, they can then improve precision in motor control of swallowing by using the waveform to hit a randomly placed ‘target’ on the computer screen.”
Research at the Rose Centre suggests very positive outcomes following two weeks of skill training in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Significant improvements were seen across a small group of ten patients in speed and efficiency of swallowing, which carried over to improvement on quality of life measures. Further research is under way, which supports the research education of four UC PhD students.
Approved for clinical use
The end of 2016 marked a major step in development of the software, thanks in part to UC’s global connections. Considered a Class 1 medical device, the software has recently received CE mark approval, so is now approved for sale to the European market for clinical use. Further approvals have been granted for sales in New Zealand and in the coming year, approvals will be sought for Australasian and North American markets, potentially helping thousands of people with swallowing disorders.
“This development offers people with swallowing disorders a completely new opportunity to improve their quality of life,” Professor Huckabee says.
The skill training protocol is being evaluated through international trials in a larger group of patients with Parkinson’s disease, as well as others with motor neurone disease and Huntington’s disease. In addition to the novel skill training approach, there is also a strengthening protocol if the traditional approach to muscle strengthening is required. Other UC students are developing a test based on the software that will help clinicians determine which type of training is required.
Changing brains, changing lives
Housed at St George’s Medical Centre, the Rose Centre sees patients from around Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the United States of America, and integrates clinical diagnostic and rehabilitation services for swallowing impairment with the development and execution of translational research. Professor Huckabee says the keystone of translational research at the centre is patient engagement.
“The brain is a remarkably adaptable organ and because of the way swallowing is controlled by the brain, there is great potential for rehabilitation.
“The key to recovery is finding a way for patients to visualise the very abstract task of swallowing, which is exactly what the BiSSkiT software does. If they can see it, they are much more likely to be able to change it.”
The focus on patient engagement has recently been formalised with the development of the PERC programme – Patients, Engineers, Researchers and Clinicians. Funded by the Farina Thompson Charitable Trust, this unique programme brings together all partners in the collaborative development of translational research, which applies findings from basic science to enhance human health and wellbeing. The PERC programme at the Rose Centre will provide a platform for development of several other projects that provide visual feedback of other aspects of swallowing.
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Health Central - December 16, 2011
Kathy Holloway’s timely PhD research has helped shape New Zealand’s first national process for endorsing specialty standards. Fiona Cassie reports.
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Posted on 5 February 2016 2 February 2017
TURC criticism prompts new Supreme Court list
The Supreme Court of Victoria has established a specialist Employment and Industrial List, which commenced on 1 January 2016. The list will manage proceedings involving employment contracts, breaches of confidence, and employment-related misleading and deceptive conduct.
It will also deal with allegations of “interference with contractual relations, industrial torts, secondary boycotts, and related contempt proceedings”. These are claims typically directed against industrial action taken by workers and their trade unions.
The establishment of the list comes after criticism by former High Court judge Dyson Heydon in the interim report of his Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, known as TURC. (This controversial inquisitorial body was criticised for political bias after Heydon agreed to speak at a Liberal Party fundraiser, but he cleared himself of wrongdoing and continued its hearings.)
Heydon claimed “extraordinary delay” in the Supreme Court’s hearing of industrial torts and related matters “will make the Australian legal system a laughing stock” and called for “consideration to be given to procedures which ensure swift determination of contempt applications”.
These comments were made in relation to a case study of a long-running and high-profile dispute between construction company Grocon and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) over the appointment of safety representatives. This dispute culminated in a massive protest outside the Myer Emporium construction site, and led to Grocon suing the CFMEU over industrial torts, secondary boycotts, and related contempts.
Grocon was represented in the Supreme Court by Michael McDonald SC. He was subsequently appointed to the Supreme Court Trial Division, and is the inaugural Judge in Charge of the Industrial and Employment List.
Medicinal cannabis to be legalised for epileptic children
The Victorian Law Reform Commission has delivered its report on the legalisation of Medicinal Cannabis. In October, the report was tabled in Parliament by Attorney-General Martin Pakula. In December, the Government introduced the Access to Medicinal Cannabis Bill 2015 into parliament, with the intention of having the scheme in place by “early 2017”.
The proposed legislation would allow cannabis to be prescribed to “eligible patients”, which would initially be limited to people under the age of 18 who have epileptic seizures that do not respond to other treatments. This is narrower than the VLRC’s recommendations, which also included patients suffering from severe symptoms of multiple sclerosis, cancer, HIV and AIDS. However, the bill would establish an Independent Medical Advisory Committee to recommend other categories of eligible patient, which could be added by regulation.
Fulfilling an election promise, the Andrews Government asked the VLRC to investigate the best way to implement the legalisation of cannabis for medical purposes. In the issues paper that began the public consultation process, the VLRC noted that the decision to legalise the drug had already been made, and the “terms of reference do not invite the Commission’s views on [the merits of] this policy”.
The VLRC received 98 submissions from lawyers, doctors, academics, activists, community groups, and members of the general public — including one from the possibly pseudonymous Leaf van Amsterdam, who volunteered to be “a willing guinea pig” on the effects of medical marijuana.
The second reading debate on the bill will continue in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, 9 February.
Welcome back for 2016
Welcome to another exciting year of Legal Studies!
One of the most interesting things about the VCE Legal Studies course is the way it engages with current issues and controversies. This blog will help you identify issues and reforms that are relevant to the course, give you a brief summary, and link to news and commentary for further detail.
The best way to keep up to date is to subscribe to the email list, which will send you a copy of any new posts. You can also follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr.
I also try to categorise the posts according to how they fit in to the Study Design. On the right-hand-side of the site you can see the list of categories, and clicking on those will take you to all of the posts related to that topic.
All the best with your studies this year!
Posted on 14 October 2015 2 February 2017
High Court rules donation bans, caps compatible with free speech
The High Court last week made an important decision on the implied constitutional freedom of political communication. Jeff McCloy, a property developer, challenged the validity of NSW restrictions on political donations. The High Court’s ruling was important because it upheld the laws, clarified the test to be applied in “implied freedoms” cases, and confirmed that equality of participation in democracy was a “grand underlying principle” of the Constitution.
In its 2013 Unions NSW v New South Wales decision, the High Court ruled that a ban on all non-voters making political donations was an impermissible restriction of the implied freedom of political communication. While the government claimed it was aimed at eliminating corruption, the Court held there was no clear link between the challenged provisions and that purpose, and therefore the law failed the Lange test.
This prompted McCloy to challenge provisions in the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981 (NSW), which bans property developers from making political donations. Applying the logic of the precedent, he argued there was no reason to believe property developers were more likely to make corrupt donations than other people, therefore there was no rational connection to anti-corruption purposes.
However, a majority of the Court firmly rejected this argument, finding that “Property developers are sufficiently distinct to warrant specific regulation”, referring to “recent history” in NSW including a number of reports by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The law was therefore appropriately adapted to the legitimate purpose of preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption.
(The Court’s reliance on ICAC was interesting because the plaintiff’s illegal donations to Liberal Party MPs were uncovered through an ICAC investigation. In his testimony, McCloy said, “They all come to see me for money, I feel like a walking ATM, some days.”)
The Unions NSW case also struck down a combined cap on election spending by political parties and any affiliated industrial organisations. Although the law did not specify any particular target, the plaintiffs pointed out the Labor Party had maintained affiliation with trade unions for more than a century. Hayne J expressed concern this may have been the true target of the law, asking the NSW Government’s counsel, “Is there any other party to which 95G(6) presently has application? … Are we to ignore 100 years of history in this country, Mr Kirk? Are we to shut our eyes to what has been observed over the last decades?” The Court again held there was no rational link to an anti-corruption purpose, so the combined spending cap was unconstitutional.
McCloy sought to expand on this precedent, taking aim at the Act’s general cap on political donations. He argued “that the ability to pay money to secure access to a politician is itself an aspect of the freedom and therefore the subject of constitutional protection”. The High Court majority emphatically rejected this argument, holding that donation caps “are not only compatible with the system of representative government; they preserve and enhance it.”
They noted that in the absence of limits on donations, wealthy citizens may have a greater influence over our political system than others. The majority explicitly held that “Equality of opportunity to participate in the exercise of political sovereignty is an aspect of the representative democracy guaranteed by our Constitution.” Professor Graeme Orr argues this is the most significant aspect of the decision, because it balances the competing values of liberty and equality.
Another significant aspect of the decision was the Court’s attempt to clarify the second limb of the Lange test, which requires that a law is “appropriately adapted” to achieve its purpose. However, over a series of cases there was disagreement about how to judge this, and in particular whether this was a test of “proportionality”. In August this year, Sir Anthony Mason (who was Chief Justice from 1987-1995) gave a speech on Proportionality and its Use in Australian Constitutional Law, in which he identified three competing versions of the concept emerging from past High Court precedents.
In McCloy, the High Court majority confirmed that “proportionality analysis of some kind is part of the Lange test”, and clarified what this meant in the Australian context. They said it did not simply “involv[e] matters of impression, such as whether the legislative measures go too far, or not far enough”. Specifically, “there are at least three stages to a test of proportionality. … [T]hey are whether the statute is suitable, necessary, and adequate in its balance.” That final stage requires the Court to consider whether the burden on an implied Constitutional right outweighs the benefit of the law.
Critics of “judicial activism” argue that this allows unelected judges to interfere with the power of the Parliament to determine priorities and legislate accordingly. However, the High Court majority explicitly rejects this criticism: “The fact that a value judgment is involved does not entitle the courts to substitute their own assessment for that of the legislative decision-maker. … However, the courts have a duty to determine the limit of legislative power affecting constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, and assessments by courts of the public interest and benefit in a piece of legislation are commonplace. … To say that the courts are able to discern public benefits in legislation which has been passed is not to intrude upon the legislative function.”
Professor Anne Twomey suggests the decision may prompt legal change in jurisdictions around Australia: “the High Court has opened the way for more comprehensive reform of political donations at the state and federal level. The excuse that it ‘might be unconstitutional’ no longer has legs.”
Northern Territory to resume push for Statehood
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) “supported the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s resolve for the NT to become Australia’s seventh state by 1 July 2018,” which would be the 40th anniversary of self-government in the NT.
Section 121 of the Constitution allows the Commonwealth Parliament to establish new States. It can impose conditions on the new State, including setting different rules for its representation in the Commonwealth Parliament. Given that the NT’s current population is under 250,000, this would likely be necessary. While Tasmania is over-represented compared to its population, the minimum of 5 lower-house seats required by section 24 only applies to Original States.
In 1998, a referendum was held within the Northern Territory. However, it achieved only 48.1% support, largely because the NT’s significant Indigenous population was concerned about the possible impact on their land rights without the protection of the Senate’s review functions. The NT has a unicameral parliament.
Professor Rolf Gerritson of Charles Darwin University said the same issue was likely to be a sticking point in the new campaign: “I don’t think the proposal has a snowball’s chance in hell of getting up. … I expect the land councils would oppose the repatriation of the Land Rights Act. They have in the past. I think that would be a huge stumbling block in negotiations for statehood.” However, his colleague Ken Parish proposes overcoming this obstacle by establishing an Indigenous advisory body that would have the power of veto over amendments to land rights legislation.
This would need to be included in a new constitution for the NT. At present, its legislative, judicial and executive powers are delegated by the Commonwealth under the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth), but this is not truly a Constitution as it can be amended by an ordinary bill in the Commonwealth Parliament — as it was in 1997 to remove the NT’s power over euthanasia laws. The NT will hold a Constitutional Convention system to consult with the public over the development of a new constitution.
COAG was established in 1992 to allow for intergovernmental discussions about issues of national importance. Its members are the Prime Minister, State and Territory Premiers and Chief Ministers and the President of the Australian Local Government Association.
Notice: technical issue resolved
A technical problem has prevented some posts from being published. This has now been resolved, and normal posting will resume. I apologise for the inconvenience caused.
Please take the time to scroll back to see the posts that have now been released.
Posted on 5 October 2015 2 February 2017
Charter Review calls for tougher enforcement of rights
The Victorian Attorney-General, Martin Pakula, has tabled in parliament the report of the 2015 Review of the Charter of Human Rights. The review was conducted by Michael Brett Young, and took into account over 100 public submissions from individuals and community groups.
The most significant recommendations relate to enforcement of the Charter. Brett Young says the current Charter is “flawed” because it “does not include an ability to enforce the standards that it sets”. He notes: “Providing for human rights without corresponding remedies sends mixed messages to the public sector and to the community about the importance of those rights.”
One proposal is to create a stand-alone cause of action for breaches of the Charter. At the moment, section 39 allows people to raise a breach of the Charter only as part of a separate legal proceeding. People who can’t “piggy-back” their human rights case on top of a separate claim are left out. The Review recommends giving legal standing to “any human being who claims a public authority has acted, or is proposing to act, incompatibly with their human rights.”
The Review also recommends expanding the remedies that VCAT and the courts can provide for breaches of the Charter. It recommends they “should have power to grant any relief or remedy that [they] considers[] just and appropriate, excluding the power to award damages”. The focus should be on practical remedies, such as injunctions, that would improve compliance with Charter rights.
However, the Review also recommended: “Making damages a remedy under the Charter should be considered only as an incremental step once the direct cause of action is established and there is experience of it in operation. In Chapter 8, I recommend a further review of the Charter. That review should consider the inclusion of damages as a remedy.”
The long report includes a total of 52 recommendations, including strengthening the parliamentary review of bills and making the process more transparent; allowing the Minister to revoke a local council by-law that is incompatible with human rights; and ensuring that allegations of serious human rights breaches by police can be independently investigated.
It also specifically recommends the inclusion of a new Charter right: “that every person born in Victoria has the right to a name and to be registered as soon as practicable after birth.” This was in response to a campaign by the Castan Centre for Human Rights to improve the rate of birth registration in Indigenous communities
The Victorian Government has not yet responded to the recommendations.
VLA launches Independent Mental Health Advocacy
Victoria Legal Aid has launched a new service called Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA). The new body is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, and will provide assistance to people in negotiating the mental health system.
The Mental Health Act 2014 (Vic) was passed last year, and introduced a human rights-based approach to mental health services in Victoria. One major reform was the establishment of the Mental Health Tribunal, which oversees the assessment of people’s mental health and make compulsory treatment orders where necessary. Its decisions are reviewable by VCAT’s Human Rights List.
The new IMHA service will help people who are are subject to a compulsory order, who might be subject to one in future, or who have recently been discharged. It does not provide medical or legal advice, but helps people understand their rights and assists them in communicating their views to medical practitioners and agencies.
Where specialist legal advice or representation is required, IMHA will refer people to appropriate services, including Victoria Legal Aid.
Posted on 15 September 2015 2 February 2017
Abbott replaced by Prime Minister Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull has been sworn in as Prime Minister, after defeating Tony Abbott in a ballot for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
Australia has now had six prime ministers in the last eight years. The Coalition campaigned on a platform of stability in the wake of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, telling voters “If you vote for the Labor party in 2013 who knows who you will end up with”, and promising stability.
However, Abbott’s leadership of the Liberal Party came under pressure due to his continued poor results in opinion polls. He survived a challenge in February after he asked for six months to prove he could improve the Coalition’s popularity, declaring that “It’s the people that hire, and frankly it should be the people that fire.”
However, the polls did not turn around, and after being informed that he was losing support, Abbott called a leadership spill. After a ballot in which he lost by 54-44, he resigned by sending a fax to the Governor-General, recommending that Malcolm Turnbull be sworn in.
The new Prime Minister promised to return to “thoroughly traditional cabinet government”, characterised by greater consultation and ministerial independence from the Prime Minister’s office.
Posted on 9 September 2015 2 February 2017
Government considering marriage referendum
With separate private members’ bills introduced to parliament by the Greens, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Labor Party, and most recently a multi-party group, the Coalition Government has come under pressure to allow its members a conscience vote on the issue.
After an extensive debate in caucus, the Coalition decided defer a decision on a conscience vote until after the next election. While the Coalition allows its backbench MPs to vote against party policy, the decision locks all Ministers in to opposing the bill.
During the meeting, Abbott told his colleagues he thought a referendum to settle the issue was “extraordinarily attractive“. There is speculation that his position is motivated by a belief that a “no” vote would make the reform difficult to justify, and referendums are historically unlikely to pass without strong bipartisan support.
This new position reflects a sudden change of mind on the part of the Prime Minister. In May, following Ireland’s referendum on the issue, Abbott said, “Referendums are held in this country where there’s a proposal to change the constitution. I don’t think anyone’s suggesting that the constitution needs to be changed in this respect. Under the constitution, questions of marriage are the preserve of the Commonwealth parliament.”
That view reflected the precedent established by the Same-Sex Marriage Case (2013), in which the High Court unanimously held: “the federal Parliament has legislative power to provide for marriage between persons of the same sex”.
Other Coalition members are pushing for a plebiscite, which is a non-binding national vote on an issue. In the past, plebiscites have been held on military conscription and the national anthem. According to the Australian Electoral Commission, a plebiscite held at the same time as the next election would cost $44 million to administer, and a stand-alone plebiscite would cost $158 million.
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« Kalyani Rafael secures $100-mn order for Barak-8 missile kits
HSL-led consortium to submit bid for building six submarines »
HSL expects naval ships building plan will steer it back into black
SOURCE: TNN
Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, a ministry of defence enterprise, is gearing up to build naval support vessels by the second quarter of 2020-21 in technical collaboration with a Turkish shipbuilding consortium led by Anadolu Shipyard and hopes the order will steer it back into the black.
HSL, the oldest shipyard in the country having been set up in 1941, hopes to ink the collaboration agreement with the Turkish shipyard group by September, HSL chairman and managing director Rear Admiral (Retd) LV Sarat Babu said.
Admiral Babu said the Turkish shipyard was chosen as partner because it had the expertise to build fleet-support naval vessels. The two companies had exchanged documents on the collaboration in May.“We expect to finalise the details of the partnership with the TAIS group of Turkey, in which Anadolu Shipyard is a key partner, by September this year. Anadolu will be providing HSL the expertise to build fleet support vessels, which will be used to supply Indian Navy ships with critical material, including provisions,” Admiral Babu told TOI.
HSL expects to begin work on the fleet supply vessels in the second quarter of 2020. “The meter for the delivery of the first vessel will start running from the time we get the order. We will be required to deliver the first of the five vessels within four years, and each of the other four within 10 months of each delivery,” he said.
The Turkish group was selected after a global tender was floated and three potential partners were shortlisted from eight bidders. The Turkish group was finalised from the shortlisted firms. “Anadolu will be transferring the technology to HSL. The defence ministry approved the partnership,” Admiral Babu said. According to him, HSL was given the order to build the five-fleet support naval vessels on an Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) basis. “The cost of the five vessels has been set at Rs 9,800 crore,” he said.
Admiral Sarat Babu said HSL had exited the cargo vessel segment because of low margins. “Cargo vessels do not generate high margins. Moreover, shipbuilders in other countries like Sri Lanka and the Philippines, where the labour costs are lower, have become more attractive for customers,” he said.
HSL has been focussing on the retrofitting of submarines, construction of specialty vessels for the oil and gas industry and now naval support vessels. “We are waiting for the Indian Navy to float a Request for Proposal (RfP) for the Medium Refit Life Certification (MRLC) of one of its submarines. The MRLC will increase the life of the submarine by up to eight years,” he said.
HSL currently has 1,500 fulltime workers and about 1,000 contract workers.
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« India, China watch keenly as Sri Lanka negotiates new military deal with US
Russian Navy to get nuclear-powered aircraft carrier »
US Panel Seeks Additional Steps To Enhance Defense Ties With India
SOURCE: PTI
Reflecting the strong bi-partisan support in the US Congress to boost Indo-US defence ties, a powerful congressional committee has passed a legislative amendment seeking additional steps to implement the Major Defense Partner designation on India, including through appropriate technology transfers.The amendment, which was moved by Democratic Party Congressman Brad Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and supported by a strong bipartisan group of lawmakers was “made to order” by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday.
Now part of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would come for voting on the floor of House of Representatives, the Sherman Amendment seeks to increase the frequency and scope of exchanges between senior civilian officials and military officers of the two countries to support the development and implementation of the major defense partnership.
The NDAA for fiscal 2020 was passed by the US Senate in June. The legislative provision provides for increased US-India defence cooperation in the Indian Ocean in areas of humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, counter-piracy, and maritime security. In addition to Sherman, Congressmen Joe Wilson, George Holding, Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi were among other major co-sponsors of the bill.
“Exploring additional steps to implement the major defense partner designation to better facilitate inter operability, information sharing and appropriate technology transfers,” the Sherman amendment said.
Seeking to expand engagement in multilateral frameworks, including the quadrilateral dialogue among the United States, India, Japan and Australia to promote regional security and defend 10 shared values and common interests in the rules- based order, the bill urges the US Government to pursue strategic initiatives to help develop defense capabilities of India.
It urges the government to conduct additional combined exercises with India in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and western Pacific regions. Furthering cooperative efforts to promote stability and security in Afghanistan is another goal of Indo-US cooperation.
Out of the more than 680 amendments submitted, this was among the very few that talked of strengthening defense relations with another country that were made to order by the Rules Committee.
Another amendment pertaining to India that was made to order is by Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera which is a reporting requirement for enhancing defense and security cooperation with New Delhi in the western Indian Ocean.
The bill is currently under passage on the House Floor. As an understanding has already been reached on the bill and the selected amendments, it is in the process of being passed by a simple voice vote.
The US recognised India as a “Major Defence Partner” in 2016. This allows India to buy more advanced and sensitive technologies from America on par with that of the closest allies and partners of the US, and ensures enduring cooperation in this sphere.
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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > T > Ven. Anna Maria Gesualda Antonia Taigi
Ven. Anna Maria Gesualda Antonia Taigi
(Maiden name Giannetti.)
Venerable Servant of God, born at Siena, Italy, 29 May, 1769; died at Rome, 9 June, 1837. Her parents, Luigi Giannetti and Maria Masi, kept an apothecary shop at Siena, but lost all their fortune and were obliged to go to Rome in search of a livelihood. Anna Maria was then five years old. Having been educated in all the domestic virtues, she was married in course of time, 7 January, 1789, to Dominico Taigi, a retainer of the noble family of Chigi, with whom she lived happily for forty-eight years. Hitherto nothing extraordinary had happened in her life. But one day while she knelt with her husband at the Confessio in St. Peter's she felt a strong inspiration to renounce such little vanities of the world as she had allowed herself. She began to pay little attention to dress and to listen to the inner voice of grace. Soon afterwards she was received publicly in the Third Order of Trinitarians in the Church of S. Carlo alle Quarto Fontane, and having found holy spiritual directors, she made rapid progress in the way of perfection. All the money she could spare she devoted to the poor and miserable, and though not rich she was very charitable. Of the hospitals she regularly visited, the preferred one was S. Giacomo of the Incurables. Despite her love for the poor, she never neglected her own family. Of her children two died young, the others grew up in piety under the surveillance of the mother. But she never availed herself of her connections with persons of good position to take her children out of their humble social environment. The whole family were wont to assemble for prayers in a small private chapel, and here, later on, in a small private chapel, and here, later on, Mass was celebrated by a priest who dwelt with the family. The great virtues of Anna Maria were rewarded by extraordinary gifts of God's grace. During many years, when praying in her chapel she had ecstasies and frequent visions, in which she foresaw the future. She exercised a peculiar influence over individuals and converted many a sinner to God. During her life she suffered much both corporally and spiritually, and was at times meanly calumniated. But after death her name soon became venerated in Rome. Her body was several times transferred, and rests finally at S. Crisogono in Trastevere. The process of her beatification was begun in 1863, but has not yet been finished.
APA citation. Oliger, L. (1912). Ven. Anna Maria Gesualda Antonia Taigi. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14430b.htm
MLA citation. Oliger, Livarius. "Ven. Anna Maria Gesualda Antonia Taigi." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14430b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Christine J. Murray.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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Sukhvinder Singh Tinku
Anshul, Navpreet and Jashanpreet are emerging players from the Tinku Cricket Academy
Mohali: Tinku Cricket Academy at Sarvhitkari Senior Secondary School in Sector 71 has been churning out players for the state team on regular basis and the latest to wear the state jersey from the academy are Anshul Chaudhary, Navpreet Singh and Jashanpreet Singh who played for Punjab in the Under-16 Inter-state Tournament, tasting considerable success.
Anshul played a major role in his team qualifying for the quarterfinal as he went on to score two centuries and a half century from the four games that he played, making him the second highest scorer from the North Zone.
“Our first match was against Himachal and I scored 144. The match was a draw but we had the first innings lead. In the second match against Jammu & Kashmir, I scored 50 and we won that match. We also won the third match against Delhi where I made 21 in the first innings and 103 not out in the second. The fourth wasn’t that good for me. It ended in a draw. The quarterfinal will be played on January 14,” said Anshul, who plays as an opener.
Navpreet, who is a fast bowler, played one match but made his mark by taking three wickets. “This is just the beginning,” he said, adding that he does whatever is being taught by his coach Sukhvinder Tinku.
“We just try to implement things taught by our coach. We work hard and practice sincerely,” said Anshul and Navpreet.
The coach too had some good words for his trainees. “Anshul is a very sincere guy. He does whatever is being told to him. He concentrates only on his work. Navpreet is also a good talent as a fast bowler. He is sincere and hardworking,” said Tinku.
Sukhvinder Singh Tinku Anshul Chaudhary Navpreet Singh
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Home NY Times In Iran, Rouhani Begins 2nd Term With Signs He’s Yielding to Hard-Liners
In Iran, Rouhani Begins 2nd Term With Signs He’s Yielding to Hard-Liners
Closed in by rivals in Iran’s other centers of power — the supreme leader, influential clergy members and the judiciary — Mr. Rouhani can steer debate but not call the shots. Mr. Khamenei, who often publicly opposes the president but has supported him behind the scenes on key issues like the nuclear agreement and foreign outreach, is far more interested in economic growth than social change.
In Thursday’s endorsement ceremony, the ayatollah advised the president to “pay attention to the people’s problems, which today are primarily the economy and living conditions.” He also urged Mr. Rouhani to have extensive interaction with the world and to “stand strongly against any domination,” state media reported.
The public pressure on Mr. Rouhani turned personal three weeks ago when his brother, Hossein Fereydoun, was detained by the hard-line judiciary on corruption charges. After a brief court appearance, Mr. Fereydoun was hospitalized, for what has variously been described as high blood pressure or a nervous breakdown. (The president changed his surname to Rouhani, which means “cleric,” when he became an Islamic cleric.)
When Mr. Fereydoun, a former ambassador to the United Nations, paid the record-high $ 13 million bail, some observers said it only proved the accusations because they could not explain such wealth given his career as a diplomat and think-tank chief.
“Rouhani faces serious pressures,” said Fazel Meybodi, a Shiite cleric from Qom who supports change in Iran. “Perhaps too many. And let’s face it, he does not have the final say on many issues.”
One thing that does fall within Mr. Rouhani’s power as president is the formation of his cabinet, scheduled to be presented after the inauguration Saturday. But several reformists said that instead of selecting the ministers personally over the past two months, Mr. Rouhani has been consulting with Mr. Khamenei more than is typical.
Customs prescribe that the supreme leader would weigh in on picking ministers for some sensitive positions, such as the foreign minister and those overseeing intelligence and oil, but not, say, culture, sports, transportation, health and labor. Analysts say Mr. Rouhani decided to involve Mr. Khamenei more deeply as insurance against potential hard-line attacks against the incoming cabinet.
Supporters of Mr. Rouhani during a campaign event in Tehran in May. Some of his backers say they fear he might not fulfill his promise of appointing women and young politicians to his cabinet. Credit Newsha Tavakolian for The New York Times
But many of Mr. Rouhani’s leading supporters in the May election had hoped the new cabinet would represent a new generation of women, youths and daring politicians, ready to implement Mr. Rouhani’s agenda and curb the influence of hard-liners.
Instead, although all the positions are not yet filled, it looks like the ministers will be a delicate mix of older technocrats, don’t-rock-the-boat moderates and even some hard-liners. Reformists are now saying the 18 slots will all be filled by men, dashing hopes built up during Mr. Rouhani’s campaign.
“The president referred to ‘restrictions’ and said that he was unable to use women,” Mahmoud Sadeghi, a parliamentarian, told the reformist newspaper Etemaad.
“But he pointed out that women candidates will be used as directors and vice presidents,” Mr. Sadeghi added. “He also mentioned that the cabinet may change midway, at which stage, women may be used.”
This does not satisfy advocates like Mrs. Baniyaghoob. “We gave a list of capable women,” she noted. “Instead again they choose incapable officials, and again women do not get the chance to gain governing experience.”
The deeper involvement of Mr. Khamenei in the cabinet picks comes amid resistance from hard-liners to nearly every move Mr. Rouhani has made since his re-election in May.
The supreme leader himself criticized the president over his cultural policies, saying that his government is too lenient toward what Mr. Khamenei calls “Westernization.” Clerics denounced Mr. Rouhani’s signing of a multibillion-dollar deal with the French oil company Total, saying he should be investing in the nuclear program instead.
Mr. Rouhani has also had public fights with the Revolutionary Guards, whom he has called an alternative “government with guns.”
Many of those who campaigned for Mr. Rouhani this spring in sweaty stadiums and posted pictures online of themselves in purple, his signature color, are now worried the president will choose pragmatism over promises.
One such supporter is Leili Rashidi, a popular actress, who could hardly make her voice heard among the thousands of hopeful youths shouting for more freedoms at a rally in May. Among the chants were demands for the release of opposition leaders; they remain under house arrest.
“They were so many people, so full of energy, we all felt that we will be able to achieve change,” Ms. Rashidi recalled in an interview this week. “I am worried that if people are disappointed there might be a backlash.”
Mr. Meyboudi, the reform-minded cleric, said Mr. Rouhani is like politicians everywhere, who promise change during elections.
“There is one positive point: at least the hard-liners didn’t win the elections,” he added. “In that case, we’d be much worse off.”
Tags: Begins, hardliners, He’s, Rouhani, Signs, term, With, Yielding, Иран.
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Lights Out is a journey through spaces where information and entertainment was created, edited and broadcasted to the world. The project focuses on the redundancy of analogue technology, conveyed through the stillness inherent to the absence of action in these spaces. There is a permanent tension between the silence of the outdated equipments and the echoes of what once was broadcasted from them. The images that make up this series are subjectively constructed as a theatrical reality, far removed from what’s apparent to the naked eye. This creative process resonates with the drama of producing and editing media content.
This series was shot between 2009 and 2010 in two iconic buildings of the BBC , Bush House and TV Centre in London. In this work I set out to portrait scenarios that search to establish a silent dialogue with our perception of media and the collective unconscious.
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Legal Wrangling: Man wants child support from son's mother
The father of a seven-year-old boy has had the sole responsibility of taking care of him since he was two years old.
He said this son's mother took the child to spend the weekend with him and never returned for him.
According to the father, numerous telephone calls to her and promises from her that she was coming the next day for the child have never been met.
"My son keeps asking me for his mother and many times I do not know what to tell him. Sometimes he wakes up in the night crying, saying he wants to know his mother.
"He is a very intelligent child, and so one night when he was crying, I decided to tell him the truth. I told him that his mother took him to spend the weekend with me when he was two and never came back for him or even come to visit him. I told him of the telephone calls I made to her and even showed him text messages she sent me that she was not ready to take care of a child.
"After I explained the situation to my son, he replied, 'Thank you, dad for taking care of me." My son said he was happy living with me, but he just wanted to know why his mother was not coming to see him.
"I have noticed a great change in my son since I explained the situation with his mother to him last year. He is a happier child. He is not moody as before and is now doing very well in school.
"I am happy that I made the decision to tell my son the truth about his mother. I even told him that if the time should come that he meets his mother, he should show her love and he has agreed.
"Last month, I was talking with a friend who asked me if my son's mother was helping me financially with him. I told him no and he said I should telephone her and ask her to assist financially because she is working. I must admit that I find it difficult at times to provide all the basic needs for my son, but my mother helps me a lot.
"My friend is insisting that since I have the sole responsibility of caring for my son, then at least his mother should give money to support him. My friend told me of a case where one of his relatives took his child's mother to court for maintenance, but I told him I only know of men being taken to court for child support," he said.
The Maintenance Act makes provision for a man or a woman to give financial support to their children, and, therefore, a mother or a father can be taken to court for child support. Section 8 of the Maintenance Act states, in part, that every parent has an obligation, to the extent that the parent is capable of doing so, to maintain the his or her child who is a minor.
Other Features Stories
Check-Up: Muscle contractions ‘cramping’ her life
I think my boyfriend is gay
My Confession: Married boyfriend was too superstitious
STAR of the Month: Shauna takes control of the kitchen
STAR of the Month: Shauna Controlla doesn’t regret leaving the US
STAR Of The Month: Shauna Controlla begins filming for reality series
STAR of the Month: ‘Benz fit me’ - Shauna Controlla happy to receive luxury vehicle
STAR of the Month: Skating in the Sunshine City with Shauna Controlla
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Victoria University’s Krishna Sharma Becomes Youngest Vice Chancellor in the World
Kirshna has been recognized by World Unique Records, a world record book published in India. Unique World Records works to document the extraordinary out of ordinary people and showcase their talent to the entire world.
posted onMarch 27, 2019
By Max Patrick Ocaido
Dr. Krishna N. Sharma has been recognized for being the youngest Vice Chancellor in the World.
Dr. Krishna, an Indian author and researcher is the current Vice Chancellor of Jinja Road based Victoria University in Kampala. He became VC at the age of 32, 6 months and 15 days on 9th July 2017 making him the “youngest Vice Chancellor.”
Kirshna has been recognized by World Unique Records, a world record book published in India. Unique World Records works to document the extraordinary out of ordinary people and showcase their talent to the entire world. The record book publishes annually, listing all world records in the categories of amazing facts, biggest, business, collections, creativity, education, extraordinary talent, inventions, marathon, memory and mental world, most and mass, people and places, smallest, strength and stamina, and youngest achievers.
Born on December 24, 1984, Sharma started his career as Assistant Lecturer and then Head of Department and Vice Principal at Jeevan Jyoti Institute of Medical Sciences, Allahabad, India in 2007. Before becoming Dean at St. Louis University, Cameroon and Dean- Faculty of Health Sciences at Victoria University, Kampala. He is also 3 times world record holder educator, researcher and prolific author with more than 25 best-sellers out of his more than 125 published books.
He sold books in trains at the age of 12 years and started his first business at age 16. He studied Physiotherapy and became a celebrity physiotherapist, serving in various famous TV shows. He is also a graduate in Music and is certified in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).
PICTORIAL: New Miss, Mr Victoria University 2019 Crowned
- By Kp Reporter / June 09, 2019
Dr. Krishna N. Sharma Victoria University
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The Legal Case for Israel’s ‘Settlements’
From Legal Insurrection, 10 March 2016, by Miriam Elman:
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of hearing [Northwestern University Professor of Law Eugene Kontorovich] speak at a talk hosted by Syracuse University’s Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT)...
The full lecture (52 minutes):
Here’s the gist of Kontorovich’s talk...
International law derives from treaties and custom, not United Nations General Assembly resolutions which are non-binding and thus don’t oblige any action.
Kontorovich began his lecture by noting that in July 1922 it was the League of Nations that established the Mandate for Palestine, deemed as “reconstituting” a “national home” for the “Jewish people”.
League of Nations | Official Opening | November 1920 | credit: Wikipedia
The word ‘settlement’ first appears in Article 6 of the Mandate: “close settlement by Jews on the land” was to be allowed and even encouraged. And it’s the League of Nations’ Mandatory borders that are binding.
When new countries are established, the most recent administrative border is what counts.
...while the League of Nations’ mandates have been contested by states that have sometimes refused to be bound by them (for example, by Iraq in its claim against Kuwait), these objections have no basis in international law. In 1948 the borders of Israel were supposed to be those of Mandatory Britain.
The Green Line, or 1949 armistice lines [often erroneously called "the 1967 borders"], which are neither a political nor a territorial boundary and have no legal force under international law, didn’t correspond to any prior administrative border.
... once Great Britain left, the mandate over Palestine—which was explicitly for the purpose of re-establishing a Jewish national home—just expired. The area became essentially a territory without a sovereign.
Further, it was Jordan’s “belligerent occupation” of the West Bank that was illegal. Jordan unlawfully invaded and annexed Judea and Samaria. In 1967, Israel ended this illegal occupation in a war of self-defense, taking control of the territory.
... it’s actually Israel which has a strong claim of sovereign title to the territory, by virtue of its having retaken the area from an unlawful Jordanian presence. ...Israel has valid claims to legal title of the West Bank, and now legally holds it.
The fact that Jewish civilians live today in the West Bank isn’t an international crime.
... the Fourth Geneva Convention’s Article 49(6) has been grossly misinterpreted over the years to be a prohibition against the occupying power’s citizens. In fact, it’s only a set of injunctions on the occupier, and was explicitly meant to prevent the kinds of deplorable forcible deportations and mass transfers of peoples perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Article 49(6) doesn’t say that civilians can’t voluntarily move to live in occupied territory. Nor does it require occupying powers to make it difficult or burdensome for civilians to reside in these territories.
With regard to the West Bank, a sizeable portion of Jewish Israelis who live there today didn’t move into the area, much less were they transferred there by Israel—they were born there! And these settler babies and kids aren’t there illegally.
Shilo | Jewish West Bank Settlement | credit: The Blaze
So Article 49(6) doesn’t create a “no-go zone” for the nationals of the occupying power who wish to migrate into the occupied territory. Israel has indicated a willingness to trade away some of this territory as part of a negotiated agreement—having rights and title to territory doesn’t mean a state can’t waive them. But until that day comes, nothing in the Geneva Conventions makes it unlawful for Israeli citizens to voluntarily settle in a territory with no other legal sovereign.
Many other nation-states are regarded as occupiers under international law and have populated these territories with settlers, but these actions have garnered virtually no international opprobrium in comparison to the negative reactions toward Israel’s settlement of the West Bank.
At the conclusion of his talk, Kontorovich noted the double standards that have politicized international law, and undermined its integrity. Only Israel’s actions in the West Bank are deemed unlawful and worthy of boycott, even as plenty of other countries—including America—have occupied territories and enabled their citizens to live in them.
Kontorovich points to over a dozen other cases (e.g., Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara; Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus) along with a few that are less well known, like the U.S. occupation of West Berlin which ended in 1990.
Americans were never prevented from living in West Berlin or from opening up businesses there. Nor were any third parties ever told that they had a legal obligation to boycott American-owned companies there. ...no one made any fuss when Burger King opened a branch in West Berlin...
Why Kontorovich’s Lecture Needs to be Shared
[A typical media statement]:
..."The settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights are defined as illegal under international law as Israeli forces captured the territories, where more than half a million Jewish settlers now reside, in the 1967 Six day War"
Such statements are a dime a dozen.
Even otherwise well-written articles note these fallacies as incontrovertible ‘facts’.
This is why Prof. Kontorovich’s lecture and larger body of work needs to be disseminated widely....
In a compelling new presentation that he’s now delivering on various U.S. college campuses, Northwestern University expert of international law Professor Eugene Kontorovich exposes the myth of an unlawful Israeli occupation.
If you’re interested in reading more of his work on Israel’s borders and territorial scope he has a new article on it (with Prof. Abraham Bell). It looks at how the customary international law doctrine of uti possidetis juris would support Israel’s claims to any or all of the hotly disputed areas of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
After his lecture ...I was able to quickly ask him why he thought Israel’s detractors hinge so much of their argument on international law.
Here’s his response:
I think we have a mistaken notion of what an anti-Semite looks like. We think of such people as uncouth and uneducated. But, in fact, throughout history, anti-Semites have always been cultured and well-educated. Today’s anti-Semites are also well-read—many have multiple advanced degrees. And they insist that they can’t possibly be viewed as anti-Semitic because they speak about human rights. They claim that they’re not objecting to Jews as people, and only to the unlawful Jewish state’s actions. It’s a fallacious argument. Because anti-Semitism has always been phrased as objections to what Jews do and how they act—they killed the messiah; they created a capitalist society; they founded communism. It’s always been a unique, disproportionate, and irrational focus on the Jews”...
Posted by Steve Lieblich at 5:11 pm
Meir Dagan: From the shadow of the Holocaust to th...
My fellow Jews...
Antisemites who hide behind anti-Zionism are guilt...
Antisemitic Activity on US Campuses
A Quebec-oriented, UN-friendly Canadian Government...
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- Dances With Bears - http://johnhelmer.net -
PUTIN’S FOREIGN-POLICY SUCCESSES
Posted By John Helmer On November 16, 2000 @ 12:29 pm In Uncategorized | No Comments
PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin rides into the Apec summit in Brunei this week on a wave of foreign-policy successes his predecessor Boris Yeltsin never enjoyed. But, if you listen to the Russian and Western press, you would never know it.
“”What was the cause of the fire in the Moscow television tower?” is the question in the latest Russian joke.
This is a reference to the accidental blaze that knocked out Moscow’s television- and radio-transmitting complex on Aug 28. The disaster, which kept Muscovites from seeing the main television networks for several days and delayed resumption of some radio broadcasts for weeks, killed two members of a fire-and-rescue team.
It followed closely the sinking of the nuclear-attack submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea, with the loss of all 118 men on board.
The Kursk drama began just four days after a bomb exploded in a crowded shopping area of central Moscow. Over 90 people were injured; 21 were killed.
The answer in the Russian joke to what caused the television-tower blaze? A collision with a foreign television tower.
For Russians, that is a cymcar reference to the official version of what caused the sinking of the Kursk – a collision with an as-yet-unidentified foreign submarine that triggered the explosion of the submarine’s torpedoes. The joke implies that they don’t believe the Kremlin explanation of the submarine disaster, and think it as improbable as a collision between two television towers.
For domestic and foreign pundits, the three summer catastrophes in Russia were pronounced signs of the worsening collapse of all Russian institutions. Reporters in Moscow wrote that President Putin would pay a heavy price in public confidence — and maybe even in his power to govern.
In fact, the humour turns out to be far blacker than reality — at least for Mr Putin — and the pundits should be looking red-faced. Russian opinion polls show the President’s approval rating took a dive from 73 per cent in July to 60 per cent in August. But, by the end of last month, his approval rating was at 72 per cent — a full recovery.
His foreign-policy moves in the same interval have also been remarkable, not least for exposing the yawning gap between what the pundits call his failures, and the concrete results: 2
• US backdown on national missile defence (NMD). After months of worsening relations with the Clinton administration over threatened revocation of the ABM Treaty and unilateral American moves to start building the NMD, the Clinton administration backed away from its plans in September. Russian resistance to the schemes and, in particular, Mr Putin’s resistance, are cited in a recent New York Times report as the key strategic factor. Not a single Russian military analyst or media commentator has given him credit.
• India partnership. Mr Putin’s visit to India at the start of last month helped solidify relations with the traditional ally, and added to the defence-export-order book. The Indian military has been asking Kremlin to deliver for years. He purged the corrupt leadership of Russia’s two arms-export agencies, and ordered the merger of the two rivals into a single unit.
• Palestine crisis. The Russian and Western press have claimed Mr Putin was excluded from the Sharm el-Sheikh summit
conference on Oct 20, thereby indicating how weak Russia is today in the Middle East “peace process”.
Far from demonstrating weakness, Kremlin advisers say, his absence saved him from the embarrassment of a summit that got nowhere. It also preserved Russia’s leeway between Israel, the Palestinians, and the rejectionist Arab states like Iraq and Libya, with which Moscow is fast solidifying relations. 2
• Yugoslav reconciliation. Although Mr Putin was criticised in domestic and Western media for failure to act quickly enough, the
way in which he arranged to support the Yugoslav Army, switching to Mr Vojislav Kostunica when the then President Slobodan
Milosevic and the Army decided it was time to step down, was far from failure.
In retrospect, his move preserved Russia’s real assets in the country — the Yugoslav Army, territorial integrity (including Montenegro), and the leftist parties, who remain in control of the federal and the Serbian legislature. Mr Kostunica’s Moscow visit on Oct 28 ~ his first to a foreign capital — capped Mr Putin’s achievement. 2
• Euro Summit in Paris. On Oct 30-31, Mr Putin ended the period of estrangement with the Chirac administration with a visit to Paris that, in domestic terms in both countries, went a long way to reviving traditional Russian sympathy for France.
The reciprocal effect was obvious in the French media too. Chechnya was much diminished as one of his negatives in France.
• Awacs sale to China. During Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov’s visit to Beijing at the start of this month, it became clear that the billion-dollar air-defence order would go to Moscow.
n short, in the space of a few weeks, Mr Putin has demonstrated an agility and tactical impact on every significant foreign-policy vector Russia’s national interests dictate.
And, contrary to the reports and assessments of his critics at home and abroad, he gained significantly, not to mention financially, at every stop.
Article printed from Dances With Bears: http://johnhelmer.net
URL to article: http://johnhelmer.net/putin%e2%80%99s-foreign-policy-successes/
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A new novel and story collection will be published by Graywolf Press in 2020, and I’ll be on tour to promote them.
Links have been provided for Powell's Books and Amazon.com. Books currently in print can also be ordered from your local independent. Signed copies of many of these books can be bought from Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, NY; Buffalo Street can also acquire used or out of print editions, have me sign them, and send them to you.
Novel, Graywolf Press / Serpent’s Tail, 2017. A modest house in upstate New York. One in the morning. Three people—a couple and their child—hurry out the door, but it’s too late for them. As the virtuosic and terrifying opening scene of Broken River unfolds, a spectral presence seems to be watching with cold and mysterious interest. Soon the house lies abandoned, and years later a new family moves in.
Karl, Eleanor, and their daughter, Irina, arrive from New York City in the wake of Karl’s infidelity to start anew. Karl tries to stabilize his flailing art career. Eleanor, a successful commercial novelist, eagerly pivots in a new creative direction. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Irina becomes obsessed with the brutal murders that occurred in the house years earlier. And, secretly, so does her mother. As the ensemble cast grows to include Louis, a hapless salesman in a carpet warehouse who is haunted by his past, and Sam, a young woman newly reunited with her jailbird brother, the seemingly unrelated crime that opened the story becomes ominously relevant.
“Remarkable. . . . Lennon has written a realistic novel, with vivid characters and flashes of humor and an evocative mood, that is also a playful, sophisticated meditation on storytelling itself.” —The New York Times Book Review
Buy from Powells. Buy from Amazon.
SEE YOU IN PARADISE
Stories, Graywolf Press / Serpent’s Tail, 2014. In these stories, a portal to another universe can be discovered with surprising nonchalance in a suburban backyard, adoption almost reaches the level of blood sport, and old pals return from the dead to steal your girlfriend. Sexual dysfunction, suicide, tragic accidents, and career stagnation all create surprising opportunities for unexpected grace in this depiction of those days (weeks, months, years) we all have when things just don't go quite right.
“Unconventional yet emotionally resonant stories...Much like his contemporaries Kevin Wilson or Wells Tower, Lennon is one of those writers who defies categorization and is as likely to fit comfortably into Weird Tales as he is into Granta.” ―Kirkus Reviews
Novel, Graywolf Press / Serpent’s Tail, 2012. Elisa Brown is driving back from her annual, somber visit to her son Silas’s grave when something changes. Actually, everything changes: her car, her clothes, her body. When she arrives back home, her life is familiar—but different. There is her house, her husband. But in the world she now inhabits, Silas is no longer dead, and his brother Sam is disturbingly changed. Elisa has a new job, and her marriage seems sturdier, and stranger, than she remembers. She finds herself faking her way through a life she is convinced is not her own. Has she had a psychotic break? Or has she entered a parallel universe? Elisa believed that Silas was doomed from the start, but now that he is alive, what can she do to repair her strained relations with her children? She soon discovers that these questions hinge on being able to see herself as she really is—something that might be impossible, for Elisa, for anyone.
The New York Times Book Review: "[An] allusive and mysterious novel . . . one of his finest."
The Boston Globe: "An important book...so thrilling that it achieves an almost magical propulsion."
Novel, Graywolf Press, 2009. A man buys a plot of land in upstate New York, only to discover that it contains an abandoned castle, and the secrets of his past. Buy audiobook from Iambik.com!
The New York Times Book Review: "A terrific story, dire and confusing and convincing...it richly deserves to be read."
The Dallas Morning News: "Clever and insightful, [Castle] compels the reader to solve a series of riddles that reveal the emotional rationale underpinning our most despicable behavior."
PIECES FOR THE LEFT HAND
Stories, Granta Books, 2005, and Graywolf Press, 2009. 100 short shorts.
The Guardian: "These are stories about connections - sometimes meaningful, but often mysterious, or conjured out of random coincidence in our efforts to make moral sense of the world...intriguing and graceful."
Novel, 2006. A wealthy woman has secret plans for the small town she has just moved to. An abridged version of this novel was serialized in Harper's Magazine.
Buy the ebook from Amazon.
Novel, W. W. Norton and Granta, 2003. A frenetic bildungsroman about a doomed mailman. Read an excerpt in Granta 82.
Review of Contemporary Fiction: "The secret of this extraordinary work is that letters--written words--are our salvation.Mailman is, finally, a radiant mirror of the days of our lives--a triumphant work of art."
Library Journal: "Like Joseph Heller's John Yossarian and Ken Kesey's Randle McMurphy, Alfred Lippincott, Lennon's titular mailman, is destined to become one of the great characters in American literature... This is black comedy at its best."
ON THE NIGHT PLAIN
Novel, Henry Holt and Granta, 2001. After the Second World War, a man leaves his home on a Great Plains sheep ranch. He returns to chaos and despair, and decides to devote himself to setting things right.
The New York Times: "The kind of book that steals slowly into the reader's sympathy...An utterly convincing evocation of hard lives...impressive."
Publisher's Weekly: "A terse and haunting story that speaks of the inescapable bonds of blood, the ineluctable hold of the land and the healing powers of work and solitude."
THE FUNNIES
Novel, Riverhead Books and Granta, 1999. A failed installation artist inherits his father's syndicated comic strip, and is forced to come to terms with his dysfunctional family.
Salon: "Lennon entertainingly sends up celebrity culture and the new children-of-celebrity culture, but his most substantial achievement is his three-dimensional portraits of Tim and Pierce...The novel...makes large what the real funnies make small."
The New Yorker: "Psychologically nuanced, richly detailed, and unexpectedly comic."
THE LIGHT OF FALLING STARS
Novel, Riverhead Books and Granta, 1997. The lives of five people are changed by a plane crash in a small Montana town. Winner of Barnes & Noble's 1997 Discover Great New Writers Award.
San Francisco Chronicle: "A memorable first novel...Lennon's lushly descriptive style speaks directly and metaphorically at the same time.... A voice with real promise."
Publisher's Weekly: "[An] ambitious, elegiac debut...[Lennon] paints a world tinged with loss, adeptly showing us sentiments left unspoken, relationships forever left dangling, silent moments of grief...lucid and graceful even in his characters' darkest hours."
Tiny Crimes (Anthology)
Tiny Crimes gathers leading and emerging literary voices to tell tales of villainy and intrigue in only a few hundred words. From the most hard-boiled of noirs to the coziest of mysteries, with diminutive double crosses, miniature murders, and crimes both real and imagined, Tiny Crimes rounds up all the usual suspects, and some unusual suspects, too. With illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook and flash fiction by Carmen Maria Machado, Benjamin Percy, Amelia Gray, Adam Sternbergh, Yuri Herrera, Julia Elliott, Elizabeth Hand, Brian Evenson, Charles Yu, Laura van den Berg, and more, Tiny Crimes scours the underbelly of modern life to expose the criminal, the illegal, and the depraved.
Gigantic Worlds (Anthology)
51 science flash fiction stories from 51 authors that will transport you to other worlds. Over 250 pages of robot rebellions, alien pornography, high society cyborgs, orgasmic planets, space-time disruptions, and futures both likely and unlikely. New or previously uncollected work from Jonathan Lethem, Lynne Tillman, Charles Yu, Alissa Nutting, Ted Chiang, and many more. Hardcover with color interior art and a cover by Michael DeForge.
Fakes (Anthology)
W. W. Norton, 2012. In our bureaucratized culture, we’re inundated by documents: itineraries, instruction manuals, permit forms, primers, letters of complaint, end-of-year reports, accidentally forwarded email, traffic updates, ad infinitum. David Shields and Matthew Vollmer, both writers and professors, have gathered forty short fictions: counterfeit texts that capture the barely suppressed frustration and yearning that percolate just below the surface of most official documents. The innovative stories collected in Fakes trace the increasingly blurry line between fact and fiction and exemplify a crucial form for the twenty-first century. Features the JRL story "The Authors Speak."
Significant Objects (Anthology)
Fantagraphics Books, 2012. Can a great story transform a worthless trinket into a significant object? The Significant Objects project set out to answer that question once and for all, by recruiting a highly impressive crew of creative writers to invent stories about an unimpressive menagerie of items rescued from thrift stores and yard sales. That secondhand flotsam definitely becomes more valuable: sold on eBay, objects originally picked up for a buck or so sold for thousands of dollars in total — making the project a sensation in the literary blogosphere along the way. But something else happened, too: The stories created were astonishing, a cavalcade of surprising responses to the challenge of manufacturing significance. This book collects 100 of the finest tales from this unprecedented creative experiment. Features the JRL story "Choirboy."
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 (Anthology)
Mariner Books, 2011. The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by a leading writer in the field, making the Best American series the most respected—and most popular—of its kind. Features the JRL story "Weber's Head."
What's Your Exit? (Anthology)
Word Riot Press, 2010. What's Your Exit? A Literary Detour through New Jersey is a collection of contemporary fiction, poetry, and essay inspired by a place that piques the curiosity of all who have set foot in it...and those who haven't. Themes of family, friendship, sex, love, fear, nostalgia and longing populate this anthology, which features forty-nine writers whose visions of the Jersey landscape are as eclectic and beautiful, and as unnerving and mysterious and bold as the place that unites them. Featuers the JRL story "Mark."
The Empty Page (Anthology)
Serpent's Tail, 2009. Decapitated hands, marrow-coloured goo, serial killing Dr Zhivago fanatics and double-sided dildos make their mark on The Empty Page: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth. Reddy K is chasing up fresh spiral from the big tube...Ulla Shooks is testifying, countering the wicked with the godly, Michael Chambers is enjoying an empty restaurant for what may be the last time, and Sue Carlyle is buying a penis. And that's just the tip of an ugly and decidedly surreal iceberg. Features the JRL story "Death to Our Friends."
Buy from Amazon.
Who Can Save Us Now? (Anthology)
The Free Press, 2008. Twenty-two of today's most talented writers (and comics fans) unite in Who Can Save Us Now?, an anthology featuring brand-new superheroes equipped for the threats and challenges of the twenty-first century -- with a few supervillains thrown in for good measure. With stunning illustrations by artist Chris Burnham. Features the JRL story "The Rememberer."
The Flash (Anthology)
Social Disease, 2007. A collection of really short stories, including one of JRL's, "Mikeworld," from the Pieces For The Left Hand collection. Also featuring Rick Moody, Steve Almond, Steve Aylett.
So, What Kept You? (Anthology)
Flambard Press, 2006. Stories inspired by the journals of Chekhov and Carver. Features the JRL story "When I Married, I Became An Old Woman." Also includes David Means, Andrew Crumley, Ali Smith.
Don't Forget to Write (Anthology)
826 Valencia, 2005. An anthology of short fiction, combined with writing prompts and assignments for teenagers. Features one of JRL's twenty-second stories from McSweeney's.
The Best American Short Stories 2005 (Anthology)
Houghton Mifflin, 2005. The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected--and most popular--of its kind. Features several of JRL's Pieces for the Left Hand.
Prize Stories 2000: The O. Henry Awards (Anthology)
Anchor, 2000. Established early in the last century as a memorial to O. Henry, throughout its history this annual collection has consistently offered a remarkable sampling of contemporary short stories. Each year stories are chosen from large and small literary magazines and a panel of distinguished writers is enlisted to award the top prizes. The result is a superb collection of twenty inventive, full-bodied stories representing the very best in American and Canadian fiction. Features the JRL story "The Fool's Proxy," which later became the beginning of On the Night Plain.
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Interwoven Lives
Honoring those who came before us by remembering them
Jan 1, 2015 - George Washington "Wash" Browning, Pleiades Orion "Dan" Lumpkin No Comments
First Settlers of Texas
Fort Houston
Named Pleiades Orion Lumpkin at birth, it is no wonder that this son of Wilson Lumpkin, Governor of Georgia and instigator of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, preferred to go by Dan. He grew up in Morgan County, Georgia. He attended West Point but has the distinction of receiving more demerits than anyone and flunked out in his first year. His demerits overflowed onto the pristine adjacent page of Robert E. Lee.
Dan’s best friend was Wash (George Washington) Browning. Although Dan’s father was illustrious,
Wilson Lumpkin
having been the author of the Trail of Tears and also governor of Georgia Wilson Lumpkin, Wash’s father was just plain rich, owning 10000 acres of land in Morgan County at what is now known as Browning Shoals.
The two boys fell in love with two sisters – Margarett and Flora Wilkerson – my 3rd great aunts. The happy couples were married in a joint ceremony in 1830 in my home town of La Grange, GA. The two young couples migrated west in about 1834, their first objective a brief gold rush in northern Alabama. Other members of their families also migrated in that direction.
By the following year, they had made the trip west to the territory which is now Texas. They are listed in “The First Settlers of Houston County, Texas”. The two young men arrived just in time to take place in the Battle of San Jacinto, and like all other combatants, were awarded land.They settled in the area that is just north of Palestine and was later named Mound Prairie.
When the two young couples arrived in what is now Anderson County, the Kickapoo Indians were raiding regularly and they had to take shelter in Fort Houston, a log affair about 40 x 40 in size. That must have been harrowing with young children. This is about the same time that Sarah Ann Parker was abducted. There were raids and terrible killings by the Indians.
Stephen Austin
The two young fathers along with their neighbors signed a letter to Steven Austin pleading for help in defending their families against the raids.
The two young men began as farmers, but as time progressed Wash practiced law, bought the rights to a mail delivery route and became wealthy. Dan was very charismatic and dabbled in politics, as can be seen by the information below. Interestingly enough, even though he never held the military title, he was referred to as “Major”.
Once he settled down to farming in 1850, he was instrumental in founding the Mound Prairie Academy, in the now extant town of Mound Prairie which was about eight miles north of Palestine. He died in 1859, just before the Civil War.
Wash, on the other hand, fell prey to ‘gold dust fever’ and organized a party to head to the ’49 Gold Rush in California. Along the way he fell sick with Typhoid Fever and died on the trail, somewhere in what is now New Mexico.
The Civil War was hard on Margarett and the children of the two couples. Margarett lost two sons, both killed just before the war ended. Flora had died in 1857 and two of Wash and Flora’s daughters died during the war, probably from the deprivation caused by the war.
From the Texas Historical Association:
LUMPKIN, PLEIADES O. (?–?). Pleiades O. Lumpkin, soldier, legislator, and jurist, was in Texas during the revolution and served in Capt. L. H. Mabbit’s company from April 24 to July 24, 1836. In the spring of 1837 he signed a petition requesting that Nacogdoches County be split into two counties. In 1837 and 1838 he represented Houston County in the Second Texas Congress. In the House journal he is referred to as Major Lumpkin; although there is no record of his having attained that rank in the Texas army, a P. O. Lumpkin received a bounty warrant for 320 acres for service between April 24 and July 24, 1836. On January 23, 1839, Lumpkin was elected chief justice of Houston County. He resigned that office on March 12 to become government agent to aid in selecting and surveying a permanent site for the capital of the republic. By joint vote of the Fifth Congress on January 31, 1840, he was appointed one of three commissioners to inspect the land offices east of the Brazos. He resigned the position a short time later. He represented Houston County at the Convention of 1845, after which he seems to have retired from public life. The 1850 census listed him as a farmer in Anderson County.
Armistead Albert Aldrich, The History of Houston County, Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1943). Houston County Historical Commission, History of Houston County, Texas, 1687–1979 (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Heritage, 1979). Texas House of Representatives, Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832–1845 (Austin: Book Exchange, 1941)
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Part 3-Responding to the Sec 965 Transition Tax- They Hate you for Your Pensions!
Posted on March 14, 2018 by Patricia Moon Posted in Transition Tax 18 Comments
cross posted from citizenshipsolutions
by John Richardson
The discussion around the @USTransitionTax and it's possible applicability to #Americansabroad shows why U.S. @nonresidenttax must end – Dangerous to be American if you don't live in America! https://t.co/00Sm2xc8Kl pic.twitter.com/ub0cQz1SkY
— John Richardson – lawyer for "U.S. persons" abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) March 9, 2018
This is the third in my series of posts about the Sec. 965 Transition Tax and whether/how it applies to the small business corporations owned by tax paying residents of other countries (who may also have U.S. citizenship). These small business corporations are in no way “foreign”. They are certainly “local” to the resident of another country who just happens to have the misfortune of being a U.S. citizen.
The first two posts were:
Part 1: Responding to The Section 965 “transition tax”: “Resistance is futile” but “Compliance is impossible”
Part 2: Responding to The Section 965 “transition tax”: Is “resistance futile”? The possible use of the Canada U.S. tax treaty to defeat the “transition tax”
Immediately prior to the passing of President Obama’s “Affordable Care Act” (which was subsequently ruled to be constitutional BECAUSE it was a “tax”), legislators were faced with a comprehensive, complex and incomprehensible piece of legislation. Very few members of Congress understood the details and impact of what they were voting for.
TCJA passed very quickly and few legislators knew what was in it. In relation to Obamacare, Nancy Pelosi remarked that "we must pass the bill so that you can see what's in it". Would she think that the TCJA should be passed so that we can see what's on it? https://t.co/XubU0xBSH1
— John Richardson – lawyer for "U.S. persons" abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) March 11, 2018
Nancy Pelosi secured her in place of history by suggesting that:
“We really need to pass the law so that you can see what’s in it!”
Ms. Pelosi meant (I think) that it’s one thing to know what a law says. It’s quite another to know how it actually impacts people.
Notwithstanding the April 15, 2018 deadline for the first “transition tax” payment, very few “tax professionals” understand what the Internal Revenue Code Sec. 965 “transition tax” says, (let alone what it actually might mean – assuming it applies).
What the application of the “transition tax” might actually mean in the life of an individual owner of a Canadian Controlled Private Corporation
The “law?” of unintended consequences – surely this wasn’t intended to apply to the residents of other countries?
Does the “intent” of the law matter? Orrin Hatch seems to think so. (See the New York Times article referenced in the following tweet.”)
“I stress the importance of carrying out legislative intent,” Senator Orrin G. Hatch, The intent, he added, was to remove “damaging tax-base erosion found in the former tax system” "G.O.P. Rushed to Pass Tax Overhaul. Now It May Need to Be Altered." https://t.co/PPPV4zYybD
There was NO evidence that the Sec. 965 “transition tax” was intended to apply to the small business corporations owned by Americans abroad. The legislative history (such as there is) suggest no awareness that this “tax” would apply to the “tax residents” of other countries. Yet, the “tax professionals” seem unwilling to consider this question.
Speaking of the “tax professionals” …
The role of the “tax professionals” in the making and marketing of the “transition tax”
It is inconceivable that any “individual” could read (without the interpretative aid of a “tax professional”) and conclude that the Sec. 965 “transition tax” applied to them. As of the date of this post, there is no “notice” from the IRS explaining how the law would apply to individuals (let alone Americans abroad). But, how “tax professionals” interpret the legislation – in effect – creates the law. The “tax compliance” industry has been taking a very “literal approach” to the language and interpreted the law to apply to individual Americans abroad. The “making and marketing” of the “transition tax” is very much like the “making and marketing” of the PFIC rules. The marketing of the “transition tax” is very much like the “making and marketing of OVDP AKA “The FBAR Fundraiser“.
Residents of countries outside the United States are being informed that laws apply to them that they cannot understand and that they couldn’t even imagine could apply. Tax professionals seem reluctant to consider that there may be “treaty provisions” that (notwithstanding the “savings clause“) could be used to protect Americans abroad in Canada. But, I digress …
The role of the media in the making and marketing of the Sec. 965 “transition tax”
The media has been complicit in the “making and marketing”of the “transition tax”. As Patricia Moon, writing at the Isaac Brock Society explains:
Another day, another set of articles and comments where the #TransitionTax & #GILTI are being stuffed down the throats of expatriates who have their own small corporations. The proliferation of articles on this issue, all proclaiming the U.S. can now inflict a deeper cut into the retirement savings of non-residents, is infuriating. The first two articles at least expressed the idea that these provisions might affect non-resident U.S. taxpayers.
The new “class warfare” …
As governments become more and more confiscatory, the new “class warfare” will increasingly be between those who can retire because they have “retirement pensions” and those who cannot retire because they do not have “retirement pensions”. In an age where people are living longer coupled with an increase in the percentage of “single people”, pensions matter hugely. Those who believe they can live on their Canada Pension Plan will be disappointed. Pensions (as demonstrated by the history of pensions in Rhode Island) have become a huge social and public policy issue.
The February 27, 2018 Canada AKA “Morneau” budget included a specific recognition of how Canadian Controlled Private Corporations were used to generate “investment income”. Naturally, the Minister Morneau included specific provisions to end the use of “CCPCs” to create private pensions plans. (You would think he would have encouraged this. But, such is the strange logic of governments.)
How U.S. tax laws target the pension and retirement plans earned by residents of other countries
The Australian “Superannuation” is an excellent example of a social and government initiative to “solve the pension problem”. (Those Australian residents with U.S. citizenship have a constant worry about how the Internal Revenue Code applies to their “Australian Superannuations”.)
The U.S. S. 877A “Expatriation Taxes” have a specific provision targeting those with “deferred compensation” AKA “private pension” plans. Americans abroad, who have “deferred compensation plans” outside the United States will find that they are subjected to particularly confiscatory “taxation” if they renounce U.S. citizenship. They are required to include the “commuted value” of the plan in their incomes for a “one off tax”. (For an example of how the S. 877A “Exit Tax” rules target non-U.S. pension plans, see here.) Significantly those with U.S. based “deferred compensation plans” are NOT required to include the value of comparable plans in their income.
Incredibly the 3.8% Obamacare surtax applies to distributions from Canadian RRSPs and RRIFs but does NOT apply to distributions from U.S. 401K plans. This is one more example of the United States targeting the retirement plans of the residents of other countries.
Furthermore, I would argue (see below) the Sec. 965 “transition tax” is a U.S. tax on the pensions and retirements plans of residents of other countries.
It’s about the pensions stupid! About the Canadian Controlled Private Corporation as a pension
In previous posts I have reinforced the point that many Canadians use Canadian Controlled Private Corporations operate as “private pension plans”. The more that Canadian Controlled Private Corporations are used as “private pension plans”, the more likely the assets will consist of “cash and liquid assets”. Significantly, the Sec. 965 Transition Tax imposes a higher rate of confiscation taxation on the “cash and liquid assets” of CFCs than on “fixed assets”. (The rate of tax imposed on “cash and liquid” assets is almost twice the rate imposed on “cash and liquid assets”.)
Food for thought – distinguishing the literal language from what this actually means in the lives of people affected
The more that a Canadian Controlled Private Corporation functions as a “private pension plan” the more punitively the Sec. 965 “Transition Tax” would impose taxation on the shareholder. The more the assets of the corporation are in “fixed assets” (for example land), the less the rate of taxation. (For individuals in the top tax rate, it’s a rate of 17.54% for “cash and liquid assets” and approximately 9% for “fixed assets”).
The way that this affects a life depends on (1) what the corporation really is (active business or “pension” plan and (2) the age of the individual (do they have enough years to recoup the “transition tax hit”?
Imagine the following two scenarios which illustrate the significance of “age” and “where” the retained earnings have been invested
Scenario 1: A Canadian resident is 65 years old. He has been carrying on his business through a Canadian Controlled Private Corporation since 1986. He has saved assiduously and has accumulated (through frugal living) three million dollars which his retirement pension. Because it his his “retirement pension”, the three million dollars is invested in cash/liquid assets. Under the “transition tax” rules he would be “taxed” at the highest rate. He is now required to turn a significant portion of this over to the U.S. Government. At the age of 65 he has no way of making this up. It’s “bye bye” retirement!
This is made even more offensive and unreasonable because the Sec. 965 “transition tax” is a “retroactive tax” on income that was NOT subject to U.S. taxation at the time that it was earned! And hey, the idea is that is to be applied to people who don’t even live in the United States!
Scenario 2: A Canadian resident if 45 years old. He has had the Canadian Controlled Private Corporation for only 5 years. Because he has had the corporation for only 5 years, he has only one million in retained earnings. Most of that one million is invested in an office building that he uses to run his law practice. Because the one million is invested in a fixed asset, the “transition tax” is payable at the lower rate. Think of it! He pays the lower rate because of the way in which the one million dollars has been invested. But, the real point is that the 45 year old lawyer is young enough to “make up” the loss.
Finally: This is made even more offensive and unreasonable because the Sec. 965 “transition tax” is a “retroactive tax” on income that was NOT subject to U.S. taxation at the time that it was earned! And hey, the idea is that is to be applied to people who don’t even live in the United States!
#YouCantMakeThisUp!
In event, payment of this tax may be simply impossible. Where would people get the money?
To put it simply:
“The Sec. 965 transition tax operates most punitively in relation to the confiscation of pensions!”
If you are a “tax paying” resident of another country, you could be forgiven for thinking that:
“The United States hates you for (and wants) your pensions!”
U.S. tax compliance
« FOI CHALLENGE – Calling all MODEL 1 IGA COUNTRIES!
Part IV-Sec 965 Transition Tax – Comparing Treatment of Homeland Americans to the Treatment of Non-Residents »
18 thoughts on “Part 3-Responding to the Sec 965 Transition Tax- They Hate you for Your Pensions!”
As a kid I never understood why people hated the US so much. Now I do (yes not always the same reasons but the hatred is directed at the same sort of bully attitude America displays in every realm)
The US hates you for keeping US citizenship. You weren’t supposed to let the door hit you on the way out.
I thought that if your employer only pays part of your contracted salary, you have a right to sue, but you only have to pay tax on the portion of salary that you actually get. But the US seems to be saying that because of the contract, because you have the right to sue, you have to pay tax on the contracted amount even though you don’t know if you’ll ever get the contracted amount.
Or do they distinguish pensions because it’s even more impossible to predict performance of pensions than current salary.
plaxy says
In a given non-US country, employees might be required by law to pay tax to the local tax authority on salary received.
I don’t think there’s any non-US country where employees are required by law to pay tax to the US on salary received or promised. Though some may be paid from the US and have to claim a refund for US tax withheld by the US payer.
“the Sec. 965 “transition tax” is a “retroactive tax” on income that was NOT subject to U.S. taxation at the time that it was earned”
Can anyone clarify this point for me?
a) Would the earnings of a foreign corporation owned by a USC have been exempt from US tax?
b) Or would US tax on the foreign corporation’s earnings have been deferred as long as the money wasn’t moved to the US?
Just trying to understand what they’re basing their absurd claim on.
If (a), they’re trying to impose a new tax retroactively over decades. If the US courts uphold it, the sky will be the limit.
But if it’s (b), there might be more chance that including foreign corporations that can’t be “repatriated” was indeed unintended and will be corrected rather than risk a challenge.
Thinking about it, there’s at least three things about non-US pensions that the US might find attractive:
* often a USC expat’s largest foreign asset, as the IRS has remarked;
* often tax-deferred, so no need to credit foreign taxes paid;
* the US doesn’t have primary taxing rights, which ironically means the victim has no defence: the US can deem up imaginary retroactive and future liabilities pretty much as they please, and because the liability’s not real, there may be little the victim can do other than pay, renounce, or not comply.
According to the Tax Policy Center (quoted at https://www.newsmax.com/finance/edwardyardeni/trump-tax-reform-earnings/2018/01/17/id/837623/), it’s (b):
The Tax Policy Center explained: “The rationale for imposing the one-time tax as part of a transition to a new system is that firms would have paid tax on those profits when repatriated under the previous law. Therefore, the reforms should only fully exempt repatriations of future profits.”
It never made any sense for the US to deem profits of foreign corporations with no US-resident parent as US-tax-deferred in the first place, given that the profits were by their nature impossible to “repatriate” to the US. To now impose a deemed repatriation with deemed tax liability and deemed partial exemption is to lose touch with reality.
Surely it will be corrected.
It just doesn’t make any sense.
If the profits earned in 1986 had been distributed to the USC owner/shareholder
and then repatriated by paying dividends to an imaginary US parent
surely tax would be due to the IRS from the imaginary US-resident parent;
not from the USC owner/shareholder who is deemed to have received the money but paid it out again.
stephen arvay says
Ahhhhhh by now, retroactively, the Boston Harbor should taste like tea!
“To now impose a deemed repatriation with deemed tax liability and deemed partial exemption is to lose touch with reality.
It will not be corrected. As a matter of law, reality and law are two unrelated concepts. As a matter of case law, courts block reality from being entered into evidence when reality conflicts with the court’s opinion.
US Supreme Court even emphasizes its policy. If a petition discusses the difference between reality and a lower court’s judgment, the petition doesn’t have a chance. Supreme Court judges care about other things. Lower courts apply the same reasoning because of stare decisis.
Polly says
I have no words.
“It will not be corrected. ”
There are some slight indications that it might be corrected. The Democrats Abroad have said that it’s apparently on a “lengthy list” of problems to be fixed.
That’s third or fourth -hand gossip, so who knows.
Fred (B) says
What a nightmare. Scenario 1 makes me nauseous.
It is now obvious that tax professionals must, ethically, inform clients that it may be impossible to become compliant, and that attempts to comply may be financially suicidal.
In 2011 the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate reported to Congress that thousands of honest taxpayers were forced to renounce US citizenship because it’s impossible to become compliant. If a tax professional is capable of being ethical, they can point clients to the IRS’s report.
The US Treasury Dept sells a premium product: Good Standing. Use of blue passport included.
The US State Dept sells a lower-priced product: CLN.
Choose or buy neither.
What if a USC owner of a foreign corporation, – a person who was using their accumulated earnings as a pension plan, wanted to keep US citizenship, and didn’t want to stop filing – decided to guesstimate the E&P, and “repatriate” the money into a 401(k)?
Would that be a strategy worth considering? There would at least be a pension plan, and perhaps US tax rates on eventual withdrawals would be advantageous for USCs.
BB says
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Vera Ellen Wang (Chinese : pinyin: Wáng Wiwei, Mandarin pronunciation: ; born June 27, 1949) is an American fashion designer based in New York City.
Vera Ellen Wang was born and raised in New York City, and is of Chinese descent. Her parents were born in China, and came to the United States in the mid-1940s. Her mother, Florence Wu (Wu Chifang), worked as a translator for the United Nations, while her father, Cheng Ching Wang (Wang Chengqing), a graduate of Yanjing University and MIT, owned a medicine company. Her maternal grandfather is Fengtian clique warlord Wu Junsheng, who was killed by the Empire of Japan in the Huanggutun incident in 1928. Wang has one younger brother, Kenneth.
Wang graduated from The Chapin School in 1967, attended the University of Paris and earned a degree in art history from Sarah Lawrence College. Wang began figure skating at the age of eight. While in high school, she trained with pairs partner James Stuart, and competed at the 1968 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She was featured in Sports Illustrated‘s Faces in the Crowd in the January 9, 1968 issue. When she failed to make the US Olympics team, she entered the fashion industry. Wang continues to enjoy skating, saying, “Skating is multidimensional”.
Wang was hired to be an editor at Vogue immediately upon graduation from Sarah Lawrence, making her the youngest editor at that magazine. She stayed at Vogue for 17 years, leaving in 1987 to join Ralph Lauren, who she worked for 2 years. At 40 she resigned and became an independent bridal wear designer.
Wang has made wedding gowns for many well-known public figures, such as Chelsea Clinton, Karenna Gore, Ivanka Trump, Campbell Brown, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Khloe Kardashian, and Kim Kardashian. Wang’s evening wear has also been worn by Michelle Obama.
She has designed costumes for figure skaters, including Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan and Evan Lysacek. Silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan wore a design of Wang’s for the 1994 Olympics. She designed the uniforms worn by the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders.
On October 23, 2001, her book, Vera Wang on Weddings, was released. In June 2005, she won the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Womenswear Designer of the Year. On May 27, 2006, Wang was awarded the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Wang was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009 for her contribution to the sport as a costume designer.
She has also designed a tux for William Burge. Vera was inspired by and worked closely with Elma Lunak.
Wang’s evening wear has been worn by stars at many red carpet events, including Viola Davis at the 2012 Academy Awards, and Sofia Vergara at the 65th Emmy Awards.
She was honored with the Council of Fashion Designers of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
In 2001, Wang launched her first fragrance and published a wedding guide. Over the years her business has continued to grow. It now includes lingerie, jewelry and products for the home.
In 2006, Wang reached a deal with Kohl’s, a chain of department stores, to produce a less expensive line of ready-to-wear clothing exclusively for them called Simply Vera.
In 1990, she opened her own design salon in the Carlyle Hotel in New York City that features her trademark bridal gowns. She has since opened bridal boutiques in New York, London, Tokyo and Sydney. Wang has also expanded her brand name through her fragrance, jewellery, eyewear, shoe and homeware collections.
‘White by Vera Wang’ launched on February 11, 2011 at David’s Bridal. Prices of the bridal gowns range from $600–$1,400 which gives more brides a more affordable way to wear Vera’s designs. In 2002, Wang began to enter the home fashion industry and launched The Vera Wang China and Crystal Collection, followed by the 2007 release of her diffusion line called Simply Vera, which are sold exclusively by Kohl’s. In Spring of 2012, Wang teamed up with Men’s Wearhouse to offer two tuxedo styles available in both the retail and rental areas of their inventory. In June 2012, she expanded in Australia with the opening of “Vera Wang Bride Sydney” and her first Asian flagship store ‘Vera Wang Bridal Korea’, helmed by President Jung Mi-ri, in upmarket neighbourhood Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
In an interview with a CBS reporter, Wang said, “(It’s) painful, and not only that, I have no choice. So I think when you start there’s a certain innocence because of that freedom, and as you evolve you begin to see the parameters of what you can and can’t do. So I make decisions that are very tiny that will affect an hour of work, I make decisions that will impact the lives of the people that work for me. It’s in fashion as well, micro work, a centimeter of proportion and then it’s macro to see what a vision is on the red carpet.”
In 1989, she married Arthur Becker in an interfaith Baptist and Jewish ceremony. They resided in Manhattan with their two adopted daughters: Cecilia (born 1990), who currently resides in New York City, and Josephine (born 1993), who attended The Chapin School and currently attends Harvard University. Becker was the CEO of the information technology services company NaviSite until August 2010. In July 2012, Vera Wang Co. announced that the couple have separated. The separation was amicable.
Vera Wang loves sports and exercise. She spends her day dealing with all the different lines of product she handles, from poring over china patterns to small leather goods at Kohl’s. She usually doesn’t take phone calls during the day.
Several movies and television shows have mentioned Wang’s works.
In the Sex and the City TV series, Charlotte York found Wang’s wedding dress to be the perfect wedding dress, and wore it for her wedding to Trey MacDougal. Wang’s design was mentioned in the NBC television show The West Wing in the episode “The Black Vera Wang“. In ABC’s Ugly Betty TV series, Vera Wang makes a cameo as herself, designing a dress for Wilhelmina Slater’s wedding to Bradford Meade.
In the film Sex and the City, Vera Wang was among the bridal gowns Carrie Bradshaw wore in her Vogue photo shoot. In the film Bride Wars, Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson wore custom-made Vera Wang gowns.
In the Totally Spies! episode “The Wedding Crasher”, a villain named Wera Van (parody of Vera Wang), desires revenge on those who rejected her wedding dress designs.
Vera Wang also designed a wedding dress for Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s character Buffy Summers in the TV Series Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode “The Prom“.
In the TV series, How to Get Away with Murder, the character Michaela Pratt mentioned a custom Vera Wang wedding gown when confronting her fiancé, Aiden Walker, about his sexuality.
In the political satirical comedy First Daughter, Vera Wang takes the president’s daughter Samantha Mackenzie, played by “Katie Holmes“, and her friend Mia, played by “Amerie“, to try on wedding dresses. She is shown to have a close friendship with Mackenzie, cheek-kissing and grasping hands. She later comforts James played by “Marc Blucas” after Samantha bails on her wedding to him and buys him a limo.
In the TV Series Gossip Girl, Vera Wang is mentioned in multiple episodes and is one of Blair Waldorf’s favorite designers. Blair has a wedding dress designed by Vera Wang for her wedding to Prince Louis of Monaco. Blair decides she can no longer wear it after losing her and Louis’s baby in a car accident, and has another designed instead. The three bridesmaids in Blair’s wedding wear Vera Wang bridesmaid dresses.
Also in Revenge, Victoria Grayson, played by Madeleine Stowe, wears a steel gray Vera Wang mermaid gown in her second wedding with Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny). The dress was actually shown in black at Wang’s Fall 2012 show.
At the 2017 Super Bowl, Lady Gaga wore Vera Wang Spring/Summer 2017.
In the second season episode of Supergirl, “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk”, Mr. Mxyzptlk snaps his fingers and puts a wedding dress on Supergirl. When she protests that he “can’t just put in a wedding dress”, he responds, “Why not It’s Vera Wang.”
Similarly, in The Simpsons episode “My Big Fat Geek Wedding” Edna Krabappel walks out on her wedding to Seymour Skinner. Nelson Munrz refuses to egg her with a canola oil egg per Bart Simpson’s request because the dress is a Vera Wang. He eggs Skinner with it instead.
She is mentioned in a film, The Accountant, as the character Dana Cummings describes her as the designer of a dress that she coveted for her senior prom.
First Daughter (2004) as herself
The September Issue (2009) as herself
Gossip Girl (2012) as herself
Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2011) as herself
Chelsea Lately (2011) as herself
The Celebrity Apprentice (2008) as herself
Ugly Betty (2007) as herself
Vera Wang, Vera Wang on Weddings, HarperCollins, October 2001 (ISBN 9780688162566).
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Two plaques are located at Lambton House - one Federal, one Municipal. Heritage York also installed a plaque on the old Davenport Trail. Please click here to visit our Plaque Information Page.
admin@lambtonhouse.org
Copyright 2018 Lambton House
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Favorite films come to life in Lotte Annual Art Project
While organizers of the film industries are hosting various events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Korean Cinema, Lotte Annual Art Project (LAAP) will also celebrate it with style.
The project is in second year to host simultaneous exhibitions in Lotte galleries across the country under one unifying theme. Last year was fashion, and this year is films under the title of “Behind the Scenes.” Added atop with director Bong Joon-ho’s achievement of winning the Palme d’Or for “Parasite,” the project had singled out films as an important part of local popular culture.
“Through this project, we wanted to provide the viewers [of the exhibitions] a space to talk about their most memorable scenes in films,” art director of the Lotte Gallery Kim Hyun-kyung said as she explained the motive behind the exhibitions at the press conference on Friday. “Usually when we watch films, we are only left with feelings or memories of the scenes. So we wanted the viewers to remanence and share with others the special moments or powerful emotions they’ve experienced while watching films through the artist’s works.”
At the Jamsil branch, eastern Seoul, artworks of 100 contemporary artists are displayed in the area which reinterpret their favorite cinematic scenes across canvas. Moreover, the organizers asked film-related collectors such as Yang Hae-nam, Choi Kyu-sung and culture critic Choi Ji-woong to share their collections with the audience. Yang is an avid collector of film posters, currently in possession of 2,400 posters from 1989. Choi is a graphic designer of film posters, postcards, archive books, and more and will share his works with the audience. Lastly, culture critic Choi collects the LPs and albums of the films’ original soundtracks.
Besides Jamsil branch, other exhibitions are being held across total of 10 branches- four in Seoul, and each one at Incheon, Daejeon, Ilsan, Daegu, Gwangju and Busan.
In Incheon, under the sub title of “Wes Anderson: Nostalgia,” the organizers want the audience to indirectly experience the scenes in the director’s representative work “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014) by recreating the scent that Gustave wears, the L’Air de Panache cologne, through the local brand Sutome Apothecary. Inside the gallery, the audience can also taste a whip of Mendl’s cake that also acts as a scene-stealer in the film.
Other exhibitions include “Summer Cinema: Rho Jae Oon Project in Avenuel” held at the main branch in Myeong-dong, “Hidden Pictures in Cinema” in Yeongdeungpo, and Ilsan branch’s “Bric_Behind the Scenes.” All the exhibitions will be held until July 28.
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U-15 Manchester City player Carlos Borges is a new member of Media Base Sports family.
Carlos "Igor" Borges (Sintra, March 19, 2004) is a vertiginous winger who stands out for his speed and his impudence when facing the actions of 1 to 1. These qualities allow him to add many assists throughout the season. Despite his young age, technically and tactically he is a very well-endowed player and he always knows which space to occupy. He trust on his qualities which will surely make him a better player in the future. Moreover, he is international with the Portuguese National Team.
At the age of 9 years old, Carlos packed his bags and went to England to grow up in Manchester City. He has played six seasons in the 'citizen' team and he will continue growing and learning in one of the best academies in the world.
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Air Conditioning Make Things Worse In A Warming World
Published in Agriculture & Environment
AC, Air Conditioners, Climate Change,
As climate change continues to push summer temperatures ever higher, the increased use of air conditioning in buildings could add to the problems of a warming world by further degrading air quality and compounding the toll of air pollution on human health, according to a new study.
A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison forecasts as many as a thousand additional deaths annually in the Eastern United States alone due to elevated levels of air pollution driven by the increased use of fossil fuels to cool the buildings where humans live and work.
“What we found is that air pollution will get worse,” explains David Abel, the lead author of the new report and a UW-Madison graduate student in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies’ Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. “There are consequences for adapting to future climate change.”
The analysis combines projections from five different models to forecast increased summer energy use in a warmer world and how that would affect power consumption from fossil fuels, air quality and, consequently, human health just a few decades into the future.
In hot summer weather, and as heat waves are projected to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change, there is no question that air conditioning does and will save lives, says Jonathan Patz, a senior author of the study and a UW-Madison professor of environmental studies and population health sciences.
However, he cautions that if the increased use of air conditioning due to climate change depends on power derived from fossil fuels, there will be an air quality and human health tradeoff.
“We’re trading problems,” says Patz, an expert on climate change and human health. “Heat waves are increasing and increasing in intensity. We will have more cooling demand requiring more electricity. But if our nation continues to rely on coal-fired power plants for some of our electricity, each time we turn on the air conditioning we’ll befoul the air, causing more sickness and even deaths.”
Another senior author of the new PLOS Medicine report, air quality expert Tracey Holloway, a UW-Madison professor of environmental studies as well as atmospheric and oceanic sciences, says the study adds to our understanding of the effects of adapting to climate change by simulating the scope of fossil fuel use to cool buildings under future climate change scenarios. Buildings, she notes, are the biggest energy sinks in the United States, responsible for more than 60 percent of power demand in the Eastern United States, the geographic scope of the study. Air conditioning, she says, is a significant component of that electrical demand.
“Air quality is a big issue for public health,” she explains, noting that increases in ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter in the air – byproducts of burning fossil fuels and known hazards to human health – will be one result of adding to fossil-fuel power consumption.
The study forecasts an additional 13,000 human deaths annually caused by higher summer levels of fine particulate matter and 3,000 caused by ozone in the Eastern US by mid-century. Most of those deaths will be attributable to natural processes like atmospheric chemistry and natural emissions, which are affected by rising temperatures. However, about 1,000 of those deaths each year would occur because of increased air conditioning powered by fossil fuel.
“Climate change is here and we’re going to need to adapt,” says Abel. “But air conditioning and the way we use energy is going to provide a feedback that will exacerbate air pollution as temperatures continue to get warmer.”
The results of the new study, according to the Wisconsin team, underscore the need to change to more sustainable sources of energy such as wind and solar power, and to deploy more energy-efficient air conditioning equipment. “The answer is clean energy,” says Abel. “That is something we can control that will help both climate change and future air pollution. If we change nothing, both are going to get worse.”
Humans may be reversing the climate clock by 50 million years
Climate Change Linked To Potential Population Decline In Bees
FAQs On ACs’ Temperature Setting Recommendations By Power Ministry
Surviving Climate Change, Then And Now…
Heat Due To Climate Change May Badly Affect Pregnancy
More in this category: « Climate Change Linked To Potential Population Decline In Bees More Insects, More Crops Loss Ahead Due To Global Warming »
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New program to address bias and hate in media
Ottawa March 28, 2012 – Media Awareness Network (MNet) today launched a new suite of digital and media literacy resources to help educate young people about how media representations can negatively influence how we view certain groups in society.
New Guide Helps Communities Fight Hate on the Internet
Ottawa, March 29, 2012 – A Responding to Online Hate guide was released today by Media Awareness Network (MNet) to assist law enforcement, community groups and educators in countering hateful content on the Internet. Despite the growth in online hate and the fact that four out of five Canadians are online, there is currently little information available to the public on this topic: which lead MNet, Canada’s leading digital and media literacy organization, to develop the guide.
Privacy Matters is focus of Media Literacy Week 2012
Ottawa, March 15, 2012 – The Media Awareness Network (MNet) and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) are pleased to announce that “Privacy Matters” will be the theme of this year’s Media Literacy Week, to be held Nov. 5-9.
MNet Congratulates Recipients of Canada's Highest Teaching Award
Ottawa, March 23, 2005 – Media Awareness Network (MNet) today congratulated three media educators who were among the fifteen recipients of Canada’s top teaching award, the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence. Carolyn Wilson, Rachel McCabe and Mike Gange received the award, which recognizes the efforts of outstanding teachers who exemplify excellence and innovation in education.
Literacies for the 21st Century MNet Recognizes CHUM Support
Ottawa, March 8, 2005 – The Media Awareness Network (MNet) today recognized and thanked CHUM Limited for its $250,000 support of MNet. This support will contribute to MNet’s Literacies for the 21st Century policy initiative and program. Comments were made at a joint MNet and CHUM luncheon event in Ottawa to launch the initiative.
MNet Receives Award for Work With Girl Guides of Canada
Ottawa, May 28, 2004 – Canada’s Media Awareness Network (MNet) and Girl Guides of Canada were honoured today with a special commendation presented at the Annual conference of the Business and Professional Women’s Clubs of Ontario.
Media Awareness Network and Canadian Paediatric Society Join Forces on Media's Impact on Health
OTTAWA (April 10, 2003) – Media Awareness Network (MNet) and the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) today announced a unique partnership to raise awareness about the potential impact of media use and messages on the health and well-being of children and youth. Joining forces for the first time, the two organizations are developing the Media Pulse initiative, with funding from Health Canada’s Population Health Fund.
INTERNET EDUCATION INITIATIVE FOR CANADIAN GIRLS LAUNCHED BY GIRL GUIDES AND MEDIA AWARENESS NETWORK
TORONTO, October 17, 2002 - Girl Guides of Canada and the Media Awareness Network today launched You Go Girl in Technology - an innovative new Internet literacy initiative designed specifically to help Canadian girls learn to be safe, wise and responsible Internet users.
MNet Congratulates CHUM Ltd. and London Public Library on their Media Literacy Centre Partnership
January 24, 2002 (OTTAWA) – The Media Awareness Network (MNet) congratulates CHUM Television and the London Public Library (LPL) on their ground-breaking partnership that will see a state-of-the-art Media Literacy Centre housed in the LPL.
AOL Canada Inc. Newest Media Awareness Network Sponsor
Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario - May 16, 2001 - The Media Awareness Network (MNet) announced today that AOL Canada Inc. is its newest Bronze Sponsor.
“We are very pleased to welcome AOL Canada as a sponsor,” said MNet Co-Director, Jan D’Arcy. “Support to the Media Awareness Network from one of Canada’s leading interactive online services gives added impetus and energy to the development of public education in the field of Internet literacy.”
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Tobacco Marketing
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Court Decides Procedure for Determining when the BBC is Covered by the Freedom of Information Act
Tony Prosser
School of Law, University of Bristol
The House of Lords, the UK’s highest court, has decided the procedure to be adopted in determining whether information held by the BBC can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This Act, which came into effect in January 2005, creates duties for a public authority, when requested to provide information, to confirm whether it holds the information and to communicate it to the applicant. The right is subject to a large number of exemptions; decisions may be enforced by the Information Commissioner and then appealed to the Information Tribunal, both of which have wide powers to decide whether the information is covered by an exemption and should or should not be disclosed. There is a further appeal from the Tribunal to the courts limited to points of law.
The BBC and other public service broadcasters are included in the list of public authorities to which the Act applies; however, they are only public authorities “in respect of information held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature”. In this case, an application was made for an internal report which the BBC had commissioned on its coverage of the Middle East; this was refused, as the Corporation considered it to be held for the purposes of journalism. The applicant applied to the Information Commissioner, who upheld the BBC’s view, but this decision was reversed by the Information Tribunal. However, the High Court and the Court of Appeal held that the Commissioner and the Tribunal had had no power to decide the case, as the question of whether a body was a public authority fell outside the scope of the appeal rights; it could only be challenged in the courts by judicial review. This would give the courts only limited powers to overturn the decision, for example if it was unlawful or unreasonable.
By a three-two majority, the House of Lords held that the Information Commissioner had the power to decide whether or not the information held by the BBC was covered by the Act and his decision could be appealed to the Information Tribunal. The majority (Lords Phillips, Hope and Neuberger) considered that the application had been made to the BBC as a public authority, but that information could be excluded from the rights provided by the Act if it was held for journalistic purposes. It was more appropriate that any challenge to the decision be decided by a specialist tribunal than by the courts. The minority (Lord Hoffman and Baroness Hale) considered that the BBC was not a public authority at all in relation to information held for journalistic purposes and that it was appropriate for the courts, rather than the Tribunal, to decide the meaning of “public authority” as a question of law.
This decision concerned only the procedure for challenging a decision as to whether the BBC was a public authority in these circumstances. The case has now been sent to the Administrative Court, as if on appeal from the Information Tribunal, for the court to determine whether the report actually constituted information held for purposes of journalism.
Sugar v British Broadcasting Corporation [2009] UKHL 9 EN
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ANC or ANRCTI?
Mariana Stoican
Journalist, Bucharest
On 29 January 2009, the European Commission issued a press release announcing the launch of an infringement proceeding against Romania due to an infringement of Community rules on the independence of the telecommunications regulator.
This was triggered by the removal from office of the President of the Autoritatea Naţională pentru Reglementare în Comunicaţii şi Tehnologia Informaţiei, (national regulatory body for communication and information technology- ANRCTI) in August 2008 by the then Romanian Prime Minister Tăriceanu and the subsequent appointment of a replacement. Although the Bucharest Court of Appeal declared the change unlawful on 18 September 2008, the former President was not reinstated in his position because, on the very same day, the Romanian Government decided to restructure the ANRCTI by passing Emergency Decree no. 106 (Ordonanţa de Urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 106 din 18 septembrie 2008 privind înfiinţarea Autorităţii Naţionale pentru Comunicaţii) . The newly formed authority, Autoritatea Naţională pentru Comunicaţii (national communication authority - ANC), was to be chaired by the newly appointed President.
The European Commissioner for Information Society and Media considered this restructuring to be a violation of the independence of the national regulator and sent administrative letters to the Government on 19 September and 14 October 2008, expressing her concern about the failure to comply with the Court of Appeal's ruling, the hasty restructuring of the regulatory body and the resulting harm to the stability and independence of the telecoms market in Romania. Since the Government failed to provide a satisfactory response, the Commission launched the first stage of an infringement proceeding against Romania under Article 226 of the EC Treaty on 29 January 2009.
The newly elected Romanian Government must now find a solution in accordance with the Community acquis . The Commission is offering the new authorities its support. During the first stage of the proceeding, which lasts two months, Romania must decide on the fate of the ANC. One possibility being discussed is for the regulator to be under the control of the Parliament rather than the Government. The Ministerul Comunicătiilor şi Societăţii Informaţionale (Ministry for Communication and Information Society- MCSI) has decided to set up a working group to discuss the matter.
Ordonanţa de Urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 106 din 18 septembrie 2008 privind înfiinţarea Autorităţii Naţionale pentru Comunicaţii, Monitorul Oficial al României nr. 1046 din 29 decembrie 2008 RO
Emergency Decree no. 106 of 18 September 2008, official gazette no. 1046 of 29 December 2008
European Commission press release IP/09/165 of 29 January 2009, Brussels EN
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Yie Ar KUNG-FU
Misc – PC Player 2001-02 (Deutsch)
Charts – ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) 1988-01 (English)
Full Version (34 kB)
Imagine / Konami
Action, Sport
Fighting / Individual Sports
Mr Creosote:
Popular Vote:
Mr Creosote (2007-08-30) [hide]
Aspiring youngster Oolong wants to become Grand Master of Kung-Fu. To achieve this, he has to defeat ten opponents (one after another, not all at the same time).
Nothing special so far, the mid-80s had their fair share of beat 'em ups (and many good ones). What sets Yie Ar Kung-Fu (I'll drop the capitalization seen on the title screen here) apart is the opponents. In the seminal hits of the time (Karate Champ and all), the player mostly faced faceless enemies who were identical to each other and also to the player. In Yie Ar (to shorten this even further), each opponent has his or her own sprite, his or her own moves and even his or her own weapon (!).
Shall we dance?
The enemies are all named according to their specialities, so it becomes obvious immediately. For example, there are 'Sword', 'Chain' and 'Pole'. The latter is an especially nasty chap, as his blow stuns you so that you'll be helpless against further blows from him. Meaning: you're beaten as soon as he hits you once, so keep moving. And this is what these differences are about: Each opponent requires the player to find and apply the right tactic to win against.
Another speciality of the game (compared to its contempories) is that it just goes on until one of the fighters is knocked out. It doesn't pause after a hit, but just goes on in 'real time'. Likewise, there's no referee evaluating the moves and awarding points - it's really just about beating the other person up.
All that makes Yie Ar a special game for its time, but a role-model from today's point of view. The predominant branch of fighting games of the mid-80s died out, while the style of this game prevailed. Younger gamers trying it out for the first time will probably be surprised how closely it matches all the things which made later games in the genre so immensely popular. So, in spite of rather mediocre graphics (at least the gameplay and smooth), this Yie Ar is always worth a look (or two or three or...).
Contemporary Reviews [hide]
ACE 11/89 (English)
ASM 03/86 (Deutsch)
Computer & Video Games 01/86 (English)
Crash 02/86 (English)
Happy Computer 07/85 (Deutsch)
Sinclair User 02/86 (English)
Your Sinclair 03/86 (English)
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) 1989-11 (English)
Yie Ar Kung-Fu 2: The Emperor Yie-Gah (MSX / MSX)
The Way of the Exploding Fist (C64)
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Amiga)
C64-Gamevideoarchive
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The Hero (2017)
R 97 min - Drama - June 9, 2017
Lee, a former Western film icon, is living a comfortable existence lending his golden voice to advertisements and smoking weed. After receiving a lifetime achievement award and unexpected news, Lee reexamines his past, while a chance meeting with a sardonic comic has him looking to the future.
Director: Brett Haley
Writers: Brett Haley, Marc Basch
Stars: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Nick Offerman, Krysten Ritter, Katharine Ross, Doug Cox, Max Gail, Jackie Joyner, Patrika Darbo, Ali Wong, Frank Collison, Andy Allo, Cameron Esposito, Linda Lee McBride, Christopher May, Todd Giebenhain, Demetrios Saite...
September 8, 2015, Posted in
What Happens in Vegas (2008)
PG-13 99 min - Comedy, Romance - May 9, 2008
During a wild vacation in Las Vegas, career woman Joy McNally and playboy Jack Fuller come to the sober realization that they have married each other after a night of drunken abandon. They are then compelled, for legal reasons, to live life as a couple for a limited period of time. At stake is a large amount of money.
Director: Tom Vaughan
Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz, Lake Bell, Queen Latifah, Treat Williams, Michelle Krusiec, Dennis Miller, Dennis Farina, Jason Sudeikis, Zach Galifianakis, Rob Corddry, Krysten Ritter, Billy Eichner
No images were imp...
Veronica Mars (2014)
PG-13 107 min - Comedy, Drama, Crime - March 14, 2014
Years after walking away from her past as a teenage private eye, Veronica Mars gets pulled back to her hometown - just in time for her high school reunion - in order to help her old flame Logan Echolls, who's embroiled in a murder mystery.
Director: Rob Thomas
Writers: Rob Thomas
Stars: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, Chris Lowell, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino, Krysten Ritter, Martin Starr, Gaby Hoffmann, Andrea Estella, Jerry O'Connell, Francis Capra, Ryan Hansen, Brandon Hillock, Maury Sterling, Sam Huntington, Max Greenfield, Daran Norris, Amanda Nore...
She’s Out of My League
R 104 min - Comedy - March 11, 2010
When he starts dating drop-dead gorgeous Molly, insecure airport security agent Kirk can't believe it. As his friends and family share their doubts about the relationship lasting, Kirk does everything he can to avoid losing Molly forever.
Director: Jim Field Smith
Stars: Alice Eve, Jay Baruchel, Mike Vogel, Krysten Ritter, Debra Jo Rupp, Lindsay Sloane, Kim Shaw, Geoff Stults, T.J. Miller, Nate Torrence, Kyle Bornheimer, Jasika Nicole
When he starts dating drop-dead gorgeous Molly, insecure airport...
Big Eyes (2014)
PG-13 105 min - Drama - December 25, 2014
A drama centered on the awakening of the painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.
Writers: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski
Stars: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Krysten Ritter, Danny Huston, Jason Schwartzman, Terence Stamp, Jon Polito, Farryn VanHumbeck, Emily Fonda, Delaney Raye, Madeleine Arthur, James Saito, Guido Furlani, Elisabetta Fantone
Stor...
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June Dutka
Librarian emeritus, researcher, writer.
Born in Winnipeg in 1943, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree (1964) from the University of Manitoba and her Bachelor of Library Science degree (1966) from the University of British Columbia. For over thirty years she specialized in managing the Government Publications Collection at the Elizabeth Dafoe Library, University of Manitoba, assisting faculty and students in accessing government data. She wrote The Grace of Passing: Constantine H. Andrusyshen, the Odyssey of a Slavist published in 2000. She researched and wrote the English text for the commemorative centennial history St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church: Celebrating 100 Years: Together for Tomorrow published in 2006. The latter received honorary recognition at the 2007 Margaret McWilliams Award event. She wrote three biographical sketches for inclusion in Extraordinary Ordinary Women – Manitoba Women in History published in 2000. She is a member of the Canadian Library Association, University Women’s Club of Winnipeg, Manitoba Historical Society, and the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences (UVAN) Canada.
Review: Gloria M. Strathern, Alberta, 1954-1979, a Provincial Bibliography by June Dutka
Manitoba History, Number 10, Autumn 1985
Review: June Dutka, The Grace of Passing: Constantine H. Andrusyshen—the Odyssey of a Slavist by James Kominowski
Manitoba History, Number 44, Autumn / Winter 2002-2003
Review: Athanasius McVay and June Dutka, editors, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church: Celebrating 100 Years: Together for Tomorrow by Alexandra Pawlowsky
Manitoba History, Number 58, June 2008
Page revised: 8 February 2015
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Established by an act of Parliament in 2000 and by the Merchant Shipping Act of 2003 as an autonomous body responsible for the registration of ships and other vessels, and also to regulate and develop improved standards of performance and practice in the shipping industry in Sierra Leone, including the coastal and inland water transport system and the marine environment.
To be more efficient, Maritime Administration in the delivery of services.
To regulate and develop improved standards of performance, practice and safety in the shipping industry in Sierra Leone, including the inland waterways transportation and protection of the marine environment.
Integrity, Professionalism, Transparency and Accountability
Our ultimate purpose in the Administration is to serve our Clients.
Serving Clients in an effective and efficient manner.
Service is well delivered only when the Clients are satisfied.
SLMA's Services
SLMA is Sierra Leone's national regulatory body supervised by the Ministry of Transport and Aviation with a primary role in maritime safety & security, protection of the marine environment and maritime search and rescue and is largely self-funded through levies on the commercial shipping industry.
This is the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration’s Annual Progress Report for the period of 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2015. This report compares the actual status of current activities to that of planned activities in the Performance Tracking Table for the contract year. Such comparison is a progress indicator showing the steps made towards the specific deliverable outputs the Administration aimed at achieving in 2015. Also included in this report are notes highlighting the strategies the Administration employed to achieve its goals as outlined in the Managerial Indicator Matrix. In addition, this report also includes the Project Tracker which gives a description of all the Administration’s projects, status of project and actions required for meeting the expected deadlines.
This report comprises of the following:
Performance Tracking Table (PTT)
The Managerial Indicator Matrix (MIM)
The Project Tracker (PT)
Supporting Evidences
“The Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA) was established by an act of parliament as an autonomous body for the registration of ships and other vessels, the licensing and safety of maritime personnel and for the regulation and development generally of maritime, coastal and inland transport and for other matters connected therewith.”
REPORT ON THE PERFORMANCE TRACKING TABLE (Please see Performance Tracking Table for ease of reference) – Appendix 1
OUTCOME ONE: POLICY SUPPORT, FORMULATION AND DISSEMINATION ENHANCED
Regulations for ferry and local boat operators reviewed
At the end of 2014, the Administration the through the setting up of technical committees and stakeholder meetings completed the technical aspect of this exercise.
As at this reporting period of 2015, the Administration in consultation with stakeholders has developed the code of conduct for ferry operators. This has been validated and submitted to the Ministry of Transport and Aviation for signing by the various stakeholders. However a Clause is to be reviewed so that all Ferry operators can sign the Regulation.
SLMA Act, Merchant Shipping Act and Maritime Zone Establishment Act reviewed
The 2015 baseline for this output was that the Acts were not up to date and needed to be reviewed. For this reporting period, a local drafts man was consulted to work on the draft and recommendations prepared by the Legal Officer. The first draft is available and has been distributed to Management and the Board Chairman for review. It will then be reviewed by the Legal Committee of the Board of Directors after which a meeting of stakeholders will be convened to review it. A draft Statutory Instrument to give effect to Section 11 of the current Act has also been drafted and distributed accordingly.
Six additional relevant International treaties & conventions ratified
The 2015 baseline for this output was that 32 relevant conventions had already been ratified. As at this reporting period, the proposals for ratification/accession to Conventions have been developed. The process is ongoing and specific report will be given after further consultations with the relevant official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
National Maritime Policy Developed
The 2015 baseline for this output was that is no comprehensive National Maritime Policy. As at this reporting period, the Administration is in the process of reviewing existing policies for other maritime nations. The Administration has also made a request to the International Maritime Organization for technical assistance in developing this policy.
Maritime Security Act and Maritime Environment Act enacted
The 2015 baseline for this output was that we have neither a Maritime Security Act nor a Maritime Environment Act in place. As at this reporting period, the proposals for the justification of these Acts have been developed. However due to the fact that the proposed legislation borders on safety issues, its review has been deferred to 2016 when hopefully an IMO Consultant through the IMO’s Technical Assistance Programme will assist the Administration in developing it.
For more information visit http://www.slmarad.com
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Home Sports Football Solskjaer confident that Pogba will stay at Man Utd
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is confident that Paul Pogba will still be at Manchester United next season but admits he cannot guarantee the French World Cup winner will stay.
Pogba fuelled speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid last month, suggesting Real were “a dream club for any player”, although he declared at the time he was happy at Old Trafford.
Both manager Solskjaer and United’s board want their £89 million ($115 million) club-record signing to stay, although they have acknowledged that circumstances could change.
“You can’t guarantee anything in football but yes I think Paul is going to be here,” Solskjaer told reporters on Friday. “I can assure you that he is very determined to be successful at United.”
Pogba scored eight goals and provided five assists in his first 10 games following Solskjaer’s appointment but his performances have tailed off since, and it was a surprise to many observers that the French midfielder was named in the Professional Footballers’ Association’s team of the year on Thursday.
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane this week described Pogba as a “big problem” for the club, suggesting that he was not committed enough to the team.
But Solskjaer said Pogba can cope with the scrutiny.
“That’s just the standards he sets, because when he’s creating chances, scoring goals, doing loads of work… that’s just media, supporters, everyone looks to Paul. ‘Could you have done better?’
“He’s done fantastic for us, he’s a human being as well and we’re all the same, we want him to do well.
“He’s a leader in that dressing room and on the pitch for us. Back to if I can guarantee, I would say ‘yes, I can guarantee’ but in life you can never (know), but he will be here as far as I’m concerned.”
Solskjaer, who won 14 of his first 17 matches after replacing Jose Mourinho, initially as caretaker manager, in December, is attempting to turn around an awful run of form, which has seen United’s players widely criticised.
– United collapse –
United have gone into freefall, losing seven of their past nine matches, a run that has seen them eliminated from both the Champions League and the FA Cup, and has significantly harmed their chances of finishing in the top four.
United are sixth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who visit Old Trafford on Sunday.
Solskjaer has promised to stick by Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea for the Chelsea match despite a recent loss of form.
De Gea has faced criticism after making a number of high-profile errors in recent matches, leading to goals in matches against Arsenal, Barcelona, Everton and Manchester City.
The Spain international has not kept a clean sheet in his past 12 matches, and is the first United goalkeeper to concede 50 league goals in a season for 40 years.
Former United goalkeeper Gary Bailey suggested this week that the time is right to rest De Gea, but Solskjaer says he has no intention of doing that.
He said: “No, not at all. I trust David and he’s for me been the best player United have had for the last six or seven years.
“He’s been absolutely outstanding and going through tough patches is part of a footballer’s career. David will be fine.”
Solskjaer has also rejected suggestions that De Gea’s contract situation is partly to blame for the dip in form.
The goalkeeper is out of contract in 2020, and there has been reported interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
But Solskjaer said: “That’s something you have to deal with as a footballer. It’s a situation. David’s coming in every single day doing what he should be doing.”
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Color Glossary
MAPPING COLOR
Robert Meganck, Matt Wallin, Peter Martin
Although color is a concern of disciplines as diverse as art, science, business and medicine with applications ranging from the breakfast cereal industry to the Pentagon, it is arguably one of the most misunderstood yet most used visual principles. To truly understand color and the many ways it can be used to benefit mankind, one would need to have knowledge of physics, psychology, sociology, chemistry, ophthalmology, neurology, art and art history.
This misunderstanding may stem from the fact that most people believe color is a physical property rather than the perception and interpretation of visible wavelengths. These wavelengths can either come from a light source directly or can be modified by their passing through a semi-transparent object. The misunderstanding is compounded by the fact that we lack a common language to accurately identify color.
Even those who use color daily misunderstand many basic principles of color theory: where and how color is generated; how it interacts with an object; how a person interprets the incoming light wavelengths to generate a perceived color; and how color perception is produced and manipulated in various media. Adding to this problem is the absence of a universal language that accurately defines and articulates the essence of color science and color math.
We have a very limited vocabulary to describe the many million colors detectable with human vision. Although the ability to create and view objects in virtual space (three-dimensions) has been readily available for decades, color systems are still being presented as two-dimensional or as two-dimensional depictions of three-dimensional models.
Fig. 1: Are all 20 circles the same color?
Figure 1 contains 20 circles. Each circle can be recognized as a different color, yet each also can be identified as a “red” circle. When we use common names like red, blue and yellow to identify a color, we are referencing a very broad collection of colors and forcing each unique color into a larger group. We do this because we lack a language to identify colors more specifically. If you were to ask someone, “What are the colors in the American Flag?” most would say red, white and blue. As there are many different reds, whites and blues, it might be better to say that the American flag consist of reddish, whitish and bluish colors.
Is red cabbage really red, white wine really white, and blueberries really blue?
Although the objects in Figure 2 are identified as red cabbage, white wine and blue berries, we do not associate this specific red, white and blue with the colors in the American flag (Figure 3). If you were to ask someone to define the word flag, he/she might reply that it is a banner that represents a specific entity, such as a country or organization. If you were then to ask the same person to define the word “color,” he/she might not be as quick to respond, or he might say something like: “You know, it’s like red or blue,” which actually is a better description for hue than color. The fact is that although we talk about color on a daily basis to help us navigate our world — to tell when a piece of fruit is ripe, when a child is sick, or if we can expect it to rain — most of us really cannot really say what it is.
We all learn our color in basically the same way: Someone (perhaps a parent or teacher) shows us an image or points to an object and identifies it as having a certain color. In turn, we come to recognize all things that reflect that part of the visible spectrum as having the same color, and we assign it a name. However, scientists believe our brains react differently to different wavelengths and that we all don’t see the same color.
Figure 4 shows what most of us would identify as a piece of solid red fabric, however it is easy to see that this “solid” red consist of a number of different hues.
The visible spectrum
The education of students on color diverges significantly from the reality of color perception. For years, students have been taught that the colors in the visible spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV), as identified by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17thcentury. But anyone viewing the visible spectrum can easily see a subtle array of colors (Figure 5). This small part of the entire electromagnetic spectrum is called "visible" since it is the section to which the light-sensing cells in the eye can respond.
Further, art students, who are exposed to more sophisticated color theory, are taught that the primary colors (colors that cannot be mixed from other colors) are red, yellow and blue (subtractive primaries) (Figure 6, On the other hand, physics students are taught that the primaries are red, green and blue (additive primaries) (Figure 7). It is as if these two systems are mutually exclusive.
Traditional artist color wheel
RGB colors showing how CMY is created by overlapping colors.
A basic problem in teaching such a subtractive system to art students in particular is in identifying which red, which yellow and which blue are being referenced, as different reds, blues and yellows produce different mixed colors. For example, using, say, cerulean blue instead of cobalt blue to mix with yellow will produce very different greens. Color identification by means of common names (red, blue, yellow, etc.) is inadequate for the identification of the full spectrum of colors.
Sir Isaac Newton went on to explain that color was a property of light. By splitting light into various wavelengths using a prism, he produced the full range of colors in the visible spectrum (Figure 8). By adding a second inverted prism and recombining the full range of color, Newton went on produce white light again.
It is important to understand that color is not an inherent property of an object but that color is in light. A tomato appears red because its surface reflects that portion of the visible spectrum and absorbs most of the other portions (Figure 9). If the same tomato is illuminated by a blue or green light (which generate light from only part of the visible spectrum), the results are quite different. (Figure 10)
Using a prism, Sir Isaac Newton split white light into a full spectrum of colors
A tomato appears red because its surface absorbs the blue and green portions of the spectrum and reflects the red portion.
Tomato under blue light / Tomato under green light
When we talk about color it also is important to identify the type of color to which we are referring.
Pigment color: The physical properties of an object that cause it to reflect certain parts of the visible spectrum and absorb others.
Radiant color: Pigment color as it has been affected by light. (Figure 11)
Interactive/Perceptual color: Color that appears different as a result of its surrounding colors. The color bar that runs through the center of Figure 12 is a consistent color. Its pigment and radiant color do not change. What changes is our perception that the color gets darker as it moves from left to right.
Interpretive color: Color associations that are devoid of physical principles and rely on sociological factors. When we see red and green together, we think Christmas. When we see black and orange, we think Halloween. In the United States, we associate black with death and white with weddings. In traditional China, both black and white are used for death, while red is the color for weddings.
Radiant color / Pigment color
The center bar that runs through the above image is a does not change color it appears to get darker.
Color is the brain’s response to lights of different wavelengths. These enter the eye, activating the color-sensitive cells (the cones) in the retina. The resulting electrical signals are sent to the brain where they are interpreted relative to a person’s lifetime learning experiences and the entire image that was detected by the retina. There are three different types of color-sensitive cones in the eye, and each responds to different — but overlapping —regions of the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum ranges in a continuous fashion from red and corresponds to the colors that appear in a rainbow when light from the sun is dispersed by raindrops. Additional receptors, called rods, on the retina are responsible for interpreting value — the lightness or darkness of an image and are responsible for night vision.
The lens at the front of the eye collects and focuses light waves onto the light-sensing cells in the retina. These then send signals through the optic nerve to the visual cortex where these signals are interpreted. (So, when you were little and you mother told you that she had eyes in the back of her head — she may not have been far from the truth.)
Sir Isaac Newton first proposed a color wheel in 1704. He did so by bending the visible spectrum around the circumference of a circle. Then he added the missing color ranges that include purples and magentas by blending in the red and violet ends of the visible spectrum. More recently, others, including Johannes Itten, color instructor at the Bauhaus from 1919 to 1922, have modified the basic color wheel. These wheels provide a means for us to understand color relationships — analogous colors (colors next to each other on the wheel), complementary colors (those opposite each other) — and form the basis for most "harmonious" color pallets (complementary, split complementary, quadratic, etc.) – Figure 13.
More than 100 years ago, Albert Munsell developed a method of quantifying color that was based on human color perception. He established that Value, Chroma and Hue provided a way of describing any color. Munsell first proposed the concept of identifying colors in 1915 by using a three-dimensional component model. His mathematical model was based on a five primary-hue system (red, purple, blue, green and yellow) and a set of 10 values (0 for black and 10 for white) with Chroma ranging from 0 (gray) up to 18 (greatest Chroma). The Munsell color system is still considered an excellent system for understanding color and the first to present color relationships three-dimensionally. However, his system is limited since there are only 10 units for Value, nine for Chroma, and 40 Hues to describe any color (Figure 14).
Itten's color wheel
Munsell system showing value and chroma for hue
YRMBCG color wheel
In professional practice, the tools used to identify, analyze and manipulate color are more sophisticated but still lack a level of precision and functionality that could benefit a range of fields in which color analysis is important. Currently, graphic, interior, fashion designers and others who work with pigments use outmoded color pickers or are relying on subjective judgments to select colors. They do this with little or no understanding of a color’s location in color space, and with little or no understanding of how the appearance of a specific color will change as a result of changes in illumination. This lack of understanding may stem from the lack of a useable tool for color selection.
The principles of color theory can be better presented using contemporary technologies. Having the ability to navigate a color model three dimensionally is key to understanding color. Currently, color is taught using textbooks written 50 years ago. Color-mixing is taught using subtractive primaries as a complete system. Many color-theory textbooks published in the past 10 years describe a system that combines both the subtractive primaries (CMY) with the additive primaries (RGB) into what has been called the YRMBCG system (Yellow, Red, Magenta, Blue, Cyan Green), but they remain two--dimensional depictions of three-dimensional space and cannot be made interactive by virtue of the traditional book format (Figure 15).
Parameters used by the Color Mapping project.
Value: Describes how the quantity of light reflected from an object compares to that reflected by black and that reflected by white. Black is the color that, in theory, absorbs all of the light falling onto it, and is assigned a value of 0 percent. White is the color, in theory, that reflects all of light falling onto it, and assigned a value of 100 percent. All remaining Values fall along an achromatic "gray" scale.
Chroma: The quality of color purity, intensity or saturation. For example: gray colors have very low chroma, while colors like candy apple red have a very high chroma. Starting at a value of 0, an achromatic gray, the higher the Chroma, the more intense the color.
Hue: A partial description of a color by describing where in the visible spectrum it appears to fall. By using the wavelengths that correspond to the range of colors seen in a rainbow, red to yellow to green to blue, or a mixture of red and blue, the hue is constrained to fall in the range 0 degrees to 360 degrees as it moves continuously around a circle (Figure 16).
Fig. 16a
Value 0% - 100%
Fig. 16b
Chroma for Hue
Fig. 16c
These parameters are the same as those available on instrumentation used to quantify the color of a sample and are commonly used in the pigment and color measuring industries for quality assurance.
To understand color relationships, it is necessary to look beyond two-dimensional models. The VCU Color Mapping Project is a collaborative effort between Robert Meganck, Matthew Wallin and Peter Martin to create a three-dimensional color visualization tool (Figures 17 – 21).
In our software, the nucleus of the model is an achromatic gray with a value of 50%, with no perceptible chroma or hue.
Value scale
Hue ring
Chroma at a value of 50%
Full theoretical model (step size of 10)
The color-space tool uses these three parameters to display color location and relationships. To provide greater accuracy and specificity, the color-space identification system plots a color numerically on a Cylindrical Cartesian coordinate system, which uses percent (0 percent - 100 percent) to identify Value — a perpendicular scale (0-100+) to identify Chroma, and an angular rotating scale (0 degrees – 360 degrees) to identify Hue. The color-space diagram place the far reddish end of the visible spectrum at 0 degrees hue, while the violet end of the spectrum falls around 300 degrees. Similar to traditional color wheels, the missing purples and magentas fill in the remaining 60 degrees (Figures 22-24).
Chroma for hue 0/360 degrees
Hue ring with degrees in units of five
The color tool developed for the Color Mapping project identifies and describes colors based upon human perception, differing substantially from the subtractive and unscientific approaches most commonly employed in education and practice.
Additionally, any color model that attempts to go beyond a basic pallet also will need to expand the vocabulary used to identify a specific color. This, of course, leads us to understand the limits of using terms such as red, light red, dark red, blood red, candy apple red and whatever adjectives one could add to the red to add specificity. There simply are not enough words to describe the many million colors distinguishable by human vision.
The only accurate way to describe color would be to use mathematical identification. Mathematics provides an unlimited amount of specificity. Although most humans cannot distinguish a single degree shift in value, chroma or hue, mathematics allows someone to specify a half of a degree shift. Math has no limitations; any number can always be made more specific through the use of additional decimal points. Additionally, while language is not universal, mathematics is. The number 10 is the same in English, French, Japanese and every other language.
Although the color-space model can show the location of any color with its VCH (Value, Chroma, Hue) coordinates, the model remains theoretical in that there are practical limits to what computer monitors can project and what color differences the human eye can perceive.
Different color spaces are identified as gamut spaces. Think of it this way: If you were given a set eight crayons, the gamut space for that set would consist of only the colors that can be reproduced using these specific crayons — basically one blue, one green, etc. If you were to increase this set adding an additional eight for a set of 16 different crayons, the color-gamut space would increase. Each time you add a crayon color, you increase the colors that can be represented and thereby increase the gamut space.
The full range of colors that a person can perceive is known as the human gamut. Any mathematical model used to display color space most likely would use either a screen or printed material. The range of colors that can be displayed by these media is controlled by their primary colors and is a fraction of the colors perceptible with human vision. It is important that color maps display colors that fall within human gamut space, even if they cannot be represented colorimetrically because of the limitations of the display media gamut. Both RGB and CMYK are limited gamut spaces.
While Figure 21 shows the full color space, it remains theoretical, as the color monitor used to display the diagram was limited to an RGB gamut space (Fig. 25).
The CIE 1931 color space chromaticity diagram displays the limits of RGB and CMY(K) space within the limits of human gamut space. The outer (shark fin) shape displays the boundary of human perception, while the two intersecting triangles represent RGB and CMY(K) spaces.
Any color or group of colors can be plotted using a VCH 3D model to show their location within human gamut space. Figure 26 displays the location of all the pigments in the Gamlin oil color set. It should be noted that the complete gamut space could not be shown as many of the colors would fall outside of the monitor’s RGB gamut. For these colors, it is still possible to show their location, but it should be noted that they fall outside of RGB gamut and the RGB representation is only an approximation of the true color. Thus, many paintings printed in books cannot be reproduce accurately because the film or scanner used to create a copy of the painting is limited by the RGB range of colors and further limited by the CMYK (printing) gamut.
Figures 27-32 compare the color space of two paintings from the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. The paintings are “Daisies, Arles” by Vincent Van Gogh (Figures 27- 29), and “Franconia Notch” by Marsden Hartley (Figures 30-32). The paintings were imported as high-resolution jpg. Images. Each set of three shows: 1. “top view” – colors present when viewed down the Value axis from the value of 100 percent (horizontal and vertical axis show chroma and hue; 2. A “front view” –the vertical axis displays the axis value scale for the darkest at the bottom to the lightest at the top.); and 3. “Angled view” – at a step size of five for each of the VCH coordinate and omitting any color occurring in less than five pixels.
Plotting the colors of the Gamblin oil paint set using a VCH 3D map
Color space of “Daisies, Arles” by Vincent Van Gogh as viewed from the white point.
Color space of “Daisies, Arles” by Vincent Van Gogh showing values from the darkest at the bottom to the lights at the top.
Color space of “Daisies, Arles” by Vincent Van Gogh as viewed dimensionally.
Color space of “Franconia Notch” by Marsden Hartley as viewed from the white point.
Color space of “Franconia Notch” by Marsden Hartley showing values from the darkest at the bottom to the lights at the top.
Color space of “Franconia Notch” by Marsden Hartley as viewed dimensionally.
Additional mathematic notation systems
The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) was founded in 1913 to serve as an international authority on light, illumination, color and color spaces. Since then, technology and equipment have been developed that can measure color accurately and compare it to defined standards. The CIE L*a*b* mathematical model of color space goes a long way towards having uniform perceptual difference for equal separations in color space, and it has seen considerable acceptance in industry and science (Figure 33).
Diagram showing traditional L*a*b* space.
The three parameters used to describe the location of a color in three-dimensional space are: Lightness (L); how the color can be seen as red or green (a*); and how the color seems to be blue or yellow (b*).
The parameter Lightness compares the light reaching the detector with that from a perfectly white object (all incident light being reflected) or from a perfectly black absorber.
The parameters a* and b* describe the appearance or hue of the color. Zero values imply no perceptually detectable color, positive values show a red or blue appearance respectively, and negative values show a green or yellow appearance respectively.
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) employ four translucent colors to produce “full-color” images and is the standard used for offset printing. The system uses dots in varying sizes of each of the four colors to create tonal effects: small dots create light color when printed on a white or light paper; larger dots are used for darker colors. The system is subtractive, with each dot absorbing a portion of the spectrum and reflecting the other portion. Thus, the more ink, the more absorption and, in general, the darker the color.
RGB color coordinates use a combination of Red light, Blue light and Green light to create all of the colors visible on monitors and all computer visualization systems. Each pixel is an additive combination of red, green and blue light sources. With a standard RGB display there is a range of 256 possible values for each Red, Green and Blue coordinate. As an additive system, the higher the value the more color. A value of 0 red, 0 green and 0 blue would indicate the absence of color and appear black. Values of 255 red, 255 green and 255 blue indicate the presence of a maximum value of each base color and thus appear white. The number of colors that a monitor can produce is 256 red X 256 green X 256 blue, or 16,777,216 colors but as explained earlier human vision is not able to distinguish this fine a color resolution. In computer files the intensity of each color is represented by a byte of two hexadecimal values that cover the range 0-255.
The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is a system whereby printers can mix some 1,867different spot colors from a set of 14 base pigments. Developed in the 1950s, the Pantone system was widely used by designers extensively through the 1980s. However, it lost its popularity with the development of computer design systems like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. As these systems made extensive color choices and color separations available on most desktop systems, the need for premixed color diminished. Another problem with the Pantone system is that the numbers used to identify a specific color are simply numbers — with no reference to value or chroma. The PMS system does however, include many colors that cannot be printed in CMYK or visualized in RGB gamut space, so it’s gamut space is larger than the other two.
The VCH system should become the industry standard in that it is not output specific and combines RGB, CMYK and La*b* into a single understandable numbering system (Figure 34). Additional colors that fall outside of RGB space can still be identified by location within human gamut. Although no computer system should try and display a color that falls outside of RGB space (like some of the colors from PMS or other pigment sets) as the color displayed will not be accurate, the VCH system can still show their location relative to other colors that fall within human gamut space. Color differences or color sample quality assurance can be done in a three-dimensional space rather than relying on multiple two-dimension charts. Since the VCH model is based on the mathematical identification of color rather than using perceptual differences, color specificity is not limited by the range of common color names existing in any language. Figure 35 displays the same 20 “red” circles from Figure 1. However by labeling each with it VCH coordinates it is easy to identify which are the lightest/darkest (value: first set of numbers), the dullest/brightest (chroma: second set of numbers); and which are warmest/coolest (hue: third set of numbers
Composite VCH in 3D
Figure 1 with VCH specifications.
Color is very important to people since it is the basis of vision, the sense by which we distinguish objects and assign them distance and shape. Telling someone that an object is red is a useful — but very imprecise. If a large number of people were asked to provide a sample of red material there would be a large number of different colors provided, distinguishable from each other, but all of which would still be classified as red. Art, science, medicine, business and industry all need to have a more precise and consistent way of defining a color since it is a primary means by which we define our world, and it is a tool by which we make quality judgments. A tomato that has shades of green or black is likely to stay on the shelf for a very long time. Manufacturers establish very strict constraints on the color of a product since any item perceptually different in color is likely to be viewed by consumers as inferior.
It is also of great importance to be able to measure or predict how the color of an object or image changes with time, processing parameters, storage conditions, or lighting conditions since any variation can indicate that some form of intervention is required. Teeth yellowing over time can indicate a need for a diet change or improved dental hygiene. A change in the foliage color can indicate inadequate care or the presence of pests. Darkened corn flakes can show that the processing ovens are set at too high a temperature. And fading works of art in a museum can show that they are being exposed to too much illumination.
January 11, 2018 by Matt Wallin.
Matt Wallin
Style Weekly Talks Color Project
Richmond's Style Weekly Magazine wrote a short piece on the Color Project. Click on the image to read the online version.
April 14, 2015 by Matt Wallin.
Wired Article on 3D Color Mapping Software
Wired's website wrote a small article attempting to outline some of our work on our 3D color mapping and analysis software. Click on the image below to read further.
April 9, 2015 by Matt Wallin.
VCU PR Posts Interview With Mapping Color Team
VCU Public Relations has published a series of interviews with the creative team behind the Mapping Color software. You can read the whole article by clicking on the image below.
The color map has both a theoretical cylindrical model of the visible spectrum as well as this unusually shaped model of color in RGB space. Different values of different hues can be represented with greater chromaticity than some others.
March 27, 2015 by Matt Wallin.
Although color is a concern of disciplines as diverse as art, science, business and medicine and has experts in industries as diverse as the breakfast cereal industry and the Pentagon, it is arguably one of the most widely misunderstood yet widely used visual principles. This misunderstanding stems from the fact that the vast majority of people believe color is a physical property of an object rather then the perception and interpretation of visible wavelengths that emanate from or are allowed to pass through an object that has been affected by luminance. Although the ability to create and view objects in virtual space (three-dimensions) has been readily available for decades, color systems are still being presented as two-dimensional or as two-dimensional depictions of three-dimensional models.
Even those who use color most -- fundamentally misunderstand many of the basic principles of color theory: where and how color is generated, how it interacts with an object, how a person interprets the incoming light wavelengths to generate a perceived color, and how color impact is produced and manipulated in various media. The absence of any definitive tool that accurately define and articulate the essence of color science and color math may contribute considerably to this problem.
Figure 1: The Visible Spectrum
For years students have been taught, that the colors in the visible spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ROYGBIV) as identified by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century, although anyone viewing the spectrum can easily see an infinite array of colors (Figure 1). Further, art students, who are exposed to more sophisticated color theory, are being taught that the primary colors (colors that cannot be mixed from other colors) are red, yellow and blue (subtractive primaries), whereas photography students are taught that the primaries are red, green and blue (additive primaries), as if these two systems are mutually exclusive. A basic problem in teaching such a subtractive system to art students, in particular, is identifying which red, which yellow and which blue are being referenced. Color identification by means of common names (red, blue, etc.) is inadequate for the identification of the spectrum of colors available to us (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Where yellow stops and green begins
In professional practice, the tools used to identify, analyze, and manipulate color are more sophisticated but still lack a level of precision and functionality that could benefit a range of fields in which color analysis is important. Currently, individuals working with pigments (graphic, interior and fashion designers, painters, etc.) are using outmoded color tools or are relying on subjective judgments to select colors with little or no understanding of a color’s location in color space[1], and with little or no understanding of how the appearance of a specific color will change as a result of changes in illumination.
Color Gamut: An Interactive 3-Dimensional Color Model, has addressed this problem by creating an interactive, web-based software tool that can be used by artists, engineers, scientists, educators and students. The model maps specific colors, color space and all its complements in various formats. The project involves the development of a system to identify colors based on their hue (color), saturation/chroma (purity) and value (lightness/darkness), and to show their location in relation to all other colors using Cartesian coordinates on a 3D interactive and programmable model (Figure 3). To our knowledge, this will be the first interactive and programmable three-dimensional model defining color space available internationally.
[1] Color space: The range of light to which the eye is responsive. This allows a variation in value (intensity), in hue (color appearance) and saturation (chroma or how far it is from a grey scale). A color space should allow an observer to consistently evaluate color differences.
Figure 3: Hue, Chroma and Value
Albert Munsell first proposed the concept of identifying colors by using a three dimensional component model in 1915 (Figure 4). His model was based on a five-color system (yellow, green, blue, purple and red). Since then, a few models have been proposed that are based on the more accurate six color (YRMBCG) system but none are interactive and available for general use. The principles of color theory can be better presented using contemporary technologies. Having the ability to navigate a color model in virtual space is key to understanding color. Currently, color is taught using textbooks written half a century ago. Color mixing is taught using subtractive primaries as a complete system. Many color theory textbooks published in the past ten years do describe a system that combines both the subtractive primaries (CMYK or Blue, Red and Yellow) with the additive primaries (RGB), but remain two dimensional depictions of three dimensional space and cannot be made interactive by virtue of the traditional book format.
Figure 4: The Munsell system
These color picker systems do not take advantage of current technologies, they are primarily two dimensional, and do not take into account Value, Chroma and Hue, VCh, color location. Without a standardized tool developed from available technologies, any industry that requires standardized systems to identify colors functions awkwardly with antiquated tools to produce, select, and identify color. The Color Gamut Project – a collaboration between VCU artists, physicists, computer scientists, and software engineers – will quite literally revolutionize how color can be used in science, information technology, and manufacturing.
It may be easiest to describe our model as a “point cloud” or a mass of floating marbles (Figure 5). Each marble identifies the location of a specific color so that the viewers can navigate around and through the model, allowing them to not only see the location of a specific color, but also see its location in relation to all other visible colors.
Figure 5: Top - Full model Bottom: RGB gamut space
The color model developed for the Color Gamut Project will identify and describe colors based upon human perception, differing substantially from the subtractive and unscientific approaches most commonly employed in education and practice. It utilizes three parameters; the color or hue or wavelength (does it seem to be red, or green or blue or any other general color term); the purity, or saturation or chroma which describes how much of the color appearance can be attributed to a unique hue (or color or wavelength); and the value or lightness, which relates a color to an equivalent achromatic scale. These parameters are the same as those available on instrumentation used to quantify the color of a sample and are commonly used in the pigment and color measuring industries for quality assurance.
In order to provide greater accuracy and specificity, we are proposing a color identification system based on a color’s location on a Cylindrical Cartesian coordinate system, which would use degrees (0 - 360) to identify hue (Figure 6), a scale (0-100+) to identify chorma/saturation (Figure 7), and percent (0%-100%) to identify value/lightness (Figure 8). The model is based upon the CIELab or CIELuv coordinate systems that have been developed by the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage over the last 80 years to provide a good approximation of the response of the eye to color differences.
Figure 6: Using degree to identify hue, as opposed to using common names, allows for unlimited specificity
Figure 7: Chroma is plotted on the horizontal axis.
Figure 8: Value is plotted on the vertical axis.
If, for example, you were to apply 3D color mapping to Adobe Photoshop’s current color picker, chorma would be aligned with value. It would additionally show the relative distance between full-chorma and the achromatic scale (Figure 9).
Figure 9: top: Adobe Photoshop’s current color picker; middle row: showing chroma relative to value; bottom: granular mode – showing CMYK gamut within RGB gamut.
The full range of colors that a person can perceive is known as the human gamut. Any mathematical model used to display color space will most likely either use a screen (each pixel is an additive combination of red, green and blue light sources) or printed material (each point in the image is a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow and black pigments). Both of these display modes have a limited gamut, or range of colors, that can be displayed, and both can only display a fraction of the colors perceivable by humans. It is our intent to use a translucent shell to show the location of colors that are part of the human gamut but which cannot be represented colorimetrically because of the limitations of the display media gamut (Figure 10).
Figure 10: CIE chromaticity diagram showing the RGB and CMYK gamut in relation to full human gamut.
We can now upload an image to our model and the model will display the gamut space (all the colors present) for the image (figure 11).
Figure 11: Color space of the John Henley photo that is pictured on the left.
Additional developments could include a fully interactive three-dimensional model of the visible color spectrum with a host of various controls to manipulate the model. This would allow the user to draw out and highlight various connections and relationships between colors that could generate a host of useful applications yet unimagined. In addition to the visualization of RGB gamut space, we expect the final model to include variation showing CMYK, Pantone, and artist pigment space. An interactive model would allow the user to input any pigment color, or a pallet of pigment colors and not only see individual color location, but also show all the colors that can be mixed with a pallet of colors, for example how color space changes when you substitute Cadmium Red for Alizarin Crimson. The use of commercially available image capturing devices would enable a user to do real time analysis and see how objects were changing color with time or environmental conditions.
Using the image or color description that can now be obtained with color measuring equipment the model could be used to show where sample colors are located with regard to control specifications. Color differences or color sample quality assurance can be done in a 3-dimensional space rather than relying on multiple 2-dimension charts. The model also has potential application in biology where it could detect subtle changes in the color of foliage brought on by environmental conditions, or monitoring the quality of artwork to detect gradual deterioration. It is anticipated that using hand-held image capturing devices, the model could be used to detect real time changes in color. These applications will be evaluated once the model is improved to provide histograms of colors appearing in an image and the computer code is improved to allow more efficient processing of images. Since this model is based on the mathematical identification of color rather then using perceptual differences, color specificity is not limited by the range of common color names. Using mathematical location to identify color will ultimately break down language barriers in specifying colors. (Figures 12a, 12b)
Figure 12a: Each of these circles can be described as “red”, yet each is clearly distinguishable as a different color.
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English Press
Interview: Marion Cotillard of ‘Rust and Bone’
Good news, Katy Perry fans: Though Marion Cotillard’s whale trainer character in “Rust and Bone” loses her legs in an accident as Perry’s “Firework” plays, the actress says she’s not too traumatized by the empowerment tune.
“The song’s become something very special to me,” says the Paris-born Cotillard by phone from New York. “And we listen to it a lot with the team I work with. I love the song.”
In the film, opening Friday, Stephanie (Cotillard) copes with tragedy through help from Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), a nightclub bouncer who defends Stephanie in a fight before the accident. The 37-year-old Oscar winner (“La Vie En Rose,” “The Dark Knight Rises”) says her feelings about fighters vary.
“If you fight as a kind of sport, kind of a game, so it becomes something powerful and not something specifically violent [that’s one thing] … but when you fight in the street, when you fight because you get in a fight with someone who says something bad, [it’s] not showing strength,” she says. “It can be weakness to be a fighter. Because you are just a violent person.”
Cotillard wasn’t happy when a friend tried to defend her in real life against “someone who was annoying me.” “I got so mad because I didn’t want him to get into a fight,” she says. “I used to go to see boxing and I used to love it, but seeing people fighting in the street because of an argument or something, this is something that I cannot stand.”
People may not expect someone as glamorous as Cotillard to enjoy boxing, but she doesn’t see herself that way. “It’s part of an actor’s life to sometimes show glamor,” she says. “In my real life I see myself as a human being who learns a lot of things, but I would not describe myself as glamorous. I would describe myself as just a simple human being.”
Cotillard’s Stephanie character has anything but a simple journey in “Rust and Bone” as she tries to reclaim her sense of self after the tragic accident with a whale she is training. Cotillard emphasizes the role of sexual identity in that process. “That’s a beautiful way to put the energy back into your body,” she says.
The whale accident comes as a jolt in “Rust and Bone,” but Cotillard has been familiar with surprises lately—particularly regarding her character in “The Dark Knight Rises.”
“I didn’t tell anyone what my character does in the movie,” Cotillard says of her friends, “and they were pretty shocked.” (Spoiler alert: She sleeps with Batman and tries to kill him. Cotillard notes her friends focus more on the killing aspect.)
These serious movies tend to be her forte career-wise, but Cotillard admits to loving “dumb” American comedies, including Adam Sandler films. She’s particularly fond of “Step Brothers” due to her love for John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell (she also says she loves Steve Carell and Vince Vaughn).
Yet when asked to name an actor she still wants to work with, Cotillard said Kate Winslet. When I suggest a comedy starring the two of them, Cotillard offers an idea for the title: “Step Sisters.”
If she had unlimited time in Chicago: “I would want to go and visit my friend who lives there. And I would go to Gibson’s. And Green Mill. I loved it, too.”
On working with whales: “The thing is I didn’t have much time to prepare this movie because I was filming another movie, so I arrived five days before the shooting and we had worked before with [director] Jacques [Audiard], but with the whales I arrived five days before the shooting and that’s when I met with them and I started to learn how to [do] all the gestures to make them do what you want them to do. I love animals and I’ve always had a strong connection with them. My trainer, the woman who worked with me, she was really amazing and she made my job very easy … If you do the right gestures, you feed them well, they will actually do whatever you want them to do.”
On, as seen in “Rust and Bone,” topless swimming being more common in France than the U.S.: “There’s a freedom with our bodies in France maybe, I don’t know.”
If it’s more difficult to lose arms or legs: “Oh my God, I don’t know. It’s hard to compare. It’s really hard to lose a part of your body. No, I’d rather not lose anything. [Laughs]”
London Critics' Circle Awards Nomination
Marion Cotillard gets ‘Rust and Bone’ amputee character with one image
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Tag: william schaffner
Captain William Schnaffner
By Katie Snow in Aliens and UFOs
Katie Snow
Chair: Aliens & UFO's at Dead Ringer Paranormal
My name is Kathy Snow however in the Paranormal world I am simply known as katie! My team and I take the paranormal field very seriously and have been up and down the eastern seaboard investigating known and unknown locations. My team consists of all family members giving us the opportunity to work well together with no drama. I am a national as well as internationally published paranormal writer. Our evidence has been shown on My ghost story caught on camera and we work hard within our community to bring awareness and understanding to the field. There are four ordained ministers on the team. After 16 years in the field we no longer do in house investigations as we are out trying to find unknown haunted locations and we consult on cases other teams may have questions on. After founding 3 teams, we have recently relocated and our new team name is Dead Ringer Paranormal. We are proud of the work we do and try to show the community it is a scientific field of study and a lot of work goes into what we all do. We are an old world team meaning we investigate with just what we need, we do not hook up wires and tons of equipment, we believe in studying the paranormal in traditional proven ways. I am excited and proud to have been asked to be a rep for NPS..
Latest posts by Katie Snow (see all)
Abnormal Activity in the Retina - October 19, 2016
Fall Thunderstorms & Investigating - October 19, 2016
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning & The Paranormal - October 19, 2016
A great controversy shrouds the death of Captain William Schaffner, a USAF pilot on exchange duties with the Royal Air Force who on a dark evening in September 1970 lost his life during a supposed military exercise. Some say he encountered a UFO, others say he perished in the cold waters of Britian’s North Sea. Although his suirvings sons have accepted the militarys report on the evenings events, UFO enthusiasts claim government cover up as many questions have been left unanswered. On this evening a series of events occurred leaving in its wake questions and gaping holes in stories put forth by military intelligence, however it was Capt. Schaffner who was the one to pay the price. Will his story or the events ever be fully put to rest?
The UFO enthusiasts seemed to have researched this and come to some interesting conclusions surrounding the events. With the miscommunications, shredded military files and their version of the last radio contact as well as witnesses that in the beginning seemed to concur, the events seemed to be extraterrestrial in nature.
This is their version:
It seems the UFO connection did not become apparent until 1992 when the Grimsby Evening News, published two sensational articles by assistant editor Pat Otter. As a cub reporter in 1970 Otter had covered the fruitless search for the pilot’s body. When the mystery was revived two decades later in a local book the paper received a call from a man claiming to be a member of the original RAF crash investigation team which examined the remains of the Lightning. Otter was later to claim he never believed the man’s story, but felt it was too good not to publish when he came up against a wall of official denials. Otter’s source – who wished to remain anonymous – claimed there had been a dramatic increase in radar tracking of UFOs over the North Sea during the autumn of 1970 which led the RAF to mount a special operation. At 8.17pm on 8 September radars in the Shetlands tracked an unidentified target above the North Sea and Lightning interceptors were scrambled from RAF Leuchars to engage. But before they could get near the UFO turned sharply, increased its speed to a fantastic 17,400 mph, and vanished from the radar screens. According to the source higher command levels within NATO were now alerted and aircraft from three squadrons were ordered to remain on patrol in case the “thing” returned. It did, and during the course of the night several UFOs were detected. Each time they shot away at high speed before the RAF could approach them.
According to both Otter and Dodd, Schaffner took off in Lightning XS-894 not long after he had returned from a training mission. The UFO was now being tracked on radar about ninety miles east of Whitby and Schaffner was quickly vectored onto it. The information about what happened next was taken from a transcript provided by the RAF “source” that purported to be describing the actual interchange between Schaffner and the radar controller at RAF Patrington on the Yorkshire coast. According to the transcript, Schaffner could see a bluish conical shape which was so bright he could hardly look at it. This UFO was accompanied by an object resembling a large glass football.
As Schaffner closed in, describing the object before him, he suddenly exclaimed: “Wait a second, its turning…coming straight for me….am taking evasive action….” At that point the controller lost contact and Schaffner’s radar plot merged with that of the UFO for a while before losing altitude and disappearing from the scope. Schaffner’s plane was found one month later on the bed of the North Sea with the cockpit still closed. There was no sign of the pilot’s body. This is a case with massive political implications if any of it is true. It was also an event that resonated with other stories concerning mysterious so called “vanishings” that have become part of Fortean mythology
This was the Military’s Final explanation:
1. It was not a UFO but a slow moving Shackleton reconnaissance aircraft that the Captain was trying to intercept on an exercise. 2. Its crew had lost radio contact. Then, by the light of a flare, they’d seen the aircraft in the water. 3. The Captain had simply flown too low trying to get beneath his target and hit the sea. 4. Captain Schaffner had not been properly trained to carry out the exercise he had been asked to undertake. When he tried to bail out, his ejector seat failed to operate.
These simple statements release after inquiry above appears to suggest that the crash was an unfortunate accident with a plausible explanation.
However the Lightning aircraft was recovered months after the crash from the seabed. Remarkably, it was virtually undamaged. Not only was it almost fully intack the cockpit canopy was shut but there was no sign of Captain Schaffner’s body.
So the unusual condition of the wreckage along with other factors fuel UFOlogists speculations of an alien abduction. The theory between both sides continues to this day, but the message written to the public by the Captains son below leaves little to further pursue as he has come to acceptance with the release of military reports.
Message to everyone left on a thread by Captain Schaffners son Micheal : These are his written words:
Michael Schaffner, My name is Michael Schaffner. I am the youngest son of Captain William Schaffner. I would like to thank Ian Cundall and the rest of the team for helping us put an end to this “mystery”. Having read some of the comments that have been posted I would like to take this opportunity to respond. For many, this has become a complicated question of conspiracy theories, allegations, deceptions and the like.However, I think that this is a situation that best illustrates Ockham’s Razor: the simplest answer is usually the best. It is an unusual stretch of the imagination to believe that UFOs and government coverups are responsible for the tragic death of my father. This is especially true having read the Summary Report of the RAF concerning this accident. Contrary to the assertions made by UFO “enthusiasts”, it is far simpler, and more logical, to understand these events in their factual context.
My father simply did not notice that he had lost altitude while trying to decelerate to the proper intercept vector. Given the inclement weather, poor instructions, improper training, and overall stress of flying at high speed and high G, it is no stretch of the imagination to believe that he simply made a mistake. I am completely satisfied that my father died because of a chain of unfortunate events, none of which had anything to do with someone’s subjective need to believe in UFO’s.
Although I do not doubt that there is life outside of our terrestrial realm, there has been no substantial evidence demonstrated by these “enthusiasts,” such as Tony Dodd, to support their claims concerning my father. Not one single, solitary shred of objective proof. I challenge any of these enthusiasts to support any element of their claim with germaine evidence. Their assertions that “they will (n)ever get to the bottom of what happend because the RAF will never accept that a UFO could be involved,” is only begging the question. They should be ashamed to call themselves UFOlogists, a name that insinuates professionalism and qualified academic study. I would suggest that they are no more qualified to study UFOs than the average public school student. To say anything more is a waste of breath. To those of you who still doubt, rest assured that there is no story here. Only the tragic death of a beloved father who is truly missed and who will never be forgotten.
The Secret Files
Naked Scientists
aliens and ufos, paranormal, william schaffner
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Northern BC: Not yet hostel country
Jun 13, 2011
Warm, eclectic and social, hostels tend to be as varied and unique as the travellers they attract. They provide a social environment where solitary journeyers can meet, compare notes on their travels and maybe catch a ride to the next destination. They also allow visitors to spend more of their money on sightseeing instead of fancy accommodations.
In many ways, they seem a great fit for the adventurous souls who venture to the North. However, despite a selection of quaint backpacker accommodations clustered on the northwest coast, the region has a dearth of hostels.
“I would love to see more youth hostels here,” agrees Northern BC Tourism CEO Anthony Everett, who met with Hostelling International representatives two years ago. While the organization is interested in opening a hostel in the North, it has no immediate plans to do so.
Pioneer Backpackers Inn, Prince Rupert
In the meantime, northerners have a small—but quality—selection of hostels to choose from. Pioneer Backpackers Inn in Prince Rupert isn’t a Hostelling International facility, but it meets its standards, says owner Christy Allen.
Allen, it could be said, is a pioneer of northern BC’s hostelling industry. Raised at her parents’ Eagle Bluff Bed and Breakfast in Rupert’s trendy Cow Bay, Allen was first exposed to hostel culture while travelling through England and Scotland with her grandmother.
“I realized that was pretty cool,” she says about the wide age-range the travelling companions shared—a growing trend in hostel culture as the average age of hostel-goers steadily rises.
When she returned home, “I just basically finished my business degree and bought myself a job,” Allen says, undeniably downplaying the efforts that went into making Pioneer Backpackers Inn what it is today.
Built as a housing facility for workers in the early 1900s, the rooming house traditionally known as Pioneer Rooms gradually degenerated into a “flophouse” until Allen bought the building in 2001 and began extensive renovations.
“It was pretty run-down,” says Allen, who removed layers of wallpaper, put up drywall, installed new flooring, painted walls and re-clad the exterior with a false front reflective of its original era. Today, the colourful Pioneer fits beautifully into Prince Rupert’s sloping streets.
Recently, Pioneer got a new 1,680-square-foot addition that includes four new en-suites, one of which is wheelchair accessible. The hostel marked its 10-year anniversary in January.
“It’s meant to be family-oriented. It’s not a party hostel,” Allen says. “We get anywhere from teenagers up to people in their 60s and 70s.”
Along with its four new en-suites, the hostel has shared bedrooms and dorm rooms with shared bathrooms. “During the summer it’s way more affordable than a hotel room, but you’re basically getting a hotel room.”
Black Rooster Guesthouse, Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert is lucky enough to have two of the region’s finest hostels. Owner Bozena Sliwa and her husband bought the Black Rooster Guesthouse’s pre-WWII building in 2004 when the avid travellers recognized a great business opportunity.
“The building gave us the idea,” says Sliwa, who is originally from Europe.
Previously run as a grocery store and, most recently, as Salvation Army housing, the building was under renovation for a year before opening in 2005. The guesthouse has everything from private rooms to dorm beds.
Premier Creek Hostel, Village of Queen Charlotte
Premier Creek on Haida Gwaii offers backpackers budget accommodation that’s as out-of-the-ordinary as it is out-of-the-way. The shared accommodation is run by Premier Creek Lodging, an historic hotel built in 1910 and currently owned by Lenore Lawrence and her husband Peter Cook.
“I think it’s a nice experience for people because I don’t crowd them,” says Lawrence. “They’ll come for one night and pretty soon they’re here for three or four days.”
A small outbuilding, an old work-shed now converted to hostel-style accommodation, lodges three to four backpackers at any given time in three rooms with bunk-beds made from logs from the nearby beach. The facility also has two bathrooms and a shared kitchen. With its wood stove and wooden floors, this unique building overlooks Skidegate Inlet.
“Because they don’t have to pay a lot for accommodation, visitors have extra money to pay for tours and that kind of thing,” Lawrence says, adding about her Haida Gwaii lifestyle: “I feel very lucky.”
College of New Caledonia student residences, Prince George
When heading east from the coast, many travellers look to Prince George as the next stopping point. However, accommodation options for backpackers between Rupert and Jasper are limited. That’s why the College of New Caledonia student residences, which have been operating as budget accommodation since the college opened in 1993, are popular with budget travellers.
“We have everybody from tree-planters to international travellers pass through, as well as people on bicycle trips to Alaska,” says student residence manager Nancie Krushelnicki. “We get sports teams, family reunions, weddings—you name it.”
Out of 92 rooms, between 30 and 35 are available at any given time, with group bookings also available. There are also roughly four private rooms with queen futons available for couples. Rooms have a microwave, fridge, air conditioning, Internet and cable—although the facilities are BYO-TV.
“We can get quite busy, so people are encouraged to make a reservation,” Krushelnicki says. “There are no other hostels in Prince George. It amazes me. It is very unfortunate because it could be very beneficial.”
The lack of hostel accommodation in the North’s biggest town is something Alistair McLean says he’d like to fix. Hostelling International’s Pacific Mountain Region CEO met with groups in the Nass Valley, Terrace and Prince George to discuss potential partnerships in the region.
“Are we looking for something up there? For sure,” McLean says. “But some of these things take several years to come to fruition.”
Hostelling International is a not-for-profit organization with 30 properties in Alberta, BC and the Yukon and 57 others across the country. Of the 30 in Western Canada, 22 are owned by the organization and eight are run by privately owned affiliates—but none exist north of Yoho National Park.
Northern BC backpackers’ accommodation: Quality, not quantity
Rates for dormitory beds are $26 or $22 (depending on the season), private rooms with shared bathrooms are $60 or $52 and private en-suites are $80 or $65, with discounts for regional residents. There is a free shuttle to the hostel from the railway station and ferry terminal between 9 am and 10:30 pm.
Email: pioneer@citytel.net
Website: www.pioneerhostel.com
The Black Rooster has everything from furnished apartments to dorm beds. Dorm beds are $25 per person. Internet and computer access as well as an equipped kitchen are available. The facility is small-dog-friendly ($10 charge) and has ping pong and a barbecue.
Email: info@blackrooster.ca
Website: www.blackrooster.ca
The residences are located near highways 16 and 97 and amenities include a lounge, barbecue and laundry on each floor. There are daily, weekly and monthly rates starting at $25 per night without linens (bring a sleeping bag and towel).
Centrally located, this small hostel has cooking facilities with a refrigerator, common area, showers and laundry facilities. The cost for a dorm bed is $25 per night.
Email: premier@qcislands.net
Website: qcislands.net/premier/hostel.htm
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Vocal-Pop
Dionne Warwick Radio
That's What Friends Are For (with Elton John, Gladys Knig...
Do You Know The Way To San Jose
She's Back
The Burt Bacharach resurgence proves that what the world needs now is Dionne Warwick. She was one of the links between classic pop, rock and R&B in the '60s, with hits like "Walk on By," "I Say a Little Prayer," and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose." Warwick was the singer who could handle Bacharach's deceptively complex material and make it seem simple. The rock, disco, and rap generations knew her as the host to Solid Gold, as Whitney Houston's aunt, and then as the mouthpiece for the Psychic Friends Network. Now these people are rediscovering her roots as a great vocalist.
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Expat Living
[Herald Interview] Diminutive ‘Kids Creators’ inject fresh perspective into YouTube
By Yoon Min-sik
Published : Apr 21, 2019 - 17:33
Updated : Apr 22, 2019 - 15:42
Twenty years ago, celebrity and K-pop idol crept up the list of dream jobs for children in Korea – a list formerly occupied by doctor, scholar, politician or government official. What followed were a flood of TV talent shows and reality programs on youth aspiring for the limelight.
Recent surveys suggest the times are changing once more, as children are opting to perform in front of the much smaller camera of a personal computer as a YouTuber, or as it is more commonly known here, “YouTube Creator.”
“When I first started YouTube, a lot of the older kids came up to me and left me gifts in my bag. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but I’ve gotten used to talking to strangers,” said Son Esther, or “Pretty Esther,” one of the more popular kid creators in Korea.
Uploading videos about her everyday life, ongoing fads and regular stuff kids her age -- third graders -- can relate to, she has on a path toward the most coveted career among children here. That is at least according to a survey by local publishing company Chunjae Gyoyuk, which found that “online content creator” ranked No. 1 (15.3 percent) on the list of elementary and middle school students’ dream jobs.
Son Esther (left) and Lee Chae-yoon (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
Child actor Lee Chae-yoon said she did not get a ton of recognition for her acting career, but this changed with the launch of her YouTube channel a little over a year ago. While she is not yet among the leaders among her peers with some 55,000 subscribers, her channel has been seeing rapid growth.
“One of the good things about YouTube is the way of communication is always open. I sometimes hold Q&A sessions and write comments to them,” 13-year-old Lee said.
Esther, in her third year as a YouTuber, also noted open communication as one of the best things about YouTube.
“Sometimes when I’m sick or taking a day off, people would write comments of concern and look to cheer me up. This is among the things most memorable (about being a YouTuber),” she said.
Being a pint-sized celebrity has touched upon both of their lives, as Esther is more comfortable talking to strangers and Lee feels more at home communicating with anyone at all.
“I used to never talk to people, being shy and not really hanging out with friends. But now I’m much more social and open to talking in front of people,” Lee said.
Being on YouTube can also be tough, she noted.
“As a child actor I would do just what I’ve memorized, but here, I have to create my own lines and edit my own videos. It’s more demanding but more fun at the same time,” she said.
Lee hopes to continue both her acting and YouTube careers, much like her idol Shin Se-kyung, one of the most popular actors in Korea and a budding YouTuber. She recently branched out to reviews of aesthetic products and clothes, but can cover any topic people can relate to.
Esther said she gets many of the ideas from YouTube itself, picking up on what is trending.
“My channel is mostly about the subjects that elementary school students can relate to, which is one of the best things about being a kid creator,” she said.
Relating to viewers is widely considered key in being a successful YouTuber, particularly among child YouTubers. Channels run by children deal mostly with topics that children can relate to, like US YouTuber Ryan of “Ryan ToysReview” who is estimated to have made about $21 million in the span of 12 months -- while still 7 years old.
Dia TV, a branch of CJ ENM that supports online content creators, recently created the “Seeds of Happiness” music video series, jointly created by the kid creators based on their actual stories.
Esther’s story is about how she started creating YouTube content as a way to spend more time with her father, who is now deeply involved in her work as a YouTuber. As with the content of Lee and Esther, the content of the video is something most children their age can relate to.
Both are hoping YouTube will be a part of their future.
“I want to upload videos in between my acting jobs, like Shin Se-kyung does. I wish to keep communicating with the people through YouTube,” Lee said.
By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
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With C’mon Miracle (K), her fourth full-length album full of deeply personal, raw, honest songs, set for a May 4th release, singer/songwriter Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn admits to the mild queasiness that comes from baring one's most closely cherished emotions to a horde of strangers. "It feels definitely like I'm exposing parts of myself that are private," she said, in a phone interview the other day, taking a break from boiling maple syrup at her mother's childhood farm in Northeastern Pennsylvania. "It can feel a little raw. But I do continue to do it, because it's worth it. I think that people expect it, too. I know that I really enjoy other artists' work when they're exposing parts of themselves in an honest way. I feel like it's worth it for me."
Mirah's deeply personal lyrics about love, betrayal, distance and the passage of time evoke mood and story by implication, and often feel almost childlike in their simplicity. For example, "Nobody Has to Stay," which opens the album, is as lucid and unadorned as verse can be, with such lines as "While you hurt with all that pain/ Stars will kiss your pretty face/ Come away with me today/ Everything should be OK/ Feel your pockets while you may/ With some to eat and some to save/ Nobody has to stay."
That willingness to share extends to the most fundamental of personal issues, Mirah's sexuality, which she freely talks about both in her interviews and her music. "I don't think ... it's not like it's not anybody's business," she explains. "If I'm so immodest to not be private about anything about my life in order to make the music that I make, then there's no reason to have something that's pretty basic and important about my life, my sexuality, be swept under the table."
Mirah, who is openly gay, writes songs that are often frankly sexual. In "We're Both So Sorry," she sings, "You always seem to lose the spark/ When I was only half undressed.” Yet her work transcends gender politics with lyrics that are both precisely specific and universally applicable. "Don't Die in Me" with its samba-rhythmed tale of a failing relationship, for instance, could be about nearly any couple working through betrayal, gay or straight, when Mirah sings, "If you want something back/ All the things that got cracked/ When I felt you lied to me/ And all the million mistakes and the kicks in the face/ I don't want you to die in me."
C'mon Miracle's tracks run the gamut from indie-rock-leaning stomps ("The Light," "Look Up!"), to Latin-flavored shuffles ("The Dogs of B.A.," "Don't Die in Me"), to quirky ballads that pit Mirah's soft-focus soprano against the barest guitar and percussion.
The new album was recorded at Olympia, Washington's Dub Narcotic Studio with longtime collaborator Phil Elvrum of The Microphones and Mt. Eerie, and in Buenos Aires with engineer and percussionist Bryce Panic (one-time drummer of Old Time Relijun). "Phil has golden ears...and a really good sense for wringing sounds out of nowhere and getting them onto tape in a way that no one else can," she says. In the studio, Mirah was joined by the Black Cat Orchestra's cellist Lori Goldston, with whom she had worked on To Always Stretch the Open Arm, an album of mostly covers, released earlier this month by YoYo Records.
The collaborative DIY culture of Olympia and K Records also had a big impact on C'mon Miracle, Mirah recalls. "At Dub Narcotic, on all of the recordings that I've been involved with there, it tends to be pretty free-flowing in terms of, 'Hey, let's get a bunch of people together to clap.' And you'll run around the building finding people who can clap."
She adds, "Also, the downtown of Olympia is pretty small, so if you ever need to round up friends or people to sing or play on the songs, you can stick your head out the window and holler and you'll have a chorus."
Mirah's wintertime sojourn in Buenos Aires and Brazil lends several tracks "Dogs of B.A." and "Don't Die in Me" a Latin feel. Others are stripped down and minimal, and a few, including the "The Light" and "Jerusalem," rock eccentrically and convincingly. "Jerusalem," originally written for a Hannukah compilation but rejected as too political, is particularly strong, drawing on Mirah's Jewish upbringing and Internet research to present a nuanced, hard-edged vision of violence and power and the need for peace.
Mirah, who wrote her first song at age 4, has been singing and performing since she was 18. Her first album, 2000's You Think It's Like This, But It's Really Like This (K) established her as one of the nascent decade's most exciting new singer/songwriters. She followed with the critically acclaimed Advisory Committee (K) a year later, and Cold, Cold Water (K) in 2002; she collaborated with Ginger Brooks Takahashi in 2003 on Songs From the Black Mountain Project (K). She has also contributed to albums by The Microphones, Dennis Driscoll, The Blow and Jason Anderson.
Look for a more extensive conversation in "Datastream" with Mirah talking about her background, her songs, her travels and her formative experiences in Olympia, Washington in a few weeks. Jennifer Kelly [Monday, March 29, 2004]
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Interview with Professor Fausto Pinto, Director of AIDFM
By etavares On 30 September, 2013 News Report / Profile | 2013 Comments Off on Interview with Professor Fausto Pinto, Director of AIDFM No tags
In commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Association for Research and Development of FMUL, the newsletter interviewed its Director, Prof. Fausto Pinto
Newsletter: Professor, over the last 20 years, how has the Association for Research and Development of FMUL (AIDFM) developed initiatives and enabled the connection between activities of the Faculty of Medicine and the community?
Professor Fausto Pinto: This year, AIDFM celebrates its twenty years of existence. It was founded by a group of Faculty professors with the aim of having a structure that allowed greater agility and operational flexibility, particularly the management of scientific projects. This included the preparation of tenders for research projects, mostly in the clinical area, albeit no exclusively, which, above all, enabled connecting the various researchers both from the Faculty and from the Hospital and offer them, through that structure, the capacity to streamline all the mechanisms and resources to carry out their research better.
From the onset, one of its main aims was to establish a close link with the Faculty and its members. AIDFM has grown exponentially over the years and has been devoting also to a wider set of activities (of course its main activity continues to be project management, at the moment AIDFM is currently managing over 200 projects). To this effect, we created a professional structure that currently enables a wide range of activities, and our main goal is to support the preparation of national and international proposals with concrete results. This success can be seen not only in applications to national entities, such as the FCT, or private ones like the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and others, but also international ones, such as the European Commission, where we have had a few projects that have been managed by the Association.
Furthermore, it has also organized a large set of events, including the management and organization of scientific events in different fields, namely a few successful congresses and meetings. I am thinking, for instance, in the field of Cardiology, of the Congress “New Frontiers in Cardiology”, now heading into its fourth edition and which has always been totally organized by the Association, in addition to may others. We have also worked closely with other institutions and, in terms of cooperation, the Association has participated insome ways in the management of projects of institutions external to the Faculty, such as INSA – the Ricardo Jorge Institute and the High Commissioner for Health, with which it has worked closely.
In short, AIDFM has been increasing its support to the institution’s researchers by offering them a platform where they can find dynamic, fast and professional answers to their needs and requirements as researchers. Thus, we have created a professional structure that includes all the instruments needed to enable them to achieve their goals.
Newsletter: AIDFM is an important hub to foster research in the area of medical sciences. What are its main projects in the various fields, both at national level and internationally?
Professor Fausto Pinto: AIDFM in an all-encompassing transversal structure, for which reason all areas that exist at the institution are welcome, and the topics or projects that researchers bring to the Association depend on them. For example, I can mention the existence of three main Research Centres managed by AIDFM, namely the Cardiology Centre of the University of Lisbon, the Centre of Preventive Medicine and the Centre of Food and Metabolic Diseases. In addition to these centres there is a set of countless areas where AIDFM has been asked to collaborate in project management, event organization, etc. These areas include Pulmonology, Paediatrics, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, Psychiatry, and Infectious Diseases, among others, where researchers, for one reason or another, have projects managed by the AIDFM.
Another very important centre of FMUL, the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, is also managed through the AIDFM. When one looks at the list of the 226 projects currently being managed by the AIDFM, we conclude that practically all areas of medical knowledge are involved. In this sense, we are very pleased with the fact that colleagues from these areas trust us enough to do the management of their projects.
Our main aim is to provide a service to the scientific community of the institution to facilitate all the logistic and operational processes that enable effective and productive activity. We do all this is close collaboration with the Directorate of FML, with whom we cooperate closely and share a strategic vision.
Newsletter: Finally, what are the main objectives for the future and how do you see the AIDFM in the next decade?
Professor Fausto Pinto: I think that, increasingly, structures such as the AIDFM, which incidentally exist in virtually all other universities, although having autonomous management, are very important to help the development of the main institutions to which they belong. At the end of the day, the AIDFM is no more than a tool to support FMUL and, I even dare say, in a larger sense, to support the CAML. Incidentally, I would like this to be one of the objectives of the future, with AIDFM being an important tool for collaboration in the development of projects of various kinds, helping to attain some of the main objectives that the CAML has in mind.
Thus, AIDFM is no more than a tool to be used by the main structures it is naturally connected to, as a facilitator of operational mechanisms related to the various activities those institutions have, particularly in the field of clinical research. In that sense, I believe that structures such as the association are increasingly more important, precisely due to their role as facilitators, which nowadays are essential in modern structures that need to be agile in order to compete in a global world. If we want to have access to such complex structures as the European Commission, apply to European funds and be part of international networks, etc., it is necessary to possess the agility that structures such as the AIDFM have.
Given that AIDFM is a public service institution, with patronage status, it is obviously subject to all rules of fiscal and accounting transparency, among others. I undergoes several audits throughout the year, and, therefore, possesses the legal framework that enables the smooth development of those activities. Thus, this type of structure will be increasingly important to improve the output and the functionality of institutions that are too large, such as FMUL and the CAML. So, in terms of the AIDFM ‘s coming years, I see it more and more as a tool to support FMUL/CAML streamline, facilitate, and promote everything that has to do with research and event organization of those entities, enabling cutting down on red tape and make management more profitable.
Therefore, I welcome the future of AIDFM in supporting medical research. On this, I would like to say one or two important things: clinical trials is a very important area; a clinical research centre is currently being set up at the institution in order to expedite the process; one of the reasons why Portugal has been relegated is precisely the rigidity and delay in the processes, which makes Portugal no longer attractive. This is extremely serious, given that these projects enable access to innovative diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The fact they are not seen as a priority at the moment also deters fundamental funding.
Structures such as AIDFM, of course in collaboration with hospital and academic entities, particularly a university hospital such as ours, can play a major role, alongside researchers who have clout in the field of international clinical research, in valuing the institution and enabling it to be at the forefront of clinical research at national level. We are able to do so, and the AIDFM can be a key tool in order to attain this goal.
Index - News # 36 | set. 2013
Message from the Director to the New Students of FMUL
Welcome to the medical degree of the largest university in the country.
Maria do Carmo-Fonseca was awarded the Prize D. Antonia Adelaide Ferreira
European Joint Congress of Clinical Anatomy | Chaired by Professor. A. Gonçalves Ferreira
Paula Ravasco invited to join the Committee ESPEN
Start of Academic Year – Semana da Introdução FMUL
Celebrating IMM’s 10th anniversary
News Report / Profile
Institute of Molecular Medicine | Celebrating ten years of scientific research
Association for Research and Development of the Faculty of Medicine | 20º Anniversary
Interview with Professor Maria do Carmo-Fonseca, Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine
Interview with Maria Guilhermina Pereira, President of the Students’ Association of FMUL 2013/2014
Professor António Cruz Serra took over as Rector of the University of Lisbon
PROLER – Books Network Project
A new website for a new University
Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Production of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (2002-2012)
Education through Science – First steps in research
PhDs, Masters and Specialization Courses | FMUL 2013/2014
Programa Doutoral M2B-PhD Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics – Candidaturas Abertas
The best doctors in Europe? Yes, we can!
Scientific Publications FMUL / HSM / IMM (May to September 2013)
The IMM in numbers. Ten years, 10 discoveries.
Science and Health Research
How did the Introduction to SPSS course go?
10th Competition for the AstraZeneca Foundation/ Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon Research Scholarship
Curso de Meta-análises em Rede | 25, 26 e 27 de Setembro
European Researchers’ Night 2013 | 27 September
Professor Francisco Pulido Valente Science Award 2013 | Applications open until 13 September
9th Edition of the Hospital of the Future Awards | Applications open until 4 October
4th Viral Hepatitis Course 2013 | 11 October 2013
17.º Programa “Educação pela Ciência” | Candidaturas de 01 a 31 de Outubro
2nd Symposium Acta Médica Portuguesa| Cochrane Workshops Collaboration and Medical Illustration
Ephemerides | Health
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Sharon Brown opens "Trumped!" for Arts Week in Denver
In her latest series, Pattern Shop Studio resident artist Sharon Brown explores the political landscape in America through portraits of President Donald Trump and members of his Administration, both former and current. Each painting is based on a publicly available image of the subject to which Brown applies her eye, her skill and current events to take a deeper look at the people running our country. Trumped! is an unabashedly political exhibition and a celebration of our rights to speak out against those who abuse their power.
Winter Hours: Trumped! will be open for groups or individuals any time by appointment (303-297-9831) in January and February. Regular hours will resume on First Friday, March 2nd with "About Time," new and old large format paintings by figurative oil painter Barbara Shark. Stay tuned for details.
Peter Brown opens "Journey to the Center of the Earth" at PSS
The Pattern Shop Studio is pleased to announce our next exhibition, Journey to the Center of the Earth, a solo exhibition of work by New York/Colorado artist Peter Brown. Journey to the Center of the Earth will open with receptions on Friday, September 1, and Friday, October 6th, 2017 (6 to 9pm) and will be on view until Friday, October 20th. Brown will talk about his work at a Salon on Saturday October 14, 4-6 pm. The gallery will also be open for groups or individuals any time by appointment (303-297-9831).
Peter Brown received a BFA from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has been exhibiting his work since the 1960’s and has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Detroit and other locations across the country. He has been written about in the New York Times, Newsday, Artforum and Arts Magazine. His work is in the collections of The Prudential, NY; News Corp; City University of New York; First National Bank of Chicago, and the Dannheiser Foundation, NY.
Zoe Larkins, Assistant Curator at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art, describes Brown's work this way:
Contradiction characterizes Peter Brown’s recent paintings. Opposing ideas—about process, composition, and dimensionality—are embedded in each work. The paintings evince aspects of and the strain between abstraction and representation, Eastern and Western painting traditions, and flatness and depth.
Brown's process is itself paradoxical: the artist aims to make pure abstractions but imbues them with elements he derives from the distinct environments in which he works—Lyons, Colorado, and Lower Manhattan. He chooses to engage with his surroundings, but attempts to do so through an automatic process. His medium, quick-drying acrylic paint, and tools, which range from grooved trowels to pencils, drive this practice. Playing with the surface of each painting, he fends off intellectual concerns and overt representation. To this end, in an effort to abandon any such superimpositions, he will sometimes paint a monochrome field over a work in progress and leave it untouched in his studio for several weeks, effectively erasing his work.
The most basic aspect of these paintings’ composition is contradictory as well. Brown orients the works vertically, and he explains his choice to do so in terms of Eastern and Western landscape painting conventions. In spite of working in a quintessential American Western environment, at the base of the Rocky Mountains, he aligns his paintings on a vertical axis that is more common in historical East Asian works. Stacked or cascading forms in some of Brown’s paintings resemble Chinese and Tibetan scrolls in which tall, dense configurations convey depth or discrete natural scenes are staggered on one vertical plane. Works dominated by a central figure reference Tibetan tankgas, 19th-century Indonesian textiles, and Persian carpets. Brown credits the latter group of works for their influence on both overall composition and minute formal elements, such as patterns that mimic the weave of textiles, and on his palette.
Perhaps the most essential of the incongruities embodied in these paintings is that between their flat surface and the volume of the wooden structures on which they are made. Brown sculpts the verso of the board for each painting to create a frame-like form with rounded, tapered edges. He paints the sloped back in white, further finishing the object and optically pushing its face forward. In painting the board’s flush front surface, however, he works away from depth, toward flatness. He does so by building up layers of paint and, eventually, sanding them down to a level plain. He deepens the profile of each object, then reduces it. The compositions that result from this process appear at once completely flat and extensively layered, as fragments from the accumulated strata of paint are preserved, revealed, or produced through the sanding’s compressing effect. Sanding and the application of light color washes create an encaustic quality that enhances the surface’s uniformity. Ironically, Brown’s works on paper, theoretically the shallowest of these paintings, are noticeably impastoed in spite of having been sanded.
Expressions of these dualities and their inherent competing principles manifest in different forms and with varied strength throughout this body of Brown’s work, suggesting a dialogue between paintings, or the artist and himself. The works do not resolve the binaries, however, but instead hum with their tension.
Amazona, 21 x 20, acrylic on wood panel, 2016
Greenland, 39 x 23, acrylic on wood panel, 2016
Seated Figure 1, 19 x 15, acrylic on wood panel, 2014
Listen to artist Jessica Loredo talk about the iconography in her work
Due to the strong reception Reflections has received, we will be extending the exhibition until July 14th.
The Pattern Show will be open for First Friday, July 7th, 6-9PM, and will continue to have viewing hours on Thursdays 1-5PM. As always, we are open by appointment, just call or write to arrange a viewing time.
Jessica's talk was very interesting, click below to hear her talk about the imagery she uses and how it relates to her life:
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