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__label__wiki	0.738403	0.738403	Three facing drug, weapons charges after large amount of meth, fentanyl seized Three people are facing drug and weapons charges after a bust uncovered weapons and various drugs including fentanyl and meth. Regina Police Service. Don Healy / Regina Leader-Post Three people have been charged after a police investigation into illegal drug trafficking in Regina turned up handguns and a large quantity of drugs, including meth and fentanyl. According to information from the Regina Police Service, the drug unit’s investigation led to the arrests of two men and a woman at a location on the 2000 block of Cameron Street. A vehicle search, which was done at the time of the Tuesday arrests, uncovered what was described as a large quantity of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine and ecstasy, as well as Canadian currency and two loaded handguns — a .22-calibre and a nine-millimetre. A search warrant was also done at a location on the 900 block of 15th Avenue, where police said they located more of the same four drugs, more cash, drug trafficking paraphernalia and loaded magazines for the firearms. In total, police said they seized more than two kilograms of meth, 261.56 grams of fentanyl, 191.81 grams of cocaine, an undisclosed amount of ecstasy, and more than $25,000 cash. The three people charged appeared in court on Wednesday. The Crown opposed their release and they each said they intended to speak with a lawyer. Their charges were set to later dates. The three are jointly charged with offences that include possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of crime proceeds, and numerous firearms offences, including possession of a loaded, restricted firearm and possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon obtained by crime, among other offences. The two men are additionally accused of possession of a firearm or ammunition contrary to a prohibition order. New ward boundaries finalized for 2020 city election Attempted murder charge laid in March shooting	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line826
__label__wiki	0.93503	0.93503	Uplifting Communities Through the World of Art Marsha James Drawing people has always infatuated Ben Hamburger. It’s something about people’s relationships to one another and their environments that Ben enjoys to interpret by putting his paintbrush on a canvas. Ben Hamburger is not just a painter. He is a community artist, a muralist, and an educator as well. His love of art came from his grandmother. Ben Hamburger “My grandmother loved collecting Art. Not just traditional fine art, but stuff she would find off the side of the street,” he says. “She would see it as art then bring it home to hang on the wall.” Born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, Ben says there was nothing more important to him than painting. Art was always a staple for Ben during his years in secondary school - it opened a door of expression for him. Attending Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, Ben really pushed his painting forward. In 2008, he did a semester in Perugia, Italy where he studied art history and oil painting. Graduating in 2010 with a degree in visual arts, he moved to Asia where he continued painting and teaching in diverse settings in Bangkok, Thailand and Gujarat, India. Hamburger’s experiences abroad influence his artwork and teaching methodology. “Art became this way for me to connect with people. It showed me how I can breach cultural and language barriers. It was a way to engage with other people and other cultures,” he says. Returning to the United States, Ben Hamburger spent time in New Orleans and later, Baltimore, Maryland where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in the Community Arts program at Maryland Institute College of Art. Ben has facilitated a community art projects for refugees as well as assisted with a community mural, led by residents of the community organization, C.A.R.E. – (Cleaning Active, Restoring Efforts) Throughout his time in Baltimore, Ben watched as abandoned houses and buildings were being demolished and replaced with high-rise buildings. One day while talking with residents of East Baltimore, he decided to capture their portraits on fragments of formstone debris from torn-down buildings. That project, became known as, “Facing Change: Portraits and Narratives of the Shifting Cultural Landscape in East Baltimore.” Ben did the project as his thesis work for his master's program. “It started with me doing landscape paintings outside as a way for me to interact with people and get these stories,” he said. “Over time, the stories of gentrification, redevelopment and the shifting priorities of the community became the most important thing,” Hamburger says. 'Facing Change' Project Each piece of formstone displays a portrait of someone who lives or works in the community. Ben Hamburger even made one of himself. But he says that understanding the community was an important part of the process of making ‘Facing Change.’ “I realized if this artwork is about community development and housing it had to be more directed by the people that have been impacted by these issues for a long time or the people that are continuing to be impacted by these issues. So I was forced to reflect on what I was doing and why I was doing it rather than me going out and choosing locations to paint, it started with me speaking with people.” Hamburger has a sure hand with paint. His portraits are diverse and he uses broad brushstrokes and layers to create textural elements and patterns. “Live your life like a work of art,” his grandmother told him. Community artist Ben Hamburger is doing just that.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line827
__label__wiki	0.517693	0.517693	The Evolution of Workers’ Compensation with Alan Pierce Alan Pierce reflects on his career spanning 50 years in the area of worker’s compensation and discusses needed changes in current systems. Workers Comp Matters Alan Pierce Alan S. Pierce has served as chairperson of the American Bar Association Worker’s Compensation Section and the Massachusetts Bar... Workers’ compensation systems have existed in our country for over a hundred years, and the laws affecting these systems have changed drastically over time. In this episode honoring his 50th anniversary working in the field, Alan Pierce reflects on his professional career and features the notable changes he has witnessed in workers’ comp systems. Additionally, Alan takes us through the history of this area of law—from the Code of Ur, to 16th-century piracy, then all the way up to our modern systems in the United States. With all this in mind, Alan lays out the defects he sees in current systems and offers insights into needed changes. Special thanks to our sponsor, PInow. Intro: This is Workers Comp Matters, hosted by attorney Alan S. Pierce, the only Legal Talk Network program that focuses entirely on the people and the law in workers’ compensation cases. Nationally recognized trial attorney, expert, and author Alan S. Pierce is a leader committed to making a difference when Workers Comp Matters. Alan S. Pierce: Welcome once again to Legal Talk Network and Workers Comp Matters with your host Alan Pierce. I am with Pierce, Pierce & Napolitano, a workers’ comp law firm here in Salem, Massachusetts and we are bringing you another edition of Workers Comp Matters. Before we begin, I would like to thank our sponsor PInow, find a local qualified private investigator anywhere in the United States. Visit pinow.com to learn more. Today’s episode in Workers Comp Matters is going to be a little different for those of you who regularly or irregularly listen to us and for me as well, I don’t have a guest. I will be my own guest. And the reason for that is that in thinking about another program, keeping in mind that I went back and did a little checking and I have been doing these podcasts for Legal Talk Network starting in June of 2005, so 14 years ago this month I did my first show, and it was on sick building and the sick building syndrome and injuries and illnesses which occur as a result of exposures to environmental issues in older, unhealthy buildings. And in the last 14 years I note that we have done about 85 half-hour shows and I think when I started I didn’t in any way think we had 85 different subject areas, the topic areas to discuss, but in many ways we have sort of started to scratch the surface of what is a very interesting field of law. And in that vein, there is a quote from a Florida workers’ comp case back in 1982 which serves as a motto for the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, an organization that I have been privileged to have been inducted as a fellow. And Judge Mills in a decision that on its merits has been lost to history said the following: “Workers’ compensation is a very important field of the law, if not the most important. It touches more lives than any other field of the law. It involves the payments of huge sums of money. The welfare of human beings, the success of business, and the pocketbooks of consumers are affected daily by it.” And I don’t think there is anything that could be more true and succinctly put than that that I have found in my years of dealing with workers’ compensation in various facets that it is indeed a very important and different field of law, and it does touch almost everybody’s life, whether you are misfortunate enough to have been injured at work or have a family member or just run a business or work for a business. The other reason for this show is that not only did I note that the podcasts I have been doing for 14 years, but it was 50 years ago also in June, back in June of 1969, I had just graduated college, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do professionally, and I saw an ad or a posting at our College Placement Office with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company who was looking for claims adjusters in greater Boston area. So I was interested, I applied, and I was hired, and I actually began my career by showing up at the Home Office of Liberty Mutual in the third week of June in 1969, and as we are recording this today, this is the third week of June of 2019, exactly 50 years ago. And I began my training at the Home Office of Liberty Mutual and then in August of 1969 I was assigned to a Branch Office of Liberty in Lynn, Massachusetts, where I started my career as a workers’ compensation claims adjuster, a job that I held and learned from for five years, during which I realized that perhaps a career in the law suited me. So I went to law school in the evenings and continued to work as a claims adjuster during the day. And I blinked and it’s 50 years later, and in that time I again worked five years as a claims adjuster, spent about 12 years as a defense attorney for various insurance companies, and then went out on my own, representing injured workers approximately 35 years ago and have remained ever since. (00:04:58) So I started to think about what has happened in the last 50 years of my professional life, and I am also interested in where this practice of law, where this system of unique social insurance is going to go in the next 50 years or more, if in fact it continues to exist or change. And I thought it might not be a bad idea to just personally reflect about this. And in doing so I thought back to when I first started, once I got my training and got assigned to Lynn, I was given a company car and a Polaroid camera and a statement pad, and I was told to investigate newly reported injuries. I was required as a claims adjuster, as most of us were back then, to make immediate contact with an injured worker, preferably at his or her home within 24 hours of notice of a lost time accident, and handle the case from the beginning until either the worker returned to work or if it had to go into some type of controversy or litigation, provide support for our legal department. So the first thing that strikes me is that in the past 50 years the nature of how claims are handled has changed. We no longer, or very rarely, see claims adjusters that are on the road; we now deal with usually inside claim reps, they could be many miles, if not many states, away. Most cases are handled either telephonically or electronically, and we have moved away from the personal attention of claims representatives and injured workers and employers. That could be a topic for another show, but in thinking more about workers’ comp and where it came from, I think we have done shows on this in the past here on Workers Comp Matters, but we certainly can trace workers’ compensation in the United States to the year 1911, which is the year the first state-based elective workers comp system was established legislatively in the State of Wisconsin. Claims credit for having the first system started in the spring of 1911. But New Jersey and Massachusetts closely followed and through the early second decade of the 20th Century we saw the spread of workers’ compensation. But workers’ comp doesn’t begin in the late 18th or 20th Century, if you really go back, and I have sort of become a student of workers’ comp history along the way, one could find references to how an employer treats its workers really from the scriptures. You could go into various — Bible’s Old Testament, New Testament, Quran, various religious doctrines and you will find many references to work. In the Old Testament, for example, there is a statement, if an employer asks workers to “carry on their shoulders” a heavier load than agreed upon, well, that is customary, the employer is liable for the harm suffered by the worker, including damages for loss of income, loss of limb, pain incurred and medical expenses. So right there, going back perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 years, there is a reference to an obligation, a moral, if not a legal obligation. A gentleman by the name of Gregory Guyton wrote in 1999 a Brief History of Workers’ Compensation, and in that article, which was published by, of all groups, the Iowa Orthopedic Journal, Guyton refers to a 2050 B.C. tablet in ancient Sumer, which is now Iraq. And the Law of Ur, contained in the Nippur Tablet, actually it’s No. 3191, provided for compensation for injury to a worker’s specific body parts. So if a worker lost a thumb or a hand or a finger or a leg, there was an appropriate amount of remuneration or payment to the worker or if it involved a death, to the worker’s family. So going back even 2000 years B.C. there was a written system and we have found over the years other similar systems not unlike our Scheduled Benefits today, where if somebody today in Massachusetts or really anywhere covered by workers’ comp loses a finger or a part of a hand or a limb, there is a scheduled payment, a written down the formula. That was also seen in the 16th Century among the pirates. Captain Henry Morgan is famous, not only for being the brand of rum that is commonly sold, but he also had a written contract with his crew, pirates or privateers as they were called, so that if they were to lose a hand or a leg or an eye, and we have all seen the caricatures of the pirates with the hook and the peg leg and the eyepatch, but there was a specific remuneration based upon the amount of money or pieces of eight that was generated by the particular voyage that a victim of an injury while in the course of getting that plunder would receive. And this has transcended history and is part of what we now know as workers’ comp. But getting back to the present system of workers’ comp, as I mentioned earlier, it began in 1911 and it was as a result of some very significant changes in, not only in the world, but in the United States. We had moved probably in the mid to late 19th Century from an agrarian economy, which was primarily farming and some merchants, but there wasn’t really a whole lot of industry. There was of course slave labor in the south and there were pockets of manufacturers, but we were not a mechanized society, but with the invention of the steam engine and then the invention of electricity and the influx of immigrants from primarily Europe and the East Coast and from Asia and the West Coast and the growth of this country, the building of railroads, the building of factories, the need for massive amounts of labor in working conditions, which were to put it mildly grossly unsafe. As a society we were seeing hundreds, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of injuries or deaths in these developing industries, factories, shops, construction projects, railroads, building of skyscrapers, buildings of cities, and the toll of the injuries which were really not covered by what we know as insurance today and certainly not covered by any type of workers’ comp fell onto society. And what would happen to these folks? These folks were in need of medical care, wage replacement, they had families to support, and it became apparent that the lack of a system or the civil system of having a worker injured having to sue in civil court his employer for negligence or fault just wasn’t doing the job. So as a result workers’ comp came into play and the model for it came really from Europe, as I mentioned, in the mid to late 19th Century in Prussia, Germany, Bismarck created a system of compensation for the newly industrialized Central Europe, spread to Westwood, to England and some of the other countries, and came across the United States in what has been described as the grand bargain, and that is a phrase that is still used today. And it basically means that in exchange for giving up their rights to sue and tort for negligence, the employees of an employer would receive limited benefits, originally for wage loss and medical expense, without regard to fault, and that was the bargain. It was a compromise between labor and management, whereby in exchange for the labor giving up their rights to sue, they would get guaranteed speedy and reasonable benefits. And of course this was controversial at the time. Employers, while happy to be relieved from the burden of civil liability, were concerned about payment to everybody without regard to fault as a result of a work injury. And as one might expect the constitutional issues surrounding this unique area of law made its way to the US Supreme Court in 1917 and the court in New York Central Railroad v. White required that for a workers’ compensation statute to be constitutional to not deprive a party of due process and provide everybody equal protection of the law that the workers’ comp statute must provide a reasonable amount of compensation. The actual language says it should not be unreasonable; there is a bit of a double negative there, but what is and has been considered “reasonable” or not unreasonable has really been the thread of the development of workers’ comp over the ensuing now 100 — really 102 years since the White decision. So since workers’ comp became established as part of the fabric of our social insurance network and really a foundation really for the New Deal, when other social programs such as Social Security and minimum wage and child labor laws and a variety of other workplace safety issues sort of became front and center. And with the development of the Organized Labor Movement, we saw a recognition across the country that the workers’ comp system was probably the most fair way of providing sustainable benefits that are not unreasonable to people that are injured in the scope of and in the course of employment. So that’s sort of how things started and for the first let’s say 50 or 60 years following 1911, we saw the expected development of this rather embryonic area of the law that basically was originally elective and it only covered certain types of documented traumatic injuries, and we saw with the passage of time and various things that would occur in the workplace that there was a need for this law to evolve and develop. It eventually evolved from being elective to compulsory in pretty much every jurisdiction right now; I believe Texas is the only state where a business may elect to be covered in the workers’ comp or to go bare and not have workers’ comp insurance. But the other 49 states as well as the federal government and various other subtype of employments like longshore and harbor workers, like maritime workers under the Jones Act, like federal employees, railroad employees, there are other types of workers’ comp systems. So over the first 50 to 60 or so years we saw a development of workers’ comp. We saw defenses start to arise, going and coming rule, cases where the question is when does workers’ compensation coverage begin? Does it begin when the worker leaves his house in the morning or does it begin when he arrives in the workplace? We saw the development of doctrines such as the personal comfort doctrine, what happens if a worker is injured during a lunch break or a smoking break or a rest period. We saw other types of doctrines creep up, like dual capacity, street-risk doctrine and these all basically came from a variety of cases; people found themselves getting hurt in different ways and ways perhaps not contemplated originally. So over the first perhaps — till the mid part of the 20th Century the workers’ comp law evolved, developed, and as a result it fell behind the times. And I started law school in 1970 and that was right around the time of Richard Nixon’s first term in office; I think he was elected in 1968, and one of his initiatives in 1970 was to pass the Occupational Safety and Health Act, OSHA of 1970. And this would give added federal involvement in areas of workplace safety. And as part of the OSHA statute, there was the creation of a National Commission to study state-based workers’ compensation laws, because it was recognized at that time that perhaps the various states around the country were not uniform and perhaps the benefits were not anywhere near as reasonable as they should be, and the workers’ comp system was not delivering benefits in a consistent, timely, and fair manner across the board. So actually while I was in law school this Commission met for two years, and in 1972 they issued their report; I believe it was July 1 of 1972, their report to President Nixon outlined several dozen recommendations for workers’ compensation laws to change or the threat that the federal government may be involved to somehow take over the workers’ comp system or try to standardize it or maybe bring it within the Social Security system. So in that period of time, right around the time I started working in this system, the National Commission came out with all of these recommendations, of which 19 or so were deemed essential recommendations. And those recommendations which were issued in 1972 served the basis of what has happened since then from really up till today and continuing. Among the recommendations were compulsory rather than elective coverage, all injuries and diseases to be covered if related to employment, benefit levels would be set for duration, no durational limits for permanent disability, maximum weekly benefits equal to 100% of the state average weekly wage, full medical and rehabilitation benefits, safety under OSHA and many others. And as a result of the 1972 report, state by state by state probably beginning in the mid to late ‘70s, but really taking hold in the early ‘80s, led to across the country states bringing their systems up to standard or at least up to the minimum standards that the National Commission had recommended. And here in Massachusetts, for example, we at that time, I think in 19 — in my memory, I was handling workers’ comp claims in ’72, I think the maximum weekly benefit no matter what the injured worker might collect per week was capped I believe at $95 a week. The state average weekly wage back then was probably closer to $200 a week. But shortly after the National Commission issued its reports back in 1975 and 1976, Massachusetts moved to set the max based on the state average wage. So we went from maybe $95 or $101 a week right up to $211 a week and every year our state average wage is calculated and today the maximum benefit is just over $1,300 a week. So that what we saw in the early ‘80s, right up until probably the early ‘90s, was a state-by-state expansion of coverage benefits, benefit levels, and during that period of time of course we saw a spike in medical costs and medical care so that the end result or one of the results of bringing the workers’ compensation system up to reasonable standards, at least as according to the National Commission, was a significant increase in costs which translated into an increase of premiums to employers. And it led to a crisis in which perhaps the benefits came too quickly and too high and the system could not afford it. And one of the beauties of why and how the workers’ compensation system has evolved over the last 100 and so years is that it has responded to changes, albeit slowly and albeit through the legislative process, but the system has been relatively elastic, so that if the system got clearly out of whack or out of balance, there was usually at some point a legislative correction. Unfortunately, a lot of times the corrections were over-corrections, so that the balance was then shifted like a seesaw; it would go up one end and down the other end. And the same thing happened as a result of all of the enhanced benefits and restructuring of workers’ comp in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s. And I think at this point what I would like to do is take a short break and we will come back and perhaps just as quickly go through the next 45 or 50 years since the National Commission report. So we are going to take a short break and we will be back in just a few minutes. Does your law firm need an investigator for a background check, civil investigation or other type of investigation, PInow.com is a one of a kind resource for locating investigators anywhere in the US and worldwide. The professionals listed on PInow understand the legal constraints of an investigation, are up to date on the latest technology, and have extensive experience in many types of investigation, including workers’ compensation and surveillance. Find a prescreened private investigator today, visit www.pinow.com. Alan S. Pierce: Okay, welcome back to Workers Comp Matters. This is Alan Pierce. Where I left off, chronologically at least, was sort of tracing in really a relatively small amount of time, compressing perhaps about 70 or 80 years of the United States workers’ comp history, and I think we sort of got up into the mid to late ‘80s and we were talking about balance and how the workers’ comp system to be effective really needs to be in balance. The employer and the insurer — the insurer should be able to collect a fair premium in exchange for a fair payment to workers and their families as a result of injuries, and when that balance is upset, when the premiums are too high or the benefits are too low, some group or some collection of groups are going to petition their legislators and they are going to make changes. So sure enough, now by the late ‘80s, I am now firmly entrenched as a lawyer. I have been in the system perhaps for 20 to 25 years, now representing only injured workers, and of course I and my colleagues are benefiting from in Massachusetts our major workers’ comp reform which took effect in 1985 and benefit levels and benefit durations changed and increased, much to the benefit of injured workers, much to the detriment of the cost of the system. And instead of taking decades for a crisis to develop, it only took about four or five years, and we saw in 1990 and 1991 in Massachusetts, and Massachusetts was not unlike many other states around the country, we elected a Republican Governor here in Massachusetts. A governor who was very responsive to the complaints and interests of the business community that the workers’ comp premiums were so high, it was discouraging business growth. It was causing some employers to leave or threatening to leave the Commonwealth, it was prohibiting the Commonwealth of attracting employers from other states to locate here. So the legislature got involved, a comprehensive bill was submitted, it was one of the keystones of Governor Weld’s platform when he ran for governor against what had been a Democratic predecessor. And as a result in 1991-1992 we had a reform of the reform and this time as it occurred here in Massachusetts and has occurred in almost every other state, the reforms were not beneficial to the injured worker. There was a reduction in the amount and formula of weekly benefits, the duration of weekly benefits. There were cost containment controls put in, Utilization Review and treatment guidelines and we have talked about that on past shows. But what we have seen over the past now maybe 25, going on 30 years, has been a systemic across the country reduction in benefits and a change in the way policymakers, legislators and others perceive workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation is not being perceived as it had been before as a social — a type of social insurance, something different than long-term disability, something different than private health insurance, something that transcends the law, but going back to where I began the show with the grand bargain, this social contract between labor and management. If you really look at the early, early antecedents, the things we talked about, the tablets, the Hammurabi’s Code, the New Testament, the Old Testament, the references to the moral and legal and religious requirements of how people ought to treat workers, what we are seeing is society is getting away from that. They are sort of looking at workers’ comp as just another form of insurance that has a cost and I think the injured worker has been lost in the translation over the last several years, and this sort of gets us to the challenges that are out there today. We have seen legislators either unable or unwilling to increase benefits. There are probably all sorts of reasons for that, mostly political, mostly economic, mostly competition among and between states and even so-called blue states, states with progressive governors, progressive legislators. They are mindful of the need to be able to compete with their neighboring states for business and to make sure that business is vibrant and healthy and workers’ comp costs and premiums remain competitive. So as a result there has been not a whole lot of traction to get back some of the losses that injured workers have sustained over the ensuing 15, 20, 25 years or so. And at the same time we have seen a couple of other phenomena. We have seen more and more people are no longer working under collective bargaining agreements. I think organized labor in the public and private sector perhaps is 15% or less depending on the jurisdiction of the workforce, so that there is not the same perhaps spokesman or group protecting the rights of injured workers legislatively as they had been when organized labor and many more workers were covered under collective bargaining agreements. We have also had changing economies. We are having new types of businesses. We are moving away from factories and other mechanized solutions to robotics, to new types of employment, the so-called gig economy, all of these things we have talked about on other shows here on Workers Comp Matters. And as a result workers’ comp has not been able to remedy what I think are some of the serious defects and what has occurred is that proponents of change, people looking to make the system more equal or more fair have turned to the courts as opposed to the legislators. And I would say over the last three or four years, and we have done a couple of shows on this, we have had various constitutional challenges to a particular state’s workers’ compensation system, going back to the decision in White v. New York Central Railroad, where the court said for a workers’ comp system to be constitutional, it must not be unreasonable in terms of the benefits. So we have seen across the country perhaps in 8 or 10 or 12 jurisdictions in the last three or four years appellate courts, either appeals courts or the Supreme Courts in various states looking at a particular workers’ comp law that has been amended to the point that the benefit levels are objectively, at least to the court, not satisfying the constitutional requirements that the Supreme Court laid down back in 1917. And perhaps the most recent case is probably about six or seven months old, I think it was at the end of 2018, appeals court in the State of Kansas in the case of Howard Johnson III v. U.S. Food Service sort of looked at a portion of the Kansas statute that had to do with how impairment ratings are measured. It was the position of Johnson that the Kansas statute was so hostile to his rights or to the rights of injured workers that the court actually looked at it, and I am going to quote from the court’s decision finding the Kansas reference to this particular section in the statute unconstitutional. And the court said “In summary, this court struggles with the bottom line figure as to how much a quid pro quo can be amended and still remain an adequate quid pro quo. This court realizes that an original quid pro quo cannot be emasculated to a point where it is no longer a viable and sufficient substitute remedy. The gradual erosion of the fair exchange between rights under the Act – that is the Kansas State Workers’ Comp Act – and common-law rights to tort recovery have, for the injured worker, amounted to death by a thousand paper cuts. What is the last slice that tips the balance from a fair exchange of rights and remedies to one that is unconstitutionally inadequate from the injured worker’s point of view?” So the court looked at the Kansas statute in terms of the benefit levels and made the decision that this was the final cut for the injured workers of Kansas and that the grand bargain, the quid pro quo, the great compromise of an adequate remedy in exchange for the right to sue was no longer being met, and as a result where the legislature could not or did not act, the court acted and said, at least this section of the Kansas Workers’ Comp Act is no longer constitutional and struck it down. There have been similar results in Florida and in Oklahoma and in Utah and Louisiana and several other states, Pennsylvania, so that what we are seeing here is if the legislatures cannot create or maintain that balance between a fair premium and a fair benefit to injured workers, then on the most egregious circumstances, then the courts may step in. So the challenge for me and for my colleagues, those of us who represent injured workers, those of us who represent insurance companies, those of us who represent employers is to me, to be continue to be mindful of the historical antecedents and social imperatives that necessitated workers’ comp and to understand what differentiates workers’ comp from other areas of insurance, be it health insurance or disability insurance or Medicare or some of these other programs and realize that this is something that is for the benefit of injured workers, it’s for the benefit of businesses, that it requires balance, it requires an understanding of what the system is designed to do and what it is designed not to do. So even though I have made my living in the field of workers’ comp, I think what’s important for me and important for my colleagues is in going forward, not only to continue to make a living, but to really continue to make a difference. So to all of you out there that have listened to Workers Comp Matters in the past or will continue to listen to Workers Comp Matters, please do so with the understanding that what we really want to do is just make a difference, make things better for our respective clients, but do so with the understanding that in order for the system to be successful, it has to be balanced, it has to be fair, and it has to be adequate. So having said all that, thank you for listening and look forward to our next show here on Workers Comp Matters. For now, this is Alan Pierce saying, go out and make it a day that matters. Thank you for listening. Outro: Thanks for listening to Workers Comp Matters today on the Legal Talk Network, hosted by attorney Alan S. Pierce, where we try to make a difference in workers’ comp legal cases for people injured at work. Be sure to listen to other Workers Comp Matters shows on the Legal Talk Network, your only choice for legal talk. Podcast: Workers Comp Matters Category: Workers Compensation Workers' Comp Matters encompasses all aspects of workers' compensation from cases and benefits to recovery. Putting Workers Comp Policies Under the Microscope Ramona Tanabe discusses WCRI’s work and shares some of the most interesting trends her organization is seeing in the field today. Drug Formularies in Workers’ Comp—Good for Injured Workers? Tom Holder talks about the role of drug formularies in workers’ compensation. Subrogation and Workers’ Compensation Liens on Third Party Settlements. Cathy Surbeck discusses subrogation and liens on third party settlements. Wage Theft: From Investigation to Resolution Karla Zarbo discusses wage theft and its related issues and talk about the processes involved in investigating the many types of wage complaints. History of Workers’ Compensation with John F. Burton, Jr. John F. Burton, Jr. talks about his career as a workers’ compensation expert, which has spanned over 50 years.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line828
__label__cc	0.655946	0.344054	DIVISION 1. PROPERTY TAXATION [50 - 5911] PART 0.5. IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE XIII A OF THE CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION [50 - 100.96] ( Part 0.5 added by Stats. 1979, Ch. 242. ) CHAPTER 2. Change in Ownership and Purchase [60 - 69.5] ( Chapter 2 added by Stats. 1979, Ch. 242. ) (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 2 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, any person over the age of 55 years, or any severely and permanently disabled person, who resides in property that is eligible for the homeowners’ exemption under subdivision (k) of Section 3 of Article XIII of the California Constitution and Section 218 may transfer, subject to the conditions and limitations provided in this section, the base year value of that property to any replacement dwelling of equal or lesser value that is located within the same county and is purchased or newly constructed by that person as his or her principal residence within two years of the sale by that person of the original property, provided that the base year value of the original property shall not be transferred to the replacement dwelling until the original property is sold. (2) Notwithstanding the limitation in paragraph (1) requiring that the original property and the replacement dwelling be located in the same county, this limitation shall not apply in any county in which the county board of supervisors, after consultation with local affected agencies within the boundaries of the county, adopts an ordinance making the provisions of paragraph (1) also applicable to situations in which replacement dwellings are located in that county and the original properties are located in another county within this state. The authorization contained in this paragraph shall be applicable in a county only if the ordinance adopted by the board of supervisors complies with all of the following requirements: (A) It is adopted only after consultation between the board of supervisors and all other local affected agencies within the county’s boundaries. (B) It requires that all claims for transfers of base year value from original property located in another county be granted if the claims meet the applicable requirements of both subdivision (a) of Section 2 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution and this section. (C) It requires that all base year valuations of original property located in another county and determined by its assessor be accepted in connection with the granting of claims for transfers of base year value. (D) It provides that its provisions are operative for a period of not less than five years. (E) The ordinance specifies the date on and after which its provisions shall be applicable. However, the date specified shall not be earlier than November 9, 1988. The specified applicable date may be a date earlier than the date the county adopts the ordinance. (b) In addition to meeting the requirements of subdivision (a), any person claiming the property tax relief provided by this section shall be eligible for that relief only if the following conditions are met: (1) The claimant is an owner and a resident of the original property either at the time of its sale, or at the time when the original property was substantially damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity, or within two years of the purchase or new construction of the replacement dwelling. (2) The original property is eligible for the homeowners’ exemption, as the result of the claimant’s ownership and occupation of the property as his or her principal residence, either at the time of its sale, or at the time when the original property was substantially damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity, or within two years of the purchase or new construction of the replacement dwelling. (3) At the time of the sale of the original property, the claimant or the claimant’s spouse who resides with the claimant is at least 55 years of age, or is severely and permanently disabled. (4) At the time of claiming the property tax relief provided by subdivision (a), the claimant is an owner of a replacement dwelling and occupies it as his or her principal place of residence and, as a result thereof, the property is currently eligible for the homeowners’ exemption or would be eligible for the exemption except that the property is already receiving the exemption because of an exemption claim filed by the previous owner. (5) The original property of the claimant is sold by him or her within two years of the purchase or new construction of the replacement dwelling. For purposes of this paragraph, the purchase or new construction of the replacement dwelling includes the purchase of that portion of land on which the replacement building, structure, or other shelter constituting a place of abode of the claimant will be situated and that, pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (g), constitutes a part of the replacement dwelling. (6) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the replacement dwelling, including that portion of land on which it is situated that is specified in paragraph (5), is located entirely within the same county as the claimant’s original property. (7) The claimant has not previously been granted, as a claimant, the property tax relief provided by this section, except that this paragraph shall not apply to any person who becomes severely and permanently disabled subsequent to being granted, as a claimant, the property tax relief provided by this section for any person over the age of 55 years. In order to prevent duplication of claims under this section within this state, county assessors shall report quarterly to the State Board of Equalization that information from claims filed in accordance with subdivision (f) and from county records as is specified by the board necessary to identify fully all claims under this section allowed by assessors and all claimants who have thereby received relief. The board may specify that the information include all or a part of the names and social security numbers of claimants and their spouses and the identity and location of the replacement dwelling to which the claim applies. The information may be required in the form of data processing media or other media and in a format that is compatible with the recordkeeping processes of the counties and the auditing procedures of the state. (c) The property tax relief provided by this section shall be available if the original property or the replacement dwelling, or both, of the claimant includes, but is not limited to, either of the following: (1) A unit or lot within a cooperative housing corporation, a community apartment project, a condominium project, or a planned unit development. If the unit or lot constitutes the original property of the claimant, the assessor shall transfer to the claimant’s replacement dwelling only the base year value of the claimant’s unit or lot and his or her share in any common area reserved as an appurtenance of that unit or lot. If the unit or lot constitutes the replacement dwelling of the claimant, the assessor shall transfer the base year value of the claimant’s original property only to the unit or lot of the claimant and any share of the claimant in any common area reserved as an appurtenance of that unit or lot. (2) A manufactured home or a manufactured home and any land owned by the claimant on which the manufactured home is situated. For purposes of this paragraph, “land owned by the claimant” includes a pro rata interest in a resident-owned mobilehome park that is assessed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 62.1. (A) If the manufactured home or the manufactured home and the land on which it is situated constitutes the claimant’s original property, the assessor shall transfer to the claimant’s replacement dwelling either the base year value of the manufactured home or the base year value of the manufactured home and the land on which it is situated, as appropriate. If the manufactured home dwelling that constitutes the original property of the claimant includes an interest in a resident-owned mobilehome park, the assessor shall transfer to the claimant’s replacement dwelling the base year value of the claimant’s manufactured home and his or her pro rata portion of the real property of the park. No transfer of base year value shall be made by the assessor of that portion of land that does not constitute a part of the original property, as provided in paragraph (4) of subdivision (g). (B) If the manufactured home or the manufactured home and the land on which it is situated constitutes the claimant’s replacement dwelling, the assessor shall transfer the base year value of the claimant’s original property either to the manufactured home or the manufactured home and the land on which it is situated, as appropriate. If the manufactured home dwelling that constitutes the replacement dwelling of the claimant includes an interest in a resident-owned mobilehome park, the assessor shall transfer the base year value of the claimant’s original property to the manufactured home of the claimant and his or her pro rata portion of the park. No transfer of base year value shall be made by the assessor to that portion of land that does not constitute a part of the replacement dwelling, as provided in paragraph (3) of subdivision (g). This subdivision shall be subject to the limitations specified in subdivision (d). (d) The property tax relief provided by this section shall be available to a claimant who is the coowner of the original property, as a joint tenant, a tenant in common, a community property owner, or a present beneficiary of a trust subject to the following limitations: (1) If a single replacement dwelling is purchased or newly constructed by all of the coowners and each coowner retains an interest in the replacement dwelling, the claimant shall be eligible under this section whether or not any or all of the remaining coowners would otherwise be eligible claimants. (2) If two or more replacement dwellings are separately purchased or newly constructed by two or more coowners and more than one coowner would otherwise be an eligible claimant, only one coowner shall be eligible under this section. These coowners shall determine by mutual agreement which one of them shall be deemed eligible. (3) If two or more replacement dwellings are separately purchased or newly constructed by two coowners who held the original property as community property, only the coowner who has attained the age of 55 years, or is severely and permanently disabled, shall be eligible under this section. If both spouses are over 55 years of age, they shall determine by mutual agreement which one of them is eligible. In the case of coowners whose original property is a multiunit dwelling, the limitations imposed by paragraphs (2) and (3) shall only apply to coowners who occupied the same dwelling unit within the original property at the time specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). (e) Upon the sale of original property, the assessor shall determine a new base year value for that property in accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 2 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution and Section 110.1, whether or not a replacement dwelling is subsequently purchased or newly constructed by the former owner or owners of the original property. This section shall not apply unless the transfer of the original property is a change in ownership that either (1) subjects that property to reappraisal at its current fair market value in accordance with Section 110.1 or 5803 or (2) results in a base year value determined in accordance with this section, Section 69, or Section 69.3 because the property qualifies under this section, Section 69, or Section 69.3 as a replacement dwelling or property. (f) (1) A claimant shall not be eligible for the property tax relief provided by this section unless the claimant provides to the assessor, on a form that shall be designed by the State Board of Equalization and that the assessor shall make available upon request, the following information: (A) The name and social security number of each claimant and of any spouse of the claimant who is a record owner of the replacement dwelling. (B) Proof that the claimant or the claimant’s spouse who resided on the original property with the claimant was, at the time of its sale, at least 55 years of age, or severely and permanently disabled. Proof of severe and permanent disability shall be considered a certification, signed by a licensed physician and surgeon of appropriate specialty, attesting to the claimant’s severely and permanently disabled condition. In the absence of available proof that a person is over 55 years of age, the claimant shall certify under penalty of perjury that the age requirement is met. In the case of a severely and permanently disabled claimant either of the following shall be submitted: (i) A certification, signed by a licensed physician or surgeon of appropriate specialty that identifies specific reasons why the disability necessitates a move to the replacement dwelling and the disability-related requirements, including any locational requirements, of a replacement dwelling. The claimant shall substantiate that the replacement dwelling meets disability-related requirements so identified and that the primary reason for the move to the replacement dwelling is to satisfy those requirements. If the claimant, or the claimant’s spouse or guardian, so declares under penalty of perjury, it shall be rebuttably presumed that the primary purpose of the move to the replacement dwelling is to satisfy identified disability-related requirements. (ii) The claimant’s substantiation that the primary purpose of the move to the replacement dwelling is to alleviate financial burdens caused by the disability. If the claimant, or the claimant’s spouse or guardian, so declares under penalty of perjury, it shall be rebuttably presumed that the primary purpose of the move is to alleviate the financial burdens caused by the disability. (C) The address and, if known, the assessor’s parcel number of the original property. (D) The date of the claimant’s sale of the original property and the date of the claimant’s purchase or new construction of a replacement dwelling. (E) A statement by the claimant that he or she occupied the replacement dwelling as his or her principal place of residence on the date of the filing of his or her claim. (F) Any claim under this section shall be filed within three years of the date the replacement dwelling was purchased or the new construction of the replacement dwelling was completed subject to subdivision (k) or (m). (2) A claim for transfer of base year value under this section that is filed after the expiration of the filing period set forth in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) shall be considered by the assessor, subject to all of the following conditions: (A) Any base year value transfer granted pursuant to that claim shall apply commencing with the lien date of the assessment year in which the claim is filed. (B) The full cash value of the replacement property in the assessment year described in subparagraph (A) shall be the base year value of the real property in the assessment year in which the base year value was transferred, factored to the assessment year described in subparagraph (A) for both of the following: (i) Inflation as annually determined in accordance with paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 51. (ii) Any subsequent new construction occurring with respect to the subject real property that does not qualify for property tax relief pursuant to the criteria set forth in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (h). (g) For purposes of this section: (1) “Person over the age of 55 years” means any person or the spouse of any person who has attained the age of 55 years or older at the time of the sale of the original property. (2) “Base year value of the original property” means its base year value, as determined in accordance with Section 110.1, with the adjustments permitted by subdivision (b) of Section 2 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution and subdivision (f) of Section 110.1, determined as of the date immediately prior to the date that the original property is sold by the claimant, or in the case where the original property has been substantially damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity and the owner does not rebuild on the original property, determined as of the date immediately prior to the misfortune or calamity. If the replacement dwelling is purchased or newly constructed after the transfer of the original property, “base year value of the original property” also includes any inflation factor adjustments permitted by subdivision (f) of Section 110.1 for the period subsequent to the sale of the original property. The base year or years used to compute the “base year value of the original property” shall be deemed to be the base year or years of any property to which that base year value is transferred pursuant to this section. (3) “Replacement dwelling” means a building, structure, or other shelter constituting a place of abode, whether real property or personal property, that is owned and occupied by a claimant as his or her principal place of residence, and any land owned by the claimant on which the building, structure, or other shelter is situated. For purposes of this paragraph, land constituting a part of a replacement dwelling includes only that area of reasonable size that is used as a site for a residence, and “land owned by the claimant” includes land for which the claimant either holds a leasehold interest described in subdivision (c) of Section 61 or a land purchase contract. Each unit of a multiunit dwelling shall be considered a separate replacement dwelling. For purposes of this paragraph, “area of reasonable size that is used as a site for a residence” includes all land if any nonresidential uses of the property are only incidental to the use of the property as a residential site. For purposes of this paragraph, “land owned by the claimant” includes an ownership interest in a resident-owned mobilehome park that is assessed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 62.1. (4) “Original property” means a building, structure, or other shelter constituting a place of abode, whether real property or personal property, that is owned and occupied by a claimant as his or her principal place of residence, and any land owned by the claimant on which the building, structure, or other shelter is situated. For purposes of this paragraph, land constituting a part of the original property includes only that area of reasonable size that is used as a site for a residence, and “land owned by the claimant” includes land for which the claimant either holds a leasehold interest described in subdivision (c) of Section 61 or a land purchase contract. Each unit of a multiunit dwelling shall be considered a separate original property. For purposes of this paragraph, “area of reasonable size that is used as a site for a residence” includes all land if any nonresidential uses of the property are only incidental to the use of the property as a residential site. For purposes of this paragraph, “land owned by the claimant” includes an ownership interest in a resident-owned mobilehome park that is assessed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 62.1. (5) “Equal or lesser value” means that the amount of the full cash value of a replacement dwelling does not exceed one of the following: (A) One hundred percent of the amount of the full cash value of the original property if the replacement dwelling is purchased or newly constructed prior to the date of the sale of the original property. (B) One hundred and five percent of the amount of the full cash value of the original property if the replacement dwelling is purchased or newly constructed within the first year following the date of the sale of the original property. (C) One hundred and ten percent of the amount of the full cash value of the original property if the replacement dwelling is purchased or newly constructed within the second year following the date of the sale of the original property. For the purposes of this paragraph, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (4) of subdivision (h), if the replacement dwelling is, in part, purchased and, in part, newly constructed, the date the “replacement dwelling is purchased or newly constructed” is the date of purchase or the date of completion of construction, whichever is later. (6) “Full cash value of the replacement dwelling” means its full cash value, determined in accordance with Section 110.1, as of the date on which it was purchased or new construction was completed, and after the purchase or the completion of new construction. (7) “Full cash value of the original property” means, either: (A) Its new base year value, determined in accordance with subdivision (e), without the application of subdivision (h) of Section 2 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, plus the adjustments permitted by subdivision (b) of Section 2 of Article XIII A and subdivision (f) of Section 110.1 for the period from the date of its sale by the claimant to the date on which the replacement property was purchased or new construction was completed. (B) In the case where the original property has been substantially damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity and the owner does not rebuild on the original property, its full cash value, as determined in accordance with Section 110, immediately prior to its substantial damage or destruction by misfortune or calamity, as determined by the county assessor of the county in which the property is located, without the application of subdivision (h) of Section 2 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, plus the adjustments permitted by subdivision (b) of Section 2 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution and subdivision (f) of Section 110.1, for the period from the date of its sale by the claimant to the date on which the replacement property was purchased or new construction was completed. (8) “Sale” means any change in ownership of the original property for consideration. (9) “Claimant” means any person claiming the property tax relief provided by this section. If a spouse of that person is a record owner of the replacement dwelling, the spouse is also a claimant for purposes of determining whether in any future claim filed by the spouse under this section the condition of eligibility specified in paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) has been met. (10) “Property that is eligible for the homeowners’ exemption” includes property that is the principal place of residence of its owner and is entitled to exemption pursuant to Section 205.5. (11) “Person” means any individual, but does not include any firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or other legal entity or organization of any kind. “Person” includes an individual who is the present beneficiary of a trust. (12) “Severely and permanently disabled” means any person described in subdivision (b) of Section 74.3. (13) For the purposes of this section, property is “substantially damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity” if either the land or the improvements sustain physical damage amounting to more than 50 percent of either the land’s or the improvement’s full cash value immediately prior to the misfortune or calamity. Damage includes a diminution in the value of property as a result of restricted access to the property where the restricted access was caused by the misfortune or calamity and is permanent in nature. (h) (1) Upon the timely filing of a claim described in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (f), the assessor shall adjust the new base year value of the replacement dwelling in conformity with this section. This adjustment shall be made as of the latest of the following dates: (A) The date the original property is sold. (B) The date the replacement dwelling is purchased. (C) The date the new construction of the replacement dwelling is completed. (2) Any taxes that were levied on the replacement dwelling prior to the filing of the claim on the basis of the replacement dwelling’s new base year value, and any allowable annual adjustments thereto, shall be canceled or refunded to the claimant to the extent that the taxes exceed the amount that would be due when determined on the basis of the adjusted new base year value. (3) Notwithstanding Section 75.10, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 75) shall be utilized for purposes of implementing this subdivision, including adjustments of the new base year value of replacement dwellings acquired prior to the sale of the original property. (4) In the case where a claim under this section has been timely filed and granted, and new construction is performed upon the replacement dwelling subsequent to the transfer of base year value, the property tax relief provided by this section also shall apply to the replacement dwelling, as improved, and thus there shall be no reassessment upon completion of the new construction if both of the following conditions are met: (A) The new construction is completed within two years of the date of the sale of the original property and the owner notifies the assessor in writing of completion of the new construction within six months after completion. (B) The fair market value of the new construction on the date of completion, plus the full cash value of the replacement dwelling on the date of acquisition, is not more than the full cash value of the original property as determined pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (g) for purposes of granting the original claim. (i) Any claimant may rescind a claim for the property tax relief provided by this section and shall not be considered to have received that relief for purposes of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b), and the assessor shall grant the rescission, if a written notice of rescission is delivered to the office of the assessor as follows: (1) A written notice of rescission signed by the original filing claimant or claimants is delivered to the office of the assessor in which the original claim was filed. (2) (A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the notice of rescission is delivered to the office of the assessor before the date that the county first issues, as a result of relief granted under this section, a refund check for property taxes imposed upon the replacement dwelling. If granting relief will not result in a refund of property taxes, then the notice shall be delivered before payment is first made of any property taxes, or any portion thereof, imposed upon the replacement dwelling consistent with relief granted under this section. If payment of the taxes is not made, then notice shall be delivered before the first date that those property taxes, or any portion thereof, imposed upon the replacement dwelling, consistent with relief granted under this section, are delinquent. (B) Notwithstanding any other provision in this division, any time the notice of rescission is delivered to the office of the assessor within six years after relief was granted, provided that the replacement property has been vacated as the claimant’s principal place of residence within 90 days after the original claim was filed, regardless of whether the property continues to receive the homeowners’ exemption. If the rescission increases the base year value of a property, or the homeowners’ exemption has been incorrectly allowed, appropriate escape assessments or supplemental assessments, including interest as provided in Section 506, shall be imposed. The limitations periods for any escape assessments or supplemental assessments shall not commence until July 1 of the assessment year in which the notice of rescission is delivered to the office of the assessor. (3) The notice is accompanied by the payment of a fee as the assessor may require, provided that the fee shall not exceed an amount reasonably related to the estimated cost of processing a rescission claim, including both direct costs and developmental and indirect costs, such as costs for overhead, personnel, supplies, materials, office space, and computers. (j) (1) With respect to the transfer of base year value of original properties to replacement dwellings located in the same county, this section, except as provided in paragraph (3) or (4), shall apply to any replacement dwelling that is purchased or newly constructed on or after November 6, 1986. (2) With respect to the transfer of base year value of original properties to replacement dwellings located in different counties, except as provided in paragraph (4), this section shall apply to any replacement dwelling that is purchased or newly constructed on or after the date specified in accordance with subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) in the ordinance of the county in which the replacement dwelling is located, but shall not apply to any replacement dwelling which was purchased or newly constructed before November 9, 1988. (3) With respect to the transfer of base year value by a severely and permanently disabled person, this section shall apply only to replacement dwellings that are purchased or newly constructed on or after June 6, 1990. (4) The amendments made to subdivision (e) by the act adding this paragraph shall apply only to replacement dwellings under Section 69 that are acquired or newly constructed on or after October 20, 1991, and shall apply commencing with the 1991–92 fiscal year. (k) (1) In the case in which a county adopts an ordinance pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) that establishes an applicable date which is more than three years prior to the date of adoption of the ordinance, those potential claimants who purchased or constructed replacement dwellings more than three years prior to the date of adoption of the ordinance and who would, therefore, be precluded from filing a timely claim, shall be deemed to have timely filed a claim if the claim is filed within three years after the date that the ordinance is adopted. This paragraph may not be construed as a waiver of any other requirement of this section. (2) In the case in which a county assessor corrects a base year value to reflect a pro rata change in ownership of a resident-owned mobilehome park that occurred between January 1, 1989, and January 1, 2002, pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 62.1, those claimants who purchased or constructed replacement dwellings more than three years prior to the correction and who would, therefore, be precluded from filing a timely claim, shall be deemed to have timely filed a claim if the claim is filed within three years of the date of notice of the correction of the base year value to reflect the pro rata change in ownership. This paragraph may not be construed as a waiver of any other requirement of this section. (3) This subdivision does not apply to a claimant who has transferred his or her replacement dwelling prior to filing a claim. (4) The property tax relief provided by this section, but filed under this subdivision, shall apply prospectively only, commencing with the lien date of the assessment year in which the claim is filed. There shall be no refund or cancellation of taxes prior to the date that the claim is filed. (l) No escape assessment may be levied if a transfer of base year value under this section has been erroneously granted by the assessor pursuant to an expired ordinance authorizing intercounty transfers of base year value. (m) (1) The amendments made to subdivisions (b) and (g) of this section by Chapter 613 of the Statutes of 2001 shall apply: (A) With respect to the transfer of base year value of original properties to replacement dwellings located in the same county, to any replacement dwelling that is purchased or newly constructed on or after November 6, 1986. (B) With respect to the transfer of base year value of original properties to replacement dwellings located in different counties, to any replacement dwelling that is purchased or newly constructed on or after the date specified in accordance with subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) in the ordinance of the county in which the replacement dwelling is located, but not to any replacement dwelling that was purchased or newly constructed before November 9, 1988. (C) With respect to the transfer of base year value by a severely and permanently disabled person, to replacement dwellings that are purchased or newly constructed on or after June 6, 1990. (2) The property tax relief provided by this section in accordance with this subdivision shall apply prospectively only commencing with the lien date of the assessment year in which the claim is filed. There shall be no refund or cancellation of taxes prior to the date that the claim is filed. (n) A claim filed under this section is not a public document and is not subject to public inspection, except that a claim shall be available for inspection by the claimant or the claimant’s spouse, the claimant’s or the claimant’s spouse’s legal representative, the trustee of a trust in which the claimant or the claimant’s spouse is a present beneficiary, and the executor or administrator of the claimant’s or the claimant’s spouse’s estate. (o) The amendments made to this section by the act adding this subdivision shall apply commencing with the lien date for the 2012–13 fiscal year. (Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 351, Sec. 4. (SB 947) Effective January 1, 2012.)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line831
__label__cc	0.534094	0.465906	All-New Invaders (2014-2015) #7 All-New Invaders (2014-2015) ORIGINAL SIN TIE IN! JIM HAMMOND THE ORIGINAL HUMAN TORCH, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., must reveal the tragic ORIGINAL SIN of the INVADERS! Did the team make a fatal miscalculation by disobeying orders from on high? Steve Pugh Greg Land All-New Invaders Vol. 2: Original Sin The KREE EMPIRE intends to conquer the universe using a weapon that will grant them an army of NORSE GODS. Invaders Now! (2010-2011) The greatest super heroes of World War II blaze into action-this time in the modern world! For the first time in decades, the original Invaders are alive and active at the same time! But what mysterious force has drawn them all together...and how does it relate to the darkest moment in Invaders history, an event so horrifying it threatens all life on Earth today? Featuring: Captain America! The Su Collects Marvel Universe (1998) #1-7. It's 1945, and World War II is almost over - but Hydra founder Baron Wolfgang von Strucker is already planning the next one with insider information from the future! It's up to the Invaders to re-write Strucker's history books and drive down his Dragon of Death! Then, more than ten years later, Doctor Druid forms the Monster Hunters to face another pivotal Avengers/Invaders (2008-2009) Collects Avengers/Invaders #1-12. The Civil War is over, and the Avengers are divided. Captain America's death has been a blow to both sides. Now, the Star-Spangled Sentinel is back - and it could destroy the time stream! In AVENGERS/INVADERS, Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Stephen Sadowski (Dynamite Entertainment's Project: Superpowers) - along with artists Patrick Berkenkotter and Jackson Herbert Invaders (1975-1979) America's greatest heroes of World War II led by Captain American himself! The Invaders, including Sub-Mariner, Bucky and the Human Torch, take the fight to the front lines in this action-packed first issue!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line832
__label__wiki	0.636635	0.636635	Justice League 3000 (2013-2015) #6 Justice League 3000 (2013-2015) The League decides to launch a mission to rescue Green Lantern without Cadmus' approval. Plus, the unfortunate return of The Flash makes things awkward for everybody. J.M. DeMatteis Keith Giffen Howard Porter Superhero Science Fiction Vol. 1: Yesterday Lives Starring the heroes of today-tomorrow! Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Green Lantern are back...in the 31st Century! But how? And why? The World's Greatest Superheroes arise once more to face the threats of the far future. Travel even deeper into the future than before with the all-new JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001! They've managed to become the World's Greatest Heroes of the 30th century, but with legions of foes gunning for them, can they stay alive long enough to see the year 3002? Justice League United (2014-2015) In the aftermath of FOREVER EVIL, Adam Strange is caught up in an adventure across the far reaches of the cosmos. His quest will unite an unexpected team of heroes including Supergirl, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Stargirl, Martian Manhunter and Animal Man. Justice League Beyond (2012-2013) A new era in adventure begins as Batman Beyond joins the vaunted Justice League--just in time for their biggest adventure ever! Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs deliver an unprecedented series full of epic exploits. Justice League International (2011-2012) With the growing presence of super beings around the world, the United Nations resolves to create a new group called Justice League International. Batman, Booster Gold, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, August General in Iron, Fire, Ice, Vixen and Rocket Red are charged with promoting unity and trust -- but can they reach that goal without killing each other first?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line833
__label__wiki	0.835764	0.835764	Traditional Leaders in a Democracy – Resources, Respect and Resistance To play this media please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 media What should African pasts mean in postcolonial presents, as new modes of existence are being worked out? How are the boundaries of contemporary ‘customary communities’ determined and on what basis is one a member? And does it matter whether traditional identities are ‘authentic’, imposed, or chosen? Do traditional leaders partly owe their continued existence to an association with a precolonial past that we have been eager for, as recent calls for ‘decolonisation’ suggest? These just some of the questions which MISTRA’s newest publication seeks to address. With recommendations on land reform, mining, legislation and gender policy, amongst many others, this edited volume explores how chieftaincy is practised, experienced and contested in contemporary South Africa. It explores how those living under the authority of chiefs, in a modern democracy, negotiate or resist these politics in their respective areas. This book argues that it is not traditional leadership itself that poses problems for democracy, but rather the ways in which the institution has been distorted in post-apartheid South Africa, often at the expense of ordinary people. Contributors to the research offer alternative views of traditional leadership that are far more fluid, heterogeneous and participatory than the official story suggests, drawing on a history of customary law, chieftaincy and rural governance in South Africa which stretches back to the precolonial period. The report makes a case for the fact that traditional leadership and custom are, and always have been, continuously in flux. Mbongiseni Buthelezi works in various academic and activist capacities to do with how the state interfaces with citizens in areas that include land restitution, the role of traditional leaders in governance, heritage and public archives. Aninka Claassens is a land activist and director of the Land & Accountability Research Centre (LARC). Peter Delius has written extensively on rural issues and migrant labour, and in recent years has been deeply involved in research on land restitution and tenure reform. His most recent book is Rights to Land: A Guide to Tenure Upgrading and Restitution in South Africa (Jacana 2017). William Ellis is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of the Western Cape, whose PhD research focussed on the Khomani San of the southern Kalahari. Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa (ah! Dilizintaba) is a traditional leader of amaGebe clan of Mqanduli, Thembuland. He campaigned for the meaningful recognition of the institution of traditional leaders in South Africa. Sonwabile Mnwana is Associate Professor and Head of Department of Sociology at the University of Fort Hare and a research associate at the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP). Sindiso Mnisi Weeks is Assistant Professor, Public Policy of Excluded Populations, in the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Public Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Tlhabane Mokhine ‘Dan’ Motaung is a senior researcher of South African history at MISTRA, whose general areas of interest include world history, African history, classical philosophy and African philosophy as well as political economy. Fani Ncapayi is an Honorary Research Associate of the Centre for African Studies (CAS) and senior researcher for the Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) – a national non-governmental organisation (NGO). He is also linked with the land-based Cala University Students Association (CALUSA) in the Eastern Cape. Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyana (Zanemvula!) is head of the amaBahla clan. He serves as Chairman of the Congress of Traditional Leaders South Africa (Contralesa) in the Eastern Cape, as well as Chairman of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders. Trained as a lawyer, Nonkonyana is also an advocate of the High Court of South Africa. Dineo Skosana is a lecturer at North-West University and a Wits History Workshop and City Institute affiliate. Beth Vale is a researcher in the Humanity Faculty at MISTRA. Her research interests include everyday configurations of power and privilege in South African society. Sithandiwe Yeni is the national co-ordinator of Tshintsha Amakhaya, a civil society alliance for land and food justice in rural South Africa and an Inaugural Fellow for the Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Columbia University in New York.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line834
__label__wiki	0.918645	0.918645	Featured NewsNewsObits In Memoriam: Scotty Moore, Dec. 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016 The man behind the King — and the guitar that changed the world Bill Ramsey — June 29, 2016 By Bill Ramsey In the nervous days that led up to what would become Elvis Presley’s 1968 Comeback Special — a televised affair Colonel Parker envisioned first as a Christmas card to fans — the King of Rock ’n’ Roll was confronted with a proposition that mortified him: “Walk down the street with me,” said Steve Binder, the man who would produce the special. In Hollywood. Elvis did. And not one person recognized him. It was a revelation. His reaction was to return to his roots. He gathered his old band on a sound stage in Burbank to create what was, in effect, the first, greatest “unplugged” video of all time. The theme of the show, said Binder, was to follow the guitar man from humble beginnings to stardom, but it was the jam session set piece that reignited Elvis. Assembled behind him were drummer D.J. Fontana and guitarist Scotty Moore. Bassist Bill Black had died in 1965, but the core was intact. Fourteen years earlier, the group made history at Sun Records in Memphis. Now he was back. Moore was the essential element. No other guitarist ever propelled Elvis — save the whirlwind that is James Burton — to such heights. Scotty Moore died on June 28 at 84 at his home in Nashville with an epochal career behind him. His chords were the sound that one first heard when the first Elvis platter hit the turntable. This was the guitar that shook the world. Born Winfield Scott Moore III on Dec. 27, 1931, on a farm in Humboldt, Tennessee, Moore began playing guitar at the age of 8, learning from family and friends. After a stint in the Navy, he formed the Starlite Wranglers with bassist Bill Black and began working with Sam Phillips at Sun Records. There he met Presley, whose first audition apparently left Moore unimpressed. “He had a nice voice,” Moore recalled, but not much else. Fortunately, Phillips thought otherwise, and thus began Moore’s 14-year career as Presley’s guitarist, his first manager and a lifelong friendship — not to mention ushering in an era that would forever change the face of American popular music. “I met him on Sunday,” Moore said in an interview after his 1992 autobiography was published, “and we went in the studio Monday night. That was when ‘That’s All Right’ was cut. But that was an audition, it wasn’t meant as a session.” That audition caught fire, though, and the guitar would never be the same. “Moore’s concise, aggressive runs mixed country picking and blues phrasing into a new instrumental language,” Rolling Stone wrote in 2011. The rest, as they say, is history. Listen to the first strains of “That’s All Right,” to the dink-dink-dink of “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Hound Dog” — and really listen to the solos. On “Hound Dog,” the first sets up another, as Greil Marcus wrote, “to show you what the extraordinary really is. Scotty Moore takes the fluid notes of the first break, and then smashes them, cuts them up, then leaps over the empty spaces. He says, ‘You thought that was the truth, but I was only kidding. I’m not kidding any more.’” No one ever underestimated the power of Moore’s guitar behind Elvis, least of all Elvis. But when Elvis was drafted in 1958, the recording machine stopped. It would be another 10 years before the two were reunited. In the meantime, Moore recorded with Black, but his main concentration in the 1960s was producing records and audio engineering for Sam Phillips at his new Nashville studio before doing freelance engineering around Nashville. He went on to record and engineer, owning and operating recording studios in Memphis and Nashville before returning to live performing in the 1980s and ’90s. Reuniting often with drummer Fontana, Moore was routinely in demand for a series of famed sessions with the likes of Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton. In 1997, Moore teamed with Fontana to record the tribute album, All the King’s Men, which featured several guest artists including the Bill Black Combo, Richards, Ron Wood, Jeff Beck, Levon Helm, Jim Weider, Rick Neilson and others. In 2000, Moore — arguably the most famous sideman in rock ’n’ roll history — was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 15th annual induction dinner. “When I heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ I knew what I wanted to do in life,” Richards once said. “It was as plain as day. All I wanted to do in the world was to be able to play and sound like that. Everyone else wanted to be Elvis, I wanted to be Scotty.” On Oct. 17, 2015, the night Moore was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame but couldn’t attend, it was Richards who accepted the award on his hero’s behalf. “I started out on an acoustic guitar,” the Rolling Stone told the star-studded crowd that night at Memphis’ Cannon Center. “Then I heard Scotty Moore, and I went electric.” He wasn’t the only one, either. Tags: All the King's MenBill BlackBill RamseyDJ FontanaElvis PresleyGrail MarcusHeartbreak HotelHound Dogin memoriamJames BurtonKeith RichardsMemphis MusicMemphis Music Hall of FameobitRock and Roll Hall of FameSam PhillipsScotty MooreStarlit WranglersSun RecordsThat's All Right Next post LSM's Progressive Country/Honky-Tonk Heroes Showdown, Round 2! Previous post Dolly Shine: "Come Out Swingin'" and "Down in the Alley" About the Author Bill Ramsey Bill Ramsey is a freelance writer living in Memphis, Tenn.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line837
__label__cc	0.572852	0.427148	May 2, 2019 by nootkabear HPV Vaccine leaves ANOTHER teenager chained to a wheelchair for LIFE. By Tracey Watson HPV Vaccine leaves ANOTHER teenager chained to a wheelchair for LIFE 05/01/2019 / By Tracey Watson https://www.newstarget.com/2019-05-01-hpv-vaccine-leaves-another-teenager-chained-to-a-wheelchair-for-life.html The human papillomavirus, known as HPV, is an incredibly common sexually transmitted infection. Though just the name HPV strikes fear into the hearts of many, for the most part, it is totally harmless. The CDC’s website notes that, “HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active people get it at some point in their lives.” While the agency warns that HPV can cause genital warts and cervical cancer, and that the vaccine is therefore vitally important, the figures just don’t back that statement up. The CDC’s own statistics show that 79 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, yet only about 100 of these will have genital warts at any given time, and only about 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in any given year. While it is not my intention to diminish the suffering of those 11,000 women in any way, it does seem startling that the CDC is recommending that everybody be vaccinated against a disease that only affects around 0.014 percent of all those infected with the virus – especially when hordes of distraught families have spoken out about the devastating effect this vaccine has had on their children. One of the affected families is the Beattie family from Wigton, England. Zara Beattie, 13, was once a sporty young girl who loved football, netball and cycling. She now virtually never leaves her bed, and is wheelchair-bound when she does leave home, after suffering a reaction to the Gardasil HPV vaccine back in 2015. Zara’s mom, Anthea, describes her daughter as an “80-year-old in a teenager’s body.” Zara is unable to stand without feeling faint, has to be homeschooled because she’s simply too exhausted to go to school, and can barely cope with sitting up to have a meal. She also suffers from constant headaches, as well as muscle and joint pain. Mother Nature’s micronutrient secret: Organic Broccoli Sprout Capsules now available, delivering 280mg of high-density nutrition, including the extraordinary “sulforaphane” and “glucosinolate” nutrients found only in cruciferous healing foods. Every lot laboratory tested. See availability here. “On a bad day the poor girl can’t even stand up,” Anthea explains. “She will stay in bed all day and crawl to the toilet. She’s got a stool by the sink for when she cleans her teeth.” What is particularly noteworthy about this story is that Anthea is a nurse who has practiced for over 30 years. This really is one of medicine’s own speaking out against a procedure she obediently subjected her daughter to because she believed in the system. The entire family will now have to live with that decision for the rest of their lives. Zara has been diagnosed with a condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), but her doctors at the University of Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary, while staunchly insisting that the vaccine didn’t cause her illness, have been unable to come up with a viable alternative cause. Doctors claim that around 400 lives are saved each year because of the HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix. That figure looks dubious when one considers the overall HPV statistics, but even if their claim is true, it fails to take into account all the damage the vaccine also causes. At least 44 girls have died from these vaccines, and more than 15,000 have reported adverse effects, including seizures, blood clots, lupus, brain inflammation and Guillain-Barré syndrome. (RELATED: Lead developer of HPV vaccine admits it’s a giant, deadly scam.) In Ireland, more than 200 teenagers have reported “acute physical side-effects” after being given the HPV vaccine at their schools. In Denmark, one of the country’s national television stations, TV2, aired a documentary entitled The Vaccinated Girls – Sick and Betrayed, which revealed that many young girls had developed severe health problems after being vaccinated against HPV. And in Japan, dozens of teenage girls injured by the toxic HPV vaccine have filed suit against both the government and the drug companies who produce the vaccine. How many more young girls and their families will have to suffer before these governments stop focusing on lining the pockets of Big Pharma, and start focusing on protecting the people under their care? Posted in hazard, health, legal \| Tagged CDC, HPV, wheelchair \| Leave a comment July 14, 2015 by nootkabear ENENews: CIA Agent: “Gov’t covering up effects of radiation; I hope public becomes more aware of threat to their health” CIA Agent: Gov’t covering up effects of radiation; I hope public becomes more aware of threat to their health — Study: Actual radiation risks are “orders of magnitude greater” than official estimates; “Completely changes the picture… a serious public health hazard” (VIDEO) Published: June 13th, 2015 at 5:46 pm ET http://enenews.com/cia-agent-govt-covering-effects-radiation-hope-americans-become-aware-threat-public-health-study-actual-radiation-risks-orders-magnitude-greater-official-estimates-completely-picture-serious-public?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29 The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (pdf): http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC2596024&blobtype=pdf Direct Estimates of Low-Level Radiation Risks of Lung Cancer at Two NRC-Compliant Nuclear Installations: Why Are the New Risk Estimates 20 to 200 Times the Old Official Estimates?, Dr. Irwin Bross, Director of Biostatistics at Roswell Park Memorial Institute, 1981 (emphasis added): Nuclear submarine workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), who were exposed to low-level ionizing radiation [face] serious hazards. The new risk estimates have been found to be much higher than the official estimates. CDC/NIOSH refused to retract or correct the conclusion [that] “we found no positive dosage response relationships between ionizing radiation dose and mortality for any cause reported.” [They used] an incompetent way to examine this data. [Our analysis] gives 189 lung cancer deaths per year per million persons per rem. This is over 100 times the official estimates and completely changes the picture. PNS workers received much less than the 5 rem per year currently permitted… about 0.5 rem per year. Yet this was enough to greatly increase their risk of lung cancer. Why does… data for the [Hanford] workers… show no lung cancer relationship? [When experts] analyzed the Hanford data they did find excess lung cancer and a doubling dose… similar to the corresponding estimate for the shipyard workers. Estimates of risk to nuclear workers are two logarithmic orders of magnitude greater than the official risks. When the actual risks are 100 times greater, the cost-benefit calculations or permissible levels or environmental impact statements based on the official estimates cannot protect the health and safety of workers or the public. Indeed, there are now more than 30 studies where the data show positive relationships in human populations exposed to low-level ionizing radiation. Scientific evaluation of radiation risks [should] replace the obsolete older estimates by the newer ones. That this did not happen in the latest BEIR report suggests that official estimates are no longer a scientific product but rather a political one. Radiation [studies] become bogged down in real or manufactured “controversies”… There is now much more than a prima facie case that NRC permits doses of radiation that are dangerous – a dose that doubles the risk of a fatal disease is a serious public health hazard. Jay Mullen, former CIA agent and professor at Southern Oregon Univ., Oct 2013 (15:30 in): When I was 19 years old, I was… a University athlete. I woke up one night and couldn’t move, it paralyzed me… it just baffled doctors… the Univ. of California Medical Center… determined it was the thyroid disorder that was paralyzing me… I had a thyroidectomy and as a consequence I wear what we call the Hanford necklace. (thyroid anaplastic thyroid carcinoma gross photo) There’s a good reason if you are an investor in the nuclear community to cover up the pernicious effects of radiation, because there’s profits in nuclear operations… There are strong ‘balance sheet’ reasons to continue the nuclear community, and therefore there’s a reason to discount the possible adverse effects of radiation. I was in the government, but I was in the government clandestinely. I was an undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency in Africa in the 1970s… I understand very well that the government covers up things that might in fact be embarrassing to the government. What could be more embarrassing to the government than the fact that they hazarded their own people by their operations in the atomic community? I would hope the American public becomes more aware of the effects that radiation can have on the public’s health. The thing I find most distressing is the dissembling and… the contempt that the government and its contractors have had for the people who they’ve in fact affected. Watch the interview here: Posted in Alert, americium, birth defects, bone cancer, California, Carlsbad, CDC, censorship, cesium, Chemical, children, corruption, Danger, dead, death, destruction, dying, Fukushima plutonium, plutonium, polonium, strotium, Yale \| Tagged alert, americium, anencephaly, California, CDC, censorship, cesium, crime, dead, death, Destruction, Fukushima radiation, plutonium, polonium, strotium, Yale \| Leave a comment January 29, 2015 by nootkabear How Would CDC Know That 3.2 million Americans Have Hepatitis C, That Were Born Between 1945 and 1965? Unless They Gave It To Them… Email Received from CDC: Viral Hepatitis Updates from CDC CDC Releases New Phase of the Know More Hepatitis Campaign Of the estimated 3.2 million Americans who have Hepatitis C, 3 in 4 are people born from 1945 to 1965. The Know More Hepatitis campaign encourages everyone born from 1945-1965 to follow the CDC recommendation to get tested for Hepatitis C. The campaign is being implemented using a variety of multi-media channels including print, radio and TV PSAs, as well as airport dioramas, billboards, and transit advertisements. CDC developed additional campaign materials to help educate patients and promote testing for Hepatitis C including a new video PSA “Hepatitis C: A Hidden Disease”which shows that even if you have a healthy life and no symptoms, you could still have Hepatitis C. Implementing the Viral Hepatitis Action Plan: The Role of Community Leadership Since the release of the 2014 Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, groups like Hep B United (HBU) have used it as a framework to help guide their work. HBU utilized the Stakeholders’ Workbook as a starting point to develop a Strategic Plan which highlights HBU members’ areas of focus: community and provider education, improving testing and linkage to care to prevent hepatitis B-related liver disease and cancer, eliminating perinatal transmission of hepatitis B, and strengthening hepatitis B and C surveillance efforts. HBU also developed Opportunities for Federal-Community Collaboration to Reduce Disparities in Hepatitis B: 2014-2016 which highlights ways in which HBU members can collaborate in larger federal inter-agency efforts. https://blog.aids.gov/2015/01/implementing-the-viral-hepatitis-action-plan-the-role-of-community-leadership.html NIH Announces Funding for New Technologies for Viral Hepatitis The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a funding opportunity announcement (FOA). A Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant entitled New Technologies for Viral Hepatitis SBIR (R43/R44) encourages small businesses to address viral hepatitis research opportunities delineated in the Action Plan including (but not limited to) the development of: rapid screening tests, new diagnostic tests, tests for viral hepatitis-related complications, practical models of care, new and improved therapies to treat viral hepatitis or manage complications of disease or antiviral treatment, genetic-based tests for patient management or treatment selection, preventive vaccines, innovative approaches to pathogen identification and reduction in blood products. https://blog.aids.gov/2015/01/nih-announces-funding-for-new-technologies-for-viral-hepatitis.html Posted in Alert, CDC, Hepatits C, testing \| Tagged alert, CDC, Hepatitis, Testing \| Leave a comment CDC Warning, Just In From CDC “Simulated IV Fluids Continues” Investigation into Patients Being Injected with Simulated IV Fluids Continues FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are continuing to investigate multiple instances of Wallcur’s simulated intravenous (IV) saline products being administered to patients. These products are NOT sterile and should NOT be injected in humans or animals. FDA has posted an update on the investigation on its website, which may be found at http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm428431.htm. Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. As a reminder, Wallcur’s simulated IV saline solution, Practi-0.9% sodium chloride solution, was shipped to medical clinics, surgical centers, and urgent care facilities in numerous states. So far, more than 40 patients have received infusions of the simulated saline products, and there have been many adverse events associated with these incidents including fever, chills, tremors and headache. Some patients were hospitalized, and there is one death associated with the use of these products; it is not known if this death is directly related to the use of the product. Adverse events have been reported in seven states: Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, and Colorado. To view the full, updated alert on this important situation, please visit http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm428431.htm. Posted in Alert, CDC, Danger, Investigation, IV Fluids, Saline Products \| Tagged alert, CDC, danger, Investigation, IV Fluids, Saline Products \| Leave a comment December 25, 2014 by nootkabear WARNING!!! Just In From AlertsUSA: State of Georgia, “A lab technician with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have been exposed to the Ebola virus in an agency laboratory in Atlanta earlier this week” RSOE EDIS RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL 2014-12-25 04:35:41 – Biological Hazard – USA !!! WARNING !!! EDIS Code: BH-20141225-46439-USA Date&Time: 2014-12-25 04:35:41 [UTC] Continent: North-America State/Prov.: State of Georgia, Location: CDC, A lab technician with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have been exposed to the Ebola virus in an agency laboratory in Atlanta earlier this week. And up to a dozen other lab workers are being checked for possible exposure, CDC officials said late Wednesday afternoon. The possible exposure occurred Monday when CDC scientists doing research on Ebola mistakenly transferred a sample of the potentially lethal virus to another CDC lab in the same building, the Washington Post reported. The sample, on a sealed plate, should not have been moved to the second, less secure laboratory, the CDC said in a statement. There is no risk to the public because the sample never left the building, CDC officials said. The technician who handled the material has no symptoms of Ebola infection and will be monitored for 21 days, the incubation period for the disease. The other employees who entered the lab will be checked for possible exposure. So far, none of them seems to have been exposed to the virus, the agency said. “I am troubled by this incident in our Ebola research laboratory in Atlanta,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in the statement. “We are monitoring the health of one technician who could possibly have been exposed and I have directed that there be a full review of every aspect of the incident and that CDC take all necessary measures.” The error was discovered by laboratory scientists on Tuesday. The lab area had already been decontaminated and the sample material destroyed — as part of routine procedure — before the mistake was discovered. The lab was decontaminated for a second time and is now closed. The Ebola virus has been rampant in West Africa since the spring, with nearly 20,000 infections and almost 7,600 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. This week’s incident is the latest in a string of handling mishaps by the CDC. Following a highly publicized incident last summer, federal health officials concluded that it was highly unlikely that any CDC lab workers in Atlanta were exposed to live anthrax during a safety mix-up. Initial reports had indicated that one of the CDC’s high-level biosafety labs was preparing anthrax samples for research in lower-level labs. The high-level lab did not adequately inactivate the samples before sending them to the other labs, which aren’t equipped to handle live anthrax samples. Workers at the lower-level labs, believing the samples were inactivated, weren’t wearing proper protective equipment while handling them, the agency said at the time. The CDC is considered one of the world’s leading public health agencies. But, according to USA Today, agency labs have been repeatedly cited in private government audits for failing to properly secure bioterror agents, according to restricted government watchdog reports obtained by the newspaper earlier this year. CDC labs house some of the most deadly germs in the world, including Ebola, SARS, monkeypox and dangerous flu strains. The name of Hazard: Ebola Exposure Status: Suspected Posted:2014-12-25 04:35:41 [UTC] Posted in Alert, AlertsUSA, Atlanta, bioterror, CDC, Ebola \| Tagged alert, Atlanta, bioterror, CDC, Ebola \| Leave a comment	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line838
__label__cc	0.631508	0.368492	No green thumb? No problem rennies Posted On May 8, 2014 Mattias Lepp is, by his own admission, a perfectionist. Thanks to this trait, the Estonian Mattias didn’t stick with orchestra conducting, the field in which he was educated. “I wouldn’t be the best in the world, so I decided to choose another sector.” He worked in IT software marketing and development for several successful Estonian companies, developing apps and systems including Zimplit. On the side, he was an owner and business partner in the hotel industry, with a hotel in Sagadi, one of Estonia’s biggest manor houses. Seeds of change were planted in 2005, after he read a report on NASA’s Mars Mission describing aeroponics, technology for growing plants in space. Although seeds wouldn’t sprout for years, the idea stayed firmly planted. In 2009, a research paper containing statistics on global houseplant waste due to uninformed maintenance or neglect – a staggering 20 billion euros worth – caught his eye. He realised, “there are millions of people who can’t grow plants,” and began researching aeroponics. The method’s principles use air and mist for growing, no soil necessary. It was a start, if not the final solution. As a hobby, he tinkered with prototypes based on NASA open images and charts. Then, during Estonia’s cold winter, tomatoes began growing in his home. In December 2009, he entered Brain Hunt, Estonia’s biggest entrepreneurial business plan competition and TV show. Mattias recalls thousands of ideas submitted to the incubator programme; most were “really bad. I usually don’t criticise if I don’t have something better to propose.” Having something, he went for it, pitching his idea of a flowerpot that could grow a plant without watering and fertilising. The jury chose him. Six months later, he won the competition and a prize of 250.000 Estonian crowns. Years down the road, he read the jury’s comments: They had thought his idea “stupid” and “too futuristic”, selecting it to make the show “funnier”. Growth and growing pains Lepp: ‘in the future fresh food will grow in your kitchen.’ Photo credit: Laura KallasveeOriginally seeking to use NASA-inspired aeroponics, it simply cost too much. They began adapting and developing, experimenting with around 200 prototypes. The emerging science of biomimicry, emulating models and processes from nature, was the next inspiration. “It’s still a difficult field for me,” adding that universities around the world aid in research and development. The biggest challenges were developing artificial soil and perfecting the software. A “bug” caused plants to mysteriously die at three months old, requiring reprogramming. “To test a plant is not like testing software,” he explains. Plants need to grow for many months to understand things like moisture and pH levels, and combining growth parameters. Without enough testing time, this early bug developed. “It’s a learning process. We’re learning every day.” Receiving positive client feedback, the team saw the Smartpot’s significance – people actually came to the office, wanting to reprogramme their plants. Smartpots are self-growing flowerpots, easily operated by even the least green-thumbed. Each starter kit contains a seed cartridge and operational unit within the pot, fitted with software, sensors and growth materials. Special soil, already sown with nutrients, means that new botanists need only add water and batteries for it to flourish. Refills contain software and supplies tailored to the plant. How does futuristic technology affect quality? Mattias assures the plants contain a higher amount of essentials like vitamins and antioxidants, and confidently asserts that Smartpot-grown plants are healthier than their traditionally-grown contemporaries. To kick things off, Mattias invested his own money into the venture. A month after founding, a group of angel investors put in 250.000 euros, and at the beginning of 2012, an investment company contributed 1.3 million euros. The startup then turned to Kickstarter for its next product: The Smart Herb Garden allows home growers to sprout fresh basil, thyme, lemon balm, tomatoes, and chili peppers, with strawberries coming soon. Smartpots are self-growing flowerpots, easily operated by even the least green-thumbed Photo credit: Laura KallasveeThe business model is similar to that of Gillette or Nespresso. Smartpots are battery powered, and Smart Herb Gardens plug in. Mattias says that the business model stemmed from the need for a foolproof system: built-in sensors optimised for the specific plant, plus all growing material, programmed and ready-to-go. With customers now buying refills, it’s reached fruition. Planting for the future Click & Grow outsources technology development, logistics and manufacturing. Core competence is kept in Tartu. Tallinn has a small office, plus a U.S. outpost in San Francisco for marketing and sales. Twelve full-time staff are employed; by the end of 2014, they’re expecting to number 23. “To be honest, we try to stay as small as possible,” Mattias says. “It still is like a family business.” His wife continually supported him through the entrepreneurial process. They have three children: “Two growing at home plus Click & Grow,” he jokes. Regarding future growth, Mattias says, “we’re moving step by step toward food manufacturing and growing plants for the pharmaceutical industry, for enzyme synthesis. Almost 25 percent of all medicines are made of plants. It’s a huge market, and we have good technology for growing plants quickly. We’re able to speed up the growth, or grow only some parts of the plants, such as only the fruits, flowers or leaves.” In two years, they expect to be the biggest urban farming company in the world, and first to bring this technology to private homes. Mattias believes that “in the future fresh food will grow in your kitchen.” The Smart Farm is expected to be released later this year, using technology inexpensive enough that people can grow their own vegetables and herbs at home. Don’t grow it alone Ultimately, Mattias’ endeavor has been fruitful, but he doesn’t advise similar methods: “I think this is one of the worst things, to start a company alone. I don’t recommend it to anybody.” He recalls working around 20 hours a day, every day in the early stages. Admitting that his own gardening knowledge fell short for the task at hand, he laughs that the first team member he hired was a “chief gardening officer”. Putting it bluntly, “I started from scratch.” He didn’t have experience with gardening or the nanotechnology needed. But his outsider status helped. “If you’re coming from a totally different sector, you see things differently. I believe this was one of my advantages. I saw the problems as a conductor, not as a gardener or technology developer. That allowed me to develop the unique technology.” This year, Click & Grow expects about 11 million euros in revenue. Last year, revenue was around 2 million euros. They’ve sold about 120.000 units, and an unnumbered amount of refills. On his success, Mattias reveals, “I’m the same perfectionist. But now, maybe I’m more realistic. Some things can’t be so perfect,” he laughs. “There’s always a fight in me to find this right balance.” rennies What to do when someone steals your idea? TransferWise raises $25M in Series B round Fleep Six CEE startups join LAUNCHub	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line846
__label__cc	0.609575	0.390425	The Irish Brigade at Antietam: A Photographic Tour Irish Brigade Many of the posts on this site explore elements of the Irish experience at the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, fought on 17th September 1862. Many of the widow’s pension files that I now concentrate on were created as a result of those day’s events. It was also a battle of unprecedented slaughter for the Irish Brigade. They were sent against the strong Confederate positions along the Sunken Lane, forever now remembered as Bloody Lane. In the process they suffered 540 casualties, including 113 killed outright and 422 wounded. Losses were particularly heavy in the 69th New York and 63rd New York. Last year I had an opportunity to visit the battlefield, and to walk some of the ground covered by the Irish Brigade that day. The photo gallery below is an attempt to present readers who may not have had that opportunity with some of the key locations that formed part of the Irish Brigade’s experience of that dreadful battle. You can view the gallery as a slideshow by clicking on any of the images below. 1. The Roulette Farm. The Irish Brigade advanced towards to the Sunken Lane with this farm on their right. From right to left their order was 69th New York, 29th Massachusetts, 63rd New York and finally the 88th New York on the left. 2. The Roulette Farm Ice House. 3. The Roulette Farm Kitchen. 4. The Roulette Farm Barn. 5. View toward the Observation Tower at the Sunken Lane from the Roulette Farm Porch. The Irish Brigade advanced from left to right across the cornfield to engage the Confederates. 6. The Roulette Farm Lane which led to the Confederate position at the Sunken Lane. The 69th New York Infantry on the right of the Brigade guided on this lane for their advance. 7. The view that some of the advancing Irish Brigade would have had of the Roulette Farm when they advanced, particularly men of the 69th New York and 29th Massachusetts. 8. View of ground over which the Irish Brigade advanced, with the Roulette Farm Lane representing their right and the Observation Tower on the Sunken Lane visible opposite their left. 9. View that Confederate skirmishers would have had towards the advancing Irish Brigade. 10. View the advancing Irish Brigade had towards Confederate skirmishers, with the Sunken Lane beyond the crest beyond. The swales in the field, which undoubtedly contributed towards differential casualties in the Brigade, are clearly visible. 11. View from the Observation Tower of the ground over which the Irish Brigade advanced, marching towards the camera. 12. View of the major swale across the ground which the Irish Brigade advanced. This swale contributed towards increased casualties among certain regiments of the Brigade. 13. The swale demonstrates how certain units of the Irish Brigade (such as the 63rd New York) would have become exposed to Confederate fire from the Sunken Lane before other elements of the unit, such as the 29th Massachusetts to the right. 14. The higher ground on the right of the line, which allowed the 29th Massachusetts to advance under more cover than their exposed neighbours in the 63rd. 15. The immediate reverse slope of some of the high ground over which the Irish Brigade advanced. On cresting this ridge they faced directly into the Sunken Lane. 16. View members of the Irish Brigade would have had towards Confederate positions in the Sunken Lane, marked by the fenceline. 17. Another view from the crest towards the Sunken Lane and the Confederate positions, again showing the swale which would have so exposed some of the Irish Brigade. 18. View taking in the Sunken Lane and part of the Irish Brigade’s line; the Brigade’s right-hand regiment the 69th New York guided themselves on the Roulette Farm Lane in the foreground, advancing across the screen from the left. 19. The view the Confederates would have had from the base of the Sunken Lane. Although a strong position, the depth of the lane clearly demonstrates that the defenders had to expose themselves to effectively fire at the Irish Brigade. 20. Having climbed to the edge of the lane, this is the view the Confederates had who were engaging the Irish Brigade only a few dozen yards away. 21. General view of the Sunken Lane held by Confederate troops engaging the Irish Brigade in the cornfield beyond. 22. Another view of the Confederate positions, taken from the field across which the Irish Brigade advanced. 23. Along the Sunken Lane towards the Observation Tower. ‘Bloody Lane’ was choked with Confederate dead by battle’s end. 24. View of Pipers Cornfield behind the Sunken Lane, which held Confederate reserves and also artillery which fired on the Irish Brigade during its advance. 25. View that some of the Irish Brigade, likely men of the 29th Masachusetts, had over the Sunken Lane towards the Piper Cornfield. “The Crashing of the Volleys and the Wild Irish ‘Hurroos'”: An Irish Brigade Veteran Remembers Gettysburg, Fifty Years On Photography Focus: An Irish Brigade Husband & Wife– Can You Help Identify Them? New York’s “Monster Irish Festival” & the Widows of Bull Run, 1861 What comes across from the images is how remarkably similar the battle was to some of those on the Western Front in the Great War – minus the machine guns!The Confederates were in a trench effectively along the Sunken Lane and the Irish Brigade was advancing along a ‘no man’s land’ at times fully exposed to Confederate fire. I wonder if the memorial to General Richardson is a cannon used in the battle?. Tony Harpur Regarding the mortuary cannon for General Richardson, it was dedicated October 15, 1897, almost 35 years to the day of Richardson’s death on November 3, 1862. It might depend on if the cannon had been left at the battlefield afterwards. I would think most of the artillery was taken with the armies after the battle and used through to the end of the war. It certainly is something to think about. Mike Fitzpatrick Mike Fitzpatrick, Massapequa Park NY August 3, 2015 at 4:09 am · Thanks for that info! The areas where Generals were slain is often represented this way on Civil War sites, though I am not sure of the origins of the pieces, would be interesting to know. There are certainly some similarities, particularly as the war went on towards its ultimate conclusion. Damian, Great post! I’m glad to see that you were able to tour Antietam Battlefield. I think it is probably the best preserved battlefield due to the lack of commercial encroachment. I had the great experience of following the footsteps of the Irish Brigade into the battle with reknowned Civil War Historian and Battlefield Guide, Ed Bearss. He along with historian Dennis Frye took us from the Roulette Farm to Bloody Lane and every step of the way informed us of the activities of the Brigade. It was amazing when they demonstrated the terrain and how one regiment was virtually hidden though right on top of the Confederates and how the others were slaughtered……..and of course there is the dispute regarding Meagher being drunk and falling from his horse or whether the animal was shot out from under him……..once again, great stuff!!! …….btw……check out Ed Bearss!…….the man is now 92 years young and still giving battlefield walks and tours!!! Hope all is well and many thanks for the comment. The Antietam visit was a fascinating day, I am going to have to go back though, there is so much to see. I would love to enjoy a site like it with Ed Bearss! Can’t wait to get back Stateside to try and visit a few more similar sites. Great sequence of photos to help understand the movements of the IrishBrigade. I’m back in the states after my stay in Cork. Good visit. August 3, 2015 at 11:11 am · Thanks Jack! Hi Damian, Great a talk in Cavan today-I was spellbound. Your research to date is only the tip of the iceberg and I can’t wait for the rest. As the post above is about Antietam, I did notice that all the speakers today pronunced it as “Anteetam” whereas I believe the locals pronounce it as “An tie (as in what you might wear) am”. Cóilín Ó Coigligh, Virginia, Ireland August 6, 2015 at 11:31 pm · Hi Cóilín, Many thanks and glad you enjoyed it, and it was good to meet you! Nicely done! Well presented as well. I would have never thought to make the photo log. I enjoyed it. joemaghe December 10, 2015 at 8:21 am · Thanks so much, Jim Murphy, Baltimore Maryland. On Sun, Aug 2, 2015 at 1:02 PM, Irish in the American Civil War wrote: > Damian Shiels posted: “Many of the posts on this site explore elements of > the Irish experience at the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day of > the Civil War, fought on 17th September 1862. Many of the widow’s pension > files that I now concentrate on were created as a resu” > Jim Murphy October 23, 2016 at 5:49 am ·	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line847
__label__cc	0.673581	0.326419	An Act to protect vulnerable road users By Mr. Rogers of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3073) of David M. Rogers and others for legislation to define and further protect vulnerable persons on the roads of the Commonwealth. Transportation. David M. Rogers Referred to House Committee on Bills in the Third Reading Displaying 9 actions for Bill H.3073 1/20/2015 House Referred to the committee on Transportation 1/20/2015 Senate Senate concurred 12/30/2015 Joint Hearing scheduled for 01/06/2016 from 10:00 AM-01:00 PM in A-2 3/14/2016 House Reporting date extended to Monday, May 2, 2016, pending concurrence 5/19/2016 House Accompanied by S1807 5/19/2016 House Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling 5/31/2016 House Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting for a second reading 6/13/2016 House Read second and ordered to a third reading	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line854
__label__wiki	0.537134	0.537134	Posts Tagged ‘supernatural’ That Girl with the Curls – Episode 74 – Stranger Things Posted: September 9, 2016 by Sam in Podcasts, Television, That Girl with the Curls Tags: Alien, aliens, Duffer Brothers, Dungeons and Dragons, E.T., Eleven, Goonies, homage, Matthew Modine, movie tropes, Netflix, Netflix original series, Poltergeist, Predator, Resident Evil, science, Star Wars, Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, Stranger Things, supernatural, The Upside Down, Winona Ryder That Girl with the Curls – Episode 29 – Ben Blacker Posted: February 16, 2015 by Sam in Comics, Movies, Podcasts, Television, That Girl with the Curls Tags: Ben Blacker, Beyond Belief, Chris Hardwick, comedy, drama, genre, Hal Lublin, Jon Stewart, Key and Peele, Marc Evan Jackson, Mischa Collins, Nerdist, radio, radio play, Sparks Nevada, Spider-Man, stage show, supernatural, The Daily Show, The Nerdist Writer's Panel, The Thrilling Adventure Hour, The Walking Dead, The West Wing, writing Sam talks with Ben Blacker, co-creator and writer for the Thrilling Adventure Hour! They chat about the writing process, the stage show turned podcast turned successful kickstarter, and television as a medium. Follow @BenBlacker and @ThrillingAdv Check out thrillingadventurehour.com Intro and outro music “French Kiss” by Mrs. Howl The Good, The Bad, and The Vampires: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night Posted: January 23, 2015 by Sam in Comics, Movies, Review Tags: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Ana Lily Amirpour, Arash Marandi, Bad City, black and white, chador, disguise, Dominic Rains, Dracula, feminism, horror, industrial ruin, Iran, Marshall Manesh, mod, Mozhan Marnò, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, retro, Sheila Vand, supernatural, suspense, systemic oppression, thriller, vampire, vampires, western The vampire as metaphor has had a fascinating staying power since Bram Stoker’s Dracula turned Eastern European folklore into a gothic tale of sexual repression and liberation. At times they’re feral beasts of horror or sexy, brooding heroes tortured by their own immortality. Or…Twilight. The point is vampires, while we may associate them with certain traits, can be as powerful, vulnerable, and insightful as the narrative allows. Their monstrosity is subjective, giving storytellers ample room to explore the nature of vampires and the world around them. In A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, writer and director Ana Lily Amirpour crafts a vampire that is neither virtuous nor villain, but somewhere in between. Though she is what we’d typically classify as a “monster” it becomes clear that Bad City has more than its fair share of demons. In the Iranian town of Bad City, The Girl (Sheila Vand) stalks the streets at night, preying upon the worst of the worst in a city where death and loneliness thrive. Her curiosity, however, leads her to an unlikely romance with Arash (Arash Marandi), a young man struggling to do what’s “right” when nothing is as clear-cut as it seems. As their lives become more intertwined the truth becomes harder to hide. Billed as the first Iranian vampire Western, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night exists in a deliberately nebulous space that keeps it open to interpretation. One can view it through a feminist lens as The Girl primarily attacks men who bully and exert their own power on others, mainly coming to the defense of a prostitute, Atti (Mozhan Marnò), who’s connected to both Saeed (Dominic Rains) the local drug dealer and Arash’s addict father, Hossein (Marshall Manesh). There’s also commentary to be gleaned from the frequent shots of oil rigs, the open, almost casual display of dead bodies in a ditch, and the stagnant feel of Bad City that appears to be stuck in several time periods as the director’s feelings on Iran and the country’s culture. Amirpour, however, finds the interpretation to be more reflective of the interpreter. As for her own view on the themes in her film, she said: In this case, it’s really about loneliness. A vampire is the loneliest, most isolated cut-off type of creature. She also has something very bad to hide about who she is and it’s a brilliant disguise. It becomes a way to stay under the radar and underestimated. There are a million ways to read it. It will tell you more about you than it does about me. [Source: LA Times] In regards to the disguise element, Amirpour is referring to the chador that The Girl wears in the film. A symbol of systemic oppression towards women in the Middle East, the chador and The Girl’s use of it as a means of making herself an unassuming presence have been the focus of many reviews; proof positive that The Girl is subverting the nature of the garment and using it as a tool of empowerment. The chador was apparently what inspired Amirpour to make a movie about a vampire, saying: In Iran, I have had to wear a hijab [headscarf], and personally I find it completely suffocating. I don’t want to be covered up in all that cloth. But there was something about the chador though. It’s made of a different fabric. It’s soft and silky and it catches the air. When I put it on, I felt supernatural. But I also get to take it off. [Source: LA Times] There are several scenes in the movie where Amirpour shows the ethereal and supernatural quality of the chador when The Girl is out on the town. One particular moment that comes to mind is The Girl riding a skateboard down an empty street, letting the wind catch the fabric. It’s one of the rare moments where she naturally smiles, experiencing a strange sense of freedom. Framed within the shot, the chador simultaneously resembles bat-like qualities associated with vampires and the silhouette of a superhero’s cape. It’s a beautiful display of the film’s cinematography that also highlights the prevailing theme of concealment. Interestingly enough, when The Girl and Arash meet and speak to each other for the first time, Arash – high as a kite – is wearing a Dracula costume. It’s a brilliant juxtaposition that the two begin to form their romance when both are essentially in disg uise. Where A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night really shines is in its style and mood. Filmed in black and white, Amirpour imbues Bad City and the people living there with a sense of style that maintains an air of retro coolness but is also indicative of a culture mired in crime and death. Bad City is stuck somewhere between the old and the modern as are most of its denizens. The opening shot of Arash establishes his greaser/James Dean aesthetic right down to the vintage car he drives. The Girl dances to 80s synth-pop but her short hair, striped shirt, and black leggings give off a mod Audrey Hepburn meets Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction vibe. The influence of Quentin Tarantino is hard to miss, so the look of The Girl was probably intended. Saeed has a very 80s look about him as well, sporting a track suit, gold chains, and living in an apartment that even the Land of Oz would say needs to be toned down. The stylistic choices are another way of commenting on the disparity of wealth in a place like Bad City where there’s a clear contrast between the rich and the poor but even the lower classes prey upon each other. Filmed in Bakersfield and Taft, California as stand-ins for Iran, Amirpour shows the industrial, ruined state of Bad City, telling us with only an establishing shot of the distant oil rigs exactly why everything has gone to shit. Bu t it wouldn’t be a vampire movie without an element of horror to it, right? Oh, yeah…Twilight. Anyway, Amirpour keeps the horror to a minimum. Yes, The Girl feeds, but the strength of film lies in the suspense. We don’t meet The Girl until about fifteen minutes into the film. In that time, we’ve met the rest of the cast and we see just how destitute Arash and his father are and how Saeed uses drugs and intimidation to get what he wants. When The Girl finally shows up, she’s at a distance, watching Saeed geting a blowjob from Atti after verbally and physically abusing her. From there on, Amirpour establishes a pattern. The Girl shows up and begins to stalk her prey. She’s unassuming and yet unnerving, constantly staring with wide eyes that are simultaneously curious and cold. Vand plays the part expertly. The Girl is a mostly silent character, which means all of the performance is in Vand’s eyes and movement. As the tension builds in the excruciatingly long shots and pauses between The Girl and her next meal – heightened by the sound of footsteps amped up to keep the audience as nervous as possible – Vand makes us feel and understand what The Girl is going through. The same is true of her scenes with Marandi. Though Arash is the more talkative of the two, there are several long pauses where the two are merely staring at each other, conveying everything with their eyes and making us believe that the two have made a connection. It’s the final ten minutes, however, where the two give us the most nerve-wracking moments of intensified suspense, all without saying a word. All because of a cat. Currently in limited release, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, is well worth your time if you have any interest in the work of upcoming directors like Amirpour or desire something more substantial from your vampire-themed entertainment. If you can’t find a showing nearby, there are two issues of a comic book written by Amirpour available for purchase that give you some background on The Girl. Hopefully that will tide you over until the film comes out on VOD and DVD/Blu-ray. That Girl with the Curls – Episode 19 – Friday Elliott Posted: November 24, 2014 by Sam in Podcasts, That Girl with the Curls Tags: AFK, custom blends, fandom, Firefly, Friday Afternoon Tea, Friday Elliott, Gryffindor, Harry Potter, Hufflepuff, Inara, Jubilee, Kaylee, lexical-gustatory synesthesia, Moriarty, Nightcrawler, Ravenclaw, Serenity, Sherlock, Storm, supernatural, synesthesia, Tea, That Girl with the Curls, Watson, X-Men Sam records live at the AFK Elixirs and Eatery to talk with Friday Elliott and her daughter Audrey. They talk about tea, custom blends, and hop around from Harry Potter to Supernatural. Links to Friday: Friday Afternoon Tea Into music: “French Kiss” by Mrs. Howl Review – Ghosted #12 Posted: August 20, 2014 by Sam in Comics, Review Tags: Davide Gianfelice, Ghosted, ghosts, hauntings, horror, Image Comics, Jackson Winters, Joshua Williamson, Miroslav Mrva, Nina Bloodcrow, Oliver King, possession, Spirit Casino, spirits, supernatural, Trask Mansion Ghosted begins its latest arc by bringing back the past. Not only does Oliver King, the skeptic turned believer of the first arc return, but we also get the notorious white room last seen in the Trask Mansion, plus a new character with an unexpected connection to Jackson’s deceased friend. While this set-up seems all well and good for Ghosted, Jackson is the wildcard for the first time. His involvement in previous heists were either through coercion or…nope, pretty much everything after the Spirit Casino debacle has been about coercion. This time though, Jackson is all out of fucks to give as the government tries to recruit him for a new mission that further expands the supernatural world of Ghosted. Starting almost immediately after the events with the Brotherhood of the Closed Book and the appearance of King with the FBI, Jackson and Nina Bloodcrow are released from prison so King can introduce them to Agent Creed. Jackson is of particular interest to Creed. He seems to know everything about him (including what happened in New Orleans, which I’m sure we’ll find out about in the future) and he wants to “offer him a job” going after the proliferation of ghosts and spirits that have come out of the woodwork for reasons that appear to be unexplained. Jackson, however, is having none of it. He could care less about what’s happening outside of his personal bubble of anger and guilt and the alternative options of prison or death sound better than helping the feds. It isn’t until Creed reveals the man who may be involved in the recent uptick in spiritual activity is the late Trick’s son and introduces Jackson to his “fan” that the con man is finally interested in what Creed has to say. What continues to impress me about Ghosted are the many ways in which the supernatural is treated and interpreted. It’s like a check list of horror cliches only Joshua Williamson manages to make them feel fresh within the context of the world he’s created. Haunted mansion? Check. Cults and possession? Got it! Rednecks dealing in candles made of virgin blood? Ch – okay, that’s not on the list, but it oughta be! The success of these scenarios, however, is how they’re filtered through Jackson and his involvement. He’s the connecting thread but with the beginning of this new arc, we’re seeing him begin to unravel. Thematically, Ghosted has its roots in the idea of the past haunting us in ways we can’t expect. The bookends of this issue illustrate that perfectly. A woman’s stalker kills himself and while the woman is happy to move on with her life, the ghost of the stalker lingers, hovering around her and letting her know that she’s not as free of him as she thought. Jackson has a similar predicament, but his demons are less visible to the naked eye. Instead, he literally bears the scars of his haunted past, one that everyone wants to exploit to get him to do their dirty work. The loss of Trick, however, has affected Jackson tremendously. If he had even a tenuous hold on staying alive, Trick’s death has finally pushed Jackson to the breaking point. His previous attempts at goading people into killing him seem trivial compared to the anger-induced provocation of Creed when the man has a gun pointed at him. The only person keeping him somewhat anchored is Nina. Once again, Davide Gianfelice’s art works so well within the world of Ghosted. The sketch-like quality of his art instills movement in scenes that could easily look static. Like the previous arc, Gianfelice handles the horror with a deft hand, making spirits and possessed people look grotesque yet intriguing at the same time. The ghost of the stalker is especially chilling due to the minimal dialogue as the young woman goes about her nightly routine all while the deceased hovers nearby, his blank expression made all the creepier by the gaping would in his skull. The colors from Miroslav Mrva present an interesting contrast between the living world and the dead. For most of the issue, the colors are brighter, even in the prison facility where Jackson and Nina are being held, but when a ghost is featured in a scene they’re marked by a noticeable color shift that draws the eye immediately. It’s a fantastic way of highlighting the combined efforts of writer, artist, and colorist. Final Thoughts: New story + new characters = a very excited Sam! Morning Maniacal Laugh Posted: December 6, 2013 by Sam in Morning Maniacal Laugh, Television Tags: Dean Winchester, demon possession, Morning Maniacal Laugh, Sam Winchester, supernatural A good laugh can get you through a whole day. A maniacal laugh lets you siphon off all those “crazy” plans stewing in your brain and gives those around you a slight pause to consider just how far they’re willing to push you. So, start wringing those hands and grinning like a Maniac and belt it out! The Winchester Brothers have a habit of getting possessed and it isn’t with the holiday spirit, I can tell you that. Sam seems to get the brunt of it, so here’s a little bit of evil, possessed Sam for your Friday morning. Review – Manifest Destiny #1 Posted: November 18, 2013 by Sam in Comics, Review Tags: american frontier, Chris Dingess, Corp of Discovery Expedition, exploration, History, Image Comics, Lewis and Clark, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Manifest Destiny, Matthew Roberts, Meriwether Lewis, monsters, Skybound Entertainment, supernatural, The Louisiana Purchase, William Clark This was previously posted at Word of the Nerd on November 13th. In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson, set out to map and explore the land west of the Mississippi River recently purchased by Jefferson from Napoleon Bonaparte. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 doubled the landmass of the United States with the Louisiana Territory stretching from what is present day Louisiana to roughly eastern Montana. What few people actually know about the Corp of Discovery Expedition is that Lewis and Clark, other than looking for a convenient route to the Pacific Ocean, were under explicit orders from Pres. Jefferson to purge the land of monsters. Oh, yeah, you heard me right. Lewis and Clark were commissioned to rid the Louisiana Territory of monsters. Plain and simple. You won’t read that in Lies My Teacher Taught Me! In reality, this is the premise of Chris Dingess’ Manifest Destiny, a book set to play off the otherworldly and supernatural exploits of historical figures. Not that it’s a bad thing. Dingess, a producer and writer for television shows like Reaper, Ed, and SyFy’s Being Human, uses the unknown element of the American frontier to his advantage. Lewis and Clark are still keeping with the original mission as recorded in Lewis’ journal, but the two friends are the only ones who know of the expedition’s true objective. Though they intend on keeping their secret for as long as possible, Lewis still doubts their mission is nothing more than an elaborate hoax brought on by French tall tales. Their plans are quickly squashed when they come across a structure that strangely resembles the St. Louis Peace Arch. Only this one looks to be entirely constructed out of plant life, some of which resembles ominous skulls if you look at them the right way. While collecting samples, the crew find themselves in the path of a creature hitherto unknown to them, something not of any tribe they know. Something that isn’t remotely human. Dingess does an excellent job of setting up the premise and the characters while keeping the pace nice and smooth without wasting a panel. Lewis and Clark are painted (almost literally by the gorgeous artwork of Matthew Roberts) as an odd couple of sorts with Lewis being the bookish collector and Clark his practical bodyguard. Their company of soldiers, volunteers, and vagabonds are quite the motley crew with one degenerate in particular, Jensen, piecing things together rather quickly that he, his friend Wally, and most of the expedition share something in common: none of them have families to miss them should they not return for some unspecified reason. It’s a great way to add tension to an already tense situation considering the dangers the real Lewis and Clark faced from outside and within the expedition. Dingess plays a little loose with the history, though not by much – I mean, if you can get over the monsters bit. There is some discrepancy over whether Clark was a Captain or a Second Lieutenant at the time, but I’m okay with Captain Clark since he and Lewis, who was a Captain, shared command of the expedition. Sorry, I’m letting the history geek in me out to play today, but it’s a lot of fun considering Dingess clearly enjoys weaving the supernatural into the historical. Roberts makes for a good fit since his art is beautifully illustrative, bringing the famous duo, and their compatriots to life in a way most paintings never could. I especially enjoy his depictions of Lewis as a wide-eyed naturalist and Clark as a stern disciplinarian. Final Thoughts: I can’t wait to see what happens when Charbonneau and Sacagawea show up!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line856
__label__wiki	0.526534	0.526534	2nd Circuit Upholds Insider Trading Conviction of Ex-Goldman Sachs Director The panel’s decision represented the latest retreat from the appellate court’s holding in 2014’s “U.S. v. Newman,” which narrowed prosecutors’ ability to prove insider trading. Rajat Gupta, right, with his attorney Gary Naftalis, following his sentencing in 2012. Photo: Louis Lanzano/ Bloomberg https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2019/01/07/2nd-circuit-upholds-insider-trading-conviction-of-ex-goldman-sachs-director/ By Colby Hamilton \| January 07, 2019 at 04:12 PM For the second time in as many months the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has declined to reverse an insider trading secured by federal prosecutors before the circuit court’s ruling in United States v. Newman and the sequence of decisions it spawned. On Monday, the panel, composed of Circuit Judges Amalya Kearse, Richard Wesley and Christopher Droney, denied former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta’s second attempt to have his insider trading conviction overturned. The Second Circuit had previously in 2014 denied Gupta’s argument that the trial court erred in admitting some evidence, while excluding other evidence offered by the defense ahead of his 2012 conviction. He ultimately served 19 months in prison, and was released in 2016. The current appeal came after U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York denied Gupta’s motion to vacate his conviction in the wake of the Second Circuit’s 2014 decision in Newman, which substantially narrowed the “personal benefit” requirements of an insider trading relationship. Gupta argued before Rakoff that the jury instructions in his case were legally invalid under Newman. On appeal, the panel reviewed Gupta’s challenge based on a cause-and-prejudice standard. It agreed with Rakoff’s argument that nothing stopped Gupta from arguing that the jury instructions were faulty on direct appeal from his conviction, since they were made during trial. The panel observed that its November 2018 decision in Whitman v. United States tracks closely with the dynamics of Gupta’s case, as jury instructions were objected to at trial but weren’t pursued on appeal. Other insider trading cases pursued the line on appeal before Newman, the panel noted, making the claims in Whitman—and therefore Gupta’s case—insufficient to show cause. Defendants in other insider trading prosecutions were contending that juries should be given narrower definitions of the personal benefit needed to find culpable insider trading,” the panel wrote. “We conclude that [Gupta] presents no viable claim that the personal benefit challenge was unavailable to his counsel on appeal.” While the panel, having found Gupta failing the cause standard, could arguably have ended its findings there, it proceeded to address the issue of prejudice, and, in doing so, waded directly back in to the circuit’s muddied law on insider trading. The panel first found that Gupta failed to show the personal benefit instructions were so flawed as to deny him due process, noting that the actual language provided to the jury in question spoke of “maintaining a good relationship with a frequent business partner.” That last clause proved critical for the panel, who argued it squared with requirements under precedent, but not the Second Circuit’s most recent double take in United States v. Martoma, which is mentioned briefly later. Instead, the panel opted to return to the insider trading Ur-precedent from the Supreme Court’s 1983 decision in Dirks v. SEC. The Dirks court set out a “varying sets of circumstances…which would warrant a finding of the tipper’s illegal purpose,” the panel noted. Despite the fact the specific language required by Newman for a tangible or pecuniary benefit was not present in Gupta’s jury instructions, the language was satisfactory under Dirks’ seemingly broader “circumstances.” In fact, the panel’s acknowledgment that Dirks highlighting the ability for a quid pro quo relationship despite “the lack of need for proof of the tipper’s financial or tangible gain” appeared to potentially undercut a portion of the court’s holding in Newman, continuing the erosion that began with the Supreme Court’s findings in Salman v. United States and continued through the two versions of the Second Circuit’s Martoma decision. The fact that Newman‘s requirement for proof of a tipper’s pecuniary or other tangible gain has been rejected by the Supreme Court disposes of Gupta’s contention that Newman meant the trial court’s instruction that proof of pecuniary or tangible benefit was not necessary caused him to be convicted of a crime for ‘conduct that is not criminal,’” the panel said, quoting from Gupta’s brief on appeal. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which secured Gupta’s original conviction and handled the appeal, declined to comment. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel name attorney Gary Naftalis handled Gupta’s appeal. He did not respond to a request for comment. Posted in Bank, Banksters, CorruptBanks, corruption, Courts, criminal, criminal prosecution, Crooks, Globalists, Goldman Sachs, Judicial Ruligs, Latest Rulings, law, legal, rip off, United States \| Tagged banksters, Business, crooks, Goldman Sachs, Insider Trading, truth, USA \| Leave a comment RBS bankers joked about destroying the US housing market By Rob Davies RBS bankers joked about destroying the US housing market By Editor August 16, 2018 http://www.theeventchronicle.com/finanace/rbs-bankers-joked-about-destroying-the-us-housing-market/ A boarded up building in Cleveland, Ohio, in January 2008. In the build up to the crisis mortgage lenders were incentivised to make as many loans as possible. Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Transcripts of pre-financial crisis conversations show senior bankers’ disregard for customers By Rob Davies RBS bankers joked about destroying the US housing market after making millions by trading loans that staff described as “total fucking garbage”, according to transcripts released as part of a $4.9bn (£3.8bn) settlement with US prosecutors. Details of internal conversations at the bank emerged just weeks before the 10-year anniversary of the financial crisis, which saw RBS rescued with a £45bn bailout from the UK government. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) criticised RBS over its trade in residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) – financial instruments underwritten by risky home loans that are cited as pivotal in the global banking crash. It said the bank made “false and misleading representations” to investors in order to sell more of the RMBS, which are forecast to result in losses of $55bn to investors. Transcripts published alongside the settlement reveal the attitude among senior bankers at RBS towards some of the products they sold. The bank’s chief credit officer in the US referred to selling investors products backed by “total fucking garbage” loans with “fraud [that]was so rampant … [and]all random”. He added that “the loans are all disguised to, you know, look okay kind of … in a data file.” The DoJ said senior RBS executives “showed little regard for their misconduct and, internally, made light of it”. In one exchange, as the extent of the contagion in the banking industry was becoming clear, RBS’ head trader received a call from a friend who said: “[I’m] sure your parents never imagine[d]they’d raise a son who [would]destroy the housing market in the richest nation on the planet.” He responded: “I take exception to the word ‘destroy.’ I am more comfortable with ‘severely damage.’” Another senior banker explained to a colleague that risky loans were the result of a broken mortgage industry that meant lenders were “raking in the money” and were incentivised to make as many loans as possible. Employees who might raise the alarm about the riskiness of such lending “don’t give a shit because they’re not getting paid”, he said. The bank made “hundreds of millions of dollars” from selling RMBS, the DoJ said, while disguising the risk they posed to investors, which included a group of nuns who lost 96% of their investment. By October 2007, as signs of stress began to show in the banking system, RBS’ chief credit officer wrote to colleagues expressing his true feelings about the burgeoning volume of subprime loans in the housing market. He said loans were being pushed by “every possible … style of scumbag”, adding that it was “like quasi-organised crime”. “Nobody seems to care,” he added. Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk The DoJ criticised RBS’ failure to do due diligence on the loans it was packaging, saying the bank feared it would lose out to rivals if it performed stricter tests. One analyst at the lender referred to the bank’s due diligence procedures as “just a bunch of bullshit”, according to the transcripts. When the bank became concerned about the poor quality of loans and started imposing tighter due diligence, one senior banker complained, saying: “Oh, God. Does anyone want to make money around here any more?” RBS expected to make $20m from one deal that involved trading particularly risky loans, but faced resistance from the bank’s chief credit officer. A senior executive responded to the concerns by telling the bank’s head trader: “Please don’t fuckin’ blow this one. We need every dollar we can get our hands on.” Internal conversations between bankers also offer some insight into their growing realisation of the poor quality of the loans the bank owned and sold. In September 2007, one trader referred to an appraisal of loans as giving “pretty shitty results”. The transcripts were released by the DoJ as it confirmed the details of the settlement with the bank over its trading in RMBS. RBS said: “Under the terms of the settlement, RBS disputes the allegations but will not set out a legal defence, while the settlement does not constitute a judicial finding.” Certainty over the scale of the settlement will allow the bank to pay its first dividend in a decade this year. The dividend is worth £240m and the Treasury will receive £149m as RBS is still 62%-owned by the government. Ross McEwan, RBS chief executive, said: “This settlement dates back to the period between 2005 and 2007. There is no place for the sort of unacceptable behaviour alleged by the DoJ at the bank we are building today.” He added that the bank could now “focus our energy on serving our customers better”. But league tables published by the Competition and Markets Authority on Wednesday placed RBS joint bottom for customer service, with fewer than half of customers saying they would recommend the bank to a friend. RBS will have to publish the results in branches, on its website and mobile app from today. This article (RBS bankers joked about destroying the US housing market) was originally published on The Guardian and syndicated by The Event Chronicle. Posted in Bank, banks, Banksters, Bazillions, Bloomberg, Bullshit, Center for Public Integrity, CitiGroup, CorruptBanks, Countrywide, Crooks, Department of Justice, Deutsche Bank, Fannie Mae, FBI, FDIC, Feds, Foreclosure, foreclosures, fraud, fraudulent loans, legal \| Tagged Banks, crooks, Foreclosure, politics, truth \| Leave a comment July 4, 2018 by nootkabear Pay Attention! Look at the money trail AFTER the foreclosure sale, by Neil Garfield Pay Attention! Look at the money trail AFTER the foreclosure sale Posted on July 3, 2018 by Neil Garfield https://livinglies.wordpress.com/2018/07/03/pay-attention-look-at-the-money-trail-after-the-foreclosure-sale/ My confidence has never been higher that the handling of money after a foreclosure sale will reveal the fraudulent nature of most “foreclosures” initiated not on behalf of the owner of the debt but in spite of the the owner(s) of the debt. It has long been obvious to me that the money trail is separated from the paper trail practically “at birth” (origination). It is an obvious fact that the owner of the debt is always someone different than the party seeking foreclosure, the alleged servicer of the debt, the alleged trust, and the alleged trustee for a nonexistent trust. When you peek beneath the hood of this scam, you can see it for yourself. Real case in point: BONY appears as purported trustee of a purported trust. Who did that? The lawyers, not BONY. The foreclosure is allowed and the foreclosure sale takes place. The winning “bid” for the property is $230k. Here is where it gets real interesting. The check is sent to BONY who supposedly is acting on behalf of the trust, right. Wrong. BONY is acting on behalf of Chase and Bayview loan servicing. How do we know? Because physical possession of the check made payable to BONY was forwarded to Chase, Bayview or both of them. How do we know that? Because Chase and Bayview both endorsed the check made out to BONY depositing the check for credit in a bank account probably at Chase in the name of Bayview. OK so we have the check made out to BONY and TWO endorsements — one by Chase and one by Bayview supposedly — and then an account number that might be a Chase account and might be a Bayview account — or, it might be some other account altogether. So the question who actually received the $230k in an account controlled by them and then, what did they do with it. I suspect that even after the check was deposited “somewhere” that money was forwarded to still other entities or even people. The bid was $230k and the check was made payable to BONY. But the fact that it wasn’t deposited into any BONY account much less a BONY trust account corroborates what I have been saying for 12 years — that there is no bank account for the trust and the trust does not exist. If the trust existed the handling of the money would look very different OR the participants would be going to jail. And that means NOW you have evidence that this is the case since BONY obviously refused to do anything with the check, financially, and instead just forwarded it to either Chase or Bayview or perhaps both, using copies and processing through Check 21. What does this mean? It means that the use of the BONY name was a sham, since the trust didn’t exist, no trust account existed, no assets had ever been entrusted to BONY as trustee and when they received the check they forwarded it to the parties who were pulling the strings even if they too were neither servicers nor owners of the debt. Even if the trust did exist and there really was a trust officer and there really was a bank account in the name of the trust, BONY failed to treat it as a trust asset. So either BONY was directly committing breach of fiduciary duty and theft against the alleged trust and the alleged trust beneficiaries OR BONY was complying with the terms of their contract with Chase to rent the BONY name to facilitate the illusion of a trust and to have their name used in foreclosures (as long as they were protected by indemnification by Chase who would pay for any sanctions or judgments against BONY if the case went sideways for them). That means the foreclosure judgment and sale should be vacated. A nonexistent party cannot receive a remedy, judicially or non-judicially. The assertions made on behalf of the named foreclosing party (the trust represented by BONY “As trustee”) were patently false — unless these entities come up with more fabricated paperwork showing a last minute transfer “from the trust” to Chase, Bayview or both. The foreclosure is ripe for attack. Posted in bad law, Bank, banks, Banksters, Bazillions, bid-rigging, Bullshit, Citigroup, crime, crisis, Crooks, Department of Justice, Deutsche Bank, Eric Mains, Feds, Foreclosure, foreclosures, fraud, fraudulent loans, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Investors, Judges, judicial conflict of interest, judicial corruption, Judicial Ruligs, Justice Department, legal, Lender, Livinglies, MERS, Neil Garfield, New York, real estate investors, real property laws, Securities, Servicer, tens of millions, US Govt., USA, USDC, Whistleblowers \| Tagged auction, bank of new york mellon, Bayview, bid, Chase, Foreclosure, foreclosure hell, money trail \| Leave a comment When I read this article, I kept hearing that song “Take It To The Limit One More Time”! They’ve changed the words “Sub-Prime” to “Non-Prime” and we re going to take it to the limit one more time… Subprime mortgages make a comeback—with a new name and soaring demand The subprime mortgage industry vanished after the Great Recession but is now being reinvented as the nonprime market. Carrington Mortgage is now offering mortgages to borrowers with “less-than-perfect credit.” Demand from both borrowers and investors is exceeding expectations. Diana Olick \| @DianaOlick Published 10:45 AM ET Thu, 12 April 2018 Updated 1:54 PM ET Thu, 12 April 2018 https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/12/sub-prime-mortgages-morph-into-non-prime-loans-and-demand-soars.html Subprime stages comeback as ‘non-prime’ loans Subprime stages comeback as ‘non-prime’ loans 1:41 PM ET Thu, 12 April 2018 \| 01:28 https://pdl-iphone-cnbc-com.akamaized.net/VCPS/Y2018/M04D12/7000013015/5ED3-PL-OLICK-SUBPRIME-041218_L.mp4 They were blamed for the biggest financial disaster in a century. Subprime mortgages – home loans to borrowers with sketchy credit who put little to no skin in the game. Following the epic housing crash, they disappeared, due to strong, new regulation, and zero demand from investors who were badly burned. Barely a decade later, they’re coming back with a new name — nonprime — and, so far, some new standards. California-based Carrington Mortgage Services, a midsized lender, just announced an expansion into the space, offering loans to borrowers, “with less-than-perfect credit.” Carrington will originate and service the loans, but it will also securitize them for sale to investors. “We believe there is actually a market today in the secondary market for people who want to buy nonprime loans that have been properly underwritten,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of Carrington Mortgage Holdings. “We’re not going back to the bad old days of ninja lending, when people with no jobs, no income, and no assets were getting loans.” A home improvement contractor works on a house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Here’s how much homeowners could cash out in home equity 2:32 PM ET Mon, 2 April 2018 \| 01:14 All loans will not be the same https://pdl-iphone-cnbc-com.akamaized.net/VCPS/Y2018/M04D02/7000010614/2ED3-PL-OLICK-HOME-EQUITY-040218_L.mp4 Sharga said Carrington will manually underwrite each loan, assessing the individual risks. But it will allow its borrowers to have FICO credit scores as low as 500. The current average for agency-backed mortgages is in the mid-700s. Borrowers can take out loans of up to $1.5 million on single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums. They can also do cash-out refinances, where borrowers tap extra equity in their homes, up to $500,000. Recent credit events, like a foreclosure, bankruptcy or a history of late payments are acceptable. All loans, however, will not be the same for all borrowers. If a borrower is higher risk, a higher down payment will be required, and the interest rate will likely be higher. “What we’re talking about is underwriting that goes back to common sense sort of practices. If you have risk, you offset risk somewhere else,” added Sharga, while touting, “We probably are going to have the widest range of products for people with challenging credit in the marketplace.” Carrington is not alone in the space. Angel Oak began offering and securitizing nonprime mortgages two years ago and has done six nonprime securitizations so far. It recently finalized its biggest securitization yet — $329 million, comprising 905 mortgages with an average amount of about $363,000. Just more than 80 percent of the loans are nonprime. A ‘who’s who of Wall Street’ Investors in Angel Oak’s nonprime securitizations are, “a who’s who of Wall Street,” according to company representatives, citing hedge funds and insurance companies. Angel Oak’s securitizations now total $1.3 billion in mortgage debt. Angel Oak, along with Caliber Home Loans, have been the main players in the space, securitizing relatively few loans. That is clearly about to change in a big way, as demand is rising. “We believe that more competition is positive for the marketplace because there is strong enough demand for the product to support multiple originators,” said Lauren Hedvat, managing director, capital markets at Angel Oak. “Additionally, the more competitors there are, the wider the footprint becomes, which should open the door for more potential borrowers.” Big banks are also getting in the game, both investing in the securities and funding the lenders, according to Sharga. “It’s large financial institutions. A lot of people with private capital sitting on the sidelines, who are very interested in this market and believe that as long as the risks are managed well, and companies like ours are particularly good at managing credit risk, that it’s a good investment opportunity,” he said. As the economy improves, and rents continue to rise, more Americans are trying to become homeowners, but the scars of the Great Recession still stand in the way. One-fifth of consumers today still have very low credit scores, often disqualifying them from obtaining a mortgage in today’s tight lending market. Relaxed lending standards Last summer, Fannie Mae announced it would relax its lending standards for prime loans, allowing borrowers with higher debt and lower credit scores to obtain loans without additional risk overlays, such as large down payments and a year’s worth of cash reserves. Fannie Mae raised its debt-to-income (DTI) limit from 45 percent to 50 percent. DTI is the amount of total debt a borrower can have compared to his or her income. As a result, demand from buyers with higher debt exceeded all expectations. The share of high DTI loans jumped from 6 percent in January 2017 to nearly 20 percent by the end of February 2018, according to a study by the Urban Institute. “From January to July 2017, Fannie purchased 80,467 loans with DTI ratios between 45 and 50 percent. But from August 2017 to February 2018, Fannie purchased 181,911 loans in the same DTI bucket. This increase of more than 100,000 loans in just seven months exceeded our estimate (85,000 additional Fannie loans annually) and Fannie’s expectations.” – Urban Institute The mortgage industry expectation was that Fannie Mae would mitigate the additional risk with other factors, like a higher necessary credit score, but that was not added. The mortgage insurers balked, since they would be on the hook for the risk, so last month Fannie Mae “recalibrated” its risk assessment criteria again. “We got a bigger response than we thought we were going to, so we dialed back to make sure we were in the right spot where our governance kicks in to make sure we’re not taking excessive risk,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. Millennials carry more debt The outsized demand from borrowers with more debt as well as demand for nonprime mortgages in the private sector show just how many borrowers today would like to become homeowners but are frozen out of the mortgage market. Millennials, the largest homebuying cohort today, have much higher levels of student debt than previous generations. Members of older generations who went through foreclosures during the housing crisis or other hits to their credit are still struggling with lower FICO scores. In addition, credit tightened up dramatically. In fact, between 2009 and 2015, tighter credit accounted for just more than 6 million “missing” loans, according to research by Laurie Goodman at the Urban Institute. These are mortgages that would have been granted under more normal historical underwriting standards. The rebirth of the nonprime market is focused on these missing mortgages. The hope is that the industry will also focus on better standards of underwriting and not take risk to the levels it once did, levels that resulted in disaster. Posted in Alert, Americans, Bank, banks, Banksters, Brainwash, Citigroup, CorruptBanks, corruption, Courts, criminal, crisis, Crooks, Dumber than dirt, epitomy of stupidity, Foreclosure, foreclosures, fraud, fraudulent loans, hell is too good for these, legal, real estate investors, real property laws, rip off, Securities, security, sickness, Trillions, United States \| Tagged BullShit, foreclosure hell, Foreclosures, investors, non-prime, sub-prime \| Leave a comment jmdenison https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/29589295/posts/15035 Very Good MERS article from Mandelman https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/29589295/posts/15035 jmdenison From GG: the good ship MERS may be going down…for you folks facing those robo signing/false accountings foreclosure cases, read on http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2011/02/new-bankruptcy-court-decision-sounds-the-alarm-%E2%80%93-the-uss-mers-is-going-down/ This is a pretty funny article about MERS and how it is mostly a full of it mortgage/note handling process that bilks county recorder out of millions in recording mortgage docts per year, plus it can often create havoc in foreclosure/assignment/purchase cases. New Bankruptcy Court Decision Sounds the Alarm – The USS MERS is Going Down Before I jump into this decision by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge in New York, I just want to acknowledge that I very rarely write about MERS. And it’s not an accident; I’ve chosen not to do so… until now, anyway. Perhaps I’ve been wrong not to cover the MERS debacle in greater detail, but the reason I haven’t is that I view some of the issues related to MERS as kind of… well, pedestrian… not to put too fine a point on it. Other than a few good decisions by courts that have barred MERS from foreclosing, it just seemed to me that the problems presented by MERS could be fixed, and therefore I didn’t want homeowners who read my column to put too much stock in their loan being a MERS loan, as doing much for them if they find themselves at risk of foreclosure. This decision has done a lot to change my view of MERS and the role it plays in foreclosures. The judge in this case presents a damn strong, if non-binding case why MERS may in fact be a much larger problem than I thought it was. According to consumer bankruptcy attorney and nationally known foreclosure defense guru, Max Gardner… “This case may well be the final dagger in the deep dark heart of the MERS business model. MERS has fired its President, R.K. Arnold, and may well terminate its Secretary, William Hultman, but MERS cannot fix the systematic and fundamentally flawed legal issues clearly and succinctly identified by the Court in Agard.” And so… without further delay, I present to you… the “Agard Decision”. The State: New York The Case: In re: Ferrel L. Agard, Debtor, Chapter 7 The Court: United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York The Judge: The Honorable Robert E. Grossman The Set Up: U.S. Bank, as the trustee for one First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust 2006-FF12, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-FF12… which all just means that we’re talking about a REMIC trust containing a securitized pool of mortgages… moves to obtain relief from the automatic stay created by a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, in order to complete the foreclosure of Ferrel Agard’s home. New York State courts had already ruled and a foreclosure judgment was issued, so now U.S. Bank as trustee just needed to finish things out by obtaining relief from the automatic stay so they can proceed with selling the home. Records show that the bankruptcy trustee expected a routine, no assets case… file report, collect fee, end of case. U.S. Bank, represented by its loan servicer, Select Portfolio Servicing (“SPS”), who was in turn represented by Buffalo’s most infamous foreclosure mill, Steven J. Baum PC, must have thought about the same… a straight forward foreclosure case, lets get rid of the deadbeats and be home by dinner. But, in today’s fast changing world of Fraudclosuregate, things are not always as they appear, and crap that flew yesterday may not fly again tomorrow. The Opposition: On October 27, 2010, the borrower’s attorney filed a single page document on which the type was double-spaced. It was a “partial opposition to the motion for relief from stay” that U.S. Bank had filed, and it suggested to the judge that perhaps there might be some sort of small problem with the MERS assignment. It also, in so many words, posited: Who the heck was Select Portfolio Services and why did they have any role in the case anyway? After that, one might say… the fit hit the shan. The Hearing: At a hearing held on November 15, 2010, the judge must have more than just hinted that he was going to look very carefully at this whole MERS thing, because he suggested that the parties might want to consider filing some real legal briefs on the subject, and he made it clear that he would be holding a real hearing on the issues on December 15, 2010, just one month down the road. The Response: All of a sudden nothing was at it seemed just days before… SPS asks the court for more time and rushes out for reinforcements, bringing in a “tall building” law firm from New York City to replace the relative pikers at Baum’s Mill. The newly retained big city lawyers file a major brief in support of the U.S. Bank/SPS position on December 8th. Then, on December 9th, MERS shows up, metaphorically at least with lights flashing and sirens blaring, to file an “emergency motion to intervene,” crying in sheer panic that their entire national business model is being attacked and that the result can be nothing less than the end of the world as we all know it. They bring in a sworn declaration from MERS Treasurer and Corporate Secretary, William Hultman on December 10th, that explains what an entirely fabulous and utterly wonderful invention MERS actually is, and then… I suppose afraid that the one Hultman declaration just might not carry the day they show up with yet another declaration from MERS Treasurer and Corporate Secretary, William Hultman on December 23rd. In an effort to keep things straight as related to the declarations, we’ll call that one: “Why Everyone Should Love MERS More Than Life Itself… The Sequel.” The judge then begins to dig into the matter. Perhaps he was waiting for a case such as this one, or perhaps some other forces were in play, but regardless… for MERS… this was the wrong judge on the wrong day. The Decision: Judge Grossman devotes the first half of his opinion to discussing whether he even has the legal authority to look into how U.S. Bank obtained this mortgage in the first place, since it already had obtained a foreclosure judgment in state court, and because there is an irritating (to Federal judges) and arcane Rooker-Feldman doctrine that prohibits federal courts from interfering with state court judgments. Alas, our intrepid judge concludes on page 18 of his decision that Rooker-Feldman does in fact preclude him from looking further into the issues that underlie the U.S. Bank foreclosure judgment. And, as a result, Judge Grossman decides that he must grant U.S. Bank’s motion for relief from the bankruptcy automatic stay so that the trustee can complete the foreclosure. Now, were we talking about most judges, that would represent the end of this proverbial road… the opinion would be dated and signed and I would not be writing about the case now. But we’re not talking about most judges… we’re talking about the Honorable Judge Robert E. Grossman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and he’s apparently not a judge with which one should trifle. He’s got MERS in his crosshairs, apparently exactly where he wants them, and in the 18 pages that follow his decision to grant the relief from the automatic stay he goes after MERS mercilessly. Attorney Thomas Cox of Portland, Maine, who you may remember from the “GMAC uses robo-signers deposition” that brought foreclosures to a standstill last fall, says that in his opinion… “He (Judge Grossman) does the most thorough and competent analysis of the MERS charade that I have seen, basically concluding that the entire MERS business model does not comply with our laws, and that he will no longer accept MERS mortgage assignments in his court room.” “It’s a decision that was a delight to see.”</em> Now, clearly this is a decision that’s worth reading for one’s self… Judge Grossman is one heck of a writer and not one to play patty-cake with MERS or those of the banking persuasion, but I thought I’d at least provide the overview of the decision with “training wheels” for those who aren’t of the mind to wade through the entire text of the decision themselves, or who find these things next to impossible to read and understand. Here’s the overview of the Memorandum Decision in its entirety… with my clarifications added for those who find them valuable. If you’re a lawyer or just an uber-smartee, just scroll on down to the imbedded document for a copy of Judge Grossman’s decision in its entirety. The movant is Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. (“Select Portfolio” or “Movant”), as servicer for U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee for First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust 2006-FF12, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-FF12 (“U.S. Bank”) Okay, for now just remember that the servicer is the “Movant.” The rest I already covered above at the very beginning. U.S. Bank N.A. is the trustee for the First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust… blah, blah, blah… got it? Good, let’s move on… The Debtor filed limited opposition to the Motion contesting the Movant’s standing to seek relief from stay. The Debtor argues that the only interest U.S. Bank holds in the underlying mortgage was received by way of an assignment from the Mortgage Electronic Registration System a/k/a MERS, as a “nominee” for the original lender. The Debtor’s argument raises a fundamental question as to whether MERS had the legal authority to assign a valid and enforceable interest in the subject mortgage. Because U.S. Bank’s rights can be no greater than the rights as transferred by its assignor – MERS – the Debtor argues that the Movant, acting on behalf of U.S. Bank, has failed to establish that it holds an enforceable right against the Property.1. This references the single page, double-spaced document I described that was filed by the borrower’s attorney, called a “partial opposition to the motion top relief from stay”. It raised some questions that the judge would later seek to answer. The Movant’s initial response to the Debtor’s opposition was that MERS’s authority to assign the mortgage to U.S. Bank is derived from the mortgage itself, which allegedly grants to MERS its status as both “nominee” of the mortgagee and “mortgagee of record.” Judge Grossman is going to attack this line of reasoning head on in the last 18 pages of his decision. Among many other things, you’ll see him say… “Aside from the inappropriate reliance upon the statutory definition of “mortgagee,” MERS’s position that it can be both the mortgagee and an agent of the mortgagee is absurd, at best.” And there’s a whole lot more where that came from… read on… The Movant later supplemented its papers taking the position that U.S. Bank is a creditor with standing to seek relief from stay by virtue of a judgment of foreclosure and sale entered in its favor by the state court prior to the filing of the bankruptcy. The Movant argues that the judgment of foreclosure is a final adjudication as to U.S. Bank’s status as a secured creditor and therefore the Rooker-Feldman doctrine prohibits this Court from looking behind the judgment and questioning whether U.S. Bank has proper standing before this Court by virtue of a valid assignment of the mortgage from MERS. This is the part that caused Judge Grossman to back down in this particular instance and allow the relief from automatic stay, thus allowing the foreclosure to proceed. Basically, he concludes that he’s not allowed to question the facts that underlie the foreclosure judgment that was previously granted by the state court. There is also an important footnote (“1”) on the second page that reads as follows: The Debtor also questions whether Select Portfolio has the authority and the standing to seek relief from the automatic stay. The Movant argues that Select Portfolio has standing to bring the Motion based upon its status as “servicer” of the Mortgage, and attaches an affidavit of a vice president of Select Portfolio attesting to that servicing relationship. Case law has established that a mortgage servicer has standing to seek relief from the automatic stay as a party in interest. See, e.g., Greer v. O’Dell, 305 F.3d 1297 (11th Cir. 2002); In re Woodberry, 383 B.R. 373 (Bankr. D.S.C. 2008). This presumes, however, that the lender for whom the servicer acts validly holds the subject note and mortgage. Thus, this Decision will focus on whether U.S. Bank validly holds the subject note and mortgage. I think the judge is saying that servicers do have standing to seek relief from an automatic stay that results from a borrower filing bankruptcy, but that such standing presumes that the lender being represented by the servicer validly holds the note and mortgage, and that the decision will address that issue. Okay, you’ve got that part pretty much down, right? Then the decision goes on to say… The Court received extensive briefing and oral argument from MERS, as an intervenor in these proceedings, which go beyond the arguments presented by the Movant. This just says that MERS showed up with all guns blazing, arguing that MERS represents all that is right, good and just in the world. The judge isn’t buying though… In addition to the rights created by the mortgage documents themselves MERS argues that the terms of its membership agreement with the original lender and its successors in interest, as well as New York state agency laws, give MERS the authority to assign the mortgage. MERS argues that it holds legal title to mortgages for its member/lenders as both “nominee” and “mortgagee of record.” As such, it argues that any member/lender, which holds a note secured by real property, that assigns that note to another member by way of entry into the MERS database, need not also assign the mortgage because legal title to the mortgage remains in the name of MERS, as agent for any member/lender, which holds the corresponding note. MERS’s position is that if a MERS member directs it to provide a written assignment of the mortgage, MERS has the legal authority, as an agent for each of its members, to assign mortgages to the member/lender currently holding the note as reflected in the MERS database. Judge Grossman is going to examine all of these arguments and then some in his decision. But before he does that, he’s going to agree that he’s precluded from digging into the facts pertaining to the foreclosure judgment previously obtained in state court, and so he’s going to grant relief from the automatic stay and allow this foreclosure to proceed. And in that regard the judge writes… For the reasons that follow, the Debtor’s objection to the Motion is overruled and the Motion is granted. The Debtor’s objection is overruled by application of either the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, or res judicata. Under those doctrines, this Court must accept the state court judgment of foreclosure as evidence of U.S. Bank’s status as a creditor secured by the Property. Such status is sufficient to establish the Movant’s standing to seek relief from the automatic stay. The Motion is granted on the merits because the Movant has shown, and the Debtor has not disputed, sufficient basis to lift the stay under Section 362(d). Next the judge explains that, even though this court is constrained by Rooker-Feldman and the previously obtained state court decision, because there are numerous other cases before this court that present identical issues, and for which there have been no prior dispositive state court decisions, he’s going to look beyond this case’s limitations and publish a decision that addresses the issue of whether the “Movant” has established standing in this case because of the precedential effect it will have on other cases pending before the court. And so he writes… Although the Court is constrained in this case to give full force and effect to the state court judgment of foreclosure, there are numerous other cases before this Court, which present identical issues with respect to MERS and in which there have been no prior dispositive state court decisions. This Court has deferred rulings on dozens of other motions for relief from stay pending the resolution of the issue of whether an entity which acquires its interests in a mortgage by way of assignment from MERS, as nominee, is a valid secured creditor with standing to seek relief from the automatic stay. It is for this reason that the Court’s decision in this matter will address the issue of whether the Movant has established standing in this case notwithstanding the existence of the foreclosure judgment. The Court believes this analysis is necessary for the precedential effect it will have on other cases pending before this Court. The next paragraph of the judge’s decision is particularly telling. It is Judge Grossman completely disregarding perhaps MERS’ favorite argument, which is that MERS has to be okay because half the mortgages in this country are registered with MERS and if it’s not okay, the whole world will come to an end. Judge Grossman states his view of this argument in no uncertain terms… The Court recognizes that an adverse ruling regarding MERS’s authority to assign mortgages or act on behalf of its member/lenders could have a significant impact on MERS and upon the lenders, which do business with MERS throughout the United States. However, the Court must resolve the instant matter by applying the laws as they exist today. It is up to the legislative branch, if it chooses, to amend the current statutes to confer upon MERS the requisite authority to assign mortgages under its current business practices. MERS and its partners made the decision to create and operate under a business model that was designed in large part to avoid the requirements of the traditional mortgage recording process. This Court does not accept the argument that because MERS may be involved with 50% of all residential mortgages in the country, that is reason enough for this Court to turn a blind eye to the fact that this process does not comply with the law. Wow, so you see what he’s saying there, right? It’s worth repeating… Did you hear that sound? That was the sound of the MERS ship hitting an iceberg and starting to sink. To the lifeboats, banker-people, your ship is sinking, and the water’s damn cold. And on that note, it’s once again time to Sing-Along with Mandelman! You remember the song from our youth about “How they built the ship Titanic to sail the ocean blue? And they thought they had a ship that the water would never leak through. But the Lord’s almighty hand, knew that ship would never stand… it was sad when the great ship went down. It was sad, so sad… it was sad, so sad…” You remember that one right? Alrighty then… so, sing it like you mean it… with feeling… and if you don’t want to sing, maybe you should be reading about this stuff on Naked Capitalism, or Firedog Lake… Yves Smith is smarter than all get out, but when was the last time she led you in song? V1: Oh they built the good ship MERS, so foreclosures could sail through, And they thought they had a plan that the courts would never see through, But some lawyers’ learned hands, showed that MERS just didn’t stand, We were glad when the MERS ship went down. Oh we were glad, so glad, We were glad, so glad, We were glad when the MERS ship went down, to the bottom of the sea… Many lost homes, but to those who lacked their loans, Oh, they went into the courts, hoping judges were inclined, To not care exactly how, someone’s loan had been assigned. Yes, the banks would rue the day, when they wrote that PSA, MERS said it had the right, to do things as it pleased, But the courts did not agree, and soon homes could not be seized. Seems laws had important words, and MERS assertions were absurd, Oh we were glad, so glad We were glad, so glad Soon the bankers will all see, that fraud is not what prevails, And they’ll realize their hot air will not fill this nation’s sails, But the price will have been paid, for their mortgage-backed charade, Okay, so I know there are at least a few people out there singing along with that little ditty from days spent at summer camp or on the school bus while on the way home from a field trip. Maybe next time I’ll work from Bingo Was His Name-O, or 100 bottles of Beer on the Wall. Meanwhile, you’ve got plenty to do reading Judge Grossman’s decision as provided below. But, before you do, here are a few highlights, once again for those who want the Reader’s Digest Version. First, from the MERS side of the argument… In addition to adopting the arguments asserted by the Movant, MERS strenuously defends its authority to act as mortgagee pursuant to the procedures for processing this and other mortgages under the MERS “system.” First, MERS points out that the Mortgage itself designates MERS as the “nominee” for the original lender, First Franklin, and its successors and assigns. In addition, the lender designates, and the Debtor agrees to recognize, MERS “as the mortgagee of record and as nominee for ‘Lender and Lender’s successors and assigns’” and as such the Debtor “expressly agreed without qualification that MERS had the right to foreclose upon the premises as well as exercise any and all rights as nominee for the Lender.” (MERS Memorandum of Law at 7). These designations as “nominee,” and “mortgagee of record,” and the Debtor’s recognition thereof, it argues, leads to the conclusion that MERS was authorized as a matter of law to assign the Mortgage to U.S. Bank. Although MERS believes that the mortgage documents alone provide it with authority to effectuate the assignment at issue, they also urge the Court to broaden its analysis and read the documents in the context of the overall “MERS System.” According to MERS, each participating bank/lender agrees to be bound by the terms of a membership agreement pursuant to which the member appoints MERS to act as its authorized agent with authority to, among other things, hold legal title to mortgages and as a result, MERS is empowered to execute assignments of mortgage on behalf of all its member banks. In this particular case, MERS maintains that as a member of MERS and pursuant to the MERS membership agreement, the loan originator in this case, First Franklin, appointed MERS “to act as its agent to hold the Mortgage as nominee on First Franklin’s behalf, and on behalf of First Franklin’s successors and assigns.” MERS explains that subsequent to the mortgage’s inception, First Franklin assigned the Note to Aurora Bank FSB f/k/a Lehman Brothers Bank (“Aurora”), another MERS member. According to MERS, note assignments among MERS members are tracked via self-effectuated and self-monitored computer entries into the MERS database. As a MERS member, by operation of the MERS membership rules, Aurora is deemed to have appointed MERS to act as its agent to hold the Mortgage as nominee. Aurora subsequently assigned the Note to U.S. Bank, also a MERS member. By operation of the MERS membership agreement, U.S. Bank is deemed to have appointed MERS to act as its agent to hold the Mortgage as nominee. Then, according to MERS, “U.S. Bank, as the holder of the note, under the MERS Membership Rules, chose to instruct MERS to assign the Mortgage to U.S. Bank prior to commencing the foreclosure proceedings by U.S. Bank.” (Affirmation of William C. Hultman, ¶12). MERS argues that the express terms of the mortgage coupled with the provisions of the MERS membership agreement, is “more than sufficient to create an agency relationship between MERS and lender and the lender’s successors in interest” under New York law and as a result establish MERS’s authority to assign the Mortgage. Okay, so that’s much of what MERS has to say about why it’s practices are fine and dandy, now let’s take a quick look at what the judge in this case has to say about the assignment of the note, among other things… Noteholder Status In the Motion, the Movant asserts U.S. Bank’s status as the “holder” of the Mortgage. However, in order to have standing to seek relief from stay, Movant, which acts as the representative of U.S. Bank, must show that U.S. Bank holds both the Mortgage and the Note. Mims, 438 B.R. at 56. Although the Motion does not explicitly state that U.S. Bank is the holder of the Note, it is implicit in the Motion and the arguments presented by the Movant at the hearing. However, the record demonstrates that the Movant has produced no evidence, documentary or otherwise, that U.S. Bank is the rightful holder of the Note. Movant’s reliance on the fact that U.S. Bank’s noteholder status has not been challenged thus far does not alter or diminish the Movant’s burden to show that it is the holder of the Note as well as the Mortgage. Under New York law, Movant can prove that U.S. Bank is the holder of the Note by providing the Court with proof of a written assignment of the Note, or by demonstrating that U.S. Bank has physical possession of the Note endorsed over to it. See, eg., LaSalle Bank N.A. v. Lamy, 824 N.Y.S.2d 769, 2006 WL 2251721, at *1 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Aug. 7, 2006). The only written assignment presented to the Court is not an assignment of the Note but rather an “Assignment of Mortgage” which contains a vague reference to the Note. Tagged to the end of the provisions which purport to assign the Mortgage, there is language in the Assignment stating “To Have and to Hold the said Mortgage and Note, and also the said property until the said Assignee forever, subject to the terms contained in said Mortgage and Note.” (Assignment of Mortgage (emphasis added)). Not only is the language vague and insufficient to prove an intent to assign the Note, but MERS is not a party to the Note and the record is barren of any representation that MERS, the purported assignee, had any authority to take any action with respect to the Note. Therefore, the Court finds that the Assignment of Mortgage is not sufficient to establish an effective assignment of the Note. By MERS’s own account, it took no part in the assignment of the Note in this case, but merely provided a database, which allowed its members to electronically self-report transfers of the Note. MERS does not confirm that the Note was properly transferred or in fact whether anyone including agents of MERS had or have physical possession of the Note. What remains undisputed is that MERS did not have any rights with respect to the Note and other than as described above, MERS played no role in the transfer of the Note. Absent a showing of a valid assignment of the Note, Movant can demonstrate that U.S. Bank is the holder of the Note if it can show that U.S. Bank has physical possession of the Note endorsed to its name. See In re Mims, 423 B.R. at 56-57. According to the evidence presented in this matter the manner in which the MERS system is structured provides that, “when the beneficial interest in a loan is sold, the promissory note is transferred by an endorsement and delivery from the buyer to the seller [sic], but MERS Members are obligated to update the MERS® System to reflect the change in ownership of the promissory note. . . .” (MERS Supplemental Memorandum of Law at 6). However, there is nothing in the record to prove that the Note in this case was transferred according to the processes described above other than MERS’s representation that its computer database reflects that the Note was transferred to U.S. Bank. The Court has no evidentiary basis to find that the Note was endorsed to U.S. Bank or that U.S. Bank has physical possession of the Note. Therefore, the Court finds that Movant has not satisfied its burden of showing that U.S. Bank, the party on whose behalf Movant seeks relief from stay, is the holder of the Note. So, the judge is saying things that are very similar to what we’ve all heard before, most recently in the Ibanez Decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and in the New Jersey court decision, Kemp v. Countrywide, among numerous others of late. How was the note assigned, was it endorsed properly, can the trustee even produce any evidence that the trust is the holder of the note? What it would seem to come down to is quite simple, I think… Does the trust that thinks that it owns the loan, actually own the loan, and can the trustee produce any evidence that it does own the loan? If the loan was not properly transferred into the trust, and if there is no evidence that the trust owns the loan in question, then it would seem that the investor bought a mortgage-backed security without the mortgage-backed part, and my guess would be that the investors at this point don’t care about the mortgages… they will want their pound of flesh from the bankers whose massive securities fraud has robbed them of untold billions and destroyed the global financial system. I’m not a lawyer, but with the first investor lawsuit against Bank of America – Countrywide having been filed just a couple weeks ago, and saying basically that the investor was delivered mortgage-backed securities without the mortgages, that’s how I’m seeing it start to stack up. Now let’s look at what the judge says about the mortgage itself… you see… it’s supposed to follow the note, but when MERS is in the game, it simply doesn’t. Mortgagee Status The Movant’s failure to show that U.S. Bank holds the Note should be fatal to the Movant’s standing. However, even if the Movant could show that U.S. Bank is the holder of the Note, it still would have to establish that it holds the Mortgage in order to prove that it is a secured creditor with standing to bring this Motion before this Court. The Movant urges the Court to adhere to the adage that a mortgage necessarily follows the same path as the note for which it stands as collateral. See Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Perry, 875 N.Y.S.2d 853, 856 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2009). In simple terms the Movant relies on the argument that a note and mortgage are inseparable. See Carpenter v. Longan, 83 U.S. 271, 274 (1872). While it is generally true that a mortgage travels a parallel path with its corresponding debt obligation, the parties in this case have adopted a process, which by its very terms alters this practice where mortgages are held by MERS as “mortgagee of record.” By MERS’s own account, the Note in this case was transferred among its members, while the Mortgage remained in MERS’s name. MERS admits that the very foundation of its business model as described herein requires that the Note and Mortgage travel on divergent paths. Because the Note and Mortgage did not travel together, Movant must prove not only that it is acting on behalf of a valid assignee of the Note, but also that it is acting on behalf of the valid assignee of the Mortgage5. Footnote 5 – MERS argues that notes and mortgages processed through the MERS System are never “separated” because beneficial ownership of the notes and mortgages are always held by the same entity. The Court will not address that issue in this Decision, but leaves open the issue as to whether mortgages processed through the MERS system are properly perfected and valid liens. See Carpenter v. Longan, 83 U.S. at 274 (finding that an assignment of the mortgage without the note is a nullity); Landmark Nat’l Bank v. Kesler, 216 P.3d 158, 166-67 (Kan. 2009) (“In the event that a mortgage loan somehow separates interests of the note and the deed of trust, with the deed of trust lying with some independent entity, the mortgage may become unenforceable”). Yes, you read that last part right. The mortgage may become unenforceable. That’s really the 800-pound Gorilla in the room, isn’t it? Do they own it or not, and if they broke the laws, who wins? Many people get all upset about the idea that a homeowner could not have to pay their mortgage because the laws were broken related to the transfer of the note and mortgage, but I’m starting to think they’re just a bunch of crybabies. The law is the law and if it says that someone doesn’t owe their mortgage, well… good for them. We’re a nation built on laws and forged by lawyers, and there have been a lot of unpopular decisions that rightly stood because they upheld our nation’s laws… Brown v. The Board of Education comes immediately to mind, but there are many. We need our plaintiff’s lawyers, our judges and our courts, if we’re going to live through what’s ahead of us. We certainly can’t depend on our legislature or our executive branches… they have, for the most part, been bought and paid for… our system is corrupt with the money of lobbyists. Only our laws and our courts can see us through this, and I’m willing to abide by whatever they say follows the law. Okay, so here’s just a bit more from Judge Grossman’s analysis and conclusion… MERS asserts that its right to assign the Mortgage to U.S. Bank in this case, and in what it estimates to be literally millions of other cases, stems from three sources: the Mortgage documents; the MERS membership agreement; and state law. In order to provide some context to this discussion, the Court will begin its analysis with an overview of mortgage and loan processing within the MERS network of lenders as set forth in the record of this case. In the most common residential lending scenario, there are two parties to a real property mortgage – a mortgagee, i.e., a lender, and a mortgagor, i.e., a borrower. With some nuances and allowances for the needs of modern finance this model has been followed for hundreds of years. The MERS business plan, as envisioned and implemented by lenders and others involved in what has become known as the mortgage finance industry, is based in large part on amending this traditional model and introducing a third party into the equation. MERS is, in fact, neither a borrower nor a lender, but rather purports to be both “mortgagee of record” and a “nominee” for the mortgagee. MERS was created to alleviate problems created by, what was determined by the financial community to be, slow and burdensome recording processes adopted by virtually every state and locality. In effect the MERS system was designed to circumvent these procedures. MERS, as envisioned by its originators, operates as a replacement for our traditional system of public recordation of mortgages. MERS argues that it had full authority to validly execute the Assignment of Mortgage to U.S. Bank on February 1, 2008, and that as of the date the foreclosure proceeding was commenced U.S. Bank held both the Note and the Mortgage. However, without more, this Court finds that MERS’s “nominee” status and the rights bestowed upon MERS within the Mortgage itself are insufficient to empower MERS to effectuate a valid assignment of mortgage. There are several published New York state trial level decisions holding that the status of “nominee” or “mortgagee of record” bestowed upon MERS in the mortgage documents, by itself, does not empower MERS to effectuate an assignment of the mortgage. However, the rules lack any specific mention of an agency relationship, and do not bestow upon MERS any authority to act. Rather, the rules are ambiguous as to MERS’s authority to take affirmative actions with respect to mortgages registered on its system. That’s pretty clear, I think. MERS, you’re going down. In addition to casting itself as nominee/agent, MERS seems to argue that its role as “mortgagee of record” gives it the rights of a mortgagee in its own right. MERS relies on the definition of “mortgagee” in the New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 1921, which states that a “mortgagee” when used in the context of Section 1921, means the “current holder of the mortgage of record . . . or their agents, successors or assigns.” N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. L. § 1921 (McKinney 2011). The provisions of Section 1921 relate solely to the discharge of mortgages and the Court will not apply that definition beyond the provisions of that section in order to find that MERS is a “mortgagee” with full authority to perform the duties of mortgagee in its own right. Aside from the inappropriate reliance upon the statutory definition of “mortgagee,” MERS’s position that it can be both the mortgagee and an agent of the mortgagee is absurd, at best. Okay, so some of that gets a little technical, I agree, but the last sentence is about as straightforward as it gets… MERS’s position that it can be both the mortgagee and an agent of the mortgagee is absurd, at best. And wait… there’s just a little bit more… Adding to this absurdity, it is notable in this case that the Assignment of Mortgage was by MERS, as nominee for First Franklin, the original lender. By the Movant’s and MERS’s own admission, at the time the assignment was effectuated, First Franklin no longer held any interest in the Note. Both the Movant and MERS have represented to the Court that subsequent to the origination of the loan, the Note was assigned, through the MERS tracking system, from First Franklin to Aurora, and then from Aurora to U.S. Bank. Accordingly, at the time that MERS, as nominee of First Franklin, assigned the interest in the Mortgage to U.S. Bank, U.S. Bank allegedly already held the Note and it was at U.S. Bank’s direction, not First Franklin’s, that the Mortgage was assigned to U.S. Bank. Said another way, when MERS assigned the Mortgage to U.S. Bank on First Franklin’s behalf, it took its direction from U.S. Bank, not First Franklin, to provide documentation of an assignment from an entity that no longer had any rights to the Note or the Mortgage. The documentation provided to the Court in this case (and the Court has no reason to believe that any further documentation exists), is stunningly inconsistent with what the parties define as the facts of this case. However, even if MERS had assigned the Mortgage acting on behalf of the entity which held the Note at the time of the assignment, this Court finds that MERS did not have authority, as “nominee” or agent, to assign the Mortgage absent a showing that it was given specific written directions by its principal. This Court finds that MERS’s theory that it can act as a “common agent” for undisclosed principals is not support by the law. The relationship between MERS and its lenders and its distortion of its alleged “nominee” status was appropriately described by the Supreme Court of Kansas as follows: “The parties appear to have defined the word [nominee] in much the same way that the blind men of Indian legend described an elephant – their description depended on which part they were touching at any given time.” For all of the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that the Motion in this case should be granted. However, in all future cases, which involve MERS, the moving party must show that it validly holds both the mortgage and the underlying note in order to prove standing before this Court. Hon. Robert E. Grossman United States Bankruptcy Judge It’s very important to realize that the judge’s findings related to MERS in this case are NOT BINDING ON ANY COURT. As foreclosure defense attorney Thomas Cox explains: “Judge Grossman’s findings about MERS are not binding on anyone, because they did not resolve any issue in the case where Rooker-Feldman blocked that inquiry.” Cox says he won’t be surprised if the MERS/securitization/foreclosure industry spin mentions this point since the law prohibited the judge from going behind the judgment to see how U.S. Bank got the mortgage, then it also prohibited making binding findings about the MERS issue. Cox further points out… “On the other hand, with that being so, I am highly doubtful that U.S. Bank and Select Portfolio Servicing could appeal from those MERS holdings because their position in the case was not affected by them. While the judge did allow them to intervene, since the judge’s opinions about MERS are not binding on any court, I do not see how MERS could effectively argue that it suffered a legally cognizable harm. If and when Judge Grossman, or some other judge, in some other case uses the rationale laid out by Judge Grossman to nullify a MERS mortgage assignment, only then will a trustee and/or MERS have any ability to appeal the issue.” Okay, so that about covers it, I’d say. Below you’ll find the Judge Grossman’s decision in its entirety, and hat tip to attorney Thomas Cox of Portland, Maine for bringing this decision to my attention, helping me to understand it, and continuing to go after the bastards with the strength and tenacity of a Mainer. Mandelman out. In re: Ferrel L. Agard, Debtor Posted in Bank, banks, Banksters, Bazillions, Bloomberg, Bullshit, Foreclosure, foreclosures, Globalists, legal, mortgage fraud \| Tagged Mandelman, MERS, The USS MERS \| Leave a comment February 19, 2016 by nootkabear $150 billion in bank fines and penalties 7 years on from crisis, $150 billion in bank fines and penalties http://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/30/7-years-on-from-crisis-150-billion-in-bank-fines-and-penalties.html John W. Schoen \| @johnwschoen Thursday, 30 Apr 2015 \| 2:32 PM ET (Scott Mlyn \| CNBC ) Scott Mlyn \| CNBC More than seven years after the global financial collapse, regulators and investors are still working through an epic pile of lawsuits and other civil actions, collecting settlements, fines and other penalties for a long list of wrongdoing. The latest settlement involved Bank of America, which agreed this week to pay $180 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank and others manipulate foreign-exchange rates, according to The Wall Street Journal. JPMorgan Chase has already settled with the same investor group, while others, including Citigroup, are expected to settle soon, the The Journal notes. The 2013 lawsuit claimed bank traders shared customer information to profit at their clients’ expense, according to the report. The settlement follows a seven-year effort by federal and state regulators that included dozens of actions related to a broad range of misconduct and fraud, including bilking mortgage investors, laundering money and evading taxes. So far, banks and other institutions have paid more than $150 billion in fines, settlements and other penalties, according to a tally by the Financial Times. That compares with roughly $700 billion in profits generated by U.S. banks between 2007 and 2014, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. Financial penalties Banks and other financial firms have paid more than $150 billion in fines, settlements and restitution to homeowners and investors since the finanical crisis. Click on a bubble for details, then hover over bars for payment descriptions. (SOURCE: Financial Times.) Bank of America: $57.8 Billion JPMorgan Chase: $31.3 Billion Citigroup $12.8 Billion Wells Fargo $ 9.7 Billion PNB Paribas $ 8.9 Billion HSBC $ 3.5 Billion UBS $ 3.5 Billion Sun Trust $ 2.9 Billion Also listed are Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, but for which no amount of money is shown: Some of those involved charges against individual bankers. About 70 CEOs, CFOs and other senior corporate officers had been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission as of October, the latest data available. The SEC says it collected $3.6 billion in penalties and other payments related to the charges. The biggest payments have gone to the Justice Department, which has collected some $50 billion, according to the FT tally. Among the banks paying the biggest amounts, Bank of America tops the list—with nearly $58 billion, followed by JPMorgan Chase ($31.3 billion), Citigroup ($12.8 billion) and Wells Fargo ($9.7 billion). http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000375715 Posted in Bank, Bank of America, banks, Banksters, CitiGroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, legal, PNB Paribas, Sun Trust, Wells Fargo \| Tagged banksters, corruption, economy, fraud, Injustice, Law, legal, Real Estate, United States \| Leave a comment Former Bank Official Admits Disbursing Over $300K in Fraudulent Loans http://mortgagefraudblog.com/former-bank-official-admits-disbursing-over-330k-in-fraudulent-loans/ By: Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is a California attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for mortgage lenders, servicers and financial institutions. Ardonus “Donna” Perkins, 40, Atlanta, Georgia, the former Assistant Vice President of Risk Management of the Credit Union of Georgia, has pleaded guilty to a charge of mail fraud for causing the credit union to disburse over $300,000 in fraudulent loans. According to the charges and other information presented in court: From January 2008 through August 2010, Perkins, used the names of unknowing family members and friends to open signature loans and true lines of credit at the credit union, which are open-ended personal lines of credit. Perkins took the funds obtained from these fraudulent loans for her own personal use. She also secretly refinanced automobile loans without the auto owner’s knowledge, consent, or authorization, and took those proceeds. Additionally, Perkins established fraudulent VISA accounts in the names of family members and friends and received cash advances on those accounts without their knowledge. Perkins’ fraud scheme went undetected at the Credit Union of Georgia until she was fired in 2010 for policy violations. She continually increased the loan limits and available credit limits on the fraudulent loans to obtain more funds. In an effort to conceal and continue her scheme, Perkins used some of the money she fraudulently received to make payments on some of the loans, lines of credit, and credit card accounts that she had fraudulently established in the names of others. To further conceal her scheme, Perkins directed the monthly statements of the fraudulently established accounts to her personal post office box. As a result of Perkins’ scheme, the Credit Union of Georgia lost more than $300,000. Sentencing for Perkins is scheduled for July 30, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. before United States District Judge Mark H. Cohen. Acting U.S. Attorney Horn announced the guilty plea. This case is being investigated by the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Loranzo M. Fleming and Jeff A. Brown are prosecuting the case. “This now former credit union executive used her institutional knowledge of the financial system to concoct a multi-faceted fraud scheme to steal money from the credit union,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. “The Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners will vigorously investigate and prosecute those engaged in fraud that threatens the integrity of the banking system.” “The United States Secret Service will continue to take an aggressive approach to arrest individuals who violate the trust of businesses to further their personal financial gain,” said Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office. May 14, 2015 — Leave a comment Posted in Bank, fraud, fraudulent loans, mortgage fraud \| Tagged Bank, fraud, fraudulent loans, Mortgage fraud \| Leave a comment	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line857
__label__cc	0.526725	0.473275	The Red Book of Russian People: the Aleuts September 17, 2008 at 8:26 am \| Posted in Naming, Siberia \| 6 Comments Tags: Aleuts, commander islands, ethnicity, habitat, History, Language, location, Origin, population, russia, writing As promised, I am digging in the Red Book of Russian People website. Today it is the turn of the first group of tribes, the Paleo-Asiatic ones. And we start with the Aleutians. I wrote about them in this other post, and today we will read more about them: The Aleuts The present self-designation aleut was first suggested by the Russians who reached the Aleutian Islands in 1741 during an expedition led by V. Bering. Written sources have used the name since 1747 and gradually it has been adopted by the Aleuts. Final consolidation of the name took place in the first decades of this century. According to G. Menovshchikov the name is derived from an Aleut word allíthuh meaning ‘community; host’. The old self-designation unangan evidently applied to the eastern Aleuts only, meaning probably ‘coastal people’ (K. Bergsland). Local groupings and inhabitants of different islands are known to have also used other names for themselves. The Aleut people are the native inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands, the southwestern part of the Alaskan peninsula and the off-shore islands of Shumagin. Since the beginning of the 19th century there have been resettled Aleuts living on Commander Islands (Bering and Mednyi) which are under Soviet jurisdiction. The Aleut District in the Kamchatka Region was established in 1932. In 1969 the Aleuts of those two islands were gathered to live in Nikolskoye, Bering Island. In the middle of the 18th century, when Russians first explored the place, the islands were nearly all inhabited. The number of the Aleuts was estimated at approximately 25,000. Mass murder and enslavement of the natives reduced their numbers drastically. According to the data supplied by the missionary I. Veniaminov in 1834 there were less than 2,500 Aleuts left. The 1918 epidemics of smallpox and grippe took a further toll. In 1945 the anthropologist A. Hrolicka estimated the number of Aleuts at about 1,400. Nowadays the world number of the Aleuts is believed to be about 6,000. Part of the Eskimos of southeastern and southern Alaska also consider themselves Aleut. In the 1970s there were about 500 Aleuts living on the Commander Islands, but by 1984 their number had dropped to 300. On the US part of the Aleutian Islands a census was carried out in 1960 according to whose data there were 2,100 Aleut (mostly half-bred) who made up 35 % of the local population. Anthropologically Aleuts are close to the Eskimo people belonging to the mongoloid Arctic race. Their mingling with other types often emphasized in academic literature is evidently not well grounded. Newer results prove that despite the historical heterogeneity of the Commander Aleuts their genetic structure is Aleut. The Aleut people were believed to have first arrived on the Aleutian Islands from the coast of northeastern Asia or from Alaska, not earlier than 3,000 years ago. Latest research suggests that the aleuts arrival must have happened considerably earlier. Now the settlement of the Aleutians is associated with the time when there was still a land connection between America and Asia, that is, no later than 10–12 thousand years ago. The Aleut language, belonging to the Eskimo-Aleut languages, is considered as a member of the Paleo-Asiatic group. According to incomplete data the Aleut language can be divided into three dialects: Attu (Western), Atka and Unalaska (Eastern). The differences are small and do not impede mutual intelligibility. The present-day Aleuts are bilingual. The American Aleuts speak English, while the Asiatic Aleuts had already been russified by the beginning of the 19th century. According to G. Menovshchikov the Aleuts of Bering Island speak the Atka dialect with a well-preserved basic vocabulary and grammatical structure. The version previously used on the Mednyi (Copper) Island was of the Attu dialect. In addition the strong Russian influence has produced a strange pidgin where verbs are conjugated by means of Russian suffixes, etc. Menovshchikov has suggested that the pidgin which is still spoken to a certain extent on Mednyi Island was at one time a lingua franca for Russians and the Aleut people. Although the Aleut language has relatively much in common with Eskimo languages, the grammatical and lexical differences are considerable. The glotto-chronological method dates the linguistic divergence of the Aleut and the Eskimo peoples as at least 1000–2000 years back. Common developments can be traced in the phonology and word structure, but there are very few common roots in the lexis of the two languages. It is believed that the phonology of Aleut is more ancient than the Eskimo language. The linguistic and cultural influence of Russian started to make itself felt by the 18th century. By the beginning of the 19th century practically all Aleuts living on Russian territories had been converted to Russian Orthodoxy. This was an efficient means of checking the local culture and language. On Bering Island the Russian influence has not penetrated to grammar yet, but some of it has been noticed in the vocabulary. The inhabitants of Mednyi Island are very much isolated from the remaining Aleut area. Nowadays their ordinary means of communication is Russian. Aleut has been preserved fragmentarily by the older members of but a few families but in general Aleut has receded before Russian. Another strong wave of Russian swept over the islands during the Soviet period. Many Aleuts have left their native islands in search of better education. Ethnically pure marriages are rare, in most cases the spouse is found among another nation. According to R. Lyapunova the number of Aleuts living at Nikolskoye, Bering Island is about 300. About 200 live elsewhere, mostly on the Kamchatka peninsula. The same author points out that outside their own native islands the half-bred Aleuts refrain from calling themselves Aleut, but returning home they resume their ethnic identity. Ethnic culture The Aleut people have always derived their livelihood from the hunting of sea mammals (seals, fur-seals, etc.) and fishing. In the severe polar conditions the gathering of everything edible was also of great importance. Hunting and fishing gear was made of stone, bone and wood. Family relations were characterized by polygamy (both ways), giving away children to uncles to foster, and the mutual exchange of children. According to traditional practice the catch and game belonged to the whole community, not to the hunter and his family only. The dwellings were half-earthen and large. Male as well as female clothing was made of animal and bird skins. Mats and baskets woven of grass were popular in every household. Traditional food consisted of the meat of sea mammals and seabirds, fish (eaten raw) and molluscs. The sources of Russian cultural influence were the Russian administration, the Russian Orthodox Church and the parochial school. Folk art (pantomime dances, for example) still survived, but were practised in jealously guarded secrecy for fear of Russian disparagement. Nowadays mink-farming and cattle-breeding as well as horticulture have developed in addition to the traditional branches of economy. Those Aleuts who were forcefully resettled to the Commander Islands had to accommodate their life-style to the local natural conditions. There the winters are colder and there is more snow than on the Aleutian Islands. The inhabited northern part of Bering is just flat tundra, and Mednyi is rocky. New means of transport — the dog harness (also in summer) were introduced. Nowadays folk culture survives to a certain extent thanks to the Museum of Local Lore, Children’s Art School and a folklore ensemble. The Aleut people became an object of research following the Russian occupation. The initiative belonged to the missionary I. Veniaminov. Nowadays extensive research projects are under way in the USA. An Aleut writing system with its base the Cyrillic alphabet, was devised in the 19th century by I. Veniaminov and V. Metsvetov. As on Bering Island there was a parochial school (belonging to the Russian-American company), and nearly all adult men could read and write in Russian. In addition there was always a native Aleut around teaching children the same skills in the Aleut language. In 1867 when the Aleutian Islands were ceded to the USA the writing system fell into disuse. The teaching of the Aleut language to the US Aleuts was resumed in the middle of the 1970s only. It seems that the situation it is very bad for them after the Russian occupation. It may be difficult to reach them during the travel, as they are perhaps hard to locate and contact. By the way, I should start thinking on updating my route map!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line864
__label__wiki	0.828579	0.828579	Hydrobiologia June 2009 , Volume 626, Issue 1, pp 27–40 \| Cite as Seasonal dynamics of zooplankton in a shallow eutrophic, man-made hyposaline lake in Delhi (India): role of environmental factors Jyoti Arora N. K. Mehra SALT LAKE RESEARCH First Online: 26 February 2009 Old Fort Lake, a small (1.6 ha), shallow, and recreational water body in Delhi (India) was studied through monthly surveys in two consecutive years (January, 2000–December, 2001). Precipitation is the major source of water for this closed basin lake. In addition, ground water is used for replenishing the lake regularly. This alkaline, hyposaline hard water lake contains very high ionic concentration, especially of nitrates. Based on overall ionic composition, this lake can be categorized as chloride–sulfate alkaline waters with the anion sequence dominated by SO4 2− > Cl− > HCO3 −, and the cations by Mg++ > Ca++. The overall seasonal variability in physicochemical profile was largely regulated by the annual cycle of evaporation and precipitation, whereas the ground water largely influences its water quality. The lake exhibited phytoplankton-dominated turbid state due to dominance of the blue green alga, Microcystis aeruginosa. The persistent cyanobacterial blooms and the elevated nutrient levels are indicative of the cultural eutrophication of the lake. This study focuses on the relative importance of eutrophic vis-à-vis hyposaline conditions in determining the structure and seasonal dynamics of zooplankton species assemblages. A total of 52 zooplankton species were recorded and rotifers dominated the community structure qualitatively as well as quantitatively. The genus Brachionus comprised a significant component of zooplankton community with B. plicatilis as the most dominant species. The other common taxa were B. quadridentatus, B. angularis, Lecane grandis, L. thalera, L. punctata, Mesocyclops sp., and Alona rectangula. Multivariate data analysis techniques, Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) along with Monte Carlo Permutation Tests were used to determine the minimum number of environmental factors that could explain statistically significant (P < 0.05) proportions of variation in the species data. The significant variables selected by CCA were NH3–N followed by percent saturation of DO, COD, SS, BOD, NO2–N, rainfall, silicates, and PO4–P. The results indicate that the seasonal succession patterns of the zooplankton species were largely controlled by physicochemical factors related directly or indirectly to the process of eutrophication, whereas hyposaline conditions in the lake determined the characteristic species composition. Zooplankton Seasonal dynamics Hyposaline Shallow lake Eutrophication Guest Editors: J. John & B. Timms Salt Lake Research: Biodiversity and Conservation—Selected papers from the 9th Conference of the International Society for Salt Lake Research We are extremely grateful to Dr. Nico Salmaso (University of Padova, Italy) for his help and valuable comments on the statistical analysis of data, especially regarding multivariate data analysis techniques. We are thankful to the Head, Department of Zoology for providing the necessary research facilities. J. A. is thankful to CSIR and INSA for providing the financial assistance to travel. Finally, but not the least, thanks are due to the organizers of the 9th ISSLR conference for providing excellent hospitality and waiver of registration fee. Allen, A. P., T. R. Whittier, D. P. Larsen, P. R. Kaufmann, R. J. O’ Connor, R. M. Hughes, R. S. Stemberger, S. S. Dixit, R. O. Brinkhurst, A. T. Herlihy & S. G. Paulsen, 1999. Concordance of taxonomic composition patterns across multiple assemblages: effects of scale, size and land use. 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D., 1998. Salinity as a determinant of the structure of biological communities in salt lakes. Hydrobiologia 381: 191–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Williams, W. D., A. J. Boulton & R. G. Taaffe, 1990. Salinity as a determinant of salt lake fauna: a question of scale. Hydrobiologia 197: 257–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Wolfinbarger, W. C., 1999. Influences of biotic and abiotic factors on seasonal succession of zooplankton in Hugo Reservoir, Oklahoma. U.S.A. Hydrobiologia 400: 13–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Wood, R. B. & J. F. Talling, 1988. Chemical and algal relationships in a salinity series of Ethiopian inland waters. Hydrobiologia 158: 29–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar 1.Department of Zoology, Miranda HouseUniversity of DelhiDelhiIndia 2.Limnology Unit, Department of ZoologyUniversity of DelhiDelhiIndia Arora, J. & Mehra, N.K. Hydrobiologia (2009) 626: 27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9735-7 First Online 26 February 2009	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line868
__label__wiki	0.777524	0.777524	Top 10 Mustaches That Brutalized Modern History Andrei Dina December 21, 2012 0 While the beard is depicted throughout history as the symbol of manhood and wisdom, nothing spells tyranny and despotism better than the mustache. For apparently unknown reasons, starting with Odoacer (433 – 493 AD), the first barbarian king of Italy, to Alexander Lukashenko, the current president of Belarus, dictators the world over have felt the urge to sport a mo’. While an answer to the question, “Why do almost all tyrants grow a mustache?” remains a mystery, here’s a list of the most influential mustachioed dictators of modern history. Alexander Lukashenko Born 30 August 1954 Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (Alexander Lukashenko), the current president of Belarus, is the last dictator in Europe. His reign began on 20 July 1994 when he was democratically elected by the population. But he never left the presidential seat again… Although Lukashenko shows clear traits of dictatorship – such as a fondness for his own personality cult – he is still the least vicious dictator on our list. Born 28 October 1957 Paul Kagame is the current president of The Republic of Rwanda, rising to power as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the main force that ended the “Rwandan Genocide” (a famous mass slaughter of approximately 800.000 people). Even though Kagame’s regime has been frequently praised for its contribution to the end of the Rwandan crisis, in June 2006 the International Federation of Human Rights and Human Rights Watch described what they called “serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Rwanda Patriotic Army and its leader, Paul Kagame.” According to The Economist, anyone who poses the slightest political threat to Kagame`s regime is dealt with ruthlessly. Kagame has been accused of using strict anti-hate speech laws to stifle dissent. Apparently, President Paul Kagame and his government have never accepted that the press should be guaranteed genuine freedom Augusto Pinochet was an army general and dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990. His regime began in 1973, after overthrowing the socialist government of the elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende. He took part in the coup only one month after being promoted by Allende to General Chief of Staff of the Army. Although Pinochet’s government implemented a large number of economic reforms – such as currency stabilization, tariff cutting, opening Chile’s markets to global trade, restricting labour unions, privatizing social security, and privatizing hundreds of state-controlled industries – its human rights record was absolutely terrible. According to various official reports and investigations, the Pinochet regime implemented harsh measures against its political opponents, with approximately 1,000-3,ooo people killed, up to 80,000 imprisoned, and up to 30,000 tortured by his regime – including women and children. When asked what is wrong with democracy, Pinochet answered that “sometimes, you need to torture, murder and rape people until they stop having the wrong economic ideas.” Rafael Trujillo 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961 Rafael Trujillo ruled as the dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961 – a period of crackdowns and genocide that remains one of the bloodiest ever in the Americas. He also developed a classic personality cult: monuments to Trujillo were in abundance during his tenure. It has been estimated that Trujillo’s authoritarian rule was responsible for the deaths of more than 50,000 people. He masterminded the famous Parsley Massacre, a government-sponsored genocide in October 1937, involving the summary executions of Haitian families living in the borderlands with Haiti. The violence resulted in the killing of 20,000 ethnic Haitian civilians, over a period of about five days. 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006 Saddam Hussein was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. He played a key role in the (1968) 17 July Revolution, which saw the party wrest control from the Iraqi monarchy. Saddam officially rose to power in 1979, even though he had been de facto head of Iraq for several years prior. His regime is most notable for initiating the 20th century’s longest conventional war – the Iran-Iraq War (a.k.a. First Gulf War), which lasted from 1980 to 1988 – and for fighting the coalition led by the US and the UK in the Second Gulf War. According to The New York Times, Saddam Hussein indirectly murdered as many as a million of his people – many with poison gas. He tortured, maimed and imprisoned countless more. His unprovoked invasion of Iran is estimated to have left another million people dead. Mouammar Gaddafi June 1942 – 20 October 2011 Mouammar Gaddafi was a political theorist, and the absolute leader of Libya from 1969 to 2011. He is a promoter of the “Third Universal Theory”, a style of government proposed in the early 1970s that rejects modern liberal representative democracy (and capitalism) in favor of a type direct democracy, overseen by the government, which allows for direct political participation from all adult citizens. The theory contends that freedom of speech should be based on the public ownership of book publishers, newspapers, television, and radio stations, on the grounds that private ownership of these institutions would be undemocratic. Even though Gaddafi is portrayed as a merciless dictator who is alleged to have been raping school girls, executing political opponents and hiring mercenaries to murder his own people, his supporters have lauded him as a champion of anti-imperialism, as well as both Arab and African nationalism. 29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945 Benito Mussolini was the dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943. He has been called the “Duce of Fascism”, as he is considered to be one of the key figures in the creation of this political ideology. Mussolini’s genuine dictatorship was born between 1925 and 1927, when, as the Prime Minister of Italy, he progressively dismantled virtually all constitutional and conventional restraints on his power, thereby building a police state. Mussolini is also famous for leading Italy into the calamity of the Second World War by siding with Hitler’s Germany, and subsequently embracing The Third Reich’s views on a number of issues. He once stated that he “could easily sacrifice 500,000 barbaric Slavs for 50,000 Italians”. Although Mussolini in his prime is pictured with a clean-shaven face, he used to sport a moustache in his youth – probably the initial engine behind his eagerness to recreate the Roman Empire. Born August 1926 Fidel Castro has led Cuba since 1959, when, following a military intervention, he managed to chase away the former leader, Fulgenico Batista. In 2006, suffering from ailing health, he stepped down from power – supposedly delegating his duties to his brother Raul. Castro is a very controversial and divisive world figure, lauded as a champion of anti-imperialism, humanitarianism, socialism and environmentalism by his supporters, but considered by his critics as a dictator who has overseen multiple human rights abuses. His example has significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world, including Nelson Mandela, Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales. Like Mussolini, Castro is not a lifelong mustachioed dictator, as he chose to grow a beard after obtaining the power in Cuba. It has served him well – at one point the CIA even considered exposing him to a chemical that would make his beard hairs fall out, thereby depriving him of the respect of the Cubans. 18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953 Joseph Stalin was the absolute ruler of the former Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953, one of the key figures in the Second World War, and one of the most vicious dictators of all time, next to our number one entry. Stalin’s regime is responsible for at least 10 million deaths – 6 million from famine and 4 million from other causes. Some historians have suggested a body count of as high as 20 million. Stalin created a cult of personality, with numerous towns, villages and cities being renamed after him. He accepted grandiloquent titles like “Coryphaeus of Science”, “Father of Nations”, “Brilliant Genius of Humanity”, “Great Architect of Communism”, “Gardener of Human Happiness” – and helped rewrite Soviet history to give him a more significant role in the revolution of 1917. At the same time, he rather dubiously insisted that he be remembered for “the extraordinary modesty characteristic of truly great people”. 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945 Adolf Hitler is – without a shadow of doubt – the most vicious dictator in human history. Though his mustache quite frankly leaves a lot to be desired, Hitler managed to become the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler’s aim to establish a “New Order” of German Aryan hegemony in Europe led to the outbreak of the Second World War, and consequently to the deaths of an estimated 50 million people. His manner of nation-building relied on the absolute obedience of all subordinates to their superiors; he viewed the government structure as a pyramid, with himself as the infallible leader at the apex. His leadership style involved giving contradictory orders to his subordinates, and placing them in positions where their duties and responsibilities overlapped with those of others, in order to ensure, in his words, that “the stronger one do the job”. In this way, Hitler fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates in order to consolidate and maximize his own power. Though Auden’s poem could equally apply to any dictator on this list, it seems fitting to offer his “Epitaph on a Tyrant” to the most brutal of them all: “Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after, And the poetry he invented was easy to understand; He knew human folly like the back of his hand, And was greatly interested in armies and fleets; When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter, And when he cried the little children died in the streets.” 10 Recently Executed American Murderesses Top 10 Gruesome Cold Cases That May Finally Get Closure 10 Parents Who Were Falsely Accused Of Murdering Their Children 10 Vicious And Insane Serial Killers From China	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line872
__label__wiki	0.868142	0.868142	Areas of Competition Queens Corner Meet Reigning Reigning Appearances Ms. International MEET THE NEW DIRECTOR Stephanie Mills - President Dr. Stephanie Mills has been involved in pageantry for over 30 years as a contestant, producer, choreographer, director, board member and judge. Dr. Mills was crowned Ms. America 2014-15 and traveled the country promoting concussion awareness during her year of service. At age 18, Stephanie competed at the 75th annual Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, NJ as Miss New Hampshire 1995. Stephanie also held the titles of Mrs. New Hampshire America and Mrs. New Hampshire United States, making the top ten at the Mrs. United States Pageant in Las Vegas. Dr. Mills is a summa cum laude graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and has founded three chiropractic clinics in her home state. Stephanie’s love for pageantry has spanned her lifetime and she is thrilled to assume the position of Director of the prestigious Ms. America Pageant Inc. Kelly Bennett - BPUnlimited A 17 year Broadcast Journalist with an emphasis on Public Relations and Community Affairs, Kelly Bennett has been a reporter, anchor, senior assignment manager for radio and broadcast stations then transitioned into public/community affairs; managing community/public relations for Adelphia Communications and Time Warner Cable. In 2009, she created Bennett Unlimited PR - a Public Relations, Promotions and Event Production firm, specializing in non-profits, community based organizations, individuals and new businesses. Some of her clients have been seen on Inside Edition, HuffPost Live, CNN, The Morning Scramble, Getty Images, Huffington Post, PRPhotos.com, New York Magazine, KTLA, Good Day LA, MSNBC, The Morning Blend, OC Register, Orange Coast Magazine, Rivera Magazine and other news media Nationally and Internationally. Sharing custom-tailored growth strategies with each client while writing “their” story for maximum media attention helps clients open doors and make things happen. Her work has garnered the attention of local, national and international press making those connections for her clients and getting them the deserved attention for their cause, event or product – giving them the exposure needed for taking the next step. She co-hosts a morning radio program “Breakfast with Gary and Kelly” which can be heard on KSBR 88.5FM as well as the LIVE TV version on Cox and Charter television, the internet and on YouTube. Bennett also is the Society Editor for five weekly newspapers; Newport Beach News, Coto de Caza News, Mission Viejo News, Ladera Ranch News and San Clemente News. Her column covers non-profit galas, events and lifestyles of the society scene. In her spare time, Kelly enjoys spending time with her family as well as traveling around the world. HOST FOR THE PAGEANT PHOTOGRAPHER OF PRODUCTION Daniel Pham Daniel Pham has been taking pictures professionally for over 15 years. He has traveled all over the world as a photographer and has won over 200 awards for his photos in the categories of sports, nature, wildlife and fashion. Many of his photos have been featured in many magazines and newspapers including the LA Times, Orange County Register, Beauty Magazine and Pageantry Magazine. As pageant and fashion photographer he and his award winning group of photographers have worked at over 150 local, state and national pageants including Miss Global, OC Fashion Show, LA Fashion Week, Miss Continental, Miss Asian Pacific, Miss USA Pageant system and the Ms. America Pageant. His clients also include Victoria Secret models, LA Lakers, San Diego Chargers, Clippers and many state and national pageant winners. Susan Jeske - Founder Susan Jeske has been involved in the pageant and entertainment industry for over 36 years and is currently the CEO of the Ms. America Pageant. She has traveled to 26 countries as a goodwill ambassador and Presidential envoy for the United States and has been a spokesperson for Fortune 500 Companies. An advocate for volunteerism she has received many awards and in 2004, she received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the President of the United States for the thousands of hours she has donated through the years to all kinds of causes and charities in the United States and world-wide. She has been involved in pageantry since she was 17 years of age as a competitor, judge, pageant producer, director and owner. She has held many local, state, national and international pageant titles and in 1997 at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas representing Colorado, Susan bested 50 other contestants and was crowned MS. AMERICA® winning $75,000 in cash and prizes. During her reign, Susan used her “Crown for a Purpose” and created the “Student’s Against Violence" one-hour assembly program where she traveled to high schools across the nation speaking to students about non-violence in schools. For her program she received more than 30 Awards, 15 Keys to the City and Proclamations for her presentation, including a personal letter from the President of the United States. During her reign she was invited by The Knights Templar in the UK and was flown to Scotland where she was “Knighted” by Prince Michael at Sterling Castle for her numerous charity services throughout the world. On September 14, 1998, Susan purchased the pageant from the Ms. America Inter-Nationale, Inc. located in Houston, Texas. Ms. America Inter-National, Inc. held the pageant once. After three years, when the trademark was secured in February 2000, Susan Jeske became the founder of the Ms. America Pageant Corporation. Today the Ms. America Pageant Inc, includes four titles, Ms. America, Ms. America International, Ms. International and Miss Pacific U.S. The mission of the pageant is to “Empower Women across the Nation and Around the World.” The titleholder is to use her “Crown for a Purpose” that would make an impact on the world in a positive way. Her world-wide pageant connections has enabled Susan to send contestants to International pageant competitions all over the world since the 1980’s. These have included Miss International held in Japan, Miss World – UK, Miss Asia Pacific International - China, Miss All Nations - Thailand, Miss Progress International – Italy, Miss Tourism - Sri Lanka, Miss Globe International - Albania, Miss Banana Queen - Ecuador, Miss Intercontinental-Panama and Model or the World – Panama. She supported the Miss Earth Pageant from its debut by sending contestants to the pageant for the first 5 years. Currently Susan receives an invitation from the Government of Mexico to travel with a queen to Mazatlán for a week of events and parades, culture, history and ending with the Queen of the Pacific Pageant. In 2017, Emilee Mills representing Miss Pacific U.S. was crowned Reina International Del Pacifico 2017 in Mazatlan, Mexico. These connections were made after Susan moved to California in 1984 to live with Debbie Maffett, Miss America 1983 and Faye Smith who was the State Director for the Miss California USA Pageant. By the 3rd week of living in California she was chosen to model and perform in the Miss United Nations Goodwill Tour in Thailand. Thru invitations from the Government of different countries, she was invited to compete in pageants all over the world as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United States and was often invited to return and perform for various Charites and events for the country. In an age before Email, Internet and the fax machine Susan was able to pick up the hard wired phone and use her title and reputation to access the people and put together various projects and accomplish her goals. In 1992, Susan was invited by the Thai Arts and Cultural Committee in Thailand to organize a delegation of 12 National and International Beauty Queens to travel to Thailand for the Queens of Thailand’s 60th Birthday Celebration. The delegation included Miss World, Miss USA, Miss International, Miss International USA, Miss Flower Queen, Miss All Nations, Star Search Model Winner, Miss California and Miss Teen USA. During their 2 week stay they made over 42 scheduled appearances, featured in 50 newspapers, 10 national TV shows and was on the cover of 3 magazines. The delegation raised $92,000 for the Queens favorite charity – a poor children’s hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Susan served as a Presidential Envoy for Presidents Clinton and Reagan delivering personal birthday greetings from the two Presidents during a private meeting with Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. A professional singer, Susan has performed at more than 1500 events before audiences that include 7 United States Presidents, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Queen of Thailand, Opening of the Ronald Reagan Library, the STS 102 Space Shuttle Discovery Launch of March 2001, President George W. Bush Inauguration, Denver Broncos Televised Super Bowl Victory Party, LA Angels playoffs, several Prime Ministers and Ambassadors all over the world. In 1985, as Miss California American Beauty, she was invited to entertain the troops on a USO Tour to Turkey, Italy, Greece and Spain. The USO troop was flown on C-30 planes to all the military bases and on several aircraft carriers including the ships the Saratoga, SS San Diego and Coronado. In 1993 Susan, set the World Record, published in the Guinness Book of World Records for singing the National Anthem at the most events in a 24 hour period raising $93,000 for children charities. Her world record was featured in 8 Guinness Book of World Records and to this day no one has been able to break her World Record although there have been 7 attempts. A professional model and spokesperson she was invited twice on a 10 city-wide tour in Mexico with reigning Miss USA and Miss Universe 1984 Mai Shanley and Yvonne Ryding as a model and spokesperson for Le Petit Jean Shoes. They traveled in a private jet to events and promotions for the Beverly Hills shoe line. The following year she was chosen as the new Spokesperson with a four year contract for Hyundai Motor America where she traveled to 14 cities per years making appearances at car shows and promotional events. In addition, Susan was also a spokesperson for Norelco, Mazak, Panasonic, Proctor & Gamble, True Elements Skin Care and many other companies. In the 1980’s and 90’s she appeared regularly on daytime Soap Operas “Days of our Lives,” “Young and the Restless,” “Bold and the Beautiful,” and is seen in movies and television commercials. In her career as an independent image, beauty and etiquette consultant, Susan has advised corporate executives, political and community leaders. She has written for newspapers and magazines as a columnist, and appeared on radio and television. Known as "The Queen Maker" Susan is acclaimed as one of the best and most sought after pageant coaches in the world and has worked with many girls who have gone on to win many state, national and international beauty titles. A licensed Esthetician and pioneer for Safe Cosmetics, she campaigned for 3 years and helped introduce the Personal Care Products Safety Act of 2015 which asks for full ingredient disclosure for professional salon products and web-based sales of cosmetic products and directing the FDA to assess a safety of a minimum of 5 cosmetic chemicals a year. Currently the bill is being introduced to the House of Senate by Senator Feinstein and Susan Collins. Other Awards Have Included: Governor and First Lady Award” from California State Governor Woman of the Year Award” from the Leukemia Society Commanding Generals Award” from the U.S. Marine Corp Constellation Patriot Award” from the National Flag Foundation Priority One Award” from Kiwanis International Ambassador Award” from Guard A Heart Foundation *Congressional Community Service Award” from the California Legislature Assembly Resolution Website: www.susanjeske.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/susanrjeske Make Your Own Website! No Skills Required! Click Here for a 7 day Free Trial	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line875
__label__cc	0.642857	0.357143	The Platinum Collection (2011 Remaster) 51 songs (3 hours and 27 minutes) Released on 13 November 2000 Bohemian Rhapsody (Remastered 2011) Another One Bites The Dust (Remastered 2011) Killer Queen (Remastered 2011) [Explicit] Fat Bottomed Girls (Remastered 2011) [Explicit] Bicycle Race (Remastered 2011) You're My Best Friend (Remastered 2011) Don't Stop Me Now (Remastered) Save Me (Remastered 2011) Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Remastered 2011) Somebody To Love (Remastered 2011) Now I'm Here (Remastered 2011) Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (Remastered 2011) Play The Game (Remastered 2011) Flash (Remastered 2011) Seven Seas Of Rhye (Remastered 2011) We Will Rock You (Remastered) We Are The Champions (Remastered 2011) A Kind Of Magic (Remastered 2011) Under Pressure (Remastered) [feat. David Bowie] Queen feat. David Bowie Radio Ga Ga (Remastered) I Want It All (Remastered 2011) I Want To Break Free (Remastered 2011) Innuendo (Remastered 2011) It's A Hard Life (Remastered 2011) Breakthru (Remastered 2011) Who Wants To Live Forever (Remastered 2011) Headlong (Remastered 2011) The Miracle (Remastered 2011) I'm Going Slightly Mad (Remastered 2011) The Invisible Man (Remastered 2011) Hammer To Fall (Remastered 2011) Friends Will Be Friends (Remastered 2011) The Show Must Go On (Remastered 2011) One Vision (Remastered 2011) The Show Must Go On (Live, Theatre National De Chaillot, Paris, 1997 - 2011 Remaster) Queen feat. Elton John Under Pressure (Rah Mix / Remastered 2011) [feat. David Bowie] Barcelona (Single Version - 2011 Remaster) Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballè Too Much Love Will Kill You (2011 Remaster) Somebody To Love (Live At The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert For AIDS Awareness, Wembley / 1992) Queen & George Michael You Don't Fool Me (Remastered 2011) Heaven For Everyone (Remastered 2011 / Single Version) Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love) (Remastered 2011) Driven By You (2011 Remaster) Living On My Own (2011 Remaster) Let Me Live (Remastered 2011) The Great Pretender (Remastered 2011) Princes Of The Universe (Remastered 2011) Another One Bites The Dust (Remix / Remastered 2011) [feat. Wyclef Jean & Pras Michel] [Explicit] Queen feat. Wyclef Jean & Pras Michel No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) (Remastered 2011) These Are The Days Of Our Lives (2011 Remaster) Thank God It's Christmas (2011 Remaster) ℗ This Compilation 2011 Queen Productions Ltd. under exclusive licence to Universal International Music BV © 2011 Queen Productions Ltd. under exclusive licence to Universal International Music BV	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line876
__label__cc	0.64007	0.35993	What PepsiCo's Earnings Mean for Mutual Fund Investors (PEP) https://mutualfunds.com/news/2015/02/11/what-pepsico-earnings-mean-for-investors/ Shauna O'Brien Feb 11, 2015 Before the opening bell on Wednesday, PepsiCo (PEP) released its fourth quarter financial results. Here’s what the results mean for mutual fund investors. Inside PEP’s Results The company reported earnings of $1.31 billion, or 87 cents per share, down from $1.74 billion, or $1.12 per share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings were $1.12 per share – above analysts’ estimate of $1.08 per share. Revenue dropped to $19.948 billion from $20.12 billion. Analysts expected to see revenue of $19.66 billion. PepsiCo expects to see earnings growth of 7% for FY2015. Analysts expect to see EPS of $4.75. Snack Business Boosting Profits While PepsiCo was negatively impacted by the strengthening dollar and restructuring charges, these expenses were offset by stronger sales of Frito-Lay snacks. From a valuation standpoint, PEP is trading at 21x 2015 earnings estimates, which is a bit pricey for investors, considering its flat revenue growth. Despite its sluggish sales, PEP may be an attractive stock for income-focused investors with its 2.87% dividend yield. With its earnings announcement today, the company announced that it will boost its dividend payout by 7.3%. Investors interested in PEP may also consider a mutual fund as an alternative to owning the individual stock. The funds below currently hold the largest stakes in PEP. VTSMX Vanguard Total Stock Market Index 1.69% YACKX AMG Yacktman Service 0.81% The funds listed above allow investors to gain exposure to PEP while remaining diversified. Investors interested in PEP may also be interested in Coca-Cola (KO) or Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS).	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line879
__label__wiki	0.758498	0.758498	Dead people’s votes – Assemblyman Ron Dancer wants them counted Ray Rossi NJ Legislature It looks like Assemblyman Ronald Dancer is going “Chicago style!” He’s introduced legislation that says people who cast mail-in ballots but die before polls close on Election Day should have their votes count – as opposed to the way it’s done now - those ballots would be thrown out. In other words, your vote counts even if you’re dead. Sounds like the ploy that supposedly got President John F Kennedy elected. Current law states that "whenever the county board receives evidence that a mail-in voter who has marked and forwarded a mail-in ballot has died before the opening of the polls on the day of the election, the ballot shall be rejected by the board (of elections)." …which seems to make sense, as the deceased will not have been around to see the results (or non-result) of the vote that was cast - despite their having had the right to vote when they were alive. The inspiration for this bill was for it to only apply to active duty military members – as he has a son-in-law who’s done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he’s found that Indiana actually has a proposal that allows for the votes of the dead to count. Here’s what’s interesting. According to an article from USA Today, this came about because of the results of the 2000 Presidential election – and how the difference of a few votes can swing an election. This also takes into account the difference between in-person voting and mail in votes. For instance, in Florida, if a person casts an early ballot, then is run over by a truck right outside the polling place, there's no way to rescind the vote. But the vote of a Florida soldier who mails an absentee ballot from Iraq, then is killed in action, won't — or shouldn't — be counted. Both have had the same right to vote, but why should one dead person’s vote count while the other’s doesn’t? Here in New Jersey, we allow voters to cast mail in ballots early for whatever reason, but the votes don’t get counted until Election Night. It would be possible to allow for an “early voting system” whereby a person’s vote would count when received instead of waiting till the election. That would take more legislative action – and one has to wonder if the legislature should be taking up valuable time in deciding whether or not the votes of dead people should count. Should someone who cast a mail-in ballot but died before polls closed have their vote counted or thrown out? Filed Under: Assemblyman Ronald Dancer	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line882
__label__cc	0.578596	0.421404	New Dave & Buster’s — 2 Jersey girls, 1 friendly competition For months, shoppers on the upper level of Woodbridge Center have walked past signs announcing the eventual opening of the first New Jersey location of Dave & Buster's. Last week, two NJ 101.5 staffers went head-to-head in a friendly competition to celebrate the opening of the new entertainment venue. Proud Jersey Girl Erin Vogt and Reporter Daniela Berson engaged in a little friendly competition, playing everything from arcade games and air hockey to Skee-Ball in the new 34,000 square-foot location, which is set to open Tuesday at 274 Woodbridge Center Drive. there are entrances inside the mall as well as from the parking lot of the center. In addition to more than 150 arcade games, the NJ Dave & Buster's also has a massive sports bar as well as spaces for corporate events and meetings, parties and a sit-down dining area. Then there's the food, ranging from lettuce wraps and burger sliders to "Dynamite Fried Shrimp," which NJ 101.5 staff devoured. Check out the Dave & Buster's website for hours and more information. Toniann Antonelli is digital managing editor for programming at NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015. Categories: Entertainment, Featured Videos, New Jersey News	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line883
__label__cc	0.567126	0.432874	The Pop-Up Globe: Keeping Shakespeare real February 1, 2019 nik dirga1 Comment One of my highlights of the last three summers has been working at the remarkable Pop-Up Globe theatre in Auckland, a working replica of the famous second Globe Theatre of 1614 that Shakespeare and company used. Its design closely replicates the actual experience of the punters of 400 years ago, lords and ladies, groundlings and commoners. The Pop-Up Globe, created by Dr Miles Gregory, has been so successful it’s gone on to be replicated in Australia and is now in its fourth season here in New Zealand. I started volunteering there a couple years ago, and it’s been an amazing experience. You help the crowds, deal with any issues, and get to bask in the glow of some amazing actors performing the greatest plays in history. The Pop-Up Globe has done some smashing productions (A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the fairy dialogue done entirely in Māori and an all-female Henry V are among my favourites) and sold hundreds of thousands of tickets. I’ve loved Shakespeare since a superb high school teacher (thanks, Mr. Lehman) showed us how the Bard wasn’t all dusty words and impenetrable verse, but a living, breathing body of work that contains some of the greatest stories ever told. Shakespeare is meant to be seen, not merely read aloud in a halting adolescent voice in a dry classroom. The biggest appeal of Shakespeare to me is that he seems bottomless – you can spend a lifetime studying the plays and still come up with new angles, new turns of phrase and new spins on characters you’d never imagined. One of the great things about seeing a play multiple times is how it changes, in small and big ways, from show to show. The weather, the audience, the actors’ moods, a quirk of fate. Watching Richard III five or six times in a row and it’s never quite the same show. You get a heroic appreciation for the actors and crew who sweat and bleed for their art nightly. It’s why theatre will always be there because it’s so cracklingly alive compared to staring at a screen. A joy for me is seeing how into the plays the audience still are in 2019. This isn’t boring Shakespeare – trust me, when the stage blood starts gushing into the audience during the bloody close of Richard III, you wouldn’t call this stuffy. There’s a witty, relaxed vibe that’s perfect for a New Zealand summer. We get all kinds of crowds – young, old, repeat customers and those who’ve never seen a Shakespeare play in their life. A big highlight has been working at a dozen or so school shows. You haven’t seen Shakespeare’s gender-studies comedy The Taming of the Shrew until you’ve seen it with a capacity crowd of 700 screaming high school girls. I’ve just been a tiny, tiny part of the Pop-Up Globe, working somewhere near 50 shows in the past three seasons. But it’s been an immense highlight of my summers and it’s a star performer of New Zealand’s theatre scene. Long live Shakespeare. New Zealand, theatre That’s So ’90s Week: The day Kurt died RIP Julie Adams, the Creature’s one true love One thought on “The Pop-Up Globe: Keeping Shakespeare real” The play that never ends: ‘Hamlet’ – My Impression Now says: […] As mentioned before, I’ve been volunteering at the Pop-Up Globe replica of Shakespeare’s famed theatre here in Auckland again this summer, for the third season in a row. The centrepiece of this season for me was what’s pretty much the most famous play in history, “Hamlet.” […]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line885
__label__wiki	0.827184	0.827184	Tag: Top five Top five tunes: Doves Well, good morning… and, uh… happy new year. I can hardly believe it myself, this being my first post of 2019. It wasn’t a planned break or hiatus. I just wasn’t in a huge rush to get right back at it, what with the holidays and life happening in between. I hadn’t planned on taking so long and really, the longer I took to mobilizing myself, the more I realized I’d have to return with something a bit special. And what’s more special than a focus on one of my all-time faves to come out of the 2000s. Who? Doves Years active: 1998-2010, 2018-current Jimi Goodwin (lead vocals, bass, guitars) Jez Williams (guitar, vocals) Andy Williams (drums, vocals) Discography: Lost souls (2000) Some cities (2005) Kingdom of rust (2009) Doves have been front of mind recently for me because the slew of us that consider ourselves fans got an early Christmas present at the beginning of last month when news came down the pipe that the band was reforming. Interestingly, they never really broke up. The official word back in 2010 was hiatus. However, it was a hiatus that seemed interminable and the good but not Doves great solo and side project albums that appeared from its members only exacerbated our collective impatience. Recently, someone started an online petition to get them back together that really gained steam, it had a Twitter account and everything. And now, they’re back… but what that fully means is still a bit unclear. A handful of gigs in their native England have been planned and announced with more promised and rehearsals have started in earnest. At the time of writing this, we still don’t know if there will be tours outside of England, a new album, or vinyl reissues of their now classic back catalogue but one can hope that this reformation isn’t temporary. Doves originally formed with their current lineup as Sub Sub in 1991. Jimi Goodwin met twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams at high school in Wilmslow, a town just south of Manchester, England. Sub Sub came about after they got reacquainted at the Haçienda and they released a bunch of singles and EPs through the 1990s on Rob Gretton’s record label. A fire at the band’s studio in 1996 meant they lost pretty much all their equipment and recordings and this inspired them to change gears and name. Doves’ atmospheric alt-rock was an obvious departure from the house and dance of Sub Sub when it appeared in the form of an EP in 1998. A couple more of these followed before their debut full-length appeared in 2000. Regular readers of this site might recall that a couple of songs from “Lost souls” appeared on my best tunes of 2000 list. However, that album wasn’t my introduction to the group. It was “The last broadcast” that first caught my ear. I fell in love with that album on one of my many trips down to Toronto in the early days of living in Ottawa, back when our only mode of transport to home and back was by Greyhound bus. That particular ride was the overnighter on the Friday of the August long weekend. I had the album on repeat on my Discman for the entire five plus hours trek and it kept me company as I wavered in and out of sleep, ingraining itself into my subconscious. After that, “Lost souls” became my friend as well and each successive album became an anticipated event. Doves released only four albums in total, all of them in the 2000s, before their hiatus took hold. Each of these is a favourite of mine and hence, each has its place near the top of my list of best albums for the years in which they were released. And given the appetite for their reformation, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. For me, it was a difficult task to choose only five great tunes from their catalogue, but I did manage to represent each of the band’s four long players. And I want to state now that I reserve the right to revisit this list in the future, should this reformation lead to new material because I am sure they’ve got same amazing new music left in them, just waiting to be unleashed on us. Here’s hoping, right fellow fans? In the meantime, have a perusal of the songs below and as always, let me know your favourite Doves tunes. I’m always willing talk this band. The top five: #5: Walk in fire (from “Some cities”, 2005) Kicking things off with song number five, it is a tune never released as a single from Doves’ third studio album, “Some cities”. This was the first album released after I had discovered them so it was also the first album that I had heaped expectations upon. This anticipation led to an initial letdown for me, the only time I experienced such a feeling with any of their albums. In fact, “Walk in fire” was an early favourite because it most closely resembled the work on “The last broadcast”. The rest of the album and its “stripped-down” approach has since grown on me but this one still remains the standout. It’s a song that builds over its five and a half minutes, which is something you might hear over and over again for these five tunes. Starting with a creak and a sigh, an arpeggio on the chiming guitars, and Goodwin wistfully singing about someone you could swear is from his past, or your past, the drums ease in after the first verse and the guitar effects hanging and teasing around thus far increase in insistence. By the time the chorus hits us with that line, “you’re not free till you walk in fire”, things have reached a pretty frantic dance pace. But it doesn’t stop there. Save for a brief respite at the bridge, where things ease off to give space for a lovely echo of keys, Doves keep raising the bar right to the end, stoking the flames to a mass conflagration. All you have to do is walk through it. #4: Kingdom of rust (from “Kingdom of rust”, 2009) Our next tune here is the title track and first single off Doves’ fourth and final album, “Kingdom of rust”. It is the second track behind album opener, “Jetstream”, both of which I fell in love with from the beginning. In fact, it took a bit of time to get past these two tunes, they just kept repeating, the rest of the album didn’t reveal itself to me for well over a week after I got it. “Kingdom of rust” is also the only tune by Doves my wife Victoria likes, which still blows my mind. (I obviously need to work harder on her.) I’ve tried to figured why this one particular song appeals to her when the others don’t but the reason eludes me. I’ve thought that perhaps it’s not as fast past paced or busy as some of the others. Yet this is incorrect, the pace is definitely high energy though it feels slightly tempered by Andy Williams opting for brushes over sticks on the skins. And even still, when his brother Jez decides to let loose on his guitar halfway through the song, the sticks return to play and they both unleash a fury. I also wondered if it was the liberal use of a string section, which never really hurts, to Victoria’s ear, though this isn’t the only track on which Doves employ the use of such orchestral sounds. I’m not sure I’ll ever figure it out but it’s a rocking track nonetheless. #3: Pounding (from “The last broadcast”, 2002) The second single released off Doves’ second album, “The last broadcast”, certainly lives up to its name. “Pounding” is a case of relentless drumming by Andy Williams. It is a heavy thump thump thump on the bass drum, as inescapable as the passage of time. It is energy and exuberance personified. It is Jimi Goodwin singing about the value of living in the moment and not getting hung up on the unimportant things, singing “I can’t stand by and see you destroyed. I can’t be here and watch you burn up.” It is a leap into hyperspace to chase down enemy tie fighters. It is Jez Williams doing his best The Edge impersonation about halfway through the song, wailing away on his guitar like he still hadn’t found what he was looking for. It is a great driving tune. Nay, I don’t how many times I have cranked the volume on this one in my car and each time the speedometer needle has crept up by itself and I’ve had to lighten my gas pedal foot. If you want a burst of energy and a jolt of good mood, here’s your song. #2: The man who told everything (from “Lost souls”, 2000) “The man who told everything” is the third single to be released off “Lost souls” and coincidentally, came in at number three on my best tunes of 2000 list. Forgive me if I plagiarize myself from that earlier post it because, well, I’m not feeling up to reinventing the wheel today. “‘The man who told everything’ is big, bold, and beautiful. But don’t mistake my words for inferring that this tune is high energy frenzy. Instead, for all the excitement of the words, the music has a more muted pace. The guitar strumming matches the easy drumming at the outset but at each chorus, another layer of guitars and string effects is added that has an arduous quality, at once daunting and stubborn and unforgiving. I don’t how to else to describe it. It’s brilliant though. I like to listen to this one late at night, lights dimmed, earphones on, volume up, eyes closed, a pint not far from hand, and just let the waves of it all crash over me. So much awesome.” #1: There goes the fear (from “The last broadcast”, 2002) Of course, you knew that if the band only had four albums and each was represented, there would have to be an album that was represented twice. And of course, that album would have to have been “The last broadcast”, my introduction to the band, as mentioned above, and my still favourite of their albums. “There goes the fear” was the first single released from the album and was one of those that was deleted on the same day it was released so only a lucky few out there have a physical copy of the single. It can more easily be found as track three on “The last broadcast” and is most definitely ranking up there as one of my favourite ever tunes. Yes. Just listen to it. It is nearly seven minutes of pure danceable bliss. The guitar work that strings its way through its entirety reminds me of those old toys that you cranked and it played a tune that could speed up or slow down depending on the speed of your cranking. The drum beat, though not as insistent as on “Pounding”, is no less energizing, almost frenetic, tribal and hypnotic, driving you to the dance floor like an adrenaline surging drug. This song and its slow build of layers, stepping it all up to a point of manic ecstasy is the template for songs on to come on later albums, like “Walk in fire” (see above). But it is almost pure perfection here. I could just listen to it forever. For other top five lists in this series, click here. Top five tunes: The Sisters Of Mercy Who? The Sisters of Mercy Years active: 1980 – present Band members: Andrew Eldritch (lead vocals, keyboards, guitars, drum programming) 1980 – present Doktor Avalanche (drum machine) 1981 – present Gary Marx (guitars, vocals) 1980 – 1985 Craig Adams (bass) 1981 – 1985 Wayne Hussey (guitars, backing vocals) 1983 – 1985 Patricia Morrison (bass, backing vocals) 1987 – 1989 Chris Catalyst (guitars, backing vocals) 2005 – present Ben Christo (guitars, bass, backing vocals) 2006 – present The above is only a selected list of band members. There have been a number of members throughout the band’s existence, of which Andrew Eldritch is the only constant. First and last and always (1985) Floodland (1987) Vision thing (1990) So it’s October and Hallowe’en is just around the corner. I didn’t do anything holiday-themed last year and typically don’t observe the holidays too much on these pages but well… I’m due for another Top Five Tunes post. I thought about doing a Top Five favourite Hallowe’en tune post but didn’t have the energy to dig too deeply into my iTunes collection . Then I thought about going Goth and even that felt like I would have to wrack my brain a bit too much. (You’ll have to bear with me, I’ve already started looking at narrow down my favourite albums for the end of the year series and it’s taking a lot out of me.) So I settled on making October Sisters of Mercy month this year. Interestingly, if frontman and driving force behind the group, Andrew Eldritch, every read these words connect his group with Hallowe’en and anything remotely goth, he’d likely shudder, scream, and want to scratch my eyes out. He’s never been happy with the label, finding it quite offensive that the genre itself exists and even worse that anyone connects his work with it. I’ll never forget the only time I saw them live, back in 1999, and having noted all the black clothing, dyed hair, and heavy eye makeup in the audience, imagined all the collective jaws dropping in the dark when Eldritch took the stage with bleached blonde hair and a Hawaiian shirt. (If you’re wondering, yeah, it was a freaking awesome show.) It was my friend Tim that got me into the Sisters of Mercy. He could tell you for sure but I feel like before he sold off his vinyl collection in the early 90s, he had a boatload of their 12″ singles. He started me off by including one of their songs on each of the many mixed tapes he made for me in our last couple of years of high school. But I think the night that really sold them for me was a night he was driving us all home from a drama performance night (yeah, I was a thespian back in high school) and “Ribbons” was blasting in the car. Tim hit a speed bump just as Eldritch was screaming “Incoming” and a good portion of the soft drink I was holding was dumped on whoever was sitting in the back seat behind me. The song stuck. And the rest is history. Eldritch formed the group in 1980 with guitarist and friend, Gary Marx, taking their name from a Leonard Cohen song. He started off as drummer but quickly put that aside to concentrate on vocals, replacing himself with the first in a line of many different drum machines, all nicknamed “Doktor Avalanche”, that would provide the group’s rhythm throughout the years. This drum machine would be the only other constant in the group besides Eldritch to this day. You might have noticed above the strange fact for a group that has been in existence for almost 40 years: they’ve released only three studio albums (I’ll get to the why in a minute). But it’s also interesting to note that each of those albums were recorded by an almost completely different group. After those three iconic records and a bunch of singles and compilation albums, recorded output from the band stopped. The recording hiatus started out as a protest against their record label but East West (Warner) released them from the contract 1997. Still nothing. The touring continued, however, and apparently so did the writing of new material, as was evidenced by the appearance of unreleased songs performed at these shows over the years. Rumours have abounded of new albums in the almost thirty years since “Vision thing” but the closest I think we have come was recently when Eldritch himself posited that they may have to finally get back to the studio should Trump be elected president. Well… the unthinkable has happened, perhaps we’ll see a new Sisters record soon. Until then, these are my own favourites from the old back catalogue. #5: Alice (from “Alice”, 1982) “Alice” was The Sisters of Mercy’s third ever single but the first to gain any real traction. With its initial release in 1982, it got play on John Peel’s radio show, which led to its re-release the following year on a four song EP. It is one of the group’s best known songs and still regularly appears on set lists. It was re-recorded in 1993 and released as a B-side to the Sisters’ final ever released recording: the single “Under the gun”. Both version are quite good but I actually prefer the more austere and claustrophobic production of the original to crisp and flashy do-over. The song is about drug addiction, the title and name of the protagonist being a nod to the Alice of the children’s stories, and how little else matters to a junkie but the drugs. It is dark, edgy, and haunting, so post-punk and goth, even tending toward industrial before there was such a thing. #4: Dominion / Mother Russia (from “Floodland”, 1987) “Dominion” was the second single released off of “Floodland”, which some of you might remember made an appearance on my Best albums of 1987 series that wrapped up last month. Many different versions and remixes of varying lengths have been released but I prefer the seven minute version on the album that includes the “Mother Russia”. It adds a whole other element to the song, with lines comparing the US and Russia, almost equating the two as one. But even without this final piece, the song is very much reminiscent of the Cold War. With the clattering drum ominous guitars, and choral backing vocals, it evokes austerity and totalitarianism and propagandism and the threat of nuclear war. “Some say prayers – I say mine.” Yup. #3: More (from “Vision thing”, 1990) This one has already appeared on these pages when it peeked its goth rock face out at number seven on my best tunes of 1990 list last October (coincidence?). It was released as the first single off the outfit’s final studio LP, “Vision thing”, and features heavy handed piano and synth washes, muscular, machine gun guitars, and the backing vocals of Scottish singer Maggie Reilly. Like the rest of their catalogue, it is dark and sinister in sound but if you actually sat down and read the lyrics without the music, you might question it being penned by Andrew Eldritch. It reads like a straightforward love song, albeit one bordering on obsessive, almost junkie territory. “All I want, all I need, all the time is more of your sweet love. Too much just ain’t enough. I never needed a fix like this before.” A great tune for driving in the middle of the night with tears streaming down you face… or… wait… just a great tune, really. #2: This corrosion (from “Floodland”, 1987) Recorded during the same sessions as the song at number three above, “This corrosion” has Jim Steinman written all over it. The song is epic big in length, scope, and sound, as well as a budget epic enough to cover forty members of the New York Choral Society, whom you can hear opening the ten plus minute song. It is perhaps The Sisters of Mercy’s best known song, recently appearing in the Simon Pegg comedy, “The World’s End”, and his character sports a Sisters shirt throughout. Given the post-apocalyptic imagery of the video, I used to think there was deep, anti-war message/meaning to the song but I’ve since learned that the song and its “over the top” lyrics are really just a shot ex-band member and The Mission frontman, Wayne Hussey. “I got nothing to say I ain’t said before. I bled all I can, I won’t bleed no more. I don’t need no one to understand.” Learning this hasn’t changed anything for me, it’s still a great song in my books. #1: Temple of love (1992) (from “A slight case of overbombing”, 1992) Top five tunes: Second wave Ska (I’ve done a bunch of these “Top five tunes” posts already but most of them have been ranking my favourite songs by a particular artist. This is only my second thematic-based list and the first of what I hope will be many genre-based lists.) The context: Admittedly, my knowledge of ska’s history and the evolution of its sound is very rudimentary. For me, ska is characterized by an upbeat and staccato guitar rhythm, often (but not always) punctuated by horn section flourishes. I’m sure if you spoke to my friend Andrew Rodriguez or even my younger brother Michael, you would get a more accurate and thorough story of the evolution of ska. However, I will endeavour… What many people (including myself for a while) don’t realize is that ska didn’t begin in England in the 1980s but in Jamaica in the 1950s and that reggae evolved from ska, not the other way around. Musicians like Prince Buster, The Skatalites and Desmond Dekker started this genre by fusing Caribbean calypso sounds with American jazz and R&B. Bob Marley’s band, The Wailers, and Jimmy Cliff, both big names in reggae, actually got their start as ska acts. It was the “second wave” of ska that came out of England, originating in the late 1970s, when bands like The Specials and The Beat, blended the sounds of Jamaican ska with English punk music. Many of the songs these English ska bands recorded were covers of Jamaican ska hits (in fact, the band Madness took their name from a Prince Buster tune), while many of their other songs pushed for racial unity (a theme especially common with the 2 Tone acts). Many popular 1980s bands, like UB40, General Public, Fine Young Cannibals, and the aforementioned, Madness, started out as ska acts but found larger commercial success when pop and new wave bled into their sound. The so-called “third wave” of ska stretched from the 1980s into the 1990s as the ska sound finally hit North American mass culture. Punk and hardcore bands mixed ska into their sound with great success. Bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Rancid, Goldfinger and yes, even No Doubt, brought a new brand of ska to the alt-rock kids and inspired a short-lived ska revival in the late 1990s. I freely admit that my own intro to the genre came through cursory brushes with Canadian legends King Apparatus and then, later on with early Bosstones. These led to my later explorations with the bands you’ll read about below. By the time I was deeply entrenched in university, these second ska acts were a big part of my wheelhouse. It got so my friend Mark and I had an ongoing joke on the matter. Whenever there was a song playing, he would ask (facetiously after the first few times), “Is this ska?” To which I would reply, “No, Mark, that’s not ska!” This top five focuses on the second wave (the third wave might come in a future post), a “scene” that was short-lived but its inspiration was far reaching. Have a perusal and let me know if I’m missing out on your favourite tracks from this era. And yes, Mark, these songs are ska. #5: “On my radio” by Selector (1979) The first song here is by the only group on this list to feature a female vocalist (and perhaps the only one to feature a female member at all). It is also the group I know least about, only discovering this particular song while listening to a ska compilation album a handful of years ago. However, I’m not completely unfamiliar with their name. I’m positive my friend Andrew Rodriguez has name-dropped them before in conversation and am reasonably certain he used to have their patch sewn onto the army parka he used to wear everywhere back in high school. The Selecter released two albums before Pauline Black left the band in 1982 to pursue a career in theatre. They reformed in the early 90s and have existed in various incarnations ever since. “On the radio” was the band’s first official single and charted quite high. Like many of the songs to follow in this list, it’s upbeat and danceable but Pauline Black’s vocals add a different quality, almost a Motown flair that is jarred awake by the call and response vocals at the chorus. Then, the organs come in on the bridge and we’re all dancing again. #4: “Little bitch” by The Specials (1979) Chances are if you google the phrase “second wave ska”, you’ll come across the term “2 Tone” pretty quickly in your scrolling. This is the name of the label founded by Jerry Dammers to release the punk-tinged, ska and reggae music he and his friends were producing and it ended up lending its name as a secondary term for the subgenre. Dammers was also a founding member of The Specials, also known at times as The Special AKA. Their self-titled debut album was produced by Elvis Costello and despite only being the source of two singles, is considered a classic, through and through. They only lasted two albums before rupture, Neville Staple, Lynval Golding, and Terry Hall leaving to form Fun Boy Three. Of course, the band has reformed in many iterations over the years. But back then, “Little bitch”, despite not being one of the songs released as a single, was a classic, a dance hall raver, shouting “one, two”, and carrying on, all staccato and unbreakable, full of the energy of youth and brilliance of age. #3: “My girl” by Madness (1979) As I mentioned above, Madness took their name from a Prince Buster song, one of the progenitors of the original ska movement in Jamaica. They also covered the song in question and another, “One step beyond” became quite the hit for them. A number of second wave ska acts covered their favourite numbers by their favourite Jamaican ska artists, reworking them for new audiences, but this track, “My girl”, was an original. It was written by keyboardist Mike Barson about his girlfriend at the time and was originally sung by him for live performances and on the demo, but lead vocalist, Graham ‘Suggs’ McPherson took over when it came time to put it tape. The song was the final single released from the band’s debut album. Madness would go on to release five more albums before breaking up in 1986. Of course, there have been multiple iterations and reformations of the band over the years, touring and releasing new material, including a new album just this year. My first (and likely many other North Americans’) introduction to the group came by way of hit single “Our house”, a pop song that was a result of the band’s change of direction before disbanding the first time. “My girl” came to me via my friend Andrew Rodriguez who helped me put together a mixed tape of music from his collection one afternoon. It’s bouncy horns and guitars, tinkling keys, and peppy drumming, while Suggs wistfully waxes about the eternal man versus woman struggles to understand each other. Fun stuff. #2: “Mirror in the bathroom” by The Beat (1980) The Beat (known as The English Beat in North America and The British Beat in Australia) was formed in 1978 in Birmingham and featured Dave Wakeling, Andy Cox, David Steele, Saxa, and Ranking Roger, among others. They released three full-length albums before breaking up in 1982, its various members going on to form General Public and Fine Young Cannibals. “Mirror in the bathroom” is the opening track from The Beat’s debut album, “I just can’t stop it”, and as openers go, it’s one of the finest. The driving beat and riffing guitar line lay a fine bed for Saxa’s saxophone noodling and tease you right out on to the dance floor to skank about with abandon, whether the floor is packed or not. The song hints at danger and violence and late-night drinking. I certainly remember hoofing a shoe to this particular number on more than a few dance floors in the early hours during the nineties. And oh yeah, am I the only one here that thought that Goldfinger’s hit single, “Here in the bedroom”, ripped this one off a tad? #1: “A message to you Rudy” by The Specials (1979) Here we have the second appearance by The Specials and quite fittingly, it is a cover. Originally performed by Dandy Livingstone, “A message to you, Rudy” was way more successful when it was covered a decade later by Jerry Dammers and company. This version opens the band’s self-titled, debut album, which was described at the time as a perfect representation of their live performances, so I can imagine the song was also a mainstay on their set lists, even back then. It definitely was there when I saw them perform as part of their reunion shows that featured the majority of the band’s original members back in 2013. I say definitely because I have total recall of jumping around like a madman in total bliss. “A message to you, Rudy” in all its mellow jump and groove, horns and organs, and gang vocals was one of my favourite songs for a good while there in the mid-nineties, grabbing me from the moment I heard it. There was a risk, though, when I was in university residence of my getting sick of it. One of the young women on my floor heard me listening to it in my room one day and took a liking to it. She surprised me when she asked to borrow my CD because she typically listened to dance music and pop. The problem was that after making a copy she would play it constantly, sometimes blasting it loud enough from her room to be able to hear it when she was putting on her makeup in the shared bathrooms down the hall. Luckily, the phase passed and I can still say “A message to you, Rudy” is my favourite second wave ska track.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line887
__label__wiki	0.63162	0.63162	info@mhfoundation.org The Men’s Health Foundation inspires and empowers all men to live longer, healthier and happier lives. We seek to make health care accessible to men of all races and ethnicities no matter their economic status. Take action with the best doctors, staff and facility in the country for check up, prevention and treatment. Our compassionate staff and comprehensive state-of-the art facility make expert care and healthy living easy and pleasurable. Easy access to the latest medications, supplements and immunizations. Our Pharmacy and staff provides access to life-enhancing and life-saving medications for patients of our practice and in our community through outreach programs. A safe space for young men, ages 12–29, focusing on health and wellness through community, education and empowerment. More Could Benefit from HIV Prevention Pill Truvada Home/Uncategorized/More Could Benefit from HIV Prevention Pill Truvada admin2017-11-08T14:32:56+00:00December 10th, 2015\|Uncategorized\| Too few Americans who are at risk for HIV infection are taking Truvada—a daily pill that could protect them against the virus that causes AIDS, federal health officials report. Health care providers must help boost patient awareness and use of the drug, health experts stressed. About 25 percent of sexually active gay and bisexual adult men, 20 percent of injection drug users, and less than 1 percent of sexually active heterosexuals are at high risk for HIV infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vital Signs report. People in these groups need to know about Truvada, which is also known as the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pill, the government experts said. Taken daily, the PrEP pill can reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV by more than 90 percent. The PrEP pill can reduce injection drug users’ risk of HIV by more than 70 percent, the experts said. However, recent data suggests some primary care health providers have never heard of PrEP, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012. The full potential of the drug to prevent HIV infections can only be achieved by increasing awareness of the drug and providing counseling for those at high risk for HIV, the report stated. “PrEP isn’t reaching many people who could benefit from it, and many providers remain unaware of its promise,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Tuesday in an agency news release. “With about 40,000 HIV infections newly diagnosed each year in the U.S., we need to use all available prevention strategies.” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in the news release, “PrEP has the potential to dramatically reduce new HIV infections in the nation. “However, PrEP only works if patients know about it, have access to it, and take it as prescribed,” he said. Focused programs can significantly increase the use of PrEP, according to a separate study in Vital Signs. After the launch of a statewide program to increase PrEP awareness, use of the drug among Medicaid-covered New York state residents rose from about 300 prescriptions filled between July 2013 through June 2014 to more than 1,300 prescriptions filled the following year, the report showed. The CDC said it is taking a number of steps to increase PrEP use. These steps include publishing resources to educate and advise health care providers, a hotline to answer their questions, and increased funding to community organizations to improve access to the drug. While important, PrEP is one of a number of HIV prevention strategies. Others include treatment to suppress the virus in people with HIV and encouraging consistent and proper use of condoms. Other prevention strategies include reducing risky behaviors, and providing injection drug users with sterile injection equipment from a reliable source, the CDC said. Dr. Eugene McCray, director of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, said, “Today’s prevention landscape is complex and with the wide range of strategies now available, no single tool addresses every prevention need. Reducing the toll of HIV in this nation will require matching the right tools to the right people.” “Providers must work with patients to assess which tools best meet their needs. PrEP can benefit many who have high risk. Other risk reduction strategies, such as condoms and access to sterile injection equipment, also offer substantial protection when used consistently and correctly,” he said in the news release. SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news release, Nov. 24, 2015 Addressing Stigma That Limits PrEP Use for HIV Everyone at high risk of HIV should be offered preventive medication, panel says 2017 U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA) PrEParing for Change – Monday, March 6 Center of Excellence for PEP/PrEP Services 9201 W Sunset Blvd, Ste 812 Los Angeles, CA 90069 \| Directions Men’s Health Foundation Join us on Jul 26th for our first Sumner Luau Social from 6-10PM. Luau’s are historically gatherings to celebrate s… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Yesterday was International #NonBinaryPeoplesDay! We pride ourselves on welcoming folks regardless of gender expres… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… © 2018 Mills Clinical Research. All Rights Reserved \| Privacy Policy	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line891
__label__wiki	0.653358	0.653358	The Docker Transition Checklist 19 steps to better prepare you & your engineering team for migration to containers Send me periodic information about Docker Get the Free Checklist 66. Using feature flags to increase velocity and decrease risk in a modern CI:CD delivery pipeline Subscribe to Mobycast: iTunes Google Play Soundcloud Stitcher Spotify Chris Hickman and Jon Christensen of Kelsus and Rich Staats of Secret Stache describe using feature flags to increase velocity, but decrease risk in a continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline. Some of the highlights of the show include: Kelsus: CI/CD pipeline and project pain leads to an imperfect world Integration: Write, merge, integrate, and test code GetFlow: Branches in source control system manage and merge code for different environments—production, staging, and development CD Criteria: Effective and automated testing as a system Rollback ability (all-or-nothing releases, blue-green deployments vs. feature flags) Problems occur and make it into production; feature flags reduce risk and limit damage What is a feature flag? Temporary or permanent conditional statement if code is enabled Benefits of Feature Flags: Reduce risk by decoupling deploying from releasing, build environments reflecting production, and perform testing directly in production Disadvantages of Feature flags: Require significant amount of work, code, and design; and difficult to adopt in legacy and ongoing systems Close off access to certain features on case-by-case basis Mobycast 04: The CI/CD Pipeline GetFlow GlueCon Kelsus Secret Stache Media Rich: In Episode 66 of Mobycast, Jon and Chris discuss using feature flags to increase velocity and decrease risk in your CI/CD pipeline. Welcome to Mobycast, a weekly conversation about cloud-native development, AWS, and building distributed systems. Let’s jump right in. Jon: Welcome, Chris and Rich. It’s another episode of Mobycast. Chris: Hey. Rich: Hey guys, it’s good to be back. Jon: Today we’re going to go straight into it. We get to talk about feature flags which are hot. Everybody has already started working on their CI/CD pipeline, that’s less of a thing. People are at least doing something to have a CI/CD pipeline pretty much across the board on new projects as a consideration, I would say. Now it’s like, let’s work on the CD part of the CI/CD pipeline, let’s actually start thinking about continuous deployment on new projects and existing projects. I think a lot folks doing DevOps and working in the public clouds, Google Cloud, AWS, Azure are like, “Let’s take advantage in some of this capability and start to think about whether we can deploy things automatically or at least at the quick press of a button.” I think today, we’re going to talk about some pain that Kelsus has with one or more of our projects and what we’d like to do about it. Specifically, we feel like some of these pain, we can resolve with feature flags. We’re going to describe what those are and how they’re related to our current CI/CD process and then how they could help us. Chris, maybe you can take what I said and make it more concrete. Chris: We talked about this modern CI/CD pipeline and what does that mean? There’s really the two pieces to it. There’s the continuous integration part, CI, and then the CD part, that’s continuous deployment. It’s integration and it’s deployment. Integration means we’re writing code. Many folks on the team are writing code. We need to get that code altogether, merged, integrated, and tested. That’s the philosophy behind continuous integration is that that’s constantly happening. Teams have to decide what kind of workflow they’re going to use. One of the popular ones out there is GetFlow which prescribes a way of using branches in your source control system, and when you do merges and bring the stuff together. For us, personally, we definitely use GetFlow velocity where we end up having branches for each one of the environments that we’re deploying to. If we have three different environments—production, staging, and development—then there are three branches that manage that. It works pretty well but where it gets tricky is when we have issues with the need to take bits and pieces of code and move them from one environment to another one. We’ll get more into this later. Jon: I just want to add that we did talk quite a bit about this in another episode that we did last year. We just talked about our overall CI/CD pipeline and what it looks like. We’ll link to that in the show notes. For the most part, it hasn’t changed too much. I think we’re looking at doing a new face on it, that’s what this episode is about. Chris: Good point. Definitely, folks may want to refer back to that previous episode. I just want to highlight there’s the continuous integration part, branching, merging, and how you do that normally. In a perfect world, everything goes really smoothly but in real life, sometimes it can get a little bit tricky. Jon: And if you could imagine, you do stuff on dev, then you went to stage, then maybe to prod, and I’m done. And then I’ll do that over and over and over again happily ever after. Chris: That’s the way it always works, it’s the perfect world. It’s like a conveyor belt and it’s all just always going in that flow. The truth matters is it doesn’t work that way. You find out, it’s like, “Oh no, we did deploy the production and there is a pretty big bug that we now have to hurry up and fix. We need to test it first so we need that in staging but what’s in staging right now is actually the next big release that’s not fully tested yet. We definitely don’t want that to go to prods. Now, how do we actually make that hotfix and only deploy that to prod and not all the stuff that’s on tap?” That’s the part that you start getting hair around the situation and where something like feature flags are going to help us out. Jon: I guess one thing you could is revert staging to where prod is and then fix it on staging and then move staging to prod, but then, it’s such an interruption, right? Chris: It’s interruption, it’s risky. It depends on where you’re at. It may not be possible. Think about what you’re working on staging actually involve database migrations, so you change schema. Jon: Maybe the hotfix that you need on prod is not one that can wait like an hour or two; it needs to be on there in the next few minutes. Chris: You do what everyone else does. You SSH into your prods server; git pull. I didn’t say that. That’s the CI part. The CD part is, now that you’re integrating and now it’s all good, then deployment just means it’s just automatically, it’s just being continuously deployed out there in the prod. That definitely has its issues. There’s actually not a lot of folks out there that do this because it does require a fair amount of sophistication. For me, the criteria for being able to participate in continuous deployment meant that you had to have a really good testing and automated testing as a system, and then two, you also have the ability to roll back. Those are really more typical all-or-nothing releases, blue-green deployments versus if you have something like feature flags. That actually gives you some more flexibility here and you can have a more progressive approach at deployments where it’s not an all-or-nothing, rather it’s an incremental type thing. We’ll get into that more a bit. I just want to highlight that we all talk about CI/CD, everyone’s doing it, everyone’s talking about it, but feature flags really factor into this to help out with some of the real world production issues that you have. They can enable you to increase your velocity and also decrease that risk associated with it. Jon: I want to try to distill the two main problems that I think you describe, that we’re going to try solve with feature flags. The one I heard of was that it’s not always dev-stage-prod dev-stage-prod. We have to be able to get stuff into prod directly or stuff in the dev or stage directly. The other problem that I heard you say is things are not perfect, even after they’ve been tested. Sometimes, especially after they’ve been tested, as hard as you work to create a team that takes great pride of ownership in their work and really exercises everything that they did, the reality is that problems happen and they make their way into production. How can we limit the damage? Those are the two things, right? Chris: Those are the two primary things, the two takeaways. Those are it. When we have problems with velocity, that’s related to this continuous integration part and the merging. It’s not perfect. We have issues there and that causes us to slow down. We have to do extra work or just do unnatural things. The second part of it is if we’re working on a big feature release and it’s a prod and now having a bunch of users, now they’re seeing that, how confident are we that that’s been really fully tested and what are the ramifications on that? For certain things, it’s not that big of a deal. But if it’s a core piece of functionality or it’s something that the business really relies on, mission critical, the risk is much higher or something like that. With feature flags, we can reduce that risk. Jon: That’s the moment we have been waiting for. What is a feature flag? Chris: At the end of the day, it’s definitely not too typically exciting. It’s essentially just the conditional statement. What you’re doing is in your code, you’re just saying, “If this feature is enabled, then go ahead and execute this code path, else do this other path.” It’s really just that simple. It’s just a conditional statement. It is something that you don’t get for free. You have to be thinking about this when you’re writing code and you have to think of your code in the way of should this be enabled or not. If it’s not enabled, then what is it going to do? You need to think of when you’re writing your code in that manner and then actually put in these conditional statements. At their core, that’s what they are. It’s a conditional statement that’s wrapping a particular block of code that you may or may not want to enable based upon some set of conditions. Jon: That makes sense. That’s easy enough. I’m immediately imagining them all over the place. How much code should I start or stop from happening? How do I even remember where they are or how many there are? I’m just imagining spaghetti as soon as you said this. Maybe you can get into a little bit more, what you’re thinking we might be able to do to keep this manageable, clean, and usable. Do you want to go there? I guess maybe before we go there, we should also talk about, so you do it. Now what do you do with it? We have this code that can be turned on and off. What are we going to do about it? Chris: There’s a lot to unpack there. I’m a little bit more about feature flags themselves and expand a little bit on that definition and types of feature flags. After that, we can just go through and talk about what does this enable us. We do all this work. You’ve alluded to a lot of the challenges that we have with feature flags. This is not something you get for free. There are challenges with this. There’s a reason why lots of people don’t have a rich robust system that has feature flags in it. It’s not easy. This is a complicated stuff and it really is easy for the wheels of the bus to come off quickly. We’ll get into that, too, the challenges, like what’s the implementation velocity? How do you go and do this? There’s definitely a crawl-walk-run approach to it. And then, how do you also manage it? Those are interesting, important topics that we can get into as much as we want to. Maybe we’ll just talk a little bit more about the feature flags. It’s a conditional expression. Definitely at the very least, you define this flag by a name, you have to give it some kind of name or some way of referring to it. There’s that aspect to it. Optionally, if you’re something that’s more powerful and more sophisticated, you would also provide context to this. Based upon name and context, that is what feeds into your decision in that conditional expression on whether or not this should be enabled. We’re not going to take any context into account here. It’s really just the toggle. It’s either on or off. You may have something that’s just hard-coded or a constant in your code. You could imagine in your config, you have something like use_v1=true and your feature flag ends up being something like, “If use_v1, do this to the V1 code branch, and then if it’s not, then it’s using the V0 branch,” or something like that, versus context. This is completely arbitrary. It’s up to you on how you want to make these decisions on whether or not to enable the feature flag. It could be like, “Here’s my user context.” What users actually calling it so it could be something about the environment that you’re in, it could be something related to more macro settings or metadata that’s going on on the system. Whatever it is that you want to use, state the information that you want to use in order to make these kinds of decisions. Jon: I can imagine a feature flag turning on a feature for a certain set number of users, or named users, or only during times when traffic in the system is low. All kinds of cool stuff. Chris: Absolutely. It can be super powerful. We have these conditional expressions. They’re defined by a flag name and optionally some context. These conditions are either basically static conditionals or they’re dynamic. We talked about the static part. This is hard-coded and it’s based upon some constant or configuration, not really changing. It’s basically a toggle, versus dynamic is like, “I’m passing on this context at run time, in real time, making these decisions on whether or not this code path should be taken.” Another thing to point out is that feature flags can be thought of as either temporary or permanent. It may be like you’re working on a new version, V2 of something with the intent that you’re going to deprecate V1. With that, you may have a feature flag in there for V2 versus V1. At some point after you’ve fully migrated over to the V2, this flag doesn’t makes sense anymore. You just want to go in and delete it all. That would be an example for a temporary feature flag. A permanent one might be something that’s going to be there forever and maybe you have an advanced feature that’s only for a certain set of users. That’s a feature flag. That’s going to be something that’s probably going to be there in a more permanent basis. Jon: It totally makes sense. Chris: That’s feature flags in general. What are some of the benefits that we […]? Why would we do this? Maybe as we go through and talk about this, we can also just talk about our own experiences—real life, day-to-day—of the projects that we’re on, the software that we’re deploying, and some of the real-world challenges that we have. Personally, some of the projects that I’m involved with, I really wish that we had more capabilities in this area. Some of the reasons that we talked about, the challenges that we have with the continuous integration, the merging, and then also the continuous deployment, the risk of deploying new features, these feature flags would be very beneficial to us. With that, as far as what can you do with these feature flags, one of the really big things that you can do is you can reduce your risk here. Primarily, what’s happening is you’re decoupling deploying from releasing. That’s a big deal. You can deploy the prod, the code, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re releasing that code. Maybe no one has seen that code yet, it’s still dormant, you haven’t activated it. You’re decoupling that. That gives you a lot of flexibility and a lot of power. Jon: I want to do that on a couple things that are coming up. I’m thinking a […] a couple of features that we’re about to release that are just world-changing features. If something goes wrong, it doesn’t look good. That’s how everybody sees it. As much as retest, I can’t be 100% confident that it’s perfect until people actually use it in production. Chris: With the reducing of the risk, it allows you to segment your users, too. You can deploy that and maybe you have thousands of users, or 100,000 users, but you can set it up so that it’s only a small subset and these folks are going to see it. That’s going to be part of that context in the feature flag and the conditional, and now instead of thousands and thousands of people seeing it, maybe it’s only 20 or 50 or 100. You’ve really reduced the risk there by being able to control on a user basis, like who gets to see this. One of the other things that helps reduce risk is that we only have the challenge of testing especially around data. We try to build environments that reflect production. You can go so far as to take snapshots of production databases and restore them to other environments and what not but that’s kind of problematic. Jon: And may not be allowed in some high-compliance environments. Chris: Absolutely. It is a challenge to be able to do testing in a staging environment that really limits production. The only thing that really limits production is production. Feature flags help reduce this risk by allowing us to actually test in prod which sounds crazy like, “What? We want to test in production?” But when you’re minimizing the scope of this and who’s seeing it, it turns out on its head and gives you a lot of flexibility and power there while reducing the risk and the impact of that. There are some implementation details and challenges that we are glossing over a bit, but in general the principles is absolute solid and applies there. Jon: Absolutely. This feels like it could be a lot of software to write. If you’re doing this and you’re really doing it well, you’ve got an admin tool that’s letting you go in and say who’s going to be able to see the thing and who isn’t or you’re going to be able to do things like control percentages of who gets any feature. It’s like, “Hey wait, we’re already pretty busy doing stuff, meeting the needs of the business. I don’t really have time to write a feature flag system.” What do you say about that? Chris: This can be very sophisticated, especially if you want to get the most power out of it. It’s a lot of work for sure and it’s a lot of code. It’s a lot of design. Just really thinking things through, like what is the feature and what is a feature that should have enablement versus disablement? How do you name the things? How do you manage these things? Is it a config file? Is it database? Is it a full-blown feature management service? These are all real world things that you have to consider. Again it’s crawl-walk-run. I think there’s value no matter where you’re at to just start thinking this way and starting simple. There very much is a standard evolution for everyone that does work like this, where almost everyone starts off at the beginning with like, “I’m just going to have a feature toggle. It’s going to be basically hard-coded and if I’m going to change it, it just means a code change and redeploy.” That’s how you start. If you have a certain feature that you’re not sure about or it’s a bigger feature and you just want to employ this technique on it, then go ahead and just do it as a feature toggle. Be very strategic so you don’t have to go and create a hundred feature flags or feature toggles. Start with one and then maybe it goes out to a handful or something like that. That might be what you do for three, six months and just kind of get your feet wet on that. And then you can go from there. I think it’s much more difficult to adopt these feature flags in legacy systems and ongoing systems. It becomes much more work just to do the refactoring and to put these things, to decorate your code appropriately versus if you’re starting from scratch. Obviously, this becomes a lot easier. When you are starting from scratch, I think you have a lot more flexibility and a lot more leeway to think about this more long-term and to maybe put in more the plumbing for doing that if you do decide like, “Hey, this is a design philosophy I really want to adopt.” Jon: I have two things that I want to get at. One is, I’m a little surprised that when I talked about how you’re practically building a whole other product just to manage your feature flags once it gets fairly sophisticated, I was a little surprised you didn’t mentioned that there are commercial products out there that help you do that. Chris: Yeah, there are companies that have sprung out to go deal with this issue. LaunchDarkly is one such startup; came out at some of the folks that worked at Atlassian where Atlassian made heavy use of feature flags. Jon: […] Atlassian made heavy use of feature flags. Chris: Obviously they had their own internal tools and services that they built to do this like, “Hey, we should go turn this into a product.” I’m sure it was the thought process. Jon: I met a couple of other folks from LaunchDarkly at Gluecon a couple years ago and they were good people. I would say no tool can solve the problem of making the decisions of what part of your code to run and what not to run, and understanding the context around that decision. All the things like LaunchDarkly can do is give you a nice view of what’s running, what isn’t, and being able to turn knobs on that. Chris: It’s a great point. Maybe more bluntly to say, the hard work is on your back. These tools are not going to be able to do the hard work for you. You have to do it. They just make it so that some of that undifferentiated heavy lifting is done by other people—to borrow AWS’ terminology—but you have to do the hard work of, again, the design. What should be a feature flag? How am I going to make my decisions? What’s that context? What are expiration policies on it? How am I going to do segmentation? How am I going to manage who’s allowed to change these feature flags? That’s a big, big area that you have to deal with as well, just the administrative policies around it. If you do something like, “I’m going to change this feature flag, […] that to 100% of the users instead of it really should only go out to 2%,” that could cause major problems. Jon: In LaunchDarkly’s defense, there is a general pattern that maybe a lot of products might use. If your context is typically going to be users or user sessions, then you might be able to say, “Hey LaunchDarkly, here’s where you go. Find out who’s logged in at the moment.” That integration is expected and assumed to maybe a little easier, but still it doesn’t get in your code and turn on and off features. It doesn’t know what your feature is […]. Chris: And just because you have to do the hard work doesn’t mean that something like LaunchDarkly shouldn’t be part of that. If you do get to the level of sophistication where you do need a feature management service, then you should really think long and hard about whether or not you go roll your own versus […] something like LaunchDarkly. This is why they exist, they’ve gone and raised almost $80 million, I think, in investment capital. They’ve been around since 2014. You should be looking to leverage that infrastructure that’s there. But again, just realize they can’t do everything for you. There’s nothing changing the fact that you have to go and make code changes. You can’t use LaunchDarkly without doing code changes. Jon: I said there are two things that I still wanted to dig into. The other one was just something that occurred to me at the beginning of the conversation. You want to close off access to certain features. A lot of times, if your software is user-facing and there’s something you don’t want users to use yet because it’s new, you may be able to put your feature flags in the UI. I was wondering if that’s a no-no or an okay thing in your mind. Basically, don’t show this UI if the feature is turned off. Then, maybe the whole back-end API is on and available to everyone and who cares because only the people with the client that can see the UI that activates that back-end are able to actually exercise it. Any thoughts on that? Chris: I think it’s just totally up to you on a case-by-case basis on what makes sense. If you have a typical microservice architecture or you’ve got front-end JavaScript clients like Reactor or whatever like that, you have a back-end RESTful microservice that’s implementing an API that’s called by those clients. If those are the only API subscribers that you have to that, then maybe you just feature flag on the front-end so that the JavaScript is not making those calls and you don’t worry about feature flagging on the back-end on whether or not you handle those calls. By design, no one is going to make those calls unless it’s your front-end UI clients. You probably save yourself quite a bit of hassle by doing that way if it’s that clean. If you have other clients or if it’s more of a public service and public API, that’s a different story. I think it’s on a case-by-case basis. I would err on the side of what’s most pragmatic for you. Jon: I am sitting in an armchair so I think I’ll do a little bit of armchair architecture. It would seem to me that if you’re approaching this and you’re just doing crawl-walk-run, then a good principle might be to try to limit the amount incurred that’s flagged off. Keep it small. Try to keep it in as much as possible known and expected places. If there’s a place where you have all your front door code, if you can limit it to like, “The feature flag turns on and off. These are just two or three lines of code, not this huge 500 line method, and it needs to be at the beginning and in the end or at the beginning and the middle.” If there’s a way you can organize your code to where the feature flag is very clearly turning off a tiny part of it and turning on a tiny part of it, it seems like it’s going to be easier for everyone to understand. I’m just saying this because people might be out there thinking about how they’re going to implement this on their own projects and it seems like it could be useful to think about that. Chris: I think this goes to things like modularity and refactoring. Ideally, you’d be doing this at the function level. If flag enabled, call this function. If not, then call this function-type thing. Again, maybe it’s just the function call on the body of these conditional blocks. That’s where you’re implementing the different aspects in those functions. Those should be refactored and maybe they actually end up using a lot of the exact same code. They’re further refactored but the differences are entailed on that. The code ends up reading really nice. It’s like, “Here’s where it goes to do a new feature and here’s where it is for the existing or the fallback feature.” Jon: The other advantage that you get from that is not just modularity. As much as possible you don’t want to have multiple huge different code paths with different logic, all that’s alive and active in doing things because that’s more surface area of things to go wrong. As much as your code, that should be the same. I don’t know a better way to say that, but just don’t duplicate code where possible. Chris: Yup. Definitely think about what’s your policy, what’s feature-flagable versus what’s not. It gets really tricky quickly if you start feature-flagging within feature flags. You definitely want to be thinking that through. If you start finding yourself at the top level, you have two options. Each time that you have another feature flag within those, it’s a binary tree. Before you know it, maybe that’s 16 different code paths and it becomes pretty messy pretty quickly. What’s that level of granularity for what is a feature flag that’s atomic unit? Jon: Right, Chris. That just reminded me of a talk you and I both went to in Denver a year or two ago with Strava when they talked about when they used feature flags. That was really cool and interesting. I think it’s worth repeating here. When they build a new feature and they’re not sure if it really is good enough for this core product and they just want to get a sense if people like it or not, they don’t want to subject the development of that feature to the stringent code requirement they have for all the rest of the stuff inside the Strava application. They just want to let people crank something out, very lightly tested. I can’t remember the word for this. It’s just essentially a lean process, just getting in front of a few people and see how they like it, but in the production code base, real Strava and not some beta version of Strava. They would use feature flags for that, turn them on for just a few people, get feedback, turn it off, and then rewrite the code using their development and engineering guidelines. Throw away all of the code and start over. That was a way of them controlling technical debt but also still being able to be very lean and fast. Chris: It’s really similar to AB test and vetting that feature on whether or not this is getting user feedback. It becomes a very low risk, easy way of doing it. It gets very, very common. So many big companies do this. Netflix does it constantly. All the bigger companies, this is what they do. They have millions of users. They want to know like, “How is this new thing? How are people going to react to it?” Rather than making that change available to everyone, have it roll just a few people, from that experiment take you measurements, and then make decisions based upon that. Jon: I hope that we find our way to solving a couple of problems that not having feature flags has given us over the next month or two here. Chris: Yes. We’re in a situation where we have a system that we’re working on for three plus years, it’s very complicated, a very large code base, but having feature flags in there would really help out with some of the challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis. That’s going to be the fun problem for us is can we leverage feature flags more? Jon: And with the legacy code base, too. Well great. Thank you so much for talking about this and thanks, Rich, for putting us together. Rich: Of course. Chris: All right. Thanks guys. Jon: Talk to you next week. Chris: See you. Rich: Well, dear listener, you made it to the end. We appreciate your time and invite you to continue the conversation with us online. This episode, along with show notes and other valuable resources is available at mobycast.fm/66. If you have any questions or additional insights, we encourage you to leave us a comment there. Thank you and we’ll see you again next week. Feng says: Best way to get new code into production and appease release management in an enterprise environment! Thanks for your comment! We’ll tackle this in an upcoming episode. Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved. Brought to you by Kelsus, Inc. <# if(ThriveComments.current_user.ID){#>href="https://mobycast.fm/wp-login.php?action=logout&_wpnonce=0ecba8a4e5"<#}#>><#= ThriveComments.util.render_label('logout_change') #>	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line895
__label__wiki	0.9366	0.9366	Home worldnews Europe ‘at gunpoint’ as US decides to quit missile treaty Europe ‘at gunpoint’ as US decides to quit missile treaty This file photo shows Russian 9M728 cruise missiles (L) and 9M723 short-range ballistic missiles (R). Russia has regretted Washington’s expected exit from a key arms control treaty, saying the decision to abandon the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) has been made a long time ago. “We all regret that in the coming days this decision will most likely be implemented,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. “A decision to move to break the treaty was made in Washington a long time ago.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to make an announcement on the fate of the treaty at 1300 GMT Friday. Peskov said Moscow expects to receive “some sort of notice” from Washington about its withdrawal. President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia will be forced to respond if the US withdraws from the treaty. He has said Russia will develop missiles currently banned under the agreement if Washington makes good on its threats. Russian and US officials met to address the issue on the sidelines of a meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in Beijing on Thursday but made no progress. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said military commanders would begin preparing for “a world without an INF treaty” but insisted the alliance was still committed to arms reduction. US President Donald Trump announced last year that Washington would withdraw from the treaty, which was signed toward the end of the Cold War in 1987 by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Trump has cited Russia’s “violations” of the deal as the reason behind the plan to exit the INF. Russia’s top negotiator on the treaty, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov, in an interview broadcast Friday insisted Moscow was in compliance. “We believe that the treaty is needed. It serves the interests of our security and European security,” Ryabkov said. “It would be extremely irresponsible to undermine it with unilateral steps.” The European Union has formerly called for the full implementation of the treaty, with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini pleading for the treaty to be saved. She warned that Europe did not want to become a battlefield for global powers once again as it was during the Cold War. Director of a Russian think tank Ivan Konovalov said Washington “uses [Russia] as a pretext to withdraw from the agreement and keep its face.” “The US does not want Russia and China to turn into the new centers of power as it threatens Washington’s global hegemony, which is already crumbling,” he said. Konovalov also warned that if the US were to deploy nuclear-capable missiles to Europe after scrapping the treaty, it would literally put the host nations at a gunpoint. Former deputy head of the Russian Air Force Aytech Bizhev also told the Russian English-language website RT that Washington “is simply putting Europe under fire.” Washington, he said, is unlikely to win anything from such a decision and that the military advantage of such a deployment would be dubious in modern times, because it would be difficult to use them for a decapitating preemptive strike. Relations between the West and Russia remain tense over the Ukrainian crisis, the conflict in Syria, and the allegations of Russian interference in the US presidential poll in 2016. Previous articleThe Daily Report of Saudi-led violations in 1/2/2019 Next articleINSTEX shows EU’s resolve to uphold Iran nuclear deal: China	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line896
__label__wiki	0.940764	0.940764	Home /NYC Facilities/Lubin House/History A Grand and Vital Past Although the average New Yorker may not know it by name, Syracuse University’s Joseph I. Lubin House has a remarkable history. You may first notice it because of the SU Orange flag flying outside, but it is the exquisite interiors that suggest the buildings’ venerable history. First Came 11 East 61st Street The townhouse at 11 East 61st Street was designed by architect John G. Prague and constructed in 1876. Records show the first owner as Mrs. Susan Sullivan, but historians say it would have been highly unlikely of a woman to have purchased the land and contracted the building on her own at that time. More likely, it was built for her by her husband or father. The 100-foot lot was purchased for $26,000; the townhouse cost an additional $25,000 to construct. Although the original style of the building is unknown, it was a first-class brownstone of the era: four stories high and 25 feet wide, occupying only 40 feet of land. And it was built with a hot-air furnace, something only the very wealthy could afford. The house changed hands several times and, in 1883, was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. William F. King, who hired C.P.H. Gilbert—a Beaux-Arts trained architect known for designing the Woolworth mansion and a leader of New York City’s Romanesque revival—to renovate. The house was extended, an additional floor was added, and an elevator was installed. In 1897, the house was sold to Sir Almeric Hugh Paget, Baron of Queensborough, who had made a fortune in American real estate speculation. Paget subsequently married Pauline Whitney, eldest daughter of William C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy under Grover Cleveland. After their wedding, the Pagets engaged McKim, Mead and White to give the house more grandeur. The dining room was extended for entertaining, and elaborate mantelpieces—which remain in the house today—were imported from Europe. In 1901, the Pagets moved to London and the house was sold to Wesley Thorne. Shortly thereafter, it changed hands again and was purchased by John Teele Pratt, son of Charles Pratt, an oil pioneer and partner of John D. Rockefeller. In 1912, Pratt and his wife, Ruth Baker Pratt, reengaged C.P.H. Gilbert to add a sixth floor and install a skylight over the stairwell. In 1923, the house was purchased by Elbridge Stratton, who retained famous architects Delano and Aldrich for a major renovation. The architects altered the original dormer windows and covered the facade with brick, giving the building its current neo-federal appearance. In 1927, the house was purchased by Charles Shipman Payson and his wife. The Paysons lived in the house until after World War II, when they leased it to the Russian Consulate as an annex. In 1947, the house was sold to the 29 Club, founded by a group of businessmen after the stock market crash. Enter Joseph Lubin When the 29 Club club disbanded in 1964, the house was put up for sale. It was purchased by Joseph I. Lubin, a New York philanthropist who had risen from the slums of Brooklyn to become a renowned accountant and real estate investor. Although Lubin earned degrees from Pace and New York University, his daughter Ann (now Ann Lubin Goldstein) attended Syracuse, earning a bachelor’s degree in drama in 1948. From the time Lubin brought Ann to Syracuse for an admissions visit, he embarked on a lifetime friendship with then-Chancellor William Tolley and a relationship with Syracuse University that was just as enduring. Over the years, he contributed generously to Syracuse University, including establishing the Lubin-Tolley Book Fund, supporting the construction of Manley Field House and the renovation of Hendricks Chapel, and establishing a scholarship fund. Tolley named him a lifetime trustee in 1953. In the early ’60s, Syracuse had been trying to establish a greater presence in the New York metropolitan area, and had a one-room office at the now-demolished Biltmore Hotel. Lubin purchased 11 East 61st Street for the express purpose of donating it to Syracuse University. The facility—originally called Syracuse University House—was initially intended as a gathering place for area alumni. The walnut-paneled dining room, art gallery, and library could be used for classes, seminars, meetings, and receptions. The SU Board of Trustees held its first meeting outside of Syracuse at the house on June 4, 1965. “The opening of Syracuse House, the new headquarters of Syracuse alumni in New York City, has already had a tonic effect on alumni morale in the metropolitan area,” Tolley said at the meeting. In December 1965, the building was renamed in honor of its benefactor, and has been known since then as the Joseph I. Lubin House. In 1966, the building next door to Lubin House, at 15 East 61st Street, was put up for sale. The five-story structure was originally designed by architects Breen and Nason for William B. Parsons and was erected in 1879. In 1919, it was purchased by Henry Batterman, owner of the Batterman department store in Brooklyn, who commissioned the very fashionable architect of the time, Mott B. Schmidt, to renovate. With the idea of one day expanding its existing space, Syracuse University purchased the five-story building, which was, at that time, divided into nine apartments—all rented. Syracuse assumed the role of landlord. By the early 80s, it was evident the needs and uses of Lubin House had surpassed its capacity. Satellite admission and development offices were in operation. The guest rooms on the upper floors were kept busy by faculty and administrators with University business in the city, and a full schedule of social and educational events kept alumni visiting. In 1981, Joseph Lubin made another major gift to Syracuse, this time donating funds to help renovate the neighboring building into usable space for the University. But it wasn’t that simple. The apartments in the building were rent controlled and rent stabilized. Tenants were paying $300 to $500 a month for apartments that would command five to six times as much rent on the open market. The University then began a long legal process to displace the tenants and help them find new housing, gaining full occupancy of the property in 1992 and starting major renovation the following year. While the facade of the building remains as it was in 1919, the inside has changed a good deal. Unfortunately, aside from several original fireplaces (which have been preserved) the building lacked Lubin House's period charm and interesting details. Under the direction of 1960 School of Architecture graduate Richard Hayden and his esteemed firm, Swanke, Hayden and Connell, floors were removed and rebuilt at the same levels as those at 11 East 61st, and the two buildings were joined at the first, second, and third floors. The renovation was completed in spring 1995. In 2001, under the direction of Richard Hayden once again, building 11 underwent overall renovations to its infrastructure and restoration of its historic rooms. Renovations were completed in summer 2002. From Alumni Center to Multiservice Satellite While Lubin House was originally envisioned primarily as an alumni center, the expansion helped complete the facility as a multiservice satellite. Now, as many prospective and current students come through the Lubin House doors as do former students. New York metro-area high school students interview for admission; current students take part in special programs run out of Lubin House; and students meet with alumni and professionals in their fields in career development and placement programs. The grand and vital history of Lubin House continues.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line897
__label__wiki	0.914777	0.914777	In the Rezone Much Ado About Nothing? Midtown East Rezoning Not All That Grand By Stephen Jacob Smith • 04/22/13 3:41pm The Municipal Art Society is worried that the Midtown East upzoning would allow development that would block views of the Chrysler Building, among other landmarks. Based on the arguments made by those both for and against the Midtown East rezoning—a “sweeping proposal,” wrote New York magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson, with “swollen ambitions for the skyline”—one might think that the proposed land use change, which would affect 78 blocks between Second and Fifth Avenues and East 39th and East 57th Streets, would be a dramatic revision of New York City’s most hallowed business district. Crain’s New York Business calls the plan “essential.” The Post’s Steve Cuozzo, ever a friend to big real estate, says it’s “vital to the city’s future, a way to ensure that Manhattan’s most desirable commercial zone can compete in the future with global capitals like London and Shanghai.” Meanwhile, opponents of the plan to rezone the area north of Grand Central Terminal have painted it as a death knell for some of New York’s most iconic sites, and a massive imposition on an already-overburdened transit system. “The rezoning study makes no mention of protected-view corridors,” wrote starchitect Robert A.M. Stern, coming out against the plan in today’s New York Times. “I can hardly make my way to the stairways and escalators that lead to the Lexington Avenue subway platforms.” The Municipal Art Society, which has proposed landmarking 17 pre- and postwar towers in the area (the Historic Districts Council has a list of 33), commissioned mock-ups of potential new towers that could obscure the district’s most famous buildings, writing, “The verifiable photo simulations show how iconic buildings such as the Chrysler building will not be visible from many vantage points if development occurs as proposed.” But delve into the actual numbers on the proposed rezoning, and it starts to look like much ado about nothing. As the Wall Street Journal’s Eliot Brown pointed out on Twitter, only 3.8 million square feet of office development is expected beyond what would be built without any zoning changes, according to an environmental assessment released by the city on Friday, or 4.4 million square feet of total extra development taking into account all uses. (While more than 14 million square feet of new office space could rise, two-thirds of that would replace existing buildings.) Compare this to the rezoning of Manhattan’s far west side earlier in Mr. Bloomberg’s term, where nearly 26 million square feet of new office space was allowed in Hudson Yards—an area with far worse transit and less new investment ($8.4 billion for East Side Access, which will bring the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central, versus just $2.1 billion for the 7 train extension to 34th Street and 11th Avenue)—and the Midtown East rezoning starts to look downright puny. With just 3.8 million square feet of new office development expected out of the plan in an area that already contains 70 million square feet of office space, the Midtown East upzoning would barely add more floorspace to the district than the Port Authority is building in One World Trade Center—3.5 million square feet of floorspace in one tower alone. Even the Williamsburg and Greenpoint rezonings, which added over 30 million square feet of residential development rights, dwarf what Mr. Bloomberg and the real estate industry want to add to Midtown East. Given the relatively small numbers involved, both sides should drop the histrionics: the Grand Central upzoning just isn’t that grand, and isn’t going to make or break Midtown East either way. Filed Under: Real Estate, Department of City Planning, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Midtown East, Steve Cuozzo, In the Rezone, Midtown East Rezoning, Justin Davidson SEE ALSO: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Accepted a Discount for Their 432 Park Home	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line900
__label__cc	0.55182	0.44818	Artist, DJ, and producer Tim Bergling, a.k.a. Avicii, died Anca Popovici In Friday afternoon we heard a very bad news, that the artist, DJ, and producer Tim Bergling, a.k.a. Avicii, died in Oman, he was 28. “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii,” the statement reads. “He was found dead in Muscat, Oman this Friday afternoon local time, April 20th. The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given.” He was the most popular in EDM music he scored a No. 4 hit on the Billboard 200 in 2013 with “Wake Me Up”.He retired from performing live because he had suffered from health problems for several years, including acute pancreatitis, in part due to excessive drinking. He had his gallbladder and appendix removed in 2014. He began DJing as a teenager and released his first single in 2007. He released a large number of singles and remixes in the following years and rapidly built a reputation as a live act. He broke through with his 2010 hit “Seek Bromance,” which charted in several European countries; he signed a publishing deal with EMI the same year. He explained his chosen DJ name as “the lowest level of Buddhist hell,” chosen because his real name was already being used by another Tim Bergling on MySpace. In March of 2016, he performed at the Ultra Music Festival, premiering new material, but 10 days later announced that he was retiring from performing. He made a final live appearance in August in Ibiza. In December, he parted ways with longtime manager Ash Pournouri. We will miss him in our heart will be a great DJ. Previous articleNew Hit: SKAMP – Nemiegancios Naktys Next articleNEW Single: Alfa Anderson – Perfectly Chic (Boomtang Radio Dance Remix) Anca she is Editor-in-Chief, she like to write about Music, she graduated art college, she like to sing and write about songs.In the past she work on Record Company where she met famous artists. E-mail: [email protected]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line905
__label__wiki	0.876875	0.876875	Funding Boost : NAVT North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club is celebrating a major funding boost they hope will see the sport’s popularity soar across the region. The group will receive almost £30,000 over the next three years after securing money from North Ayrshire Ventures Trust (NAVT). This grant programme was developed to enable voluntary, community and social enterprises in North Ayrshire to explore new opportunities to help them grow in size and improve long-term sustainability. And the table tennis club are sure this investment will help them smash into parts of North Ayrshire they have yet to reach. The group’s organiser Billy Main said: “We’ve been running for 15 years now and it’s turned into a bit of a monster. It’s just grown and grown and this funding from NAVT will really help us become sustainable and help us achieve what we want to achieve. “We started up in a small hut with one table and basically wanted to get as many people as possible into the sport. “We moved to St Matthews, with 16 tables, and now there are clubs in Arran and West Kilbride which are all under the auspices of North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club. When the Portal opened we ran sessions there and due to the popularity, Irvine Table Tennis Club was set up and now it is a fully constituted club in its own right. “But we haven’t really touched Largs, Garnock Valley and other areas, so we want to get into all the areas in North Ayrshire and grow the game. We’ve had funding previously from Sportscotland and recently acquired 20 tables which will enable us to get the sport into schools, community centres and other centres in North Ayrshire. There is a real appetite for the game and we now have an opportunity to grow it. “This money will allow us to put together a three-year plan. We hope to appoint a development officer and increase our coaching team to meet the challenge ahead. “Ideally we’d like lots of different franchise clubs – all linked to North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club – across the region.” The group has produced a number of Scottish Champions – including Billy’s sons Chris and Richard – and have won the Scottish National League five years out of the last eight years, and are the current Scottish Champions. They have been competing in the British Premier League for the past two years and hopefully will have a place again this season in the top league in the UK where the top eight clubs in the country compete on a home and away basis. The highlight was when they staged the European Cup at St Matthew’s two years ago. Billy added: “We’ve had some great times and have worked closely with the Council. They have provided plenty of support. We are now really grateful for this North Ayrshire Ventures Trust funding. It will really help us move forward with our long-term plans.” Richard Yule, Table Tennis Scotland`s Chief Operating Officer, welcomed this significant investment from NAVT. “The North Ayrshire Club is a brilliant example of how table tennis can be a force for good in a local community, providing opportunities for all ages and abilities to interact, get active and enjoy our great sport. Congratulations to Billy Main, his sons, Chris and Richard, and his superb team of volunteers who continue to drive the club onwards and upwards!” Councillor Louise McPhater, Cabinet Member for Communities, added: “North Ayrshire Ventures Trust has supported many local groups and organisations and we’re delighted that North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club has benefited from funding. “They have some really bold and ambitious plans and we’re delighted to be supporting them as they move forward. Sport and being active is hugely important to us. It’s great to see that the club are engaging with people from all ages and backgrounds and growing the sport in North Ayrshire.” If you would like to apply for NAVT funding, please email infonavt@north-ayrshire.gov.uk This entry was posted in Latest News on 18th July 2018 by Chris Main. ← North Ayrshire Open : Entry Form North Ayrshire Open – Players List →	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line908
__label__cc	0.526464	0.473536	Rulers of India: The Early Indian Princes Published by I.B.Tauris Malleson, G. B. 978 1 78453 164 5 The Rulers of India series was conceived to make available the key features of Indian history through biographies of the successive princes, generals and administrators of the country. This first set focuses on the early Indian princes, including Akbar, Asoka, Aurangzib, Madhava Rao Sindhia and Tipu Sultan. It include works by key authors of the day such as Stanley Lane Poole writing on the great Babar and George Bruce Malleson on the Buddhist emperor Asoka. With a new introduction by a leading contemporay scholar these rare volumes are now brought together as a set to provide a highly informative and readable overview of the key figures in the early history of India. Sir William Wilson Hunter (1840-1900) was an historian, writer and member of the Indian Civil Service. He presided over the Commission on Indian Education and his statistical surveys of India were the basis for his Imperial Gazetteer of India. Political leaders & leadership	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line910
__label__wiki	0.607807	0.607807	Sobriety Art How Leslie Jamison rejected the link between creativity and alcoholism By Daphne Merkin ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANNA PARINI By all rights, Leslie Jamison’s new memoir, The Recovering: Intoxication and its Aftermath shouldn’t work. For one thing, it rehashes a much-told story—that of addiction and its allure—and the book goes on for longer than is ideal, especially about the author’s on-again, off-again relationship with a boyfriend. There are places that should be clear that are fuzzy—indeed, parts of the book seem willfully vague, especially those about Jamison’s privileged background and stellar academic trajectory—and other places where too many details are piled on. One could argue that the narrative scoots around without a clear thread pulling it together and that the biographical particulars of well-known drunks (Jean Rhys, Malcolm Lowry, John Berryman, and Raymond Carver) are disclosed as though for the first time. And yet The Recovering bursts with insight on how we scramble together our identities, told in a voice that manages by some literary legerdemain to be both winsomely idiosyncratic and resoundingly collective. Jamison, who is the author of a novel, The Gin Closet, and a lauded collection of essays, The Empathy Exams, is preternaturally canny about the so-called “confessional” genre she has chosen to write in, sidestepping most of its potential pitfalls—such as an atmosphere of claustrophobic solipsism—while retaining its aspects of immediacy and beguilingly unhip self-revelation. “Truth be told, I wasn’t sure exactly how to do coke,” she confides. “I knew you snorted it, but I didn’t know what that looked like.” She pre-empts the reader’s protests: When I told people I was writing a book about addiction and recovery, I often saw their eyes glaze. Oh, that book,they seemed to say, I’ve already read that book.... I wanted to tell them I was trying to write a book about the ways addiction is a hard story to tell, because addiction is always a story that has already been told, because it inevitably repeats itself, because it grinds down—ultimately, for everyone—to the same demolished and reductive and recycled core: Desire. Use. Repeat. Jamison recognizes, with absolute clarity, the rut she may be getting herself into but also knows how to mostly avoid it. She resists the ideals of originality and singularity that accompany addiction stories and decides to aim instead for a voice she characterizes as “the first-person plural,” pointing out that this sort of story, especially if it includes recovery, never takes place in isolation. She wants, she tells us, to “write a book that might work like a meeting ... a book that was honest about the grit and bliss and tedium of learning to live in this way—in chorus, without the numbing privacy of getting drunk.” Jamison relates her life in fits and starts, zig-zagging from her time at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop to her freshman year at Harvard to her graduate study at Yale. The lack of chronology makes for a degree of confusion—when, exactly, did she go to Nicaragua for a month or spend the summer in Bolivia, and how soon after breaking up with Daniel did she meet Dave?—but it allows her to digress to her heart’s content, providing in the process unexpected perceptions and expertly distilled research. She reflects on the sinister promise of late capitalism (“transformation through consumption”); the genetic factors of alcoholism; the fate of Charles Jackson after he wrote The Lost Weekend; Amy Winehouse; David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest; and what actually happens in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. THE RECOVERING: INTOXICATION AND ITS AFTERMATH By Leslie JamisonLittle, Brown, 544 pp., $30 In many ways, The Recovering is both a history of writers and alcoholism and an argument with the “romance of the white logic”: the idea that alcoholism, and the torment it presumably assuages, is “generative,” that it fuels creative genius. “I idolized the iconic drunk writers,” Jamison explains, “because I understood their drinking as proof of extreme interior weather: volatile and authentic. If you needed to drink that much, you had to hurt, and drinking and writing were two different responses to that same molten pain. You could numb it, or else grant it a voice.” Jamison’s own descent into blackout-level drinking begins in college, where she feels lonely and ill at ease. “It seemed like everyone had met her boyfriend on a pre-orientation camping trip. When I looked in the mirror, I saw someone tall and ungainly, with a large nose and pleading eyes, a frizzy triangle of thick brown hair.” She has hinted earlier at the vulnerability—her chronic childhood shyness and self-harm during high school—that draws her to alcohol. Her parents are models of achievement; her mother wrote her doctoral dissertation on infant malnutrition in rural Brazil, and her father is an economist who works on health policy in the developing world. She has two much-admired older brothers, whom she loves “wildly, extravagantly.” When she is nine, her father tells Jamison somewhat opaquely that drinking “wasn’t dangerous for everyone, but it was dangerous for us.” She craves her father’s approval “like I craved perfect grades, perfect test scores.” Her parents get divorced when she is eleven. During her first semester at Harvard, Jamison feels shrouded in sadness and develops an eating disorder; she loses 25 pounds and throws out a jar of peanut butter, afraid she might “eat the whole thing in one sitting” but then, struck by hunger, forages in a dumpster to retrieve it. Most of all, Jamison starts drinking, getting quickly caught up in alcohol’s “buzz and glint.” She describes its hold on her, a good girl looking to get out of her self-imposed confinement: “Drinking felt like the opposite of restriction. It was freedom. It was giving in to wanting, rather than refusing it. It was abandon. Abandon as in recklessness, but also sudden departure: leaving behind the starving self, its cold skeletal shell.” She functions all the while at an impressively high level, applying to and getting accepted by The Advocate, Harvard’s coveted and fiercely competitive literary magazine, and performing well in class, even while inebriated. When Jamison moves to New Haven to begin graduate school, her addiction to alcohol deepens. “I decided to drink differently: no more beer, no more rum. Only clear liquor, which seemed purer when I imagined it traveling through me, and white wine.” She falls in love with Peter, another graduate student, and in between discussing “Victorian illness memoirs” or “the etymology of the word ‘render,’ ” they sink into the numbing experience of drinking together: “Booze let me live inside moments without the endless chatter of my own self-conscious annotation…. Self-awareness burned off like fog and there we were, watching America’s Next Top Model on his Ikea bed.” She eventually breaks up with Peter and takes up with “a charming, gregarious poet” named Dave, whose drinking style is “elegant and restrained.” Over this period of hard drinking, Jamison sells a novel, discusses Milton’s Paradise Lost in bed after sex with Dave, has an abortion, and then undergoes heart surgery “to correct persistent tachycardia—episodes of rapid, gratuitous heartbeats that I was told would slowly wear out my heart before its time.” Her doctor advises her to lay off drinking for a few months, advice Jamison doesn’t follow. She decides intermittently to stop drinking—once right before she takes her oral exams, which require her to “sit in a room full of professors firing questions at me about Shakespeare and American modernism and Chaucer’s ‘Parliament of Fowls.’ It made me sad to think of passing the exams sober,” she poignantly adds, “because I had no idea how I’d celebrate.” The Recovering, as its present participle title suggests, is a story of the long, painful, resistant, and unoriginal road to getting—and staying—sober as much as it is a narrative of addiction. But it also conveys the “sinuous, glimmering energy of recovery” as Jamison attends AA meetings, reading the Big Book “with another woman over night-discounted muffins” even as she secretly concocts a plan to keep drinking. These meetings, which require that she give up her self-loathing (“the flip side of narcissism”) and her belief in her own uniqueness (“What was identity if it wasn’t fundamentally a question of difference? What defined a voice if not distinction?”), bring us other characters, some much more downbeat and desperate than Jamison. Although several reviewers have complained that this part of the book lags, I found the disparate sobriety stories of Sawyer, Gwen, Marcus, and Shirley essential to Jamison’s book, serving to widen its scope: Along the way, it mutates from one gifted and successful young woman’s tale—the story of a woman who believed all her life “that I had to earn affection and love by being interesting, and so I had frantically tried to become really fucking interesting”—into a larger inquiry into how we seek to heal ourselves. Although the why of her own addiction is given oddly short shrift (“My childhood was easier than most and I ended up drinking anyway”), Jamison is acutely aware of the lack, the hunger that addiction addresses, both for more ordinary folk and for creative types who harbor the fantasy “that brilliant writing might redeem a flawed life.” Like other addicts, she falls off the wagon only to try again: “Part of proving that you’re truly ready to recover—in drug court, in a meeting, in a memoir—involves admitting that you don’t know if you can recover at all. Part of getting into the right narrative involves admitting you can’t see the end of it.” The Recovering creates its own grainy context, defying all the usual tropes of addiction memoirs. Part confession, part literary criticism, part cultural analysis, part musing, and part hard-edged reporting (Jamison visits an early recovery program called the Narcotic Farm and the region, the Olympic Peninsula, where Raymond Carver spent his postalcoholic life), Jamison has written an extraordinary document of self-reckoning that will make you think and rethink the trajectory of your own life in its “mundane realities” as well as its “cinematic epic mode.” This is a book about one of us, all of us, and the yearnings that take us to dark as well as light-filled places. Daphne Merkin is the author, most recently, of This Close to Happy: A Reckoning With Depression. Review, Magazine, July-August 2018, Books, alcoholism, creativity, Culture, Leslie Jamison, Books & The Arts	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line911
__label__wiki	0.558999	0.558999	Pregnant Woman Seeks Deportation Asylum in Chicago Church Associated Press \| May 22, 2019 3:16 pm In this Tuesday, May 21, 2019 photo provided by WBEZ Radio is Adilene Marquina, left, as she sobs after announcing she will be seeking sanctuary inside Faith, Life and Hope Mission church on Chicago's Southwest Side. Hugging her is her son, Johan as Rev. Jose Landaverde, right, comforts her. (María Ines Zamudio / WBEZ Radio via AP) CHICAGO (AP) — A pregnant woman is seeking asylum in a Chicago church after she says she received a deportation order requiring her to leave the U.S. by Thursday. Adilene Marquina, 34, who has a high-risk pregnancy and is afraid to travel back to Mexico, is staying at the Faith, Life and Hope Mission on Chicago’s Southwest Side, WBEZ radio reported Tuesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a policy against making arrests in places of worship. Marquina fled to the U.S. in 2015 seeking political asylum to escape paying extortion that drug cartels required to keep her business open. She waited four years for an immigration judge to deny her claim to remain in the U.S., she said. “They don't care about my daughter’s life,” she said. “They couldn’t even bother to look at the documents I provided that say I can’t travel.” The Rev. Jose Landaverde, a Chicago religious leader and immigration activist, said Marquina has a legitimate claim and will continue to fight her case. Marquina is one of dozens who have sought sanctuary in places of worship nationwide since Elvira Arellano started the movement in Chicago in 2006 by staying in a church with her son. Marquina’s case, however, poses challenges. Her baby is due July 23 and she must leave the church to go to the doctor for the next two months. She is staying at the church with her family, a 16-year-old American son, a 14-year-old son who is also seeking asylum and a 3-year-old son who was born in Chicago. “I don’t want to be separated from my children,” Marquina said. “I don’t want anything to happen to my baby girl on my way back.” Trump Criticizes Prosecutors at Event for Fallen Officers Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Census Citizenship Question Venezuelans in Chicago Hope for Change in Their Homeland Sign up for our morning newsletter to get all of our stories delivered to your mailbox each weekday.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line913
__label__wiki	0.715879	0.715879	Tag: Calvin Coolidge American Royalty Although the United States declared its independence from British Empire nearly 250 years ago, the royal family and all of its requisite trappings persist in the American imagination like a phantom limb. Oct. 5, 1929 cover by Theodore G. Haupt. E.B. White observed as much in the “Notes and Comment” section of the Oct. 5 issue, in which he offered his views regarding the “pother” over the wedding of Calvin Coolidge’s son, John, to Florence Trumbull, the daughter of Connecticut Governor John Harper Trumbull… White could have looked no further than the pages of the New Yorker for further evidence to his claims. The bourgeois yearnings of its readers were reflected in countless advertisements laced with anglophilic pretensions. Here are examples from 1929 issues we have previously examined: LIVE LIKE A BARON…Ads from the New Yorker of the 1920s often featured illustrations of regal, priggish types such as the couple above, deployed to sell everything from apartments and ginger ale… …to no-frills automobiles and menthol cigarettes. No product was too pedestrian for the royal treatment. Writing under the pseudonym “Guy Fawkes,” Robert Benchley commented further on the Coolidge-Trumbull nuptials in the “Wayward Press” column: HEY CAL, IT’S A WEDDING, NOT A FUNERAL…The former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge was known as “Silent Cal” for good reason, given his reserved demeanor that rarely produced a smile (although he apparently had a dry wit). He poses here at the wedding of his son, John. Left to right are Grace Goodhue Coolidge, President Coolidge, Florence Trumbull Coolidge, John Coolidge; Maud Pierce Usher Trumbull, and Gov. John Trumbull. (patch.com) NOT EXACTLY KING’S ROAD…Onlookers line the street near the Congregational church in Plainview, Conn., hoping for a glimpse of the bride and groom, who were united in a simple ceremony. (AP) CUTE COUPLE…Florence Trumbull and John Coolidge during their engagement, 1928. (crackerpilgrim.com) Modest Mussolini We go from famous faces to infamous ones, namely the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, aka Il Duce, who received the adoration of his public while trying to remain inconspicuous at the cinema. “Talk” recounted… NOW PICTURE HIM UPSIDE DOWN…A 1929 postcard image of the once-revered Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Sixteen years later he would be shot by his own people and strung up by his feet from the roof of a Milan gas station. (worthpoint.com) “Talk” also commented on the growing trend for high-rise apartments to provide swimming pools and other amenities below street level: TAKING THE PLUNGE DOWN UNDER…Few indoor swimming pools were available to New Yorkers during the 1920s. Two of the nicer ones were found underground at the Shelton Hotel (above) and the Park Central. Sadly, both pools no longer exist. In 2007 the Shelton’s pool was removed and the cavernous space was divided into three levels. I’m not sure when Park Central’s disappeared, but it’s fate was doubtless similar to the Shelton’s.(daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/hippostcard.com) How About a Catch? As I’ve noted on previous occasions, the New Yorker of the 1920s all but ignored major league baseball. The magazine gave regular coverage to seemingly every sport, from hockey and college football to polo and yacht racing, but regular coverage of baseball was nonexistent, even when the Yankee’s Murderers’ Row (Ruth, Gehrig among others) won back-to-back World Series titles in 1927-28. Still no coverage in the Oct. 5 issue, but the sport did get a brief mention in Howard Brubaker’s “Of All Things” column… …and the issue was filled with baseball imagery, including the cover… The Oct. 5 issue was filled with baseball-related items, but no actual coverage of the games. Images from the issue included, from left, the cover by Theodore Haupt; a filler sketch by Constantin Alajalov; and a Johan Bull illustration of umpire Bill Klem for the issue’s “Profile” section. Robert Benchley checked out George White’s latest version of his Scandals revue at the Apollo Theatre, and found the sometimes risqué show to be in a sentimental mood… BETTER SENTIMENTAL THAN DEPRESSED…The chanteuse Frances Williams (pictured on the show’s sheet music and at right) likely provided the only spark to the 1929 edition of George White’s Scandals. (amazon/psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com) Benchley also looked in on Elmer Rice’s latest, See Naples and Die, featuring veteran English actress Beatrice Herford and the up-and-coming Claudette Colbert… VETERAN AND ROOKIE…Veteran English actress Beatrice Herford and the up-and-coming Claudette Colbert headlined Elmer Rice’s See Naples and Die. Colbert (pictured at right in a 1928 Broadway publicity photo) would go on to massive stardom in the 1930s. (Alchetron/Wikipeda) Benchley applauded the veteran Herford’s performance, but found the otherwise reliable Colbert miscast as a wisecracking, Dorothy Parker type (Benchley, as we know, was close friends with Parker, so he knew what he was talking about)… An (Ugly) American in Paris Off to Paris, we find correspondent Janet Flanner joining with Parisians in deriding the behavior of American tourists, who were on a course to drain every last drop from the Île–de–France before departing for the bone-dry USA: DRINKING IN THE SIGHTS…American tourists at a Parisian café, circa 1920s. (tavbooks.com) Party Pooper With her infant child (Patricia Arno) at home, it is doubtful Lois Long was seeing as much nightlife as she did during her first weeks at the New Yorker, when “nights were bold.” And indeed, her nightlife column “Tables for Two” would end for good in June 1930. Her Oct. 5 column took a cursory spin through the various nighttime offerings, ending on this note regarding a fan letter and a message from comedian Jimmy Durante: THE GREAT SCHNOZZOLA Jimmy Durante brought a smile to the face of Lois “Lipstick” Long. With the latest Paris fashions splattered across newstands all over Manhattan, retailers scrambled to get “replicas” to consumers…Macy’s had “couturier bags”… …the Hollander Dressmaking Department was ready to make a perfect copy of Patou’s “Quiproquo”… …and this Chanel frock could be had in misses’ sizes for $145 (roughly equivalent to about $2K today)… …Philip Morris hadn’t yet discovered the “Marlboro Man,” and were still hawking their cigarettes through a “distinguished handwriting contest.” The latest winner was Edmund Froese… …who would go on to become a popular mid-century landscape painter… Port of New York, by Edmund Froese (undated) …another artist in the midst of our ads is Carl “Eric” Erickson, who created these lovely images for R.J. Reynolds that would induce people to take up the habit with a Camel… …and then we have some rather unlovely ads from the back pages, including these two that would not go over well with today’s readers… …or this from Dr. Seuss, still sharpening his skills with Flit insecticide… …or this ad from Abercrombie & Fitch, wrong on so many levels… …on to happier things, here’s an illustration by Reginald Marsh that ran along the bottom of “Talk of the Town”…(click to enlarge) …Alan Dunn found love in the air above the streets of Manhattan… …and Leonard Dove revealed the hazards of apartment rentals… Next Time: Race to the Sky… Posted on October 17, 2018 October 25, 2018 Categories advertising, baseball, Broadway, celebrities, cinema, fashion, Jazz Age, New Yorker cartoons, Roaring Twenties, sports, The New Yorker Magazine, TheatreTags 1920s advertising, 1920s cigarette ads, 1920s fashion, 1920s New York, Alan Dunn, American royalty, Anglophiles, Beatrice Herford, Benito Mussolini, Broadway, Calvin Coolidge, Claudette Colbert, E.B. White, Edmund Froese, Elmer Rice, Florence Trumbull, Frances Williams, George White's Scandals, Janet Flanner, Jazz Age, Jimmy Durante, John Coolidge, Leonard Dove, Lois Long, prohibition, Reginald Marsh, Roaring Twenties, Robert Benchley, See Naples and Die, The New YorkerLeave a comment on American Royalty Conventional Follies of ’28 U.S. presidential elections have long provided fodder for the nation’s humorists, and the 1928 contest between Herbert Hoover and Al Smith was no exception. March 31, 1928 cover by Theodore G. Haupt. In the March 31, 1928 issue of the New Yorker writer Frank Sullivan and cartoonist Al Frueh took particular delight in skewering the party nominating conventions. As Sullivan observed: Regarding item No. 3, Sullivan was referring to Minnesota’s famed Mayo Clinic, and the related pride that was doubtless associated with the removal of an appendix from the wife of Al Smith, four-term governor of New York and nominee to lead the Democratic ticket. The candidates could not have been more different. The first Catholic to be nominated for president, Al Smith was a crowd-loving, charismatic personality, a Tammany Hall politician and a committed “wet” who opposed Prohibition. He attracted strong support from Catholics, women, drinkers and those who were tired of the crime and corruption associated with dry America. WET VS. WET BLANKET…The staid, “dry” Republican candidate Herbert Hoover (left) easily defeated the charismatic “wet” Democratic candidate Al Smith (right) in the 1928 U.S. Presidential Election. Hoover, on the other hand, was deliberately dull and humorless, as stiff as his heavily starched collars and committed to keeping the country dry. But the economy under fellow Republican Calvin Coolidge was booming, and it didn’t hurt that many Protestants believed the Catholic Church would dictate Al Smith’s policies if he were elected. Sullivan had some fun with this perceived religious prejudice: In light of the recent 2016 elections and the prominence of “Islamophobia” in the political rhetoric, Sullivan’s joke regarding the role of “Mohammedans” in the 1928 election is noteworthy: Illustrations by Al Frueh, both top and bottom, aptly captured the picture Sullivan painted of the nominating process: Al Smith would lose in a landslide. Journalists at the time attributed his defeat to the three P’s: Prohibition, Prejudice and Prosperity. Rural voters, who favored Hoover, also had a bigger say than their urban brethren: Republicans would benefit from a failure to reapportion Congress and the electoral college following the 1920 census, which had registered a 15 percent increase in the urban population. After the election, Smith became the president of Empire State Inc., the corporation that would build the the Empire State Building in 1930-31. In his piece Sullivan also took at parting shot at President Coolidge… …as did cartoonist J. Price in the same issue… For reference, the image that inspired Price: BIG CHIEF… Coolidge donned a headdress while being named an honorary Sioux chief (“Leading Eagle”) in Deadwood, South Dakota in the summer of 1927. (AP) New Yorker Monotypes Another humorist who regularly contributed to the New Yorker was Baird Leonard, who beginning with the second issue of the magazine (Feb. 28, 1925) wrote a series titled “Metropolitan Monotypes.” Over five years and 36 installments Leonard wrote free-verse characterizations of various New York “types,” from debutantes to aesthetes to “The Anglomaniac” as described below in this installment from March 31, 1928: As I’ve noted before, Anglophilia oozed from the New Yorker ads, particularly those directed at the male reader (France was a common lure in ads for women). Every issue from the 1920s is rife with examples, but sticking to the March 31 issue we find this ad employing the British slang for cigarettes to market a silly, dog-shaped cigarette case to fashionable women: In the same issue this ad from Macy’s appealed to participants of a famous cultural event for the posh set—the annual Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue. A tradition dating back to the 1870s, in its first decades the “parade” was a display of wealth and beauty, as the well-to-do strolled from church to church to check out various floral displays. The parade has changed considerably over the years, with high fashion given over to camp as the event has become far more democratic… Young Couple strolling in the Easter Parade, 1928. (Retronaut) WHAT A DIFFERENCE 90 YEARS MAKES…The Easter Parade in 2012. (nycxplorer.com) In 1928, the poor and middle classes were merely observers of the passing parade, perhaps hoping to learn something about the latest fashions. The April 14 “Talk of the Town” suggested as much: And finally, our cartoon comes courtesy of Leonard Dove, who explores the lighter side of boxing… Next Time: We Americans… Posted on May 24, 2017 June 7, 2018 Categories advertising, fads & crazes, fashion, politics, prohibition, The New Yorker MagazineTags 1920s advertising, 1920s fashion, 1920s New York, Al Smith, Baird Leonard, Calvin Coolidge, Easter Parade, Fifth Avenue, Frank Sullivan, Herbert Hoover, Jazz Age, Metropolitan Monotypes, prohibition, Roaring Twenties, The New YorkerLeave a comment on Conventional Follies of ’28 Office Romance The New Yorker’s founder and editor, Harold Ross, did not approve of office romances. He had a magazine to run after all, and didn’t want any distractions from Cupid’s arrow. August 13, 1927 cover by Julian de Miskey. But then again, it seemed inevitable that Lois Long and Peter Arno–two of the magazine’s most lively personalities and important early contributors–would end up together. Arno cut a dashing figure as one the New Yorker’s most celebrated cartoonists. He often drew upon the same subject matter as Long, who covered the nightclub and speakeasy scene in her column, “Tables for Two” and in the process defined the lifestyle of the liberated flapper. Long is also credited with inventing the field of fashion writing and criticism with her other New Yorker column, “On and Off the Avenue.” OFFICE SWEETHEARTS… Arno and Long personified the witty, cosmopolitan image cultivated by the New Yorker. (Wall Street Journal, Wikipedia) In Vanity Fair, Ben Schwartz (“The Double Life of Peter Arno,” April 5, 2016) wrote that Arno and Long “personified what people thought The New Yorker was, which was very fortunate…(Long was) tall, lanky, a Vassar grad with bobbed hair and a wicked sense of humor, a minister’s daughter to Arno’s judge’s son, and she matched him as a hell-raiser.” It was actually their raucous affair that set Ross on a “permanent scowl” regarding office romances. Schwartz quotes Arno’s and Long’s daughter, Patricia (Pat) Arno, about her parents’ wild relationship: “There were lots of calls to (gossip columnist Walter) Winchell or some other columnist about nightclub fights…with my mother calling and saying, ‘Oh, please don’t print that about us,’ trying to keep their names out of the papers.” Schwartz suggests that Arno drew on personal experience when in 1930 he published Peter Arno’s Hullabaloo, a “collection of cartoons that included a set of racy drawings featuring a dashing couple much like himself and Long. In one, a nude woman, in bed, yells at her sleeping lover: ‘Wake up, you mutt! We’re getting married to-day.'” Long and Arno were married by her father, the Rev. Dr. William J. Long, at her parents’ home in Stamford, Conn., on August 13, 1927. Their daughter, Patricia, was born September 18, 1928. According to Schwartz, Arno’s first three books sold well (Whoops Dearie! 1927, Parade 1929, and Hullabaloo 1930) “allowing the young family to move into an East Side penthouse. Their social circle included New Yorker staffers, the magazine’s owner, Raoul Fleischmann, publishers Condé Nast and Henry Luce, Kay Francis (Broadway actress, future Hollywood star and Long’s former roommate), and some of the city’s financial powers. ‘Once my mother was having trouble with her Plymouth,’ says Pat Arno, “and Walter Chrysler took off his evening coat, rolled up his sleeves, and fixed it himself.'” STAR POWER…Actress Kay Francis, no stranger to wild living, was Lois Long’s longtime friend and also her roommate until Long married Peter Arno in 1927. (flickchick1953) HAPPY INTERLUDE…Arno and Long with their baby daughter, Patricia, in 1928. (Vanity Fair) Less than two years after the birth of their daughter, Arno and Long would get a divorce in Reno on June 30, 1931. Arno later married debutante Mary Livingston Lansing in August 1935; they divorced in July 1939. After his divorce from Lansing, Arno moved to a farm near Harrison, New York, where he lived in seclusion, drawing for the New Yorker and enjoying music, guns, and sports cars. He died of emphysema on February 22, 1968 at the age of 64. Arno with second wife, debutante Mary Livingston “Timmie” Lansing, Winsted, Connecticut, 1939. (Digital Colorization by Lorna Clark) In 1938 Long would marry Donaldson Thorburn, a newspaper and advertising man. After his death in 1952 she would marry Harold Fox, head of an investment brokerage firm. Long’s colleague at the New Yorker, Brendan Gill, described Fox as “a proper Pennsylvanian named Harold A. Fox.” They lived in an 1807 Pennsylvania-Dutch farmhouse, where Long delighted in the woods, farms and wildlife as well as in her two grandchildren—Andrea Long Bush and Katharine Kittredge Bush. In 1960 she wrote to her alma mater, Vassar College, that the “hectic fifteen years or so after graduation, when I thought I had New York City by the tail and was swinging it around my head, seem very far away. Thank God. I like things this way.” Long would continue working as a columnist for the New Yorker until the death of Harold Fox, in 1968. She died in 1974 at age 72. BEFORE IT ALL BEGAN…Left, Lois Long’s photo in Vassar’s yearbook, The Vassarion. At right, during her senior spring, Lois posed for a photo by Sunset Lake. Long studied English and French, graduating in1922 with an English major. (vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu) The big news in the Aug. 13, 1927 edition (the same date as the Long-Arno wedding) was President Calvin Coolidge’s brief, ambiguous announcement that he would not run for president. Almost everyone assumed he would run for a second term, given the booming economy in the age of “Coolidge Prosperity.” Coolidge was summering in Black Hills when he gave his secretary, Everett Sanders, a piece of paper that read, “I do not choose to run for president in 1928.” Sanders then scheduled a midday press conference for August 2, 1927. At 11:30 a.m., Coolidge cut out strips of paper with this statement–I do not choose to run—and at the conference handed each reporter one of the strips. Coolidge offered no further information, and only remarked, “There will be nothing more from this office today.” This led to considerable debate among the press as to intentions of the president. The New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town” mused… …Howard Brubaker’s “Of All Things” column offered this wry observation… …while humorist Robert Benchley (writing under the pseudonym “Guy Fawkes”) in his “The Press in Review” column continued the New Yorker’s stinging attack on the media for its continued attempts to sensationalize events or impart personality traits on colorless newsmakers: HAPPY TRAILS, CAL…No doubt the simple life of the Black Hills influenced Calvin Coolidge’s decision in 1927 to decline a second term as president. (Library of Congress) Next Time: The Movies Take Wing… Posted on November 16, 2016 June 7, 2018 Categories celebrities, politics, The New Yorker MagazineTags 1920s New York, Calvin Coolidge, Harold Ross, Jazz Age, Kay Francis, Lois Long, Mary Livingston "Timmie" Lansing, Patricia Arno, Peter Arno, Peter Arno’s Hullabaloo, Roaring Twenties, Robert Benchley, The New YorkerLeave a comment on Office Romance Picking on Charlie Chaplin In 1927 silent film star Charlie Chaplin was working on his latest film, The Circus, when his second wife, Lita Grey, filed for divorce, accusing her husband of infidelity, abuse, and of harbouring “perverted sexual desires.” Life imitated art, and Charlie’s own life became a circus. July 23, 1927 cover by Stanley W. Reynolds. The New Yorker’s Ralph Barton, who contributed countless illustrations for the magazine, wrote about Chaplin’s latest travails in a column titled “Picking on Charlie Chaplin.” LIFE ON THE HIGH WIRE…Charlie Chaplin in The Circus (1928). (MoMA) The “2” Barton mentioned were teenaged actress Lita Grey and her mother, Lillian Parker. In 1924 the 35-year-old Charlie Chaplin married the 16-year-old Lita Grey in a discreet ceremony in Mexico — because Grey was pregnant, Chaplin could have been charged with statutory rape under California law (it was Chaplin’s second marriage, and his second to a teenaged actress). Chaplin and Grey had two sons from their brief union–Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr., was born in 1925, followed by Sydney Earl Chaplin in 1926. The divorce made headline news as Chaplin was reported to be in a state of nervous breakdown. Filming for The Circus was suspended for ten months while he dealt with the mess: Chaplin’s lawyers agreed to a cash settlement of $600,000 – the largest awarded by American courts at that time (Roughly equivalent to more than $8 million today). Groups formed across America calling for his films to be banned (no doubt the same groups that had earlier protested his marriage to a pregnant, teenaged minor). Barton mused that the protests might cause Chaplin to abandon America for the more permissive atmosphere in Europe: HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU…Chaplin first became acquainted with the 12-year old Lillita McMurray (later Lita Grey) during the filming of The Kid (1921). PRATFALL…Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey during their brief, tumultuous marriage. (The Artifice) The Circus was released in January 1928 to positive reviews, and during the first-ever Academy Awards Chaplin received a special trophy “For versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus. Despite the film’s success, he rarely spoke of it again. For Charlie, it was a time best forgotten. And now, an advertisement from the July 23 issue urging readers to buy the 1920s equivalent of “Smart Water” endorsed by the Sun King himself… …and a cartoon by Reginald Marsh, portraying a distinctly American view of the grandeur of Niagara Falls… On to July 30, 1927 issue, in which the New Yorker once again takes a poke at our 30th President… July 30, 1927. (Cover is unsigned, but I suspect it is by John Held Jr.) …and his latest adventures in the wilds of South Dakota’s Black Hills: BIG CHIEF CAL…President Calvin Coolidge donned a headdress while being named an honorary Sioux chief (“Leading Eagle”) in Deadwood, South Dakota. His advisers cautioned that the headdress would make him look funny, but he apparently replied, “Well it’s good for people to laugh, isn’t it?” (AP) Safely back in the environs of the big city, the New Yorker continued to take stock of summer sports such as tennis, polo, and the yacht races at Larchmont (but still no mention of the legendary ’27 Yankees). This illustration of the races (unsigned, but I guess it is Reginald Marsh) graced a double-spread below “The Talk of the Town”… …and if you were attending the races, or wanted to look stylish on your yacht (or if you just wanted to dress this way to appear that you owned one), you could check out the selections at B. Altman’s… …looking smart was everywhere in the issue, from multiple ads for fall furs, to this come-on from Buick, which suggests that even though it is no Cadillac, and certainly not a Rolls, its smartness will prevail “on any boulevard”… The Buick ad is somewhat revolutionary for an early automobile ad in that it doesn’t actually show the product advertised. As for those not among the smart set, and not enjoying the races at Larchmont, there were other summer diversions, as rendered here by J.H. Fyfe: Next Time: Babe Comes Home… Posted on November 3, 2016 November 15, 2016 Categories advertising, celebrities, cinema, The New Yorker MagazineTags 1920s advertising, 1920s New York, Calvin Coolidge, Charlie Chaplin, J.H. Fyfe, Jazz Age, Larchmont Yacht Races, Lita Grey, Ralph Barton, Roaring Twenties, The Circus (1928), The New Yorker, Vintage Buick ads1 Comment on Picking on Charlie Chaplin The July 1927 issues of the New Yorker were filled with news of yacht races, polo matches and golf tournaments as the city settled into the heart of the summer. The artist for the July 9 cover, Julian de Miskey, was in the summertime mood with this lively portrayal of Jazz Age bathers: July 9, 1927 cover by Julian de Miskey. Born in Hungary in 1898, de Miskey emigrated to the United States in 1914. Although Julian de Miskey was was one of the most prolific of the first wave of New Yorker artists, his work seems to be little known or appreciated. But even 40 years after his death in 1976, his influence is still felt in the magazine, particularly in the spot illustrations and overall decorative style that grace the pages of “The Talk of the Town.” Here is a sampling of de Miskey’s spot illustrations for “Talk” in the July 9 and July 16, 1927 issues… …and here are examples of spot illustrations for some recent (Aug-Sept. 2016) New Yorker “Talk” sections, as rendered by Antony Huchette: De Miskey did it all–spots, cartoons, and anywhere from 62 to 100 covers (varying numbers are reported). A member of the Woodstock Art Association, de Miskey was well known in the New York art circles of his day, rubbing elbows in the Whitney Studio Club in Manhattan with artists including Edward Hopper, Guy Pene du Bois, Mabel Dwight and Leon Kroll. De Miskey also illustrated and designed covers for a number of books, studied sculpture and created stage sets and costume design. PROLIFIC…Julian de Miskey illustrated a number of children’s books, including Chúcaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa (1958-Newbery winner); The Trouble with Jenny’s Ear (1960); and Piccolo (1968) which was both written and illustrated by de Miskey. The June 9 issue also featured this cartoon by de Miskey: President Calvin Coolidge fled the bugs and heat of Washington, D.C. for cooler climes in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The New Yorker regularly mocked Coolidge’s dispatches from the Dakotas, including this item in “Of All Things”… VAPID CITY…Calvin Coolidge…Calvin Coolidge wears a cowboy hat and Western garb while on a 2-month vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1927. (Library of Congress) The magazine’s July 16 issue added this observation in “Talk of the Town”… Closer to home, one cartoon offers an urban sophisticate’s take on nature: For those who couldn’t flee the city, respite was sought in Central Park, as illustrated by Constantin Alajalov for “Talk of the Town…” Summer themes continued with the July 16 issue, which featured a cover by Helen Hokinson depicting one of her favorite subjects–the plump society woman: July 16, 1927 cover by Helen E. Hokinson. From 1918 to 1966, thousands of New Yorkers attended summer open-air concerts at Lewisohn Stadium, an amphitheater and athletic facility on the campus of the City College of New York. For many years Willem Van Hoogstraten conducted the nightly concerts, including the summer of 1927 when George Gershwin played his Rhapsody in Blue to adoring crowds. Performance at Lewisohn Stadium, located at 136th Street and Convent Avenue. (nyc-architecture.com) Program for the 1925 Stadium Concerts series. (archives.nyphil.org) Click to enlarge FINAL BOW…A still from the 1973 film Serpico, showing actors Al Pacino and Tony Roberts walking through the abandoned Lewisohn Stadium just before it was demolished. (YouTube) UGH…The Lewisohn Stadium site is now occupied by a City College of New York building with the inspiring name, “North Academic Center.” (nyc-architecture.com) And finally, another illustration in the “Talk of the Town” of summer in the city, this a teeming Coney Island beach courtesy of Reginald Marsh… However, if you wanted to avoid the rabble at the beach, you could fly over them–in style, of course… Next Time: Picking on Charlie Chaplin… Posted on October 30, 2016 Categories air travel, The New Yorker MagazineTags 1920s New York, Calvin Coolidge, George Gershwin, Jazz Age, Julian de Miskey, Lewisohn Stadium, New York Stadium Concerts, Reginald Marsh, Roaring Twenties, The Black Hills, The New Yorker, Willem Van HoogstratenLeave a comment on Summer in the City Party Time With Gentleman Jimmy Nov. 21, 1925 cover by Stanley W. Reynolds. Mayor Jimmy Walker wasn’t known for being cerebral. But as the voters’ choice to lead the City of New York, he could not have been more well-suited (pun intended) to the zeitgeist of the final, dizzying, roaring years of The Jazz Age. Walker was a flamboyant man-about-town, a clothes horse who was no stranger to speakeasies or the backroom politics of Tammany Hall. As Jonathan Mahler wrote in New York magazine (April 1, 2012), Gentleman Jimmy “perfectly embodied that moment of indulgence: the public servant who favored short workdays and long afternoons at Yankee Stadium, who was loath to miss a big prizefight or Broadway premiere, who left his wife and Greenwich Village apartment for a chorus girl and a suite at the Ritz-Carlton.” Not that there weren’t some concerns. “The Talk of the Town” offered this early observation of the incoming mayor: New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker during a visit to Boston. (voxart) Mahler quoted a columnist from Walker’s time, who noted that “No man could hold life so carelessly without falling down a manhole before he is done.” And Walker would fall to scandal by 1932. But we will get to that. For now, it’s party time in Gotham. The New Yorker continued to have fun with President Calvin Coolidge, publishing this cartoon by Izzy Klein that took a poke at Coolidge’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, in which Coolidge spoke at length about the nation’s abundance: Talk also reported the latest bootleg prices in “The Liquor Market…” “Profiles” examined the life of New York Times owner Adolph Ochs. The writer Elmer Davis observed that “More than any other newspaper owner, he is his paper, and his paper is himself…” Detail from a lantern slide depicting Basil Sydney as Hamlet and Charles Waldron as Claudius in the Booth Theatre’s 1925 production of Hamlet in “modern dress.” (Graphic Arts Collection, Princeton) In “The Theatre,” critic Herman J. Mankiewicz addressed criticisms of the Booth Theatre’s new approach to Hamlet, which was presented “in modern dress.” Mankiewicz wrote that the departure from traditional Elizabethan costumes had brought the play “into the open,” and that Basil Sydney was a “splendid” Hamlet. In “Books,” reviewer Harry Este Dounce recommended Ford Madox Ford’s No More Parades (“a fine display of virtuoso writing”) and Arthur Schnitzler’s Fraulein Else (“a scintillant little firework”). Lilyan Tashman, left, and Pauline Starke in Robert Z. Leonard’s Bright Lights, 1925 (Tumblr) In “Motion Pictures,” Theodore Shane panned the movie Lord Jim (based on the Joseph Conrad novel), but he enjoyed the “simple hokum tale” of Bright Lights and the “restrained” performance of Pauline Starke, “a perfect miniature Gloria Swanson.” In “Tables for Two,” Lois Long despaired of finding a decent “swank dinner” on a rainy autumn evening, and finally headed to a Viennese restaurant (Frau Greta’s) for some German comfort food. The rain turned to torrents as she then headed out for some nightlife: Long concluded her “Tables” column with this peevish note on “grammar:” In her other column, “On And Off The Avenue,” Long wrote about the increasing popularity of New Yorkers traveling to Florida for the winter, and in anticipation of the Christmas holiday, offered this advice on what not to give as gifts: In her report from Paris, Janet Flanner commented on the popularity of Josephine Baker at the Champs Elysees Theater: Josephine Baker and Joe Alex in their opening night performance of “La Revue Negre” at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris, 1925 (Tumblr) Flanner also commented on the growing appreciation of paintings by Henri Rousseau, who just a decade or so earlier was considered something of a joke among art circles: Henri Rousseau’s The Football Players, 1908. Today even Rosseau’s lesser-known works are valued in the millions (Wikimedia) And finally, Julian de Miskey’s take on The Big Game: Next Time: A Debutante’s Diatribe… Posted on July 25, 2015 December 2, 2015 Categories The New Yorker MagazineTags 1920s fashion, 1920s New York, Basil Sydney, Bright Lights 1925, Calvin Coolidge, Henri Rousseau, Janet Flanner, Jazz Age, Josephine Baker, Lois Long, Mayor Jimmy Walker, Pauline Starke, prohibition, The New YorkerLeave a comment on Party Time With Gentleman Jimmy	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line914
__label__wiki	0.623303	0.623303	Lake Transport About Macedonia Unique Stories The Heart of St. Naum On the almost farthest southwestern point in Macedonia, only one kilometer from the Albanian border, stands, 1100 years now, the monastery of Saint Naum and its church, Saint Archangel. Like all monastery builders, Saint Naum had an extraordinary sense of choosing the right place for construction – a cliff leaning just over the lake, caressed by the gentle murmur of the purply-crystal, virginal waters of Crni Drim, which has its source right in this spot, and immediately flows into the Lake Ohrid. Over the monastery there rises the mountain Galicica, covered with meadows where the most perfumed thyme, St. John’s wort and mountain tea grow. As if Naum was searching for a spot where he could use his healing powers to help people. There are few sources which describe the life of St. Naum – three hagiographies were written about him and best known is the one written by the archbishop Constantine Cavasila (13th century). Along with Clement, Angelarius and Gorazd, as one of the four best and most faithful followers of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, Naum leaves Great Moravia after the brothers’ death, persecuted by the German clergy. They seek sanctuary first in Sirmium, a bishop town of St.Andronik, and afterwards they travel through Beligrad, carrying the flame and light given by the holy brothers to Bulgaria, where Knyaz Boris intended to convert the population to Christianity. Clement and Naum wouldn’t be separated, but still the knyaz sends Clement to Kutmichevica, while Naum resides in the monastery of St. Archangel near Pliska. He joins Clement in their motherland after seven long years. In 893 Clement receives indications that he will be ordained bishop of Ohrid and knowing that Naum’s heart beats for Ohrid, he writes to Knyaz Simeon: ”I know of his pain… Tired and sick is he… He wishes to spend the rest of his life in the place where he was born, which he, as I myself did, left behind as a young boy. Let father Naum come to me. Who else could continue the work that I have started in Kutmichevica? It could be only him.” And that is how, with feeble strength but great enthusiasm, Naum joins Clement in Ohrid, where not long afterwards, he begins building his monastery. There he creates a monastic brotherhood, a literary school, and he utilizes his miraculous power to cure people, especially those suffering from spiritual illnesses. He passes away in 910 and finds eternal peace in his monastery, lying in the tomb placed in the chapel in the southern part of the church. Even after his death, miracles didn’t cease to happen. As a proof there are the five frescoes on the walls of his chapel depicting the scenes:” A harnessed bear in a yoke”, “The stiffening of the monk who tried to steal Saint Naum’s body”, “The healing of the mentally ill”, “A horse thief who stayed in front of the monastery church until dawn” and “The bucket leaves a hole in the stone”. According to the sources of the monastery, in 1662 there used to be a hospital, and two centuries later a linguistic center, where some of the most prominent representatives of the Macedonian literature, like Dimitar Miladinov, got their education (The church itself is of great importance for the linguistics because of the writings in Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet dating from the 10th till the 10th century, one of the oldest written evidences of the Slavonic literacy). Another proof that St. Naum even after his death can perform miracles is the fate of his monastery: it has been destroyed before the coming of the Ottomans and restored in the 15th/16th century. The iconostasis carved in wood is manufactured by unknown craftsmen in 1711, and four years after the fire of 1802 the restored church and chapel were picturesquely decorated by the woodcutter Trpo from Korçë. His father Constantine was the one who manufactured the five large sanctuary icons. Another fire in 1875 destroyed parts of the monks’ quarters but they are restored and today parts of them serve as an outstanding hotel. However, even till this day, after centennial hardships, if you place your ear over the tombstone of his sarcophagus, you will hear Saint Naum’s heart still beating. The Millenial Saint Sophia The cathedral church “Saint Sophia” is one of the oldest and most magnificent Christian temples in Macedonia. Dedicated to Saint Sophia, that is to The Christ embodying the Divine Wisdom, the church which over a millennium, until this day, quietly but proudly defies time, has been constructed over the foundations of an older church. That was in the time when SS. Cyril and Methodius were sent on the great mission, when the Macedonian Slavs accepted Christianity in Slavic language. And when Tzar Samuil relocated his capital from Prespa to Ohrid the church was used as a cathedral temple. In the 11th century “St. Sophia” was the Great church of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, which had spread its ecclesiastical power over a vast territory, from the Danube to the Albanian shores on the Adriatic Sea and to the Gulf of Thessaloniki. Having in mind the high reputation it had in the orthodox world, in the centuries that followed only the most respectable members of the eastern ecumenism could be ordained archbishop (Teofilakt of Ohrid, Dimitri Homatian), and they always emphasized its Justinian origin. Architecture: St. Sophia has the shape of a three-nave basilica, it has a dome and galleries in the side walls, an as early as the 11th century it had a forecourt. In 1313/1314 its construction is completed by adding the magnificent forecourt with galleries in the upper floor and towers on the northern and southern side, it is one of the most beautiful constructions in the Byzantine and Macedonian architectural history dating from the 14th century (it represents one of the works of the archbishop Gregory I, who was deeply trusted by the Tzar Andronik II Paleolog. In the second half of the 15th century it was converted into a mosque, the frescoes were covered with lime, the stone sanctuary removed, the dome demolished and instead a minaret was raised. The church defied time and it wasn’t until after the Second World War that it was protected from dilapidation. The frescoes that emerged from under the Turkish mortar are among the most precious treasures of the medieval art. Wall painting: The origins of the frescoes in “St. Sophia” date from the period after the fall of Samuil’s empire. In that period, the person ordained archbishop of Ohrid is Leon (1037-1056), a distinguished head of church, polemics philosopher, writer and one of the most highly educated people of that time. He renovated and expanded the church and acted as patron of the decorations in the church. He himself chose the subjects and their arrangement on the walls. The older paintings in “St. Sophia” were part of the monumental painting of the 11th century, the authors of which probably came from the more developed painting centers. The most notable position, which is the altar, belongs to the portraits of more than sixty patriarchs of Constantinople (St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. John the Theologian…) and the side walls represent six roman popes, a placement which reflects the relations between the Eastern and the Western church before the schism in 1054. Among the representatives of the patriarchates from Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, the Archbishopric of Cyprus and some other Bishoprics, are also the portraits of the Slavic saints St. Cyril the Philosopher and St. Clement, his disciple and protector of the city, as well as the one representing St. Methodius, whose cult of worship increased in the 10th and the 11th century. The most popular and closest to the viewers are the frescoes on the southern side: “Saint Trinity” (represented as three angels visiting Abraham), “Abraham’s Hospitality” and “Abraham’s Sacrifice”. On the northern side your attention will be drawn by the compositions “Three Jews in a fiery oven” and “Jacob’s Ladder, as well as “The liturgy of Basil the Great” and “Saint Sophia the Holy Wisdom of God”, represented as an angel who appears in the dreams of St. Basil and St.John Chrysostom. The “Ascension of Christ” dominates the semi-circular vault and the entrance hall is covered with a cycle of frescoes dedicated to the most important feast days: “The Nativity of Christ”, “The Entrance into the Temple of the Virgin” and “The Assumption of the Virgin” (which is one of the oldest compositions in the Byzantine art treating this subject in general). What is also characteristic are the two representations of the Mother of God with the infant Christ: on the first one the Christ is represented with bare and crossed legs, and on the second one The Virgin is seated on a low fence, heralding the apparition of the Madonna of humiliation, (dell’ Umilità). These two images are iconographic models of the emotional relationship between the mother and the child, later adopted by the craftsmen of the West. Some parts of the church have been painted in the first half of the 14th century by the famous craftsman from the workshops in Ohrid, Jovan Teorijan, and his disciples. The upper floor of the narthex, the despot Oliver’s chapel and Gregory’s gallery have been painted in the time of the archbishop Nicola who was a patron of the art. The subjects in Gregory’s gallery concern the “fate of the soul”, represented by the compositions “History of Joseph from the Old Testament”, (this cycle, along with the one in the church “St. Mark” in Venice bearing the same title, is the most comprehensive illustration of this subject in the eastern and western medieval art), the “Canon for separating the soul from the body” (a rare cycle, found elsewhere only in the monastery Hilandar on the Holy Mountain) and the “Last Judgment”. Because of its exquisite acoustics, the cathedral church “St. Sophia” is the location where traditional musical and cultural manifestations are held, as part of the Ohrid summer festival. And even today, when entering this rare and remarkable monument of the medieval art, you can feel the thousand years shining from the walls and the memory of an entire civilization engraved there. The time on earth ceases to exist and you find yourself in the timeless beauty of the Holy Wisdom of God, Saint Sophia. Saint Erasmus in the City of Light On the road leading to Ohrid, in front of the very entrance to the city, stands a small, modest board bearing the inscription “Saint Erasmus”. It points to the eponymous 5th century three-nave basilica dedicated to this saint, who is one of the 14 saints-helpers in trouble. Besides this one, there is another church nearby, a small cave church dating from the 13th century, and his portraits can be found not only here but also in the church “St. John the Theologian – Kaneo”, where he is represented next to St. Clement, the protector of the city. The date of his birth is not known. As a young man he became bishop of Antioch. Diocletian referred to him as young and beautiful, but he tormented him because of his faith in Christ. The Macedonian Slavic tradition ascribes him certain missionary activities for a period of nearly ten years (293-303), naming him the first and true missionary in Ohrid. We learn about his life from two hagiographies dating from the 9th and 11th century and describing his coming to Lihnidos at the end of the 3rd century, carried on the wings of the angel who rescued him from Diocletian’s (284-305) tortures in Antioch. The angel led him out of the terrible darkness and took him to the City of Light, where he immediately started preaching the Gospel of Christ and performing numerous miracles: he restored sight to the blind, and healed those suffering from various illnesses. “… There was a certain noble and prominent citizen in the city, named Anastas, whose son had been lying dead, and they carried his body to be buried. Coming to his grave the blessed one said: ’Anastas, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, He shall bring your son back’. Then, kneeling over the body, he shouted in a strong voice: ‘Rise, little child!’ Before this voice, the child resurrected and shouted in a loud voice: Great is the Lord of the Christians!’ And so Anastas believed and his entire family believed, because in that moment 40,000 of the people present were baptized. And the Lord blessed His people who believed that day, and in the days to come. And St. Erasmus didn’t stop teaching God’s people for seven whole days…” When the emperor Maximilian found out about this, he called him to come to Sirmium in order to be punished, but before that he showed him the great copper statue of Zeus, 12 cubits high, wanting him to bow to it. But the moment Erasmus looked at the statue it collapsed and turned into dust… 30,000 of the people present that day were baptized, but the emperor ordered for them to be executed, and St. Erasmus to be punished by dressing him in heated copper clothing. Hearing this St. Erasmus began to sing: ‘We have passed through fire and water, yet you led us again to blessedness… ‘The heated clothing immediately chilled like snow…” The Angel again rescued St. Erasmus by taking him to Durres, from where he traveled safely by boat to Formia, Italy. Seven days later (June 2, 303) he died exhausted by exertion and torture, and for all this he is honored as a martyr. After this city was destroyed in the 9th century, his remains were moved to Gaeta. And so, Erasmus became the universal patron of all sailors (he was honored in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal) and his symbol was a spool with a rope wound around. Pictures can be found in Belgium and Germany representing the saint with his stomach torn out, because he was considered protector against stomach and labor pains. In many regions he is also honored as protector against cattle diseases and epidemics, and in others as patron of the miners and turners as well. We find proof that he existed, preached Christianity, performed miracles and was a martyr in his hagiographies. His cult has been well-kept in Ohrid since the time it was called the City of Light (Lihnidos). That is why he will forever remain known as St. Erasmus of Lihnidos. The light of Saint Clement Ohrid – when you come here for the first time or for who-knows-which time, when you enter the church “St. Sophia”, “St. John” at Kaneo, “The Holy Mother of God Peribleptos”, or you climb up the magical Plaoshnik, always and everywhere you have the feeling you are being penetrated by a miraculous ray of inexplicable light, coming neither from the sun rising above Galichica, nor from the crystal waters of the Lake, named White in the times of old, and now bearing the name of the city – Ohridsko. This light shines from the ever-present spirit of the saint-protector of the city, the founder of the Ohrid archbishopric and its first bishop, spreader of enlightenment and establisher of the Old Slavonic language as the third official language of the Orthodox Church, Saint Clement of Ohrid. His protective presence – just the way he is represented on the fresco in the church. “St. Spas” in the village of Leskoec, holding the model of the city in his hand – can always be felt, when you walk the narrow, stone-paved streets in the old part of the city, when you are being flooded by the waves of the “strmec”, when you are walking into a whitewashed house with its beams standing high above the passers-by, when dazzled by the petrified time you touch the walls of its ancient churches and faced with the images on the frescoes and the icons you face eternity in contrast to your own smallness and transience. And again, you can feel Clement everywhere. The legend says that “when Clement came to Ohrid, he didn’t only start teaching the inhabitants of the saint brothers’ Cyril and Methodius glagolitic alphabet, but when he saw that they lived in huts covered with straw and supported by beams, he also started teaching them how to build nice stone houses. First he built his church, and afterwards they all started building nice stone houses.” He taught them how to plant and graft fruit-trees, he healed them with herbs and various plants, and he taught them how to evade sieges of conquering armies. Clement, one of SS. Cyril and Methodius’s best disciples, who also took part in the Great mission in Moravia, was extremely close to Methodius even in the days of his youth. After their teachers’ death, he and his peers were banished from Moravia and Panonia, and so in 886, by Knyaz Boris’s decree, Clement, aged 45, was sent to Kutmichevica (near Ohrid), to encourage the Christian spirit and the people’s faith, to teach and enlighten them. Nearly 3.500 disciples gathered around him, and so he is considered to be the founder of the first great Slavic University. For seven years he was spreading the light of knowledge, he translated Gospels, he established the fundaments of the Old Church Slavonic language, he created the first church library on the Balkans, he was a music pedagogue and composer of spiritual works, and in the year 893 he was ordained the first Slavic bishop of the church of Ohrid, which continued the tradition of Justiniana Prima. Clement, the bishop of Velika, the apostle missionary, teacher, translator, poet, becomes the pillar of the Slavonic church of Ohrid. His biographer, the Ohrid archbishop Teofilact says that “Clement’s poems resembled psalms”, that good was his knowledge of the biblical literary skills. It is also known that he fluently spoke and wrote Latin, Hellenic, Hebrew, Khazaric, he had considerable knowledge of Arabic – he was a great erudite, in one word – a genius. His peer Naum had greater skills as a healer, teacher and transcriber. He came to Ohrid at Clement’s request, despite his feeble strength. Nevertheless, Naum continued the work with great enthusiasm, completing Clement’s deeds. He is considered the founder of monasticism in Macedonia. Both Clement and Naum built their own monasteries on the Lake’s shores: Clement built the monastery “St. Panteleimon” looking over the city, while Naum raised a monastery on the southern opposite side of the lake. Naum passed away in 910 and he was buried in his monastery. The legend provided him with the name Miracle maker, and that is how he is honored and glorified among the Macedonian people. Even today, if you place you ear on his tombstone, (it is said that) you can hear his heart beating. Six years after his peer’s death Clement passes away, and is buried in the tomb he personally prepared for himself, situated on the right side of the sanctuary in his church on Plaoshnik. Clement and Naum left behind a priceless heritage to their Macedonian people – a linguistic and literary tradition and a culture accepted not only by the conqueror of that time, the Bulgarian Tzar, but also by the cities of the Holy Trinity in the Christian tradition: Rome, Constantinople and Jerusalem, and most important of all, it was accepted by their own people. Ohrid becomes the Slavic renaissance center, primarily on Clement’s merit. The light that Clement, and later Naum, brought to Ohrid, even till this day shines above their city and its people. It is that strange, inexplicable light which shines out of every pebble in Ohrid. That’s why you should take a pebble before leaving. So you don’t forget the light. The Archbishopric of Ohrid Macedonia is a biblical country. It is the first country on European soil where the apostle Paul along with the apostles Silas, Timothy and Luke in the period between 51 and 54 sowed the seed of Christianity, and Lydia from the town of Tijatir, who at that time was staying in Philippi, is the first Macedonian and European Christian woman. And among the other cities which guard the light of Christ and the Word of God since the times of earliest Christianity is Ohrid. The Macedonian Orthodox Church is proud of its roots which go back to the 10th century, when the Ohrid Bishopric elevates to the rank of Archbishopric. Saint Clement’s church, this temple of love, goodness and peace prevails till this day. In its turbulent millennial history it has marked high achievements, ascents, serious crises, denials, abolishments, but also new revivals, resurrections. Sixty years after St.Clement’s death in 976, after the successful completion of the second insurrection, Samuil deprives the powerful Byzantium of an enormous piece of its territory inhabited by Slavs (from Thessaloniki to Zadar, from the river Bistrica to Sirmium), he creates a strong Macedonian land and he proclaims himself emperor. His empire is the expression of the spiritual aspirations of St. Clement and St. Naum. Samuil chooses Prespa to be his capital, and he proclaims German – Gabriel his first archbishop. Some historians believe that he elevated the Ohrid Archbishopric to the rank of Patriarchate; however it is an undeniable fact that it was him who fought for the autocephaly of the church. After German’s death, the archbishopric seat is again relocated to Ohrid, in the cathedral church “St. Sophia”, constructed by Samuil. The last head of the Ohrid Church, until the fall of Samuil’s empire in 1018 was David (according to J. Skilica’s chronicles). The Byzantine emperor Basil II restored dignity to the church as archbishopric, and he proclaimed archbishop the notable John of Debar, the first Macedonian head of church in Byzantium, who formerly was the prior of the monastery “St. Mother of God” near Debar. He is the founder and patron of the monastery “St. John Bigorski” (around 1020). Being a wise and moral person he was particularly respected by the people, and he is considered to be one of the best heads of church in the history of the Ohrid Archbishopric. He strove persistently to preserve the autocephaly of the archbishopric and the economic privileges they received which made life in the country more tolerable. John remained head of the church until his death and he outlived not only Basil II, but his successors as well, and he died when Basil’s third successor Michael IV the Paphlagonian came to the throne. After John’s death the heads of the Ohrid archbishopric are no longer Slavs. Along with the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 comes the 13th century, filled with wars, political changes and suffering. By conquering Macedonia the Serbian emperor Stefan Dushan also takes Ohrid in 1334. At the end of the 14th century, all Macedonian principalities fall under Ottoman rule and the Ohrid Archbishopric shares the same fate. The first archbishop under Ottoman rule is Mathew, who manages to regularize the legal status of the church. Nevertheless, the ecclesiastical organization grows feeble and poor, and so does the spiritual life. In the battle for autocephaly the archbishops Gabriel, Atanasij and Joasaf have a prominent place. In the second half of the 18th century the struggle ended without success, so six months after the Serbian church was abolished, in 1767 the Ohrid Archbishopric was forbidden to continue its function. Exactly after two centuries of struggle for a country of its own, on the Third Macedonian Clergy and Laity Assembly held on June 18, 1967 in the church St. Sophia in Ohrid, the Macedonian Orthodox Church as a successor of the Ohrid Archbishopric proclaimed its autocephaly, and Dositej was proclaimed its first archbishop. Cave Churches Saint John the Theologian – Kaneo (13/14th century) Raised on a cliff just above the lake shore, this church, as the time passed, became a visual identity of Ohrid. The name Kaneo originates from the former fishermen’s settlement in this area. Judging by the looks of the upper part of the eight-angled dome with its ribbed triangular crowns the church is considered as the only one in Macedonia where you can feel the influence of the Armenian building tradition. Its walls have been painted by the master Jovan, the best-known master before Mihail and Eftihij, in the spirit of the komnenid tradition. A special importance has the composition where one of the oldest portraits of St. Clement is represented, dating from the 13th century, and next to him there are portraits of St. Erasmus (the only one preserved) and the archbishop Constantine Kavasila.In the upper zone of the altar you can see the composition “Communion of the apostles”, in which they are represented wearing royal garments, which is the only case in the whole history of Byzantine painting. The paintings are one of the works of master Jovan (predecessor of Mihail and Eftihij), who still kept to the Komnenid style, which is archaic compared to the new Palaiologan style. Saint Mother of God Zahumska (St. Zaum. 14th century) This church, raised in 1361, has a unique location: it can be reached only by boat, by water. It is situated on the southeastern side of the lake, some 20 km from Ohrid, near the village Trpejca. The legend says that the king’s daughter was visiting the monastery “St. Naum” and when she wanted to go back to Ohrid, big waves started to rise on the lake’s surface. Despite the advices to wait, she directed home, but she barely managed to save herself, right in this place. As a sign of her gratitude and in order to “think better next time”(“za um”), she raised this church. But according to historic data, it is a pledge of the donor Grgur, Vuk Brankovic’s brother, and its patron is the bishop of Devol Gregory. It is constructed in the shape of inserted cross, with a central dome, and in the period when it was being built it also had a forecourt. The frescoes are severely damaged, but the skillfulness of the zograph is evident, the natural forming of the compositions, the refined taste accompanied by lively colors and a bright spectrum. Very noticeable are the life-size figures of St. Clement and Naum, the Christ, The Virgin in royal garments, the hermits, as well as St. Peter and St. Paul, St. George and St. Dimitrija wearing clothes of a ruler. Saint Mother of God Bolnicka and St. Nikola Bolnicki Two small churches in the city itself, built side by side, named by the neighborhood Bolnicko, where they are situated. According to the legend both churches were converted into hospitals during times of epidemics (men and women separated). “Saint Mother of God Bolnicka” is a single-nave church built between 1335 and 1345, and its walls are painted during construction, but also in the centuries to follow (from 15th to 19th century). The first layer of icons reveals the work of a talented local craftsman. The icons are part of the works of master Nikola from Debar, dating from the first half of the 19th century. Inside the church there is a communal tomb of Ohrid citizens whose remains were transferred from the individual graves in the churchyard. “Saint Nikola Bolnicki” was built in 1313, and it is famous for the double sided icon portraying St. Naum (14th c.) and St.Archangel Michael (17th c.). There is an old graveyard surrounding the church. Cave churches in Ohrid surroundings 2 km. before Ohrid there is a cave church named “St.Erasmus”, dedicated to the archbishop of Antioch Erasmus, dating from the 3/4th century. The small-sized living quarters indicate that here lived single ascetics or maybe a small ascetic brotherhood. The portrait of emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos from the 18th c. and the fresco representing Archangel Michael are well preserved. The small cave church “St. Stephen – Pancir” is situated 5 km on the south of Ohrid and it is dedicated to the first Christian martyr, the archdeacon Stephen. Its southern side is separated by a wall built with broken stones. It has been there since the period of the intensified hermetic way of life, and it wasn’t painted until the period when art began to flourish. Some 20 km. from Ohrid, on the right side of the road leading to “St. Naum”, stands the small church “St. Mother of God Pestanska”. Inside that church are the best preserved frescoes of the cave churches on the shores of Ohrid Lake. In the region of Struga there are another two precious cave churches, “St. Atanasij” near the monastery Kalishta and “St.Archangel Michael”, high among the rocks above Radozda. Both have been painted in the 14th c. and in the second one the fresco “The Miracle in Hona”, dating from the 13th c. is well preserved. Thank You! Successfully Subscribed. str. “Dimitar Vlahov” 57 6000 Ohrid, Macedonia tel.: +389 46 262492 web: ohrid.gov.mk Ohrid – the old city of light	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line916
__label__wiki	0.738417	0.738417	By LMFAO, Lauren Bennett, GoonRock Party Rock Anthem - Lauren Bennett, GoonRock Featured on Sorry For Party Rocking More by LMFAO Sorry For Party Rocking Sorry For Party Rocking (Deluxe Version) Party Rock More LMFAO Listen to LMFAO now. Listen to LMFAO in full in the Spotify app © © 2011 Foo & Blu, LLC, under exclusive License to Interscope Records ℗ ℗ 2011 Foo & Blu, LLC, under exclusive License to Interscope Records	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line919
__label__wiki	0.645828	0.645828	Alexander's Column Politicizing and Profiting on Hate: From Fake Bomb Threats to Slaughtering Innocents Before the blood of these precious souls was dry, leftist politicos were scheming how to politicize and profiteer from this tragedy. Mark Alexander · Oct. 29, 2018 Last Friday, Cesar Sayoc, a bankrupt Democrat-hating sociopath criminal living in a van plastered with pro-Trump and anti-Democrat stickers, was arrested in Florida. He is the prime suspect who sent what I noted Thursday were hoax mail bomb packages to 14 Democrat notables. As I wrote, “Given the amateurish construction, packaging, and delivery method, tracking down the threat package maker(s) will be swift.” And it was. I also noted, “To be clear, whether or not these devices were intended to detonate or disrupt, this is, by definition, an act of terrorism [as was] the case with the envelopes laced with the deadly toxin ricin, sent to the Pentagon and White House three weeks ago.” However, I have confirmed those “bombs” were inert, and it is curious that there has been no confirmation the mail packages a hoax intended to make headlines. Tragically, over the weekend, there was hateful bloodshed. A self-styled neo-Nazi sociopath, Robert Bowers, murdered 11 mostly elderly innocents during a bris ceremony at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Six people were wounded, including four police officers. According to confirmed reports, Bowers was inspired, in part, because Donald Trump is the most PRO-Israel president since Ronald Reagan. As you recall, Trump hired prominent Jewish people for his administration, he has Jewish family, and last May Trump boldly made good on a 23-year-old American commitment to move our embassy to Jerusalem. Bowers reportedly yelled, “All Jews must die!” as he entered the synagogue, reminiscent of the much more frequently heard declaration “Allahu Akbar” when Islamists are slaughtering innocents. The leftist publication Slate declared, “Bowers made his hatred of Trump clear” — he believed “Trump was under the control of Jews, who are out to destroy Western civilization.” Reuters reported that Bowers “is a registered voter with ‘no affiliation’ who took aim [at] Donald Trump, accusing him of being a ‘globalist’ who did nothing to stop the ‘infestation’ of the United States by Jews.” “Trump is a globalist, not a nationalist,” Bowers wrote on his social-media page prior to the assault. “There is no #MAGA as long as there is a kike infestation.” He also wrote, “For the record, I did not vote for him nor have I owned, worn or even touched a MAGA hat.” Trump responded to the attack: “This evil anti-Semitic attack is an assault on all of us. It’s an assault on humanity. It will require all of us working together to extract the hateful poison of anti-Semitism from the world. … Anti-Semitism and the widespread persecution of Jews represents one of the ugliest and darkest features of human history. The vile, hate-filled poison of anti-Semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears. What unites Americans is our common destiny. We mourn for the unthinkable loss of life that took place today, and we pledge in their name to fight for a future of justice, safety, tolerance, morality, dignity, and love. We must all rise above the hate.” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer praised Trump’s condemnation of anti-Semitism, saying, “I’ve been following anti-Semitism all of my adult life. I have never heard a stronger statement than the statement the president of the United States made yesterday.” Dermer added, “One of the reasons why anti-Semitism hits the president close to home; his family — his daughter and his son-in-law, his grandchildren — are Jewish.” In fact, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is himself, the son of a Holocaust survivor. Asked if he blamed anyone other than the assailant, Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said he did not: “Hate does not know religion, race, creed, political party. It’s not a political issue in any way, shape, or form. Hate does not know any of those things.” Despite inflammatory reports to the contrary, when asked if the president would be welcome at his synagogue, Myers responded, “The President of the United States is always welcome. I am a citizen, he is my president. He is always welcome.” There are on average more than 40 homicides every day in America, disproportionately black-on-black attacks in Democrat-controlled urban centers — the direct result of generations of leftist social policies. And those murder rates continue to rise because of those policies. But the mass murder of a group of 11 people who have no connection to drug or gang violence, innocents targeted solely because of their faith, should inspire profound and universal righteous indignation in all of us. It should be one of those moments when we come together as a nation to universally condemn such hatred. That notwithstanding, predictably, before the blood of these precious souls was dry, leftist politicos and their Leftmedia outlets were scheming how to politicize and profiteer from this tragedy. Unfortunately, all the Left has to offer is a platform of fear, hate, and division.“ Typical of those responses was that from former DNC chairman Howard Dean, who declared: "This has now become a struggle about good versus evil. And the President of the United States is evil.” However, hating Trump is tantamount to hating half of Americans. Beyond the knee-jerk calls for gun control, two political narratives have emerged about the Pittsburgh assailant’s motives. First is that he is a “right wing” neo-Nazi. This characterization is correct, except for the commonly misunderstood “right wing” part. Today’s Democrat socialists don’t object to the increasingly violent so-called “antifa movement” of self-proclaimed anti-fascist fascists, but they like to claim that sociopathic Nazis and other seditionist and anarchist groups are “right wing.” That may fit nicely into their politicized sound bites, but seditionists and anarchists, whose primary political goal is to overthrow our government, are by definition “leftist.” That being said, there is no question that Bowers’s hatred was inspired by Nazism and the anti-Semitic rhetoric of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party. The second political/MSM narrative is an attempt to pivot the motive for his violence to the approaching “caravasion,” the caravan of migrants organized and supported by leftist groups. They are now passing through Mexico, intent on forcing their way across the U.S. border — which is an invasion, despite the fact that most of these migrants are opportunists looking to better their lives. The MSM points to a recent post by Bowers claiming HIAS, a Jewish refugee agency, is behind the march. According to Bowers’s deluded perspective, “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” But again, this is not rooted in Bowers’s concern about migrants; it is rooted in his anti-Semitic delusion that the organization of the caravan is a Jewish conspiracy. Both of these narratives more closely reflect the anti-Semitic rhetoric of Democrat Party allies, including anti-semite leaders of the “Women’s March,” Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour. Nor would they share a stage with consummate Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan, as Bill Clinton recently did. Regarding Farrakhan, who recently compared Jews to “termites,” John Kass wrote in the Chicago Tribune, “Few if any Democratic voices are being raised against Farrakhan. The Congressional Black Caucus certainly won’t condemn him. And white Democrats aren’t demanding condemnation either. They don’t want to risk losing votes. This silence is dangerous.” In fact, if Democrats were really concerned about anti-semitism, they would not have made his friend, Islamic Rep. Keith Ellison, Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Currently, Bowers has been charged with numerous federal crimes, including 11 counts of Obstruction of Exercise of Religious Beliefs Resulting in Death, 11 counts of Use of a Firearm to Commit Murder During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence, and four counts of Obstruction of Exercise of Religious Beliefs Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Public Safety Officer. President Trump and federal prosecutors are calling for his execution if found guilty. The Left will likely object… A final note on the hate profiteers, those other than the MSM profiteers whose market share and ad revenues depend on sensationalism. As I anticipated when first hearing about the Pittsburg assault Saturday, within hours, a reflexive fundraising response hit my inbox from the left-wing SPLC, the nation’s most profitable hate-hustling “civil rights” group. In its fundraising “special edition,” the SPLC regurgitated more of its leftist rhetoric, and peppered it with pleas for donations. SPLC has an “endowment” of $320 million and in the most recent year of record, the organization listed revenue in excess of $58 million. So my question for the SPLC: The Pittsburgh assailant had a long history of racist rhetoric and activities — did the SPLC spend one dime of its endowment and revenues identifying this hater and reporting him to law enforcement authorities? Of course not. (Note: After meeting with Trump, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers stated, “I was privileged to have a private 15 or 20 minutes with the [Trump] family. The president was very warm, very consoling. He put his hand on my shoulder and the first question he asked me was, ‘Rabbi, tell me — how are you doing?’ And I must say throughout the time we spent together, I was pleasantly surprised by a warm and personal side to the president that I don’t think America has ever seen.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line923
__label__wiki	0.959496	0.959496	Chair Grijalva Energy and Mineral Resources National Parks, Forests, And Public Lands Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Water, Oceans, and Wildlife newslettersign-up Incoming House committee chairman demands accountability for Trump’s destructive monument policy Rep. Raúl Grijalva is planning hearings on Trump's attacks on Utah national monuments. As he prepares to take over as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and his staff are mapping out the best approach for fighting the Trump administration’s attacks on national monuments. With the Republicans holding majority power in the House of Representatives for another month, Grijalva and his fellow Democrats will follow a legal approach against the Trump administration’s national monument policy — at least for the time being. But when he takes control of the gavel in January 2019, Grijalva and his fellow Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee will have significantly greater powers to investigate the Trump administration’s controversial decision to decimate two national monuments in Utah. “We have to hold those responsible for those actions accountable,” Grijalva told ThinkProgress. “As we assume the majority, we’re going to hold hearings to examine the review process conducted by the administration, who the stakeholders were and weren’t, and look at that whole rushed planning process on both monuments.” In December 2017, President Donald Trump announced the largest-ever reduction of a national monument in the nation’s history, shrinking Bears Ears National Monument in Utah by some 1.1 million acres, or nearly 85 percent. Trump also announced that he would be reducing Grand Staircase-Escalante, another national monument in the state, to nearly half its original size. In total, Trump eliminated 2 million acres of protections — the largest rollback of federally protected lands in American history. The Antiquities Act of 1906 does not give the president legal authority to revoke or modify a monument, only to designate one. The two reductions came after a Department of the Interior review, initiated in April, which looked at all national monuments created since 1996. “Who were the stakeholders that really influenced this? Because certainly the people left out of that process, in terms of consultation and discussion, never got a full hearing on that,” Grijalva said. “The people that did have access to the process were from industry. We’re going to look at that and attempt to make connections.” Documents released earlier this year by DOI revealed that agency officials favored fossil fuel interests, along with ranching and logging. The revelations built on previous emails obtained by the New York Times in March that revealed oil and gas drilling was a key incentive for the Trump administration to shrink national monuments. Together with investigating the secretive process used by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to decide which monuments to shrink, Grijalva, a nine-term congressman, plans to follow a legislative approach in response to the attack on the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. In December 2017, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) introduced a bill, co-sponsored by Grijalva, to protect Bears Ears from the Trump’s administration’s redrawing of the monument’s boundaries. Another bill, introduced in mid-2018, would enhance protections for national monuments against the Trump administration’s attacks on public lands. The bill was introduced by Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) — who was elected governor of New Mexico earlier this month — and was co-sponsored by Grijalva and 60 other House members. Lujan Grisham’s bill is the House companion to Sen. Tom Udall’s (D-NM) bill, S. 2354. The bills would legally codify the boundaries of more than 50 national monuments established since the Antiquities Act of 1906, and block the president from changing them. At a minimum, the House Natural Resources Committee, under Democratic leadership, will hold a hearing on the two House bills, according to Grijalva. “We have the legislative part of it and then we have the oversight investigative part of it,” the congressman said of his plans to approach the national monuments issue. Since the midterm elections, Grijalva has been throwing his weight behind legal efforts in federal courts to reverse the administration’s decision on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Grijalva and Udall led a group of 92 House members and 26 senators who submitted an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief in support of plaintiffs that are fighting in federal court the administration’s decision to significantly diminish the size of the national monuments. It is highly unusual to have such a large and diverse set of groups weigh in at this level of court proceedings. The filings included 118 members of Congress, 11 attorneys general, 15 leading public land legal scholars, and 21 local mayors and council members. The court filing “makes it clear that Congress never delegated to the president the authority to repeal or reduce existing national monuments,” Grijalva told ThinkProgress. “It’s about ensuring the proper checks and balances,” he added. The plaintiffs, which include Native American Tribes, scientific groups, businesses, and conservation organizations, contend the Trump administration’s actions violate both the Constitution and the Antiquities Act of 1906. “By revoking protections for millions of acres of public lands, President Trump has overstepped the authority delegated to presidents by Congress, putting cherished national monuments like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante on the chopping block in an egregious giveaway to big corporations,” Udall said in a November 19 statement when the brief was submitted to the court. The Department of Justice is scheduled to file its reply with the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia in support of its motion to dismiss the lawsuits by December 13. The judge is expected to rule on the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss between late December and the first half of 2019. Upon taking over as chairman, Grijalva said committee members and staffers will visit the two national monuments in southeastern Utah. The congressman may even decide to hold a hearing in the region. “We’re going to talk to groups that were excluded from the process,” he said, “and bring them, such as the tribes, in for hearings.” While the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General reported this week that it found no evidence Zinke shrunk Grand Staircase-Escalante as a favor to a Utah state lawmaker, Grijalva still plans to make probes into the Interior secretary’s conduct a top priority. Grijalva has already indicated that Zinke will be one of the committee’s biggest oversight targets. The secretary is expected to be called into a hearing in February to explain the many investigations into his conduct. By: Mark Hand Source: Raúl M. Grijalva	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line926
__label__wiki	0.986737	0.986737	You are here: Home / News / Media Releases / Supporting people with disability in NSW Supporting people with disability in NSW October 23, 2018 by Sandra Minister for Disability Services Ray Williams launched a public information campaign to ensure all eligible people with disability in NSW sign up to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). “NSW is leading the country, with almost 100,000 people with disability signed up to the NDIS,” Mr Williams said. “We estimate there are tens of thousands of people in NSW who may be eligible for the scheme but have not yet signed up. “This means a number of people with disability may be missing out on the services and supports they are entitled to. “This information campaign will particularly engage with communities who are underrepresented in the Scheme, including people from Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.” Since joining the NDIS, Kris Van Kampen from Frenchs Forest, has worked at a café and is now a full-time employee at Fighting Chance, a support network for social entrepreneurs. “The NDIS has helped me find my feet. I never thought I could be independent like my brothers and live a ‘full’ life,” Mr Van Kampen said. Mr Williams said the NDIS is now available in NSW and individuals can apply even if they have not previously received supports. “It is critical that people in our State who have a permanent and significant disability are aware and have access to information about the NDIS,” Mr Williams said. The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is contributing more than $3.2 billion to the NDIS. For more information about the NDIS, visit: https://ndis.nsw.gov.au/ MEDIA: Hayley Ashburner 0429 891 159 Filed Under: Media Releases, News	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line927
__label__wiki	0.85125	0.85125	Justin Verlander Worthy of AL MVP Award, But Decision Unfair to Pedro Martinez by michael-hurley on Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 5:11PM Pedro Martinez was absolutely and undoubtedly the very best baseball player in the world in 1999. He was not, however, named the Most Valuable Player in his league, proving that pitchers just aren't worthy of winning the award. So on the day that Justin Verlander became the first starting pitcher in 25 years to win the award, the comparison to Pedro becomes the easiest one to make. And really, there is no comparison. Martinez had a 2.07 ERA; Verlander had a 2.40. Martinez struck out 313 batters, or 13.2 per nine innings pitched; Verlander struck out 250 batters, or 9.0 per nine innings pitched. Martinez walked just 37 batters, for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.46; Verlander walked 57 batters, for a 4.39 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Verlander did have the edge in innings pitched (251 to Pedro's 213 1/3) and WHIP (0.920 to Pedro's 0.923), but Martinez's accomplishments came at the height of the steroid era. To make up for it, Pedro dominated the All-Star Game at Fenway Park, seemingly just for good measure. Regardless of all of that, Martinez finished second to Ivan Rodriguez, whose numbers weren't even that impressive. The catcher hit .332, belted 35 homers and drove in 113 RBIs. He led the league in exactly zero offensive categories (unless you count grounding into double plays) but finished 13 points ahead of Martinez in the voting. This season, Jose Bautista (1.056), Miguel Cabrera (1.033), Adrian Gonzalez (.957), David Ortiz (.953), Jacoby Ellsbury (.928) and Curtis Granderon (.916) all posted a higher OPS than Rodriguez did in '99 (.914). There were also eight players in 2011 with a higher WAR than Rodriguez's 6.0 in '99. (By that measure, there were six players in 1999 with a WAR higher than 6.0.) If all those numbers worked only to confuse you, there's this: Several position players had better seasons in 2011 than Rodriguez in '99, and Pedro's '99 season was better than Verlander's '11 season. Yet Pedro finished second, and Verlander took home the hardware. None of that is Verlander's fault, and you could argue that a player shouldn't be punished because of a historical mistake made 12 years ago. You also could argue that regardless of any mistakes, it's more important that baseball show progress and the ability to change. That's fine. What you should argue, though, is that MLB awards exist solely to not make any sense. They are merely catalysts for debate and not an indication of any true superiority over one's peers. The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham shared his ballot in an informative blog post, including this bit of "instruction" for voters: "There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier." In simpler terms, the rules are that there are no rules at all. Maybe you only consider candidates who are on playoff teams — that's OK. Maybe you strictly vote based on stats — that's cool, too. Maybe you take salary into consideration, or "clutch" performances, or playing well in September rather than May — cool, cool and cool. Hey, it's up to you. So if you're George King and you want to leave Martinez off your '99 ballot for clearly hypocritical reasons, thereby altering the course of history for the awards, then it's your right as a voter. Again, none of this is to say that Verlander shouldn't have won this year's award. He was brilliant every fifth day, and he was as big a reason as any that the Tigers made the playoffs (don't believe that he was the only reason though, as Cabrera, Alex Avila and Victor Martinez had incredible seasons in their own right). With no clear-cut favorite, maybe it made the most sense to make a statement that not only can pitchers win the award, but they should win the award. But that argument should have been made 12 years ago, when Pedro Martinez set the world on fire with two pitches. When the Fenway crowd groaned whenever the Red Sox turned a double play, because that meant one fewer strikeout victim. Back when Martinez led the Red Sox to the playoffs when the second-best hitter on his team was Brian Daubach and the third-best was a 36-year-old Mike Stanley. Martinez once signed an autograph for someone I know, and it reads, "Pedro Martinez, Cy Young '97, '99, '00, '02." Pedro didn't actually win that '02 award, as Barry Zito was given the honors for essentially pitching 30 more innings. Now that Verlander's won the 2011 AL MVP Award, Pedro can start adding "MVP '99" to that autograph. Just as there are no guidelines for voting for a winner, there are no rules that say he can't say what's right.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line928
__label__wiki	0.811657	0.811657	Posts Tagged ‘Bradley Graham’ Bringing up the bodies For the last few weeks, my wife and I have been slowly working our way through Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s devastating documentary series Vietnam. The other night, we finished the episode “Resolve,” which includes an extraordinary sequence—you can find it here around the twenty-five minute mark—about the war’s use of questionable metrics. As narrator Peter Coyote intones: “Since there was no front in Vietnam, as there had been in the first and second World Wars, since no ground was ever permanently won or lost, the American military command in Vietnam—MACV—fell back more and more on a single grisly measure of supposed success: counting corpses. Body count.” The historian and retired Army officer James Willbanks observes: The problem with the war, as it often is, are the metrics. It is a situation where if you can’t count what’s important, you make what you can count important. So, in this particular case, what you could count was dead enemy bodies. And as the horrifying images of stacked bodies fill the screen, we hear the quiet, reasonable voice of Robert Gard, a retired lieutenant general and former chairman of the board of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation: “If body count is the measure of success, then there’s the tendency to count every body as an enemy soldier. There’s a tendency to want to pile up dead bodies and perhaps to use less discriminate firepower than you otherwise might in order to achieve the result that you’re charged with trying to obtain.” These days, we casually use the phrase “body count” to describe violence in movies and video games, and I was startled to realize how recent the term really is—the earliest reported instance is from 1962, and the oldest results that I can find in a Google Book search are from the early seventies. (Its first use as a book’s title, as far as I can determine, is for the memoir of William Calley, the officer convicted of murder for his involvement in the My Lai massacre.) Military metaphors have a way of seeping into everyday use, in part because of their vividness and, perhaps, because we all like to think of ourselves as fighting in one war or another, but after watching Vietnam, I think that “body count” ought to be forcibly restored to its original connotations. It doesn’t take a lot of introspection to see that it was a statistic that was only possible in a war in which the enemy could be easily dehumanized, and that it encouraged a lack of distinction between military and civilian combatants. Like most faulty metrics, it created a toxic set of incentives from the highest levels of command to the soldiers on the ground. As the full extent of the war’s miscalculations grew more clear, these facts became hard to ignore, and the term itself came to encapsulate the mistakes and deceptions of the conflict as a whole. Writing in Playboy in 1982, Philip Caputo called it “one of the most hideous, morally corrupting ideas ever conceived by the military mind.” Yet most of its emotional charge has since been lost. Words matter, and as the phrase’s significance is obscured, the metric itself starts to creep back. And the temptation to fall back on it increases in response to a confluence of specific factors, as a country engages in military action in which the goals are unclear and victory is poorly defined. As a result, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a return to body count. As far back as 2005, Bradley Graham of the Washington Post reported: “The revival of body counts, a practice discredited during the Vietnam War, has apparently come without formal guidance from the Pentagon’s leadership.” More recently, Reed Richardson wrote on FAIR: In the past few years, official body count estimates have made a notable comeback, as U.S. military and administration officials have tried to talk up the U.S. coalition’s war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq…For example, last August, the U.S. commander of the Syrian-Iraq war garnered a flurry of favorable coverage of the war when he announced that the coalition had killed 45,000 ISIS militants in the past two years. By December, the official ISIS body count number, according to an anonymous “senior U.S. official,” had risen to 50,000 and led headlines on cable news. Reading through that media coverage, though, one finds little skepticism about the figures or historical context about how these killed in action numbers line up with the official estimates of ISIS’s overall size, which have stayed stubbornly consistent year after year. In fact, the official estimated size of ISIS in 2015 and 2016 averaged 25,000 fighters, which means the U.S. coalition had supposedly wiped out the equivalent of its entire force over both years without making a dent in its overall size. Richardson sums up: “As our not-too-distant past has clearly shown, enemy body counts are a handy, hard-to-resist tool that administrations of both parties often use for war propaganda to promote the idea we are ‘winning’ and to stave off dissent about why we’re fighting in the first place.” It’s worth pointing out, as Richardson does, that such language isn’t confined to any one party, and it was equally prevalent during the Obama administration. But we should be even more wary of it now. (Richardson writes: “In February, Gen. Tony Thomas, the commander of US Special Operations Command, told a public symposium that 60,000 ISIS fighters had been killed. Thomas added this disingenuous qualifier to his evidence-free number: ‘I’m not that into morbid body count, but that matters.’”) Trump has spent his entire career inflating his numbers, from his net worth to the size of his inauguration crowds, and because he lacks a clear grasp of policy, he’s more inclined to gauge his success—and the lack thereof by his enemies—in terms that lend themselves to the most mindless ways of keeping score, like television ratings. He’s also fundamentally disposed to claim that everything that he does is the biggest and the best, in the face of all evidence to the contrary. This extends to areas that can’t be easily quantified, like international relations, so that every negotiation becomes a zero-sum game in which, as Joe Nocera put it a few years ago: “In every deal, he has to win and you have to lose.” It encourages Trump and his surrogates to see everything as a war, even if it leads them to inflict just as much damage on themselves, and the incentives that he imposes on those around him, in which no admission of error is possible, drag down even the best of his subordinates. And we’ve seen this pattern before. As the journalist Joe Galloway says in Vietnam: “You don’t get details with a body count. You get numbers. And the numbers are lies, most of ‘em. If body count is your success mark, then you’re pushing otherwise honorable men, warriors, to become liars.” Tagged with Bradley Graham, FAIR, Joe Galloway, Joe Nocera, Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, Philip Caputo, Reed Richardson, Robert Gard, Vietnam, Washington Post	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line929
__label__cc	0.663513	0.336487	PHOTOS: Colorado Rockies 3, Cincinnati Reds 4, May 9, 2014 CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies grounds out in the top of the fourth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489062009 ) Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto throws against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) Cincinnati Reds' Skip Schumaker (25) scores past Colorado Rockies catcher Jordan Pacheco on a sacrifice fly hit by Brandon Phillips in the first inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after lining out in the top of the first inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489062015 ) Colorado Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a solo home run off Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto in the fourth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) Cincinnati Reds left fielder Skip Schumaker (25) watches a home run hit by Colorado Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki clear the fence in the fourth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Todd Frazier #21 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a home run in the bottom of the second inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489037331 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Todd Frazier #21 of the Cincinnati Reds tips his cap as he rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the bottom of the second inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489037329 ) Cincinnati Reds' Brandon Phillips (4) claps after hitting a double in the third inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki catches the late throw. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Jhoulys Chacin #45 of the Colorado Rockies pitches in the bottom of the third inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489061889 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Brandon Phillips #4 of the Cincinnati Reds slides into second base with a double in the third inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489037315 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies waits to bat in the top of the second inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489062023 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies hits a home run in the top of the fourth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489037311 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the top of the fourth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489037303 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies is congratulated by Carlos Gonzalez #5 after hitting a home run in the top of the fourth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489037301 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Carlos Gonzalez #5 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after striking out in the top of the fourth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489062011 ) Cincinnati Reds' Joey Votto hits a walkoff solo home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Boone Logan in the ninth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 4-3. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) Cincinnati Reds' Joey Votto celebrates after hitting a walkoff solo home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Boone Logan in the ninth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 4-3. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton (51) talks with catcher Brayan Pena in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Broxton was the winning pitcher in the game won by Cincinnati 4-3. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Brayan Pena #29 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a sacrifice fly to drive in a run in the bottom of the eighth inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489063511 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Billy Hamilton #6 of the Cincinnati Reds celebrates with Brandon Phillips #4 and Joey Votto #19 after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Brayan Pena in the bottom of the eighth inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489063497 ) Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Boone Logan walks off the field after giving up a walkoff solo home run to Cincinnati Reds' Joey Votto in the ninth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 4-3. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) Colorado Rockies' Nolan Arenado (28) scores on a double hit by Justin Morneau in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Reds' Brayan Pena, right, catches as umpire Cory Blaser makes the call. Cincinnati won 4-3. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) Cincinnati Reds' Billy Hamilton (6) scores on a sacrifice fly hit by Brayan Pena while Colorado Rockies catcher Jordan Pacheco waits for the throw in the eighth inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 4-3. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Justin Morneau #33 of the Colorado Rockies doubles to drive in the tying run in the top of the ninth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489067119 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies slides at home plate to score the tying run after a double by Justin Morneau in the top of the ninth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489067107 ) Colorado Rockies' Corey Dickerson strikes out against Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto in the seventh inning of a baseball game on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 4-3. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) ( Rockies Reds Baseball ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Joey Votto #19 of the Cincinnati Reds watches his game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489063373 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Cincinnati Reds players come out of the dugout to celebrate after Joey Votto's game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489063375 ) CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 9: Cincinnati Reds players celebrate after Joey Votto's game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on May 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) ( 489063377 ) Categories: MLB, Sports, Syndicated	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line931
__label__wiki	0.614807	0.614807	Send Email to Press Contact Request High Res Image Visit Author Profile Understanding Russia's Regional Health Markets 06-Aug-2012 \| News-Press Release Tweet Update or A forensic analysis with statistics on national and regional health infrastructure and provision. An essential source of highly detailed business data. http://www.bharatbook.com/medical-devices-market-research-reports/understanding-russias-regional-health-markets.html Russia is a nation of huge economic contrasts. The country has generated a great deal of mineral wealth yet spends a comparatively small amount of GDP on health, at 5.6% in 2010. The Russian health system, in the main, remains outmoded and undercapitalized. But things are changing. Any assessment of Russia must consider the recent improvements, ambitious plans and the challenges that are influencing the development of the health market and answer key questions such as: How is the population and wealth regionally distributed? Which provinces produce the highest levels of GDP? To what degree does Moscow skew analysis of Russia’s financial and health infrastructure? What is the primary and secondary health infrastructure in each region? How is healthcare delivered? What is the changing role played by private health provision? Which regions are better provided for and which still need investment? Identifying opportunities in Russia’s expanding health economy requires detailed knowledge of the economic performance and health infrastructure at a regional level. Being able to see that in the context of the neighbouring districts/regions as well as the national picture, brings focus to areas of opportunity and need. Rich in statistics, charts and maps, this new 354-page report from Espicom Understanding Russia's Regional Health Markets takes you further into understanding the national and regional health environments. Snapshots on the Russian health market The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world, with a land area of over 17 million square kilometres, encompassing eleven time zones. After the breakup of the USSR in 1991, the Russian Federation retained over 75% of the USSR's total land area and 51% of its population. The population of Russia was estimated at 142.9 million in 2010, an increase of 0.71% over 2009. Prior to 2010 growth rate remained negative, decreasing by an average of 0.4% each year since 1999. Non-communicable diseases that are related to unhealthy lifestyles remain a major problem in Russia. Over 9 million deaths could be avoided each year. Often the risk factors lie with smoking, alcohol abuse, the use of saturated fat and excessive salt intake. Smoking is a major cause of ill health. There were 54.2 million cases of respiratory disease (24.0% of the total) and 32.4 million cases of circulatory disease (14.3%). Unsurprisingly, the leading site for new cancer cases in males was the trachea, bronchus & lung, with 46,400 cases, or 19.5% of the total. Russia spent 5.6% of GDP on healthcare in 2010, equal to US$82.4 billion, or US$581 per capita. Just over 62% of this was in the public sector, worth US$51.1 billion or US$361 per capita. The government intends to gradually increase public healthcare spending to 6-7% of GDP as part of its ambitious plans to improve the health of the Russian people. A TALE OF TWO REGIONS – UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE OF WEALTH AND HEALTH DISTRIBUTION Moscow City and Ivanovo are both located in the Central Federal District, yet they show markedly different economic and health profiles. GRP Per Capita Health/Social Expenditure per capita Medical Insurance Per Capita Death rate per ‘000 Average beds per hospital Doctors rate per ‘000 For more information kindly visit : Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Fax: + 91 22 27812290 Email: info@bharatbook.com Website: www.bharatbook.com Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Sandhya3B http://in.linkedin.com/pub/bharat-book/3a/98/512 http://healthcareraj.blogspot.com/ TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/y6swap7t	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line932
__label__wiki	0.892631	0.892631	Published — June 8, 2015 Updated — Today at 11:54 am EST 11 things to know about Virginia’s legislative primary Virginia State Capitol in 2003 Anderskev/Wikipedia Candidates spent more than $30 million ahead of June 9 primary Rachel Baye Correction, June 8, 11:53 a.m.: This story has been corrected to update the margin that Democrats need to effectively have a majority in the Virginia Senate. The party currently needs just one seat to win control because the lieutenant governor, now a Democrat, serves as tie breaker under the state constitution. Virginia Democrats are hoping to win at least one additional Senate seat in the commonwealth’s legislative elections this year to regain the majority, with Tuesday’s primary setting the stage for the bigger battle ahead. All 140 seats of the state legislature are on the ballot in November, however only 18 of those seats — 10 in the House and eight in the Senate — face contested primaries on June 9. The most expensive fight so far this year is a Republican primary in the Richmond area, where House Speaker William Howell, a 14-term incumbent, faces a challenge from his former protégé and tea party darling, Susan Stimpson. Here are 11 things to know about the money behind Virginia’s legislative races: Candidates for seats in the House of Delegates have spent $10.7 million campaigning since January 2014 while those seeking Senate seats have spent more than $20.8 million since January 2012 Incumbents began 2015 with nearly 10 times more cash in their campaign accounts than challengers, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. The top donor to legislative candidates’ campaigns this cycle is the Democratic Party of Virginia, which gave just over $1 million since January 2014. Giving more than $439,000, the top non-party donor is Richmond-based electric utility Dominion Resource’s political action committee. Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw received $50,000 of it, more than any other candidate since 2014, VPAP reports. By June 1, more than $128,000 worth of political TV ads aired about the races, mostly from Senate candidate and obstetrician Siobhan Dunnavant, one of four Republican candidates vying for retiring Republican Sen. Walter Stosch’s seat, according to estimates from media tracking firm Kantar Media/CMAG. One of the only House of Delegates candidates to air broadcast TV ads this cycle is Democrat Preston Brown, who is challenging Del. Betsy Carr in the primary, according to Kantar Media/CMAG. Howell, the House speaker, more than doubled his campaign war chest in the past two months, raising more than $500,000, as he faces a challenge in the Republican primary from Stimpson. Stimpson, by comparison, raised $104,000, about a tenth as much as Howell during the whole campaign period, according to VPAP. But Stimpson’s efforts have been backed by tea party leaders such as Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, and former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul. Paul’s nonprofit, the Campaign for Liberty, sponsored mailers attacking Howell, according to The Washington Post. Neither Stimpson’s campaign nor the organization has disclosed the cost of the mailers to either the state or the Federal Election Commission. Stimpson also received $5,000 worth of mailers from the Pittsburgh-based Freedom and Opportunity PAC, state records show. The group, tied to a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., was initially established to support fellow Pennsylvania Republican and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster. Sources: Center for Public Integrity analysis of TV ad data from Kantar Media/CMAG through June 1, Virginia Public Access Project and Virginia campaign finance reports through May 27, Federal Election Commission, The Washington Post, PoliticsPA and the Associated Press. Read more in State Politics Ohio legislature strikes back against pot legalization effort Lawmakers approve new ballot measure to ban proposed monopoly Political profiteers push Ohio’s pot vote Ballot measure mercenaries seek to amend Ohio’s constitution to benefit select few	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line935
__label__wiki	0.972135	0.972135	The Year of Nicole Kidman The world is falling in love with her, all over again. By Paul Schrodt • February 14, 2018 • No Comments • Nicole Kidman is suddenly everywhere you look, after several years when it seemed like she had disappeared from public view, perhaps because of a string of projects that didn’t quite catch on with mainstream audiences. Then, she came back as strong as ever and received an Oscar nomination for her deeply moving turn as an adoptive mother in 2016’s Lion, reminding us of her unique big-screen power. Following that, she was an executive producer and a star on HBO’s 2017 series Big Little Lies, which turned into a runaway cultural phenomenon and scored Kidman her second-ever Emmy nomination. Though it was intended as a limited series, the show is in the early stages of development on a second season. More recently, her commanding role in Sofia Coppola’s 2017 movie, The Beguiled, is driving talk of yet another Oscar nomination for the star in 2018. It helps, of course, that in Big Little Lies and The Beguiled, Kidman delivers two of the most complex, rich, and rewarding performances of her entire career, which now spans more than three decades. You’d be forgiven for feeling déjà vu. It’s Kidman’s year, just as it was in 2002, when she nearly won an Oscar for Moulin Rouge!, or in 2003, when she finally did win the Best Actress Oscar—as Denzel Washington memorably put it when announcing, “by a nose”—for The Hours, in which she donned the prosthetic no one could stop talking about to embody Virginia Woolf. It wasn’t just the physical change that clinched the gold statuette, though; Kidman emotionally transformed herself into the beloved English author who suffered from mental illness, putting her own glamorous persona on pause. Of course, Kidman, now 50, hasn’t really gone anywhere. She’s been putting in remarkable work, even when she’s been in some duds, like the wholly unnecessary 2007 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Invasion, in which she’s still transfixing as a mom trying to keep calm during an epidemic. Some work has flown under the radar, like her movie-stealing role as an aging Southern pinup in the bizarre noir The Paperboy (2012). Kidman as Ailene Bernstein in Genius (2016). Kidman is one of those rare stars you’d be hard-pressed to find in a younger generation. She’s as radiant as ever, and as much of a tabloid fixture, thanks to her famous relationships—she married country star Keith Urban after her notorious split from ex-husband Tom Cruise. Yet, she maintains a tireless work ethic. She’s known for taking on difficult material that might seem beyond her range and blowing away expectations. Despite her fashion-magazine appeal, she shows little vanity as a performer. You may even have trouble recognizing her at first in Lion with her shock of 1980s-appropriate red curls. And she’s known for selling movies that would seem to have limited appeal, which is increasingly hard to come by in actors of any age. It’s hard to imagine a literary drama like The Hours catching on the way it did without her presence. You could say the same about Big Little Lies, which pivoted away from the male-focused drama of most prestige television to tell stories about housewives and moms. It was adapted from an Australian novel, not likely source material for HBO. It came out of a meeting between Kidman and author Liane Moriarty, and turned into one of the premium-cable network’s most treasured properties to date. As Lady Sarah Ashley in Australia (2008). Attending the anniversary festivities at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2017. “I’m just feeling a whole lot of wow,” Kidman told the Los Angeles Times of reaction to the show and its Emmy nods. “It’s incredible. It started with just this conversation and a book and a friendship and out of it bloomed a series that’s connected in such a big way… and connected worldwide.” She’s being modest. As we’ve learned over the years, if you combine Kidman with the right script and the right collaborators, you get exactly the kind of universal acclaim that she’s experiencing right now. Kidman has always been underestimated. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Australian parents there on educational visas, she grew up in Sydney. She quickly started showing an affinity for both ballet and acting, the latter of which she fixated on after seeing The Wizard of Oz. She developed those talents despite her introverted personality. “I am very shy—really shy. I even had a stutter as a kid, which I slowly got over, but I still regress into that shyness,” she told Talk magazine. “So I don’t like walking into a crowded restaurant by myself; I don’t like going to a party by myself.” After studying alongside Naomi Watts at Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney, Kidman quickly broke onto the Australian film and TV scene during the 1980s. She appeared in the 1988 movie Emerald City, for which she earned an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actress. It wasn’t long before Hollywood came calling, and it wasn’t hard to see why. The next year, she appeared alongside acting legend Sam Neill and Billy Zane (then best known for a small role in Back to the Future) in the Warner Bros. thriller Dead Calm. Despite being an unknown Aussie opposite heavyweights, she managed to stand out. Kidman and Zane “generate real, palpable hatred in their scenes together,” Roger Ebert wrote in his review of the movie. But the story of the Kidman we all know really starts with 1990’s Days of Thunder. The racing movie was made at the height of Tom Cruise’s fame, coming just after he and director Tony Scott had put their permanent stamp on the 80s with Top Gun. Kidman was only 22 when she met Cruise as she was auditioning for her role in the movie, a doctor who treats Cruise’s driver and becomes his love interest. “My jaw dropped,” Kidman told Vanity Fair of the moment Cruise drove up in a Porsche while she was nervously preparing for her Days of Thunder audition. “He basically swept me off my feet. I fell madly, passionately in love. And as happens when you fall in love, my whole plan in terms of what I wanted for my life—I was like, ‘Forget it. This is it.’ I was consumed by it, willingly.” As Satine in Moulin Rouge (2001). Starring in 2003’s Dogville. It was the perfect Hollywood image, which would come to define their relationship in the public eye. He was the all-American heartthrob; she was the ingénue. But Kidman always held her own, even in Days of Thunder, in which she manages to make the most of a thin part. Ebert wrote that she has “little to do,” which is true—she’s basically there to look smart and swoon for Cruise, as she did in real life. But even when she’s just staring longingly in close-up, her presence is undeniable. Soon Kidman got meatier material. It became clear that she was much more than the love interest when To Die For came out in 1995. The crime thriller, directed by Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting), stunned viewers with its lurid plot and pitch-black humor. Kidman carries it from the first frame to the last as Suzanne Stone, a ruthlessly ambitious local news reporter who schemes to kill her husband (Matt Dillon) with the help of teenagers (including Joaquin Phoenix). The role is far from flattering: Kidman’s Stone is narcissistic. But it won the actress her first Golden Globe, and put her in a whole new playing field. The movie also hinted at the ways Kidman would go on to mine her own star wattage. “She’s tall and thin and delicate and blonde, a lot of these qualities we associate with very kind of traditional on-screen beauty. She understands that and plays off of that a lot,” Alison Willmore, a film critic for BuzzFeed, says. “To Die For, for instance…she’s this femme fatale character. She’s performing extreme femininity in ways that we understand she’s cutthroat. People are so helpless toward her for so long. It takes so long for people to see past this exterior that she’s so skilled at putting up.” At the same time, the ups and downs of Kidman’s relationship with Cruise became well-documented in the media. After marrying and adopting two children, Connor and Isabella, they split in 2001, amid speculation that Cruise’s involvement in the Church of Scientology had caused a rift. But Kidman continues to speak respectfully of her time with Cruise. “Tom Cruise is someone who has managed his image intensely. I don’t know how you could be in a relationship with him and not be made hyper-aware of that,” Willmore says. “You have to be aware of how that affects how you’re perceived and just how you’re remembered.” Kidman at the 1999 premiere of Eyes Wide Shut, with her then-husband and costar, Tom Cruise. Kidman and Cruise even turned their highly visible relationship into art shortly before their divorce with 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut. The Stanley Kubrick drama was instantly scandalous because of its erotic content, but the two stars bare a lot more than skin in the movie, offering a kind of meta-commentary on their own relationship as they play a couple rocked by jealousy. It’s hard to think of any other married actors as famous who would allow themselves to be so vulnerable and exposed. When the cameras were turned off, Kidman was devastated by the fallout from her divorce from Cruise, just as she was accepting her Oscar for The Hours. “I was the loneliest I’d ever been,” she later said at the 2015 Women in the World Summit, despite being at the top of her game professionally. “To be completely honest, I was running away from my life at that time.” She has since found a quieter family life with Urban, whom she married in 2006, even though he happens to be one of the most popular working musicians. They live in Nashville with their two children, Faith Margaret and Sunday Rose. When they show up at award shows together, they appear genuinely enamored with each other. “As much as we have a love,” she told Australia’s Who magazine, “we also have an incredible friendship and trust.” Don’t call Kidman’s latest phase a comeback. Instead, it’s the organic result of what Kidman has been working toward all along. She and Reese Witherspoon, a co-executive producer and star on Big Little Lies, founded their own production companies with an eye toward giving actresses material that showcases the full breadth of women’s experiences. They had been looking for a project to work on together when they read the novel that Big Little Lies is based on, and they immediately insisted on getting it made. “We need great roles,” Kidman told the Los Angeles Times of getting the female-centric show off the ground. “Our stories are relevant; people do want to hear them. But our stories often get brushed off. Seeing five women front a project is not common—and it shouldn’t be that way.” At the premiere of Big Little Lies in 2017. Witherspoon initially seemed to be the marquee star of Big Little Lies, playing a type-A, wealthy housewife in Monterey, California, who could be a grown-up version of her Tracy Flick character in 1999’s Election. But Kidman’s performance became the one that drew the most attention and Emmy awards. She plays the glamorous wife who seems to have it all on the outside, but is secretly abused by her husband, played by Alexander Skarsgård. The character could’ve easily been a caricature, but Kidman brings out every layer of a woman who feels attached to a man even as he beats her. “Kidman is so good at navigating the complexities of this relationship. She’s so good at showing you someone who’s in deep denial and someone who is genuinely torn about this relationship in ways that are often frustratingly ignored when you portray abusive relationships on screen,” Willmore says. “I think a lot of times you’re kind of impatiently waiting for there to be that ‘Leave him’ moment, and in this, the performance allows you to see why she’s torn and why it takes her so long to come around to the fact that she needs to get out for her own safety and her children’s safety.” It’s perhaps no surprise that Sofia Coppola actually had Kidman in mind at the outset of making The Beguiled, adapted from the 1966 novel that was also made into a 1971 movie starring Clint Eastwood. Kidman plays Miss Martha, the headmistress of a Southern school for girls during the Civil War, which takes in Colin Farrell’s wounded Union soldier. Kidman’s Miss Martha seems delicate, but possesses a surprising capability for cunningness and aggression when necessary. “I always loved her as an actress and wanted to work with her,” Coppola says of how she cast Kidman. “I love that she’s graceful and feminine and strong. When I started writing the script for The Beguiled, I thought of her right away, which helped me write the role.” Attending the premiere of The Killing of a Sacred Deer during the 2017 Cannes Film Festival with husband Keith Urban. What distinguishes Coppola’s version of The Beguiled is its fascinating take on gender. It has a feminist angle both in front of and behind the camera. Kidman has, “always been supportive of women directors and other actors, and it’s great to see she really stands by that,” Coppola says. While the movie has been rightly criticized for its misguided attempt to erase slavery from the story with no black characters, it allows the viewer to see the drama unfold from the perspectives of Miss Martha, along with the younger women trying to come to terms with their fears and desires of what lies beyond their house. “We both looked at the character in an empathetic way, from what it was like for her,” Coppola says of working with Kidman. “It was just incredible to watch her do a scene and how, every take, she would try something different and bring more layers to the emotion of the character. She’s so hardworking and exact.” Kidman is having a moment, to be sure, but one that she’s been hinting at all along. Next, she’s starring in the second season of the TV series Top of the Lake, cocreated by fellow Aussie Jane Campion (The Piano), which airs on Sundance TV in the US. It’s a wild-card role: She’s a gray-haired lesbian worried about her adoptive daughter getting closer to a man who lives in a building that’s connected to an unsolved murder. Her character, once again, is not all that she seems to be on the surface. “I don’t think it’s a mistake that these are all kind of female-driven projects,” Willmore says. “I think you’re seeing how good she can be when put in the spotlight and given roles that are difficult and complicated.” Kidman never stopped being great, but the world is rediscovering how great she really is. © Photo 1 courtesy of Taniavolobueva/Shutterstock.com, Photo 2 courtesy of Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo, Photo 3 & 4 courtesy of AF archive/Alamy Stock Photo, Photo 5 & 6 courtesy of Entertainment Pictures/Alamy Stock Photo, Photo 7 & 8 courtesy of Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com, Photo 9 courtesy of Taniavolobueva/Shutterstock.com More about Lifestyle The Universe of Second City Television In The Heart of Memphis Hockney on the Mind April 30, 2019 • No Comments The He(ART) of a City Azuma’s Azaleas Visit a Port of Call to Know More Things To Do • Stores Profiles • Coupons Download Port Shopping Guide App To Start Planning Your Port Shopping Experience Get the Mobile App Now! The Official Port & Shopping Guide of Celebrity Cruises Download the guidebook that's packed with exciting features and video extras. It's everything you need to know about what to do on the ship and on the shore.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line937
__label__cc	0.639422	0.360578	The Posthumanities Hub Seminar with Dr. Lauren LaFauci On 25 Mar, 2019 25 Mar, 2019 By Machinic AssemblageIn Events, KTH, Linköping University, News Welcome to the Posthumanities Hub seminar with Dr. Lauren LaFauci (Linköping University, SE) on “Histories and Perceptions of Climate in Early American Literature and Culture”. The event takes place on 8th April 2019 at 13:15 – 15:00 in the big seminar room at the Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Teknikringen 74D, level 5, SE-114 28 Stockholm). Histories and Perceptions of Climate in Early American Literature and Culture This society [British America before the Revolution] . . . does not afford that variety of tinges and gradations which may be observed in Europe, we have colours peculiar to ourselves. For instance, it is natural to conceive that those who live near the sea must be very different from those who live in the woods; the intermediate space will afford a separate and distinct class. Men are like plants; the goodness and flavor of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment. . . .Whoever traverses the continent must easily observe those strong differences, which will grow more evident in time. The inhabitants of Canada, Massachusetts, the middle provinces, the southern ones, will be as different as their climates; their only points of unity will be those of religion and language. —J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, Letter III, Letters from an American Farmer (1782) In this passage from Crèvecoeur’s famous essay, “What is an American,” he offers a defining imagination of Americans growing alongside and in harmony with their environments. Importantly, he considers the social, political, cultural, and ecological as all part of the “environment” shaping the individual, and ultimately, the collective in the nation that was then taking shape. While Crèvecoeur himself fled the “New World” upon outbreak of Revolution to return to the Old, his collection of Letters from an American Farmer defined for many Europeans and Americans alike a way of understanding the citizen as an ever-evolving constellation of multivalent forces acting upon the body. How did early Americans imagine, perceive, and interpret their climate? How did these formulations change over time, between first European contact and the turn of the 20th century? This talk will provide an overview of some of the ideas and assumptions about weather and climate common to early Americans. The place-based ontology Crèvecoeur theorizes here was not in itself a new way of understanding human development, but his formulation opened up the space for an enormous variety of regional and local human peculiarities as varied as the climates (and weathers) associated with them. The resultant environmental determinism became, in the United States at least, the dominant way of theorizing embodiment—including physical and mental disease and health—until the advent of germ theory at the turn of the 20th century. A second, broader concern of this talk is to discuss the role of historicist environmental humanities work in an age of climate change. Much environmental humanities research is, understandably, presentist: we face a daily barrage of environmental crises, local and global, as well as the longer-term, slower violences of climate change at large. Amidst these imminent crises, the presentist focus is not only understandable; it may also be desirable. But where does such a focus leave those of us who spend our days teaching and researching in pre-Anthropocenic periods? What is the relevance and significance of environmental humanities research before the Anthropocene? What does such work have to contribute to environmental humanities at large? This second focus of my talk will, I hope, generate discussion about the theoretical concepts, empirical materials, and/or historiographical interventions that are significant to EH research today. Lauren LaFauci is assistant professor of environmental humanities in the Unit of Gender Studies, Department of Thematic Studies at Linköping University in Sweden, where she also directs the “Multispecies Stories” research area of the Seed Box Environmental Humanities Collaboratory and serves as an international liaison for ASLE, the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment. She is part of the interdisciplinary team behind the citizen humanities website, Herbaria 3.0 (www.herbaria3.org), which collects stories about the intertwined relationships between plants and people. Her research and teaching are wide-ranging, focusing on histories of racial formation, medicine, and the body; US literature, history, and culture from to 1900; Scandinavian cultural studies; and multispecies story-telling. Lauren’s talk with the PH Hub will form the basis of a short article in preparation for a Cambridge UP volume on Climate in American Literature. Environmental HistoryEnvironmental Humanitiesenvironmental justiceKTHKTH Royal Institute of TechnologyLauren LaFauciLiUPosthumanitiesThe Posthumanities HubThe Posthumanities Hub Seminars JOB announcement: Research engineer (50% for 6 months)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line939
__label__cc	0.703948	0.296052	first topic Guest · 253 on: January 29, 2019, 11:32:58 pm The first word he says and the last one together form, "When Davis?". This is not a question, nor an example of rethoric. This is a statement, a statement that tells us about an event that the speaker is well aware of. He is making use of the same tool pronouns use, context. What is the context? With the context we can decypher the truth, the meaning of future, what is about to occur in the space and time of the universe, more specifically where the earth is found. But what is the content of the context he uses? After weeks of research, I think I've concluded with the perfect answer, the perfection of all the perfections, the deepest of all answers that belittle the responses to questions that even god is unable to answer, such as "What is the meaning of life?". You see, as already made known by the speaker, he has stated an analysis of Garfield. But not an analysis of a single comic strip, but the whole concept of Garfield. He indeed uses only one physical manifestation of the comic, but only because the limitations of the human being to analyse the whole existence of an entity that holds thousands of manifestations, millions if you wish. You see where I am going with this? When will we be able to achieve the nirvana of Garfield, the highest state of understanding, the absolute truth of the whole concept of Garfield, fitting nicely into our small consciousness inside of our brains. When Davis? When will we understand the meaning of Garfield, Davis? I mean, do we even have all the physical manifestations of the comic? Aha! Can we analyse something that is yet to exist? Well, yes and no. But only Davis knows the answer to this. Wait. What if the speaker is wrong? What if, Garfield and John are the embodiment of two opposing things in nature into one unique object of harmony and peace, a Ying and Yang may I say? What if, this union is the manifestation of the bipolarity of Davis? What if, Davis is the comic? Mindblown? This is just the start. When Davis? I tricked you into thinking that this is a statement, but it really is a statement that requires a small piece block to answer the equation in a neat way. Therefore it is by definition a question. But do we really need to seek the answer? Why not treat the unknown answer as a result, and therefore the missing information as an incognito variable? Treat the whole question as a mathematical problem of a first degree equation? I firmly belive we can compute the answer. But the problem now lies in two things that make the search for an answer difficult. How do we approach the equation? What are the individual numbers and arithmetical symbols found within the syntax of the equation? And what would be the requirements for such computation? Can it even happen through our human minds? A computer with a lot of RAM? Cortex proccesors? Maybe. But I think I have the solution for the second one. If the mathematics are correct, and the probability is indeed fullfilled, we live in a simulation. I'm not going to rant much about it, but here's the idea. In a simulation everything you see is generated immediatelly when it is withing your senses' range, right? That opens the possibility for the fact that our minds are not limited by our physical manifestations of our brains, but by the limitations of the simulating computer, which are undoubtetly garguantuanly minuscule. But wait, that would then mean that nothing can exist as a physical manifestation. Right? Eitherway, I end this comment here. I hope someone can use this information I did on my own for the benefit of humanity on the quest for the Holy Grail of Garfield. This was М.Б, signing off. woross Big Admin Re: first topic Reply #1 on: January 29, 2019, 11:37:29 pm Thank you for your input sir Tomeno When I was 18... 18 years old, I saw for the first time in my life... I saw an image of clarity. I saw a comic strip... a three panel comic strip that, though simple as it seemed, changed me... changed my being, changed who I am... Made me who I am... Enlightened me... The strip, Garfield, the comic strip was new... no more than maybe a month and a half since inception, since... since coming into existence... and there it was before me in print, I saw it... a comic strip... What was it called? Garfield. The story here is of a man, a plain man. He is Jon, but he is more than that... I will get to this later, but first let us say that he's Jon, a plain man. And then there is a cat... Garfield. This is the nature of the world, here. When I see the world, the politics, the future, the... the satellites in space, and... the people who put them there... You can look at everything as a man and a cat... two beings, in harmony and at war... So, this strip I saw; this man, Jon, and the cat, Garfield, you see... Yes... hmm... It is about everything. This... little comic is, oh, lo and behold... not so little anymore. So yes, when I was 18, I saw this comic... and it hit me all at once, its power. I clipped it, and every day, I looked at it, and I said "Okay... let me look at this here. What is this doing to me? Why is this so powerful?" Jon Arbuckle, he sits here, legs crossed... comfortable in his home, and he reads his newspaper... The news of the world, perhaps... and then he extends his fingers lightly, delicately... he taps his fingers on an end table, and he feels for something... What is it? It is something he needs, but it is not there. And then he looks up, slightly cockeyed, and he thinks... His newspaper's in his lap now, and he thinks this... Now where could my pipe be? This... I always come to this, because I was a young man... I'm older now, and I still don't have the secrets, the answers, so this question still rings true, Jon looks up and he thinks... And then it happens... You see it, you see... it's almost like divine intervention, suddenly it is there, and it overpowers you... A cat is smoking a pipe. It is the man's pipe, it's Jon's pipe, but the cat... this cat, Garfield, is smoking the pipe... and from afar, and someplace near, but not clear... near but not clear... The man calls out... Jon calls out, he is shocked. "Garfield!" he shouts. Garfield. The cat's name. But, let's take a step back... let us examine this from all sides, all perspectives... and when I first came across this comic strip, I was at my father's house... a newspaper had arrived, and I picked it up for him, and brought it inside. I organized its sections for him and then, yes, the comic strip section fell out from somewhere in the middle, and landed on the kitchen floor... I picked up the paper pages and saw, up somewhere near the top of this strip... just like Jon, I was wearing an aquamarine shirt. So I thought, "Ah, interesting. I'll have to see this later." I snipped out the little comic, and held on to it... and five days later, I reexamined it... and it gripped me, I needed to find out more about this. The information I had was minimal, but enough... An orange cat named Garfield... Okay, that seemed to be the lynchpin of this whole operation, yes. Another clue... a signature in the bottom right corner, a man's name... Jim Davis. Yes, I'm on to it for sure. So... one: Garfield, orange cat, and two: Jim Davis, the creator of this cat... And that curiously plain man. I did not know, at the time, that his name was Jon. This strip, you see, had no mention of this man's name, and I'd never seen it before. But I had these clues; Jim Davis, Garfield. And then I saw more, I spotted the tiny copyright mark in the upper left corner. Copyright 1978 to... what is this? Copyright belongs to a... PAWS Incorporated... I use the local library and mail services to track down the information I was looking for... Jim Davis, a cartoonist, had created a comic strip about a cat, Garfield... and a man, Jon Arbuckle. Well, from that point on, I made sure I read the Garfield comic strips, though as I read each one, as each day passed... the strips seemed to resonate with me less and less... I sent letters to PAWS Incorporated, long letters, pages upon pages... asking if Mister Jim Davis could somehow publish just the one comic, over and over again... "It would be meditative," I wrote, "the strength of that." Could you imagine? But... no response... The strips lost their power, and eventually I stopped reading, but... I did not want my perceptions diluted, so I vowed to read the pipe strip over and over again... That is what I call it, "The Pipe Strip." The Pipe Strip. Everything about it is perfect. I can only describe it as a miracle creation, something came together... the elements aligned... It is like the comets, the cosmic orchestra that is up there over your head... The immense, enormous void is working all for one thing, to tell you one thing... Gas and rock, and purity, and nothing. I will say this... When I see the pipe strip... and I mean every single time I look at the lines, the colors, the shapes that make up the three panel comic... I see perfection. Do I find perfection in many things? Some things, I would say... Some things are perfect... and this is one of them. I can look at the little tuft of hair on Jon Arbuckle's head... it is the perfect shade... The purple pipe in Garfield's mouth... How could a mere mortal even MAKE this? I have a theory, about Jim Davis... After copious research and, yes, of course, now we have the internet, and this information is all readily available, but... Jim Davis, he used his life experiences to influence his comic... Like I mentioned before, none of them seem to have the weight of the pipe strip... But you have to wonder about the man who is able to even, just once, create the perfect form, a literally flawless execution of art, brilliance! Just as in a ward... I think there is a spiritual element at work... I've seen my share of bad times and... when you have something... Well, it's just... emotions, and neurons in your brain, but... something tells you that it's the truth... Truth's radiant light. Garfield, the cat? Neurons in my brain, it's... it's harmony, you see? It... Jon and Garfield, it's truly harmony, like a... continuous, looping, everlasting harmony... The lavender chair, the brown end table, the salmon-colored wall, the fore's green carpeting, Garfield is hunched, perched... perhaps with the pipe stuck firmly between his jowls... His tail curls around. It's more than shapes too, because... I... Okay, stay with me... I've done this experiment several times. You take the strip. You trace only the basic elements. You can do anything, you can simplify the shapes down to just... blobs, just outlines, but it still makes sense... You can replace the blobs with magazine cutouts of other things, replace Jon Arbuckle with a... car parked in a driveway sideways, cut that out of a magazine, stick it in... Replace him there in the second panel with a... a food processor... Okay, and then we put a picture of the planet in the third panel over Garfield... It still works. These are universal proportions. I don't know... how best to explain why it works, I've studied the pipe strip, and analyzed Jon and Garfield's proportions against several universal mathematical constants. E, Pi, the Golden Ratio, the Feigenbaum Constants, and so on... and it's surprising... scary even, how things align. You can take just... tiny pieces of the pipe strip, for instance, take Jon's elbow from the second panel... and take that, and project it back over Jon's entire shape in the second panel, and you'll see a near perfect Fibonacci sequence emerge... It's eerie to me... and it makes you wonder if you're in the presence of a deity, if there is some larger hand at work... There's no doubt in my mind that Jim Davis is a smart man... Jim Davis is capable of anything to me... He is remarkable, but this is so far beyond that, I think we might see that... this work of art is revered and respected in years to come. Jim Davis is possibly a new master of the craft, a... a genius of the eye; they very well may say the same things about Jim Davis in five hundred years that we say about the great philosophical and artistic masters from centuries ago... Jim Davis is a modern day Socrates, or... Da Vinci... mixing both striking visual beauty with classical, daring, unheard-of intellect... Look, he combines these things to make profoundly simple expressions... This strip is his masterpiece... The Pipe Strip is his masterpiece... and it is a masterpiece and a marvel... I often look at Garfield's... particular pose, in this strip. He is poised, and statuesque... and his cat stare is reminiscent of the fiery gazes often found in religious iconography... But still, his eyes are playful, lying somewhere between the solemn father's expression in... Rembrandt's "Return of the Prodigal Son," and the coy smirk of Da Vinci's "Saint John The Baptist". His ears stick up, signifying a peaked readiness... It's as if he could, at any moment, pounce; he is, after all, a close relative and descendant of the mighty jungle cats of Africa that could leap... after prey. You could see the power drawn into Garfield's hind quarters, powerful haunches indeed. The third panel. And I'm just saying this now, this is just coming to me now... The third panel of the pipe strip is essentially a microcosm for the entire strip itself... All the power dynamics, the struggle for superiority, right? WHO has the pipe? WHERE is the pipe? All of that is drawn, built, layered into Garfield's iconic pose here. You can see it in the curl of his tail... Garfield's ear whiskers stick up, on end, the smoke billows, upward... drawing the eye upward... increasing the scope... I'm just... amazed... really, that after 33 years of reading, and analyzing the same comic strip, I'm able to find new dimensions. It's a testament to the work... For six years, I delved into tobacco research, because... can a cat smoke? This is a metaphysical question... Yes, can any cat smoke? Do we know? Can just Garfield smoke? The research says no. Nicotine poisoning can kill animals, especially household pets. All it takes is the nicotine found in as little as a single cigarette. [ *Okamoto M, Kita T, Okuda H, Tanaka T, Nakashima T (Jul 1994). "Effects of aging on acute toxicity of nicotine in rats". Pharmacol Toxicol. 75 (1): 1-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0773.1994.tb00316.x. PMID 7971729 ] Surely, Jon's pipe hold a substantial amount of tobacco, and it is true that pets living in the homes of smokers are nearly 25% more likely to develop some form of cancer... most likely due to secondhand smoke... but these are facts of smoking, its tolls on our world. But after visiting two tobacco processing plants in Virginia... and the Phillip Morris cigarette manufacturing facility, I came no closer to cracking the meaning. I was looking for any insight. A detective of a homicide case has to look at every angle, so I'm always taking apart the pipe strip. I focused on every minutiae, every detail of this strip. Jon Arbuckle's clothing... I have replicas. I'm an expert in textiles... so, you see, this smoking thing was a hang-up for me... but it was the statement here... until... This is key, this is the breakthrough. The pipe is not a pipe, really. Obviously there is symbolism at work here... I saw that from the beginning, and I looked at the literal aspects of the strip to gain insight into the metaphors at play... I worked at a newspaper printing press for eighteen months, in the late 1980's... I was learning the literal to inform the gestural... the subliteral, the in-between... Jon reading this newspaper means so much more than just... Jon reading the newspaper... but how could you ever hope to decipher the puzzle without knowing everything there is to know about newspapers?! Okay... for example... Jon holds his newspaper up with his left hand, thumb gripping the interior. I learned that this particular grip here was the newspaper grip of nineteenth century aristocrats... and this aristocrat grip was a point of contention that influenced the decision to move forward with prohibition... in the United States, in the early twentieth century! So Jon's hand position is much more than that, it... it is a comment on class war... and the resulting reactionary culture... but I didn't know about the aristocratic newspaper grip until I came across some microfiche archives at the printing press. It's about information. You have to take it apart. ...and the breakthrough on the smoking cat came late... just eight years ago, actually. "Smoking cat" is an industry term. It's what the smoking industry calls a tattletale teenager who tells on his friends after they've all tried smoking for the first time... and it is actually a foreign translation, bastardization of the term "smoking rat"... But the phrase was confused when secret documents went back and forth between China and America... These documents are still secret, and the only reason I know about the term is because I know a man, my friend. Let's call him "Timothy," yeah... yes, it's a fake name, for his protection. Timothy worked for Phillip Morris for sixteen years, and he had seen the documents... and when he told me, it was an Aha moment... and he said, "But how? How could this cartoonist, Jim Davis, know about this... obscure term from the mid-70's, used exclusively by a few cigarette companies!?" This is still a mystery to me... but I connect the dots by noting Jim Davis' childhood experiences on a farm. He must have seen something... Timothy went on to tell me there was one particular smoking cat, a boy, from... yes, Indiana, a boy named Ernie Barguckle, who became a thorn in the side of the tobacco companies for a couple of years... He did more than tattle to his parents; he and his family took legal action, and they eventually received a huge settlement payout... But that name is too similar... Ernie Barguckle... Jon Arbuckle. Jim Davis must have used this. There's more here. Ernie Barguckle spent nearly half of that settlement money on experimental medical procedures to cure his... impotence. He was impotent. So... he was a smoking cat with a... a metaphorical pipe, that did not work... Are you starting to see the layers here? This is exciting stuff, you start to get a whole picture here, and it informs the work! It's... it's just remarkable. Jim Davis took these raw ideas, these... pieces, and he transformed them into smart social commentary that is... all so ravishingly beautiful. I have cried. I've cried, I've cried... I've cried, cried over this piece. It just... gets in my soul. I try to explain this to people, I have... the newspaper articles about Ernie Barguckle... People have fought me on this, they don't see it, or they're close-minded, "How could a comic strip about a cat smoking a pipe mean any more than that?" But it is more... and when I feel spiritual, or start to think existentially, I still see this comic. Here's something from 1981 that I wrote in thinking about the implications of this strip; this is just an excerpt here... there's more before and after, but this part is the essence to me... If a comic about a cat smoking a pipe can be the only thing in the universe... then maybe this is the strongest evidence for that. fumbles with tattered sheet from 1981 "Many of you say, 'Oh, but I am not blind. I have never been blind,'... But when you truly see, you will understand just how truly blind you once were to even think it right to say you were not blind. What does a blind man see? Blackness. Darkness. Blankness. Blank darkness. Dark blankness. The absence of things, quite literally NO thing. No things. Nothings. So, you see nothing, and I bring you into the light. A cat has your pipe! You've been blind, do you understand this!? The cat has your pipe. You can't fully immerse yourself, you don't have the light. You don't have the radiance, the radical light, the radically radiant light of truth and truth's belonging love, and nature of light, and loving truthful radiance. So don't be bold, and make bold statements. I know of you. The. Cat. Has. Your. Pipe. Remember that." puts paper back in pocket That writing, well... It's kind of rough... Kind of an... early eighties feel... and I see that, but I'm still... I'm still proud of it. Sometimes I imagine that it is the editorial column in the newspaper Jon Arbuckle is reading. It's an exercise in recursion, it's like a vortex opens up... It's like you hold two mirrors up to each other, one is reality and the other is a cartoon strip. Let's see here... Oh yes, I must bring this up, because I think, surely, Jim Davis is again speaking on multiple levels by including the details set before us in the comic. Notice the glimpse of Jon Arbuckle's foot in the first panel. The size of the shoe would indicate that maybe the man just has small feet... but a deeper investigation takes us to the footbinding rituals of certain Asian cultures. Inflicted usually on women for the desire of men, this practice was incredibly painful and crippling... Aha! Mister Davis is, here, presenting us with a man, or rather... "man", who engages in footbinding, a body modification for women, on top of "being without his pipe"... or impotent. This is a man facing extreme inner turmoil, the panels tell that story... subconsciously. Notice the background wall shading of the first panel points inward toward Jon in the second panel... and the sharp tapered end of the purple pipe in the third frame also points at John in the second panel, inward; the eye is drawn to the center panel. You can connect these points and draw a triangle across the panels, and this triangle will align with the reoriented points of Jon's collar! This, this is majestic artwork! ...and to uncover this hidden order is... bliss like I've never known. Comforting, in an empty world. I can't help but read the thought bubble, over and over again. It is a profound question. Why am I here? What is my purpose? It is reflection and self-examination here. It is facing the dust, the misery of a cold, careless universe. You can feel the weight of it. But where could my pipe be? One imagines the author, Jim Davis, teetering on the edge of insanity... his rationality, his lucidity, hovering over the void... and he seeks the truth. You can see it in the line quality of the drawings; the thoughtful, controlled outlines mixed with the... occasional, chaotic scribbles at work in the shadows and Garfield's dark stripes. It's almost as if Garfield is chaos himself. Yes, he is the embodiment of chaos, disorder, hatred, fear... Thievery, death, destruction, desolation! These are the things Garfield represents; HE stole the pipe, HE sits with his back to Jon, Garfield... Garfield, this chaos cat, Garfield has turned his back on everything, everyone! One recalls the great existential forces in literature... Camus' Meursalt, Kafka's Gregor Samsa, or Sartre's Antoine Roquentin... Garfield the Cat sees the hopelessness of life, which...ah, yes... This is why Jim Davis has chosen smoking. It represents a recklessness, a... a disregard for what some would define as the beauty of life. Garfield may die from the nicotine, he may not... He defies life; he sits defiant, saying nothing, but looking as if he could say... "Then let me die... it does not matter." It does not matter. ...and we are faced with this; Could Jon behave the same? Is Jon the glimmer of hope? He seems to be unsure. Again, his question... "Now where could my pipe be?" indicates that he is wrestling with his own existence. The center panel centers the issue, and again, this hearkens to many of the great religious works of art. I'm talking about the Pipe Strip in relation to religion. It's... it's interesting to assign the roles of God... and anti-God, or, as many know him to be, the devil... or on a much larger scale, simply the forces of... good and evil. Garfield, the thief-cat, evil and malicious... He is the devil, placed to the right... and note, the two forms of Jon; the Jon on the left, still innocent, still draped in the... delight, of the lack of knowledge. He is... the humans in the Garden of Eden. He feels for his pipe... but he has yet to eat from the tree... and Garfield, the sinister serpent... and notice, notice how Jim Davis has framed this... The center Jon is locked in a struggle, between his innocence, and his knowledge of the truth... knowledge of the existence of evil. It is stunning. The great struggle, the struggle that transcends time... and Jim Davis floats over all this, as creator... the God, of sorts, in his own right. ... and he presents this cautionary message to us all; it is as if he is speaking from high and... he is saying, unto our awaiting ears... Where will you be, when the cat reveals himself? [-Jim 7:27:78] I can tell you where you'll be. You will have a choice; you can face endless suffering, and eternal misery... You can be forced and beaten down with barbarians, who claw at each other just for a view of salvation. They'll tear your eyeballs out, and rip your gizzards from end to end. They worship this cat, this... this false idol! This evil, horrible cat, do not be seduced by the cat and the pipe! Garfield... thy name is a mark of the demons of hell. Something like this, and to those listening, it is a stark reminder to follow the path of the first panel Jon; be humble, be grateful, honor the law, and honor thyself. Be true, and be good, and no harm will come to you... Pray for salvation, and it will be granted unto you. Be like Jon Arbuckle, as he lowers his head. Be like Jon Arbuckle as he lowers his paper, as he turns his head. Bow with Jon Arbuckle, and praise unto the creator, Jim Davis... and banish demon Garfield from your life. So, what is all this? What am I saying? Aha... hmm... What does all this mean? Why is this one comic strip so important to me... and why do I feel the need to share this? Obligation. I have an obligation to you all. This is a redemption, this is a belief in redemption, a sacrifice of all the obvious trappings of this false modern life. Look at the simplicity in this strip, in the pipe strip. Look at the simple clothes Jon wears, look at his simple, basic furniture... No adornments on the wall, even the very pipe his cat Garfield stole; it is a plain, modest pipe... and I have adapted this way of life, it speaks to me. In our times... well... you don't need me to point out the hyperbole of our times; you have children being born eight or nine at a time, you have more money being spent on a single Hollywood movie than some nations can spend... feeding their starving people. Torture, distrust... Look around you, it's overwhelming. What can you contribute? ...and every day, I look in the mirror, and I hold this comic up to the mirror, and I look into the mirror, and at this little comic strip. Be humble. Be thankful. It is a reminder, be respectful. You are a statue. You are fragile... and when you break, when you shatter... Where will those pieces go? Ask... ask, ask, ask this question. Will you ask? Humankind is only as great as you, YOU, the individual, it begins and ends with you! You must treat this expedition, this search, this... life, with a reverence and intensity found only in the smallest sticks. The littlest leaf, the tiniest stone! The most miniscule grain of sand... on a beach of billions! This is the secret. Do you want the pipe? Do you want to know where the pipe has gone? You ask yourself, you ask... you ask... you ask... When I was a young man... remember, now, I first saw this comic when I was eighteen years old... Ages ago... but I was youthful, vibrant. For weeks, I didn't hide that a comic strip was having such a profound effect on me. I was much like Jon Arbuckle. In this middle panel, he says, "Now where could my pipe be?"... you could look into his eyes, his half-lowered eyes, and think to yourself... "Now, surely, Jon... Surely, you cannot be this naive... This is nothing new for you..." And if you've read more of the Garfield comic strips by Jim Davis, you understand what I am saying now; Garfield the cat does things like this all the time. He will take things from Jon; food, items, anything... This is his very nature. So you see this, and you want to say, "Jon Arbuckle, come now. You are lying to yourself. You are lying to yourself, and to all of us, if you pretend to have not... any idea of where your pipe has gone. Perhaps you think you've left it somewhere else, but... hmph, you're not so forgetful. You are lying to yourself, ah... yes... You are lying to yourself, Jon Arbuckle. You know that Garfield has the pipe... somewhere, deep down, you know this. You don't even need to think the question." And that was me when I saw this strip. One week passed, and each morning I'd open my drawer and slam it shut again. I would go to look at the comic... but I'd pause, and think... "Oh no, I don't need this comic, I don't n... I don't NEED to look at it..." But there I was, lying to myself. I DID need to see it, and so I did, it's... cathartic. You give in, and that is the transition, from the second panel of life, to the third panel of life! It is a simple story structure, the passage from the second act to the third, the twilight of things. Jon gives into his suspicions; he knows the truth, he's ALWAYS known the truth, he yells out, "GARFIELD! GARFIELD! GARFIELD!" It is like... pressure from a steam valve, being released; the buildup is unbearable, and then... PSSHHWW, it's gone. So it is like this... when I speak about the truth... the truth, the light, the radiance, this... this is the kind of thing I'm talking about. This is the essence of this brilliant work of art, the practical mixing, meeting, agreeing with the spiritual, it is all HERE. ...but spirituality is not an easy thing to confront. You might find yourself able to wrap your mind around a simple math problem, or a basic newspaper article, or... but intellect... is much less subjective. What is spirituality... and how have I found spiritual peace and serenity in Garfield? A long time ago, after I encountered the Pipe Strip... I spent some time, as I mentioned before, soul-searching. When something impacts you, or alters your very perception so greatly, there is a long period of confusion, recovery time... It's as if you don't know who you are, and that can be a... a very scary prospect, especially if you thought you had a good grasp on that sort of thing. Imagine if Jim Davis did not know who he was. Would he be capable of shaping the cultural landscape as he's done? No. No, of course he wouldn't. ...and how about his characters? Jon... what if Jim Davis suddenly woke up, and didn't know who Jon was? What if he couldn't make the informed decisions to accurately depict Garfield's personality, because of... he could no longer specify, or demarcate the boundaries of Garfield's behavior? What kind of comic would THAT be? You see? So draw the parallel. I saw this comic and, yes, I was disoriented... and if I didn't reconcile this issue with myself, what kind of person would I be? Undoubtedly dire circumstances, but remember; this was not a math problem, this was not an article, this was not something I could just... figure out... and as skeptical as I was, I realized that faith and spirituality were avenues that... required exploring. At first I tried... long nights, reading Garfield by candlelight, or... aromatic meditation settings, while thinking of Garfield, but... nothing snapped. Nothing clicked, I still felt lost... but I kept it up, I hired a shaman, and a young... personal Yogi Sikh Guru; Avram Dahb Singh Sahib. I pushed and pushed, determined to find myself. And then, a miracle happened. Upon retrieving my morning paper, to clip the Garfield comic... I noticed a young girl, selling lemonade two houses down. She sat, occupied at her stand. She had no customers in sight. So, I approached, and saw that she was coloring. I looked at her drawing... Three rectangular boxes. A man, in a blue shirt. An orange cat. I knew what this was. Even in her crude scribbles, I knew EXACTLY what this was. She was drawing a Garfield comic. I looked at her words, and I saw that, in her strip, Jon asked Garfield to retrieve a newspaper. Heh, funny... since I'd done just that with myself... Garfield is sarcastic, but agrees to. He returns and calls Jon... "Sahib". Jon exclaims that the paper's all chewed up, but then Garfield says, and I quote, "Sahib asks fish, paper is wet. Sahib asks cat, paper is holey." I remember the words, and ran back to my house, and thought, "How odd that Sahib shows up in the strip, and my spiritual advisor's name is Avram Dahb Singh Sahib!" Coincidence surely, but, nonetheless, I spent the next sixteen hours poring through my clipped Garfield comics, looking for the strip this young girl had been coloring... I couldn't find it... and I eventually fell asleep, right on my kitchen table. Next morning, I retrieved my paper again, and I clipped the Garfield comic. The date was July 12th, 1983. There it was. The Sahib Strip, in all its glory. The girl had been drawing the next day's strip! So, I ran right out of my house, I ran back to where she was... but she was gone, and in place of the lemonade stand was a "For Sale" sign. They'd moved out. I rushed back to my house to call Avram, but... I was informed that he'd moved away as well. I reeled, for several hours, and then it all connected for me. It was meant to be. It w... it was meant to be this way! Jim Davis... Jon, Garfield... It was always meant to be this way for me.... They move to the forefront, and everything else fades away, EVERYTHING else; the girl, the lemonade stand, Avram Dahb Singh Sahib, it all existed to show me the way, and when I'd found the way... Everything else melted away. It was a beautiful miracle... and if July 27th, 1978, the day I first saw the pipe strip... was the first day of my life, then that day, July 12th, 1983, was the second day of my life. I've never looked back. Garfield has transformed me... and I am a man, born anew, because of Garfield. When I was in my mid-thirties, I was interviewed for a documentary... It was a documentary on the subject of cat behavior. Now, I've had cats my whole life; I have three cats now, and at the time of this documentary interview, I had four cats. I sat down for the interview and was joined by a veterinarian who specialized in felines: Doctor Caroline Wellmitz was her name, I believe... and the doctor discussed colorblindness in animals, and how it affects their behavior. She specifically brought up the fact that cats are red-green colorblind; they can see colors, but they can't tell the difference between red and green ...and look at the color choice in this strip here. Garfield sits on a green floor, behind a pinkish red wall. I heard this, and I immediately pulled a copy of the comic from my wallet to show to the doctor... I moved so fast, I'm sure I nearly scared her, I... pointed at the paper and said, "Like this! Like this! Look, at this here! This cat, Garfield, he's colorblind, he must be! That must be the answer here... like this." As over-excited as I was, I managed to take in her response; she said "Yes, a cat in this room would have a hard time differentiating the wall from the floor. Add to that a cat's known spatial confusion, and you have the makings of a Cat Rage room." Now, she informed me that this isn't exactly common knowledge among cat owners... but a seasoned cat owner, or someone particularly perceptive will have picked up on it. So what's incredible here is not only is Garfield's behavior symbolic of the devil, and all the evil constructs in the world, but... but, but... but also, it is rooted in science and scientific fact. Look at that. You cannot spell fact without "cat". Hah, just a little joke there... just some wordplay, but getting back on track... ...and you can't spell track without "cat." Okay... I digress. I gotcha, I gotcha, enough... kidding around. It is established here that Garfield is in a rage; an ultimate rage of fury and hatred, caused by colorblindness. We know the "what", we know the "why"... but let us examine the "how", the how of his rage is particularly interesting here. We've looked at his posture and called it "powerful", "in control", "statuesque", "etc., etc." Composed rage... It's peculiar, and I've talked to a number of psychologists and psychiatrists, and even a couple of anger management therapists about this concept... Could we see the same kind of behavior in a human? Is Garfield representative of something more specific than just chaos and rage? Deciphering this is going to take some perseverance. for sure. The psychologists pointed to a phenomenon in humans, and, yes, I believe one of the anger management counselors brought it up as well. The idea that people, oftentimes, will bottle their rage... Garfield the cat, here... well, he could be bottling his anger, inside, shoving it deep into his cat gut, to ignore and deal with at a later time. Eh, well... No, that's not exactly right. Garfield has already acted out, he's already stolen the pipe... he's SMOKING the pipe, he's already dealt with his anger. He's already lashed out, so, psychologically, what is going on here? What is this cat doing, and how does it impact his owner, Jon Arbuckle... psychologically? Well, Garfield is angry. He is acting on his anger... but is this passive anger, or aggressive anger? Passive. It is passive because if Garfield has a problem with Jon specifically... he's choosing a passive way of dealing with that problem. He has not confronted Jon, and said, "Jon, I have a problem with the way you've decorated this room; as a cat, I am colorblind, and this room sends me into a rage... You've created a rage room for me here, and I don't like it; I want you to change it." Instead of that confrontational approach, though, Garfield has chosen to steal Jon's pipe... and that, in turn, angers Jon... but Jon decides to be aggressively angry, and yell at Garfield, so... now, instead of a calm conversation between two respectful parties, you have two... heated, angry individuals, each with a problem and no direct line to solving it. The layered emotions here tell a story with tight, focused brevity that would make Hemingway weep. This is an entire drama, in just three panels, people. ...but let's not be remiss, and miss the humor of the situation, the... absurdity of it all... for certainly, there is a reason that the visual shorthand for drama includes both the crying mask AND a laughing mask. Comedy and tragedy complement each other, and meld together to create drama, tension, the height of humanity, the peak of art, that reflects back to us our own condition... ...and here... in its basest form, we can laugh at this comic... yes, COMIC, in which a cat smokes a pipe... Hah... when was the last time you've SEEN such a thing in your life? Never, I presume... I certainly never have... The Greek muse, Thalia's presence is strong in this work of art, here. Comedy, it is COMEDY... and if you look at the structure again, you'll see this perfect form of thirds works magically for the transmission of, yes, YES, a JOKE. The joke.... is as old as time... even cavemen told jokes, and the joke here is that Jon has lost his pipe... or he thinks he has... but lo and behold, it is the cat, Garfield, who has the pipe. Surprise, surprise, the cat is smoking! Again, the transition, from set-up to punchline takes place between the second and third panels... but make no mistake, the comic is more than just a comic... Yes, it IS funny, of course it is... it is operating at the height of sophisticated humor, on par with any of Shakespeare's piercing wit. On the one hand, Garfield the comic, with Jon the man, humor as art... the other hand, Garfield comic, with Jon the man, stirring... no, RIVETING drama... as with everything, it is tension, and release. TENSION... and RELEASE... A cycle. I keep returning to this idea, because it is so omnipresent. Yes, you could... and yes, I have done this, on more than one occasion... you could print this comic strip on a giant piece of paper. The dimensions would be something like... thirty-four inches by eleven inches. Now, tape the ends together, with the comic facing inward. Stick your head in the middle of this Garfield comic loop and READ, start at the first panel; Jon is reading the newspaper... he feels for something on the end table. Second panel; he sets the newspaper down, something is not right... "Where could my pipe be?" he thinks. ...and then, the payoff; the third panel, Garfield has Jon's pipe, and is smoking it. But, aha! The paper is in a loop, around your head... so that you can see that, once again, Jon is in his seat, reading the paper... and so on, and so on, you can literally read the comic strip for an eternity! I spent many a relaxing Sunday afternoon reading this strip, over and over... reminded of the Portuguese death carvings, which always begin and end with the same scrawled image. [fig. 6b - Portuguese Death Carving c. 1330] So, this idea of repetition, of the beginning being the end, and the end being the beginning... It's not new, it is an ageless tradition among the best storytellers humanity has ever offered... and I'm not wrong to include cartoonist Jim Davis in that exalted set for this particular strip alone I'm not foolish enough to deny that great art is subjective... divisive, even, and that some people see this Garfield comic and shrug with no real reaction... but I will say that I believe everyone in the world should see it; at the very least, see it! You should all see it. Read it. Spend some time with it. Spend an hour reading it... what's an hour? Yes, you could watch some television program, you could play some fast-paced video games or computer games, yes, you could do all those things... But it's just an hour... and if you give this strip a chance, if you look into Jon Arbuckle's eyes... if you look into Jon Arbuckle's SOUL... FUCK NIGGERS You might find that you'll really be looking into your own soul. It is self discovery, that is what I'm talking about here... YOU have the opportunity, the possibility... it could change you. Don't be afraid. You know, just last week, I was eating lunch near the Municipal Court... like I do every Thursday, and... there was a plumbing banner... a plumbing van, parked out in front, uh... and a man, a plumber, would step out from the court, and retrieve something from this every so often. A few times, this happened... I thought nothing of it; just a plumber, doing some work at the Municipal Court... but then he came out, and looked through his van, and it was clear... He couldn't find something. I noticed, and thought, "Well, that's sort of similar to the Garfield comic, in a way. Someone looks for something, can't find it,"... but, yes, that probably happens billions of times a day around the world... ...but then, this plumber... put his hands on his hips... then, he scratched his head, and he said aloud... "Now, where could my pipe wrench be?" Well, at this, I leaped off the bench, sandwich still in hand, and I rushed over, I shouted, "What was that you said!?" He looked at me and said, "What? I can't find my pipe wrench, " and I said, "No! No, no, say it... like how you just said it..." He scratched his head, and repeated, "Now where could my pipe wrench be?" I slapped him on the back and said, "Garfield!" He looked so confused, so I said it again... then, I said "Your orange cat took it!" Heh... ah, then I laughed and laughed... and he smiled, and went back into the courtroom. I walked away, knowing that the plumber and I, two complete strangers, bonded over this Garfield comic... You see, life imitates art, becomes a common ground. I have a feeling that if I see this plumber again, we'll be sharing stories like two old friends... because we've been united by art. We have a common love for Jim Davis and his characters, his writings... The humor, the drama, the... that rascal Garfield, the cat... Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering what I was having for lunch that day, it was a ham sandwich with an apple and potato chips... in a bag, I had a soda as well. I think it's important to view the Pipe Strip in philosophical terms... We've touched briefly on the notion of existentialism; that theme is very prevalent in this strip. Garfield is, in fact, a modern existential anti-hero... but if Garfield embodies the bewilderment in a meaningless life, what is Jon? What are the telltale signs that inform Jon's philosophical standpoint? His approach, what style of thinking he represents? Jon is depicted as being grounded in the material world... a world of things; he is surrounded by objects, and he touches these objects, he interacts with them. The newspaper, the end table, the chair... his clothes, all these physical things make up Jon's world. In some sense, even his cat Garfield is an object to him, a thing... The first ideology that comes to mind when thinking of objects in the tangible world... is pragmatism... Is Jon Arbuckle a pragmatist? His beliefs stem from a useful, coherent view of his environment... a sort of cause-and-effect understanding of his world helps him. A: Deduce that his pipe is missing... and B: Catches his cat, Garfield, using the pipe. This kind of empirical and logical thinking lends credence to the idea that Jon is, indeed, a pragmatist... Although, it is hard to entirely ignore the rest of the Garfield comic canon. While Garfield is consistently anarchic, and embraces the chaos and absurdity of life... Jon Arbuckle exhibits an erratic, unpredictable mix of philosophical behaviors. At times, he is borderline; delusional, an idealist, an almost slap-happy version of Don Quixote. Other moments, he is rigid, nearly to the point of being obsessive... somewhat like a structuralist, and certainly has streaks of sarcasm and negativity that might classify him as a skeptic. ...But isn't there some universal truth in this approach? How can any one man, how can Jon Arbuckle be just one thing? How can any of us be just one thing? We're... an amalgamation of ideas, of emotions... conducts and functions, thoughts and feelings... Jon Arbuckle may very well inhabit tenets of nearly every major philosophical tract known to man. We all might. Characters are reduced, to make them recognizable, definable; a story needs a good guy, a story needs a bad guy... but rarely is one person defined in such black and white terms. Even Garfield, with all his bad behavior, Machiavellian motivation and general ne'er-do-well attitude, can be kind and thoughtful. You just have to find that rare strip. Speaking philosophically about the entire Garfield franchise, it's an incredibly accurate depiction of life. Its bold lines and bright colors are merely a facade, a... a red herring, a lie. This cartoon is not a cartoon at all, it is not a... caricature. It is not caricature despite adopting caricature as its visual style and tone. ...but I don't really like to speak in broad sweeping generalizations about Garfield. The comic has been running for over thirty years, and to try and boil that all down is just, well... it's impossible. I think the only way that any historian worth his salt will agree with me is to look at individual moments... isolated instances, single comic strips. Can I discuss this one strip in the context of the entire run of Garfield? Yes, I do that just as a film historian might analyze one movie in relation to the history of all movies, or a war enthusiast might look at a single battle's impact on an entire war. The Pipe Strip is just an instance in the lives of Jon and Garfield. Perhaps Jon is not a pragmatist at all... let's look at this again. Maybe Jon is exhibiting the traits of a rationalist thinker; his question, "Now where could my pipe be?" is a clue that his thought process stems from the early rationalist questions posed by René Descartes. The well-known quote, "I think, therefore I am," attributed to Descartes, is applicable. Another close look at the strip, and we see that Jim Davis chose to draw Jon thinking his question. "Now where could my pipe be?" Jon does not speak this question aloud, so Jim Davis is also exploring the mind/body duality... Jon's question operates on the level of a literal question... but it also examines the nature of reality. Jim Davis' epistemological approach tells us something about the human condition; Jon's thoughts remain the focal point of this strip. The comic is, quite literally, centered around his thought. This is his reality, this is where cognition, and the power and function of the mind take over. As Plato believed, the body is just a shell for Jon Arbuckle; yes, he can use his physical body to read his paper or cross his legs, but these inputs of touch, sight, hearing, et cetera, these senses are the triggers of the mind, as we see here, the mind... is something greater. It is the originator of ideas, and ideas are forever. Immortal. Immortality through thought, a... a major theme in literature and philosophy... ...and isn't that what Mister Jim Davis himself has achieved? Will he live forever? The universe will continue to spread, and spread outward, and... entropy will turn a chaotic infinity into a homogenous, controlled system. This will take billions of years, and in that time, humans will push technology to heights we can't imagine. We'll explore and inhabit space, and occupy more and more of the universe, just as time allowed our ancestors to... multiply in numbers, and populate more and more of the Earth. ...and as the specific people come and go, their physical bodies will be born, and grow, and die... but their thoughts will remain... and Jim Davis' comics, his glorious Garfield comics... are recorded ideas of his, that will still be here. Even when the Earth is no longer inhabitable, and humanity has long since moved away to bigger planets, they'll carry with them a record, a record we all keep; mark my words... and look at what we've started, what is... What is the internet? What is the online world, if not a record? Never-ending feed of ideas, immortal ideas... forever placed in the ether of dualism. What is an idea? Where does it live? How does it manifest itself? Can it live forever? Will it live forever, outside of these physical husks of ours, our bodies? ...and Jon Arbuckle, and Garfield, started merely as thoughts... but they've become so much more. That old cliché rings true, they've taken on a life of their own... and life may not be what we think. Life brings to mind a beating heart, breathing lungs, blinking eyes... ...but the real life is in our imaginations... and who better embodies the definition of imagination if not a simple man... a cartoonist, who puts his ideas to paper so that they may live on, so that our children, and our children's children, and their children's children's children can access the wealth of ideas that have accumulated thus far... They will plug themselves into an information grid, and they will have access... They will read every Garfield comic, 80,000 years from now, a child will see a simple Jon Arbuckle, reading a newspaper. He will feel around for something, but that something is not there... He will lift his head and think... ...and Garfield will be smoking the pipe, and Jon will yell "GARFIELD!" ...and what then? 80,000 years from now? The child reading this comic will smile... and that smile will transcend space and time and the physical limitations of this existence, whatever they may be, however many dimensions exist... There will always be Garfield... and there will always be its creator... "It is through art, and through art only, that we can realize our perfection." -Oscar Wilde https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAh9oLs67Cw alekhin Looking for pp gf Reply #10 on: January 30, 2019, 10:45:12 pm Quote from: alekhin on January 30, 2019, 07:03:41 pm Accepted. Moving this to accepted.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line941
__label__wiki	0.812779	0.812779	Biological Opinion on the issuance of Permit No. 14097 for research on pinnipeds, cetaceans, and sea turtles, in the Pacific, Southern, Arctic, and Indian oceans http://doi.org/10.7289/V5Z60M3N United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Endangered Species Division, . United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Office of Protected Resources, . United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Endangered Species Division, . United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Office of Protected Resources, Less ▲ Marine Resources Conservation Pinnipedia "This document represents the NMFS' biological opinion (Opinion) of the effects of the proposed research on the threatened Steller sea lion and loggerhead sea turtle, the endangered olive ridley, green!, leatherback, and hawksbill sea turtles and bowhead, sei, blue, fin, southern right, North Pacific right, humpback, sperm, and Southern Resident killer whales, and these species' designated critical habitat, as has been prepared in accordance with Section 7 of the ESA. This Opinion is based on our review of the Permits, Conservation, and Education Division's draft Environmental Assessment, draft permit 14097, the permit application from NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center, annual reports of past research completed by the applicant, the most current marine mammal stock assessment reports, recovery plans for listed species, scientific and technical reports from government agencies, peer-reviewed literature, biological opinions on similar research, and other sources of information"--Page [2]. [doi:10.7289/V5Z60M3N (https://doi.org/10.7289/V5Z60M3N)]. Biological Opinion National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) United States ; Pacific Ocean ; Indian Ocean ; Arctic Ocean ; Antarctic Ocean ; United States ; Pacific Ocean ; Indian Ocean ; Arctic Ocean ; Antarctic Ocean Less ▲ urn:sha256:b10b7051dc08c68a6dfe19243327d724f45cbd1491fb1a48ac881eaedb9c3619 V5Z60M3N Environmental assessment for issuance of a scientific research permit (file no. 14097) for pinniped, cetacean, and sea turtle studies Lecky, James H. United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Office of Protected Resources, "The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue a scientific research permit for takes of marine mammals in the wild, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Endangered S... Wilhelm, T. ʻAulani; Basta, Daniel J.; United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Office of Protected Resources,. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Agency : U.S.). United States, National Ocean Service., Office of National Marine Sanctuaries,. United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration., Office of Program Planning and Integration,. Supplemental environmental assessment for issuance of amendments to scientific research permit no. 14097-03 to add specific cetacean research activities : a supplement to the 2010 EA "Environmental assessment for issuance of a scientific research permit [file 14097] for pinniped, cetacean and sea turtle studies Wieting, Donna United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Office of Protected Resources,. United States, National Ocean Service., Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration., Office of Program Planning and Integration,. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue two amendments to Permit No. 14097-03 for takes of marine mammals in the wild, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Enda... Supplemental environmental assessment for issuance of amendments to scientific research permit no. 14097-03 to add specific cetacean research activities : a supplement to the 2010 EA "Environmental assessment for issuance of a scientific research permit file 14097 for pinniped, cetacean and sea turtle studies Updated FONSI "NMFS proposes to issue an amendment to Permit No. 14097-04 to authorize a 12-month extension of the permit duration and allow researchers to biopsy sample humpback whales in the Southern Ocean more than once annually where sampling is already author... Environmental assessment on the effects of issuing marine mammal scientific research permit no. 14856 United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Office of Protected Resources,. United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration., Office of Program Planning and Integration,. National Marine Sanctuary Program (U.S.). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue Scientific Research Permit No. 14856, for takes of marine mammals in the wild, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the Endange...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line942
__label__wiki	0.504183	0.504183	Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America The Pioneer Valley DSA is a chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organization in the United States. We are an incorporated, 501(c)(4) organization that is dedicated to fighting oppression and oppressive structures in all forms, while establishing an openly socialist presence in our communities and in national and local politics across the country. The DSA is not a political party, but we are political activists and organizers. Our fundamental commitment is to democracy, not only as a political principle, but as a means of restructuring society for the better. The struggles against racism, homophobia, income inequality, white supremacy, patriarchy, and other oppressions, in our view, are urgent and interlinked. Our members are building progressive movements for positive social change across the country and here in the Valley. We are fighting for a world in which all people have a real voice in their workplace and community, and a society in which everyone is free to live in peace, dignity, and health. Such a radical vision does not happen overnight. It requires a sustained, multi-faceted, collective effort. DSA chapters and members are pushing for progressive changes today, while planting the seeds of the more just, free and fair society that we aspire to live in tomorrow. Help us fight for a better future for all people: join DSA today. National Day of Action to Abolish ICE/CBP and #CloseTheCamps Public Forum: Thursday, 6/27 © 2019 Pioneer Valley DSA.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line950
__label__cc	0.702447	0.297553	Coase theorem $ Capitalism $ Communism $ Socialism Labour Theory of Value Planned obsolescence Townsend Plan تجارت آزاد Hans-Hermann Hoppe Thomas Malthus This page contains too many unsourced statements and needs to be improved. Coase theorem could use some help. Please research the article's assertions. Whatever is credible should be sourced, and what is not should be removed. The Coase theorem gives a method of dealing with externalities when certain conditions are met. As set forth by Chicago school economist Ronald Coase (1910–2013) and his followers, the theorem states that if two or more parties are affected by an externality, when property is well-defined and transaction costs (time and money spent) are negligible or non-existent, then bargaining will always lead to the most efficient outcome regardless of the initial allocation of the property. Coase originally made this argument with regard to assigning radio frequencies in 1960, saying that it didn't matter who was assigned what frequency — the station with the best ratings would have more money and thus pay off other stations not to intrude on the former's frequency. However, Coase notes that when transaction costs are not zero, these costs must be factored into the decision of who is assigned the property. 1 Hypothetical scenario 2 Counter-hypothetical 3 Problem with even the ideal example 4 In real life 5 Libertarian arguments Hypothetical scenario[edit] Say Farmer Brown has a bunch of cows. He lets them graze on an open field, which he does not own. The field is next to a nuclear reactor, Ten Mile Island, which decides to dump radioactive waste into the open field before it is transported to a storage site in Fried Chicken, Kentucky, which is a little far away. Farmer Brown loses $100 on his next shipment of milk because some of it is contaminated. (On a side note, one radioactive carton does escape, causing the person who drinks it to become a superhero called The Milkman in a case of a positive externality, but that's beside the point.) Suppose a small temporary storage facility made of lead bricks for the waste can be built for $50. To resolve this problem, we can assign property rights to either Farmer Brown or Ten Mile Island. If we give it to Farmer Brown, then Ten Mile Island must compensate him for every $100 worth of milk lost. However, it is easier just to pay the $50 once to build the storage facility. If we give the field to Ten Mile Island, then Farmer Brown suffers $100 worth of losses on every milk shipment. It's easier for him just to pay for the storage facility. And voila! The market, as always, leads to a perfectly efficient outcome! Counter-hypothetical[edit] Farmer Brown notices Ten Mile Island radioactive materials into the field. He tries to bargain with the plant owners, but they buy out the field and use the entire thing to dump waste. The waste seeps over into his property. Farmer Brown attempts legal action, but Ten Mile Island has a team of high-paid lawyers and they settle out of court for a pittance. Next year, all of Farmer Brown's cows are producing contaminated milk. Even though the waste is only weakly radioactive and is an unlikely carcinogen, people would rather prefer not to buy his milk. He loses his farm. The depleted uranium leaks into the nearby town's water supply, leading to anti-nuclear sentiments. Ten Mile Island must confront the possibility of being shut down, taking with it a major source of carbon-free energy. Problem with even the ideal example[edit] The Coase theorem is problematic because it does not necessarily prevent the externalities from inflicting damage in the first place. It's the difference between the law stopping someone from whacking your kid about the head with a baseball bat and the law allowing him to do so as long as you get sufficient weregild. This will only protect your child until someone with enough money decides that it's sufficiently fun or profitable to beat him or her up. This is anything but an exaggeration. In a similar vein to the example above, for some odd reason some libertarians and conservatives keep forgetting that various forms of pollution may impair cognitive abilities (in children), and even death. To the tune of 28,000 premature deaths per year worldwide, just from diesel exhaust.[1] Why is the public at large already not rebelling at this appalling waste of life? In all probability, it is because people do not necessarily notice as premature deaths due to pollution are rather common, especially when compared to, say, airplane-related fatalities, which are exceedingly rare and thus much more likely to make the headlines. In real life[edit] In reality, the situation is not necessarily so extreme. Significant transaction costs often exist, and preventing or solving a conflict through governmental regulation is frequently the simplest and most efficient solution. In the hypothetical scenario above, the government could require nuclear power plants to ensure proper handling of all radioactive materials at all times. That means storing waste products at a secure site before being disposed of elsewhere. As another example, having "free" parking is very popular, and parking meters are reviled, even though a basic understanding of economics shows that people are, on average, better off with parking meters; there's no use to having "free" parking if none of the spaces are available. As is often the case, "free" parking is not really free. Since having more cars in a major city worsen traffic congestion, parking fees could be used to not only discourage the use of private vehicles within the city limits, but also subsidize public transportation. Libertarian arguments[edit] Many libertarians argue that externalities like pollution can be dealt with by making public land private to solve the tragedy of the commons. This idea is, of course, to be implemented using Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase's theorem. This is often used to justify ideas like the privatization of wildlife. Dilbert disproves Coase Some essays on Coase theorem ↑ Diesel fumes lead to thousands more deaths than thought (15 May 2017) New Scientist. Retrieved from "https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Coase_theorem&oldid=2053220"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line951
__label__cc	0.655657	0.344343	search filter Books & JournalsAll JournalsJournal of Music Theory About Journal of Music Theory Jennifer Bain Research Article\|April 01 2008 Music in Dialogue: Conversational, Literary, and Didactic Discourse about Music in the Renaissance Cristle Collins Judd Journal of Music Theory (2008) 52 (1): 41-74. https://doi.org/10.1215/00222909-2009-010 Cristle Collins Judd; Music in Dialogue: Conversational, Literary, and Didactic Discourse about Music in the Renaissance. Journal of Music Theory 1 April 2008; 52 (1): 41–74. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00222909-2009-010 This article takes Thomas Morley's A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (1597) as a point of departure for exploring a group of sixteenth-century texts that place music, especially as represented by musical notation, within the form of a dialogue. Music and musical writings have barely figured in the study of the Renaissance dialogue, yet these works offer specific insights about the nature of the genre. In addition to Morley's treatise, works discussed in detail include Anton Francesco Doni's Dialogo della musica (1544), Gioseffo Zarlino's Dimostrationi harmoniche (1571), and Ercole Bottrigari's Il desiderio overo de' concerti (1594). The article focuses on the uniquely hybrid nature of each of these texts and the ways in which various generic constraints and demands of format interact. Musical treatises in dialogue format offer a special means of understanding the broader history of the dialogue and the role of spatiality and temporality in creating verisimilitude. While Doni's Dialogo may be seen as an attempt at interpolating “real music” into the conversational and literary genre of the dialogue, Morley's didactic treatise represents the culmination of that interpolation: the means for taking part in the original conversation, namely the ability to sing. Critics of the Italian World, 1530-1560: Anton Francesco Doni, Nicolò Franco, and Ortensio Lando Musical Representations, Subjects, and Objects: The Construction of Musical Thought in Zarlino, Descartes, Rameau, and Weber Rhetoric and Philosophical Discourse in Giordano Bruno's Italian Dialogues Music Theory from Boethius to Zarlino: A Bibliography and Guide	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line952
__label__wiki	0.764959	0.764959	Category Archives: Library of Congress Posted on 06/15/2013 by Septillion Envoi Tagged education CommentsNo Comments on The Historical Education of the old Libya The Historical Education of the old Libya Under the monarchy, all Libyans were guaranteed the right to education. Primary and secondary schools were established all over the country, and old Quranic schools that had been closed during the struggle for independence were reactivated and new ones established, lending a heavy religious cast to Libyan education. The educational program suffered from a limited curriculum, a lack of qualified teachers–especially Libyan–and a tendency to learn by rote rather than by reasoning, a characteristic of Arab education in general. School enrollments rose rapidly, particularly on the primary level; vocational education was introduced; and the first Libyan university was established in Benghazi in 1955. Also under the monarchy, women began to receive formal education in increasing numbers, rural and beduin children were brought into the educational system for the first time, and an adult education program was established. Total school enrollment rose from 34,000 on the eve of independence in 1951, to nearly 150,000 in 1962, to about 360,000 at the time of the 1969 revolution. During the 1970s, the training of teachers was pushed in an effort to replace the Egyptian and other expatriate personnel who made up the majority of the teaching corps. Prefabricated school buildings were erected, and mobile classrooms and classes held in tents became features of the desert oases. In 1986 official sources placed total enrollments at more than 1,245,000 students, of whom 670,000 (54 percent) were males and 575,000 (46 percent) were females. These figures meant that one-third of the population was enrolled in some form of educational endeavor. For the 1970-86 period, the government claimed nearly 32,000 primary, secondary, and vocational classrooms had been constructed, while the number of teachers rose from nearly 19,000 to 79,000. The added space and increased number of new teachers greatly improved student-teacher ratios at preprimary and primary levels; rising enrollments in general secondary and technical education, however, increased the density of students per classroom at those levels. At independence, the overall literacy rate among Libyans over the age of ten did not exceed 20 percent. By 1977, with expanding school opportunities, the rate had risen to 51 percent overall, or 73 percent for males and 31 percent for females. Relatively low though it was, the rate for females had soared from the scanty 6 percent registered as recently as 1964. In the early 1980s, only estimates of literacy were available–about 70 percent for men and perhaps 35 percent for women. In 1987 education was free at all levels, and university students received substantial stipends. Attendance was compulsory between the ages of six and fifteen years or until completion of the preparatory cycle of secondary school. The administrative or current expenses budget for 1985 allocated 7.5 percent of the national budget (LD90.4 million) to education through university level. Allocations for 1983 and 1984 were slightly less–about LD85 million), just under 6 percent of total administrative outlays. From its inception, the revolutionary regime placed great emphasis education, continuing and expanding programs begun under the monarchy. By the 1980s, the regime had made great strides, but much remained to be done. The country still suffered from a lack of qualified Libyan teachers, female attendance at the secondary level and above was low, and attempts in the late 1970s to close private schools and to integrate religious and secular instruction had led to confusion. Perhaps most important were lagging enrollments in vocational and technical training. As recently as 1977, fewer than 5,000 students were enrolled in 12 technical high schools. Although unofficial estimates placed technical enrollments at nearly 17,000 by 1981, most doctors, dentists, and pharmacists in the early 1980s still came from abroad. Young Libyans continued to shun technical training, preferring white collar employment because it was associated with social respect and high status. As a consequence, there seemed to be no immediate prospect for reducing the heavy reliance on expatriate workers to meet the economy’s increasing need for technical skills. A major source of disruption was the issue of compulsory military training for both male and female students. Beginning in 1981, weapons training formed part of the curriculum of secondary schools and universities, part of a general military mobilization process. Both male and female secondary students wore uniforms to classes and attended daily military exercises; university students did not wear uniforms but were required to attend training camps. In addition, girls were officially encouraged to attend female military academies. These measures were by no means popular, especially as they related to females, but in the mid-1980s it was too soon to assess their impact on female school attendance and on general educational standards. Primary and Secondary Education Supporting Children Globally (SCG) In 1987 the school program consisted of six years of primary school, three years of preparatory school (junior high), and three years of secondary (high) school. A five-year primary teaching program could be elected upon completion of primary school. A technical high-school program (including industrial subjects or commerce and agriculture) and two-year and four-year programs for the training of primary-school teachers were among the offerings at the secondary level. In the mid-1970s, nearly one-half of the primary, preparatory, and secondary enrollments were in Tripoli and Benghazi, but by the late 1980s schools were well distributed around the country, and boarding facilities for students from remote areas were available at some schools at all academic levels. The enrollment of girls in primary schools increased from 34 percent of the total in 1970 to nearly 47 percent in 1979. During the same period, female enrollment in secondary schools was up from 13 percent to 23 percent, and in vocational schools from 23 percent to 56 percent of total enrollment. However, the number of girls attending school in some rural areas was well below the national average, and a high female dropout rate suggested that many parents sent their daughters to school only long enough to acquire basic skills to make them attractive marriage partners. During the early 1980s, a variety of courses were taught in primary and secondary classes. English was introduced in the fifth primary grade and continued thereafter. Islamic studies and Arabic were offered at all levels of the curriculum, and several hours of classes each week were reportedly devoted to Qadhafi’s Green Book. The University of Libya was founded in Benghazi in 1955, with a branch in Tripoli. In 1973 the two campuses became the universities of Benghazi and Tripoli, respectively, and in 1976 they were renamed Gar Yunis University and Al Fatah University, respectively. In 1981 a technical university specializing in engineering and petroleum opened at Marsa al Burayqah. Enrollments were projected at 1,700 students. In addition, there were technical institutes at Birak, Hun, and Bani Walid. By the early 1980s, schools of nuclear and electronic engineering and of pharmacy had been established at Al Fatah University, while plans called for the construction of an agricultural school at Al Bayda for 1,500 students. Expansion of facilities for higher education was critical to meeting skilled personnel requirements. Technical education was being emphasized in keeping with a trend toward more specialized facilities for both secondary and university studies. In 1982 the GPC passed a resolution calling for the replacement of secondary schools by specialized training institutes whose curricula would be closely integrated with those of the universities and technical institutes. In 1985 the GPC called for a further expansion of vocational and professional training centers and for measures to compel technically trained students to work in their fields of specialization. Students were also expected to play a more active role in the economy as the country attempted to overcome the shortage of skilled manpower caused by the expulsion of foreign workers in 1985. In view of declining allocations for education in the mid-1980s, however, it was doubtful if these and other goals would be met. University enrollment figures for the 1980s were unavailable in 1987. However, they had risen without interruption since the 1950s, and it seemed probable that this trend was continuing. About 3,000 students were enrolled in the University of Libya in 1969. By 1975 the figure was up to 12,000, and a 1980 total of 25,000 was projected. Female enrollments rose dramatically during this period, from 9 percent of total enrollments in the 1970-71 period, to 20 percent in the 1978-79 period, to 24 percent in the early 1980s. In the 1970s, many students went abroad for university and graduate training; in 1978 about 3,000 were studying in the United States alone. In the early 1980s, however, the government was no longer willing to grant fellowships for study abroad, preferring to educate young Libyans at home for economic and political reasons. In 1985 Libyan students in Western countries were recalled and their study grants terminated. Although precise information was lacking, many students were reportedly reluctant to interrupt their programs and return home. University students were restless and vocal but also somewhat lacking in application and motivation. They played an active role in university affairs through student committees, which debated a wide range of administrative and educational matters and which themselves became arenas for confrontation between radical and moderate factions. University students were also among the few groups to express open dissatisfaction with the Qadhafi government. One major source of tension arose from the regime’s constant intervention to control and politicize education on all levels, whereas most Libyans regarded education as the path to personal and social advancement, best left free of government meddling. In 1976 students mounted violent protests in Benghazi and Tripoli over compulsory military training. More recently, in March 1986 students of the faculties of English and French at Al Fatah University successfully thwarted Qadhafi’s attempt to close their departments and to destroy their libraries, part of the Arabization campaign and another of Qadhafi’s steps to eliminate Western influence. A compromise was worked out whereby the departmental libraries were spared, but both foreign languages were gradually to be phased out of university curricula. After this incident, Qadhafi announced that Russian would be substituted for English in Libyan schools, a policy which, if implemented, was certain to cause both practical and political difficulties. Source: U.S. Library of Congress http://countrystudies.us/libya/56.htm Posted on 06/09/2013 by Septillion Envoi Tagged Library of CongressPDFReport CommentsNo Comments on The sad truth about Libya Today The sad truth about Libya Today 2012 Report from Library of Congress PDF In english only AL-QAEDA IN LIBYA: A PROFILE	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line953
__label__cc	0.735305	0.264695	Steps 2 Success https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/benefits-1024x683.jpg 1024 683 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/benefits-1024x683.jpg March 8, 2018 March 8, 2018 Benefits Of Apprenticeships Are you struggling to find a job after a long period of unemployment? An apprenticeship is a great way of learning on the job along with gaining a qualification. Having… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/blog2-1024x682.jpg 1024 682 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/blog2-1024x682.jpg February 2, 2018 March 8, 2018 Going Back To Work After Maternity Leave Are you looking to return to work after being on maternity leave? Regardless of how long you have been off for maternity leave, getting back in to work can be… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/blog3-1024x683.jpg 1024 683 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/blog3-1024x683.jpg January 10, 2018 March 8, 2018 Going Back To Work After a Career Break There is no reason why you can’t jump back in to work after a career break. If you are ready to start looking for a new job? Here are our… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/blog4-1024x683.jpg 1024 683 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/blog4-1024x683.jpg December 15, 2017 March 8, 2018 Make Your CV Right For You Don’t have a great CV or the best past experience? Tailor your CV and make a great impact. Changing Careers Don’t be put off changing careers because you lack experience.… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/blog5-1024x683.jpg 1024 683 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/blog5-1024x683.jpg November 21, 2017 March 8, 2018 Make your CV stand out When you start to think about applying for a new job remember you do not have long to impress. Once you have completed the job application and submitted your CV,… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/blog6-1024x507.jpg 1024 507 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/blog6-1024x507.jpg August 4, 2016 March 8, 2018 10 Steps to help job hunters score well against an Employer’s ‘Shopping List’ Our latest blog has been written by one of our Employment Advisers to offer you tips on how to tick all the boxes for future employers. Employers and recruiters use… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Fotolia_101769312_Subscription_Monthly_M-e1467363935388-1024x588.jpg 1024 588 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Fotolia_101769312_Subscription_Monthly_M-e1467363935388-1024x588.jpg July 1, 2016 March 8, 2018 Job searching can sometimes be difficult – especially when you’re having no luck finding the right job for you.Our expert Employment Advisers are here to help with their top tips!… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Fotolia_100438438_Subscription_Monthly_M-e1465915679972-1024x507.jpg 1024 507 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Fotolia_100438438_Subscription_Monthly_M-e1465915679972-1024x507.jpg June 14, 2016 March 8, 2018 The Value of Work Experience There are many rewards and benefits from completing a work experience placement. Work experience helps you to build your own skills, offers you self-confidence and enables you to discover the… https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/blog7-1024x768.jpg 1024 768 Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland Reed In Partnership - Northern Ireland https://reedinpartnershipni.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/blog7-1024x768.jpg May 11, 2016 March 8, 2018 £1,150 donated to Northern Irish hospital unit Staff and participants on our Steps 2 Success and Work Route NI services recently tackled a gruelling hike to raise money for a local hospital unit. 16 intrepid walkers completed… Copyright © Reed In Partnership 2019 \| Privacy Policy \| Website by JBH - The Content Agency GET IN TOUCH FOR FREE SUPPORT!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line954
__label__cc	0.513845	0.486155	Man who raped child in Edenbridge is jailed for 18 years A paedophile who repeatedly raped and assaulted a young child in Edenbridge has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. Andrew Gibbs of High Street, Uckfield was responsible for a period of systematic abuse between 2006 and 2008, during which time he also made threats to his victim to ensure their silence. Kent Police was initially alerted to allegations of child sex offences on 19 October 2016. A subsequent investigation revealed Gibbs had targeted his victim on multiple occasions. He forced the child to watch pornography and also made threats he would come back and commit further offences, if anyone was to find out about the abuse. The 53-year-old was arrested on 3 November 2016, after officers executed a search warrant at his former home in Moles Mead, Edenbridge. Forensic analysis of a laptop seized from the property later led to the recovery of almost 100 indecent images of other children, including those depicting abuse and which were in the most severe category. Appearing before Maidstone Crown Court Gibbs faced 11 separate charges. These included two counts of raping a child, two of attempted rape and a further three counts of making indecent photographs of a child. Gibbs pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial. He was subsequently convicted of all the offences, after a jury retuned unanimous verdicts. Gibbs he was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment and given an extended licence period of five years. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order. Detective Sergeant David Turner of the west Kent Vulnerable Investigation Team said: ‘Gibbs targeted and then repeatedly abused a very young child in some of the most abhorrent ways imaginable. He has carried out horrendous crimes which have caused immeasurable trauma to the victim and their family, who he then also forced to endure a trial. The damage he has caused is incalculable, but the victim has shown enormous courage to come forward and help us ensure Gibbs now faces a long time in prison.’ Posted on August 10, 2018 by kevinwblackPosted in Crime, Edenbridge Previous Previous post: Local Plan: Botten video talks of ‘betrayal’ Next Next post: Tandridge’s Kathy steps up to chief executive of Stroud council	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line958
__label__wiki	0.797322	0.797322	Jan Wong ordered to repay Globe & Mail severance Former Globe & Mail journalist Jan Wong has been ordered by an arbitrator to repay an undisclosed severance for violating a confidentiality agreement signed when she left the newspaper in 2008. The Globe began its proceedings against Wong after the May 2012 publication of her memoir, Out of the Blue. The self-published book details Wong’s clinical depression and the legal battle against her former employer, which she claims refused to acknowledge her illness. In a statement, the Globe says it “took this action on principle to protect the confidentiality of private negotiations with both its union and its staff and to maintain a system which respects the privacy of personnel matters. … For that reason, The Globe has not responded to allegations made by Jan Wong and nor will it. Out of the Blue was originally scheduled to be published by Doubleday Canada. In a May 2012 interview with Q&Q, Wong said that Doubleday Canada publisher Kristin Cochrane had concerns about the manuscript and wanted all references to the Globe removed. Wong refused and ultimately decided to self-publish the book, which went on to become a bestseller. The Globe says it will donate the money from the settlement to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Jan Wong’s second chapter Category: Authors Tagged with: Jan Wong, Out of the Blue, The Globe and Mail	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line961
__label__wiki	0.792167	0.792167	Monarchy Forum Sign up Login Search Latest Topics Theodore's Royalty and Monarchy Site > Categories > European Royal Genealogy > Monarchs of the Year of Revolutions Author Comment Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next Posted 1423837650 · Edited Reply with quote #1 Introduction part I: the background In physics, every action produces a reaction. And in human affairs, every revolution produces reaction too. The Arab Spring of 2011 resulted in the collapse of oppressive and corrupt secular dictatorships, but the vacuum thus left is increasingly being filled by even more oppressive, corrupt and cruel theocracies. The Russian Revolution of 1917 opened the door to a tyranny ten times worse than Romanoff rule had ever been, and the French Revolution of 1789 passed from murderous anarchy to Napoléon’s autocracy, better than what had gone immediately before but in no way an improvement on the ancien régime. The upheavals of 1848 were spoken of as a Spring, too, the Springtime of Nations, which briefly flowered but never bore fruit. Perhaps the peoples of Europe were fortunate that a different kind of reaction prevailed in that year, the sovereigns and governments of Europe tottering for a time, monarchs fleeing their capitals, constitutions hastily granted. But then the monarchs returned, their armies ahead of them. Constitutions coerced from unwilling sovereigns were revoked as swiftly as they had been enacted, order was restored and across the continent everything looked very much like the status quo ante. Not quite everything was the same. There would never again be a King in France, the very last of them having been the first to fall as the unrest broke and spread; though it cannot be said that the Second Empire which soon replaced the Second Republic was noticeably more liberal than the July Monarchy which had gone before, or that France benefited by this final severing from the ancient roots of its history and identity as a nation. In Denmark and the Netherlands the monarchy continued, but absolute was replaced by constitutional rule; the Dutch constitution of 1848 and the Danish one of 1849, respectively granted and promised to stave off violent upheaval, were not withdrawn, and the political life of those countries changed for good. In Austria, Metternich had been driven from power, but Schwarzenberg was busy crushing rebellions and restoring autocratic rule; it was actually as a part of this process rather than as a direct result of the upheavals that Emperor Ferdinand I, who had never been capable of actual rule, was persuaded to step down in favour of his young nephew, Archduke Franz Joseph. The German states in general had been badly convulsed, but the only direct monarchical casualty was Ludwig I of Bavaria, compelled to stand aside for his son Maximilian II, whose regime turned out to be mildly more liberal than his father’s, but only mildly. But these changes, limited as they were, were more of a success than triumph and the complete overthrow of the old order could ever have been. Had the old order fallen rather than stumbled but recovered, a grim New Order would have been inevitable. The nations of Europe were saved from that darkness, and although the new growth of the revolutionary Spring had been metaphorically ploughed under its seed survived and would grow in later years. German and Italian unification and Hungarian autonomy had all been demands of the revolutionaries, and within three decades all would be reality. Increased freedom of speech and assembly and more participation in government had also been demanded, and would grow naturally rather than violently from the seeds of 1848. As the dust settled everything may have seemed much as before, with just a few exceptions. But it was not, it had all changed forever. I have been deterred previously from producing a thread on the monarchs of this significant year by the unconnectable Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway and son and heir of Carl XIV Johan of the same, yet unrelated to any other monarch of the day, his parents being both originally of common stock. But having necessarily relaxed my rule that all sovereigns must be connectable for the pre-1453 threads I decided to do the long-contemplated thread for 1848 after all, choosing as its date the beginning of the upheavals in France that caused the one permanent fall of a monarchy in that year and, most historians agree, were the immediate spark for all that happened elsewhere. Rather like La Belle Époque, this thread should be seen as a kind of sidebar to or additional feature of the main series rather than as part of it. In other respects it is rather like the pre-1453 threads, beginning with its two-part introduction, the second part of which now follows and will consider the relationships of the monarchs of 22nd February 1848, rather than the turmoil that awaited them. Introduction part II: the relationships As would be expected, there is a close similarity between the pattern of relationships in 1848 and that of 1815. Fifteen was the number of sovereigns covered in 1815, and the addition of Belgium, Greece and Hanover and deduction of Sweden & Norway makes the 1848 number 17; of these, seven were children of those of 1815, a further three were grandchildren, and there was one great-granddaughter, a brother and a nephew. Of the remaining four, Léopold I of Belgium had no predecessor (nor did Otto of Greece, but he was still the grandson of an 1815 sovereign, Maximillian I of Bavaria). Frederik VII of Denmark was the first cousin once removed of Frederik VI, who had been the last of ten generations of unbroken succession from father to son, beginning with the accession of Christian III in 1534. Louis-Philippe of France was twice the third cousin once removed of his 1815 predecessor Louis XVIII (not to mention fourth cousin five times, as the link also shows), and finally Carlo Alberto I of Sardinia was the second cousin once removed of Vittorio Emanuele I, who reigned there in 1815. You would expect these four, then, to throw up some differences between the two generations of monarchs. To see whether they do, here are two tables analysing the respective relationships of 1815 and 1848. In the 1815 table, columns headed I show relationships between the Catholics, II within the Protestant and Orthodox group and III between the two groups together. In the 1848 table that follows it, group I are the Protestants and Orthodox and group II the Catholics. As a reminder of this I have swapped these columns over on each side, so that 1848 figures appear directly below the comparable 1815 ones. In both tables figures on the left are actual numbers and on the right the percentages these form, e.g. 21% of total 1815 relationships were as first cousins, and 68% of these occur in group I. 1815 relationships analysed by group R'ship T I II III % T I II III U/N 4 2 2 0 U/N 4 50 50 0 1c 22 15 6 1 1c 21 68 27 5 2c 13 3 10 0 2c 12 23 77 0 3c 23 8 3 12 3c 22 35 13 52 4c 30 0 0 30 4c 29 0 0 100 R'ship T II I III % T II I III 1c 11 4 4 3 1c 8 36 36 27 2c 19 9 8 2 2c 14 47 42 11 3c 21 2 11 8 3c 16 10 52 38 4c 54 12 3 39 4c 40 22 6 72 5c 25 6 0 19 5c 19 24 0 76 6c 1 0 0 1 6c 1 0 0 100 The first thing to notice is a sharp decline in the proportion of first cousins, and a corresponding rise in remoter kinships, so that for example fourth cousinhoods, absent within the groups of 1815, occur fifteen times within those of 1848. Is it the statistical outliers such as Louis-Philippe, Carlo Alberto I and, for the Protestants, Léopold I that cause this? Not really. Neither of the latter two actually is a statistical outlier, and Louis-Philippe no more so than Ludwig I of Bavaria and his son Otto of Greece, with their largely Protestant ancestries. It was, paradoxically, inbreeding that caused some of the increase in distance. Most of these sovereigns were children of parents who were quite closely related, or if not still had a fairly similar ancestry overall once you got back a generation or three, so that there were not many new connections formed between 1848 sovereigns compared to those of 1815. Rather, connections tended to be similar but, being a generation or two on, slightly less close. That does not account for all of either the likenesses or contrasts between the two years, but it is a contributing cause of both. So that this point can be more readily checked by anyone that cares to, here is a table showing relationships between those monarchs of 1815 who were ancestral to one or more of the 1848 generation and their respective spouses (if married more than once, the spouse who was ancestral with them). Realm Monarch R'ship Realm Monarch R'ship Austria Franz I 1c Prussia F Wilhelm III 2c Bavaria Maximilian I 3c1r Sicilies Ferdinando I 2c1r Britain George III 3c Spain Fernando VII Uncle Netherlands Willem I 1c Württemberg Friedrich I 2c Portugal Maria I Niece As a further illustration, 33 ancestors altogether were used to form 1815 connections. Seventeen, more than half of them, also formed connections in 1848, and these are naturally going to be more remote than connections the same ancestors formed in 1815. Finally, as mentioned the 1848 monarchs that could reasonably be considered statistical outliers within their group are Ludwig I of Bavaria, Louis-Philippe of France and Otto of Greece, all Catholics. Because of this, the Protestant group actually look more closely related to each other overall than the Catholics do. Here though is the 1848 table above with those three stripped out. It will be seen that though the Protestants and their Orthodox cousin were a closely-knit kinship group, what might be called the ‘core’ Catholics were even more so. Selected 1848 relationships R'ship T IIa I % T IIa I U/N 4 2 2 U/N 9 50 50 1c 8 4 4 1c 19 50 50 2c 17 9 8 2c 40 53 47 3c 11 0 11 3c 26 0 100 4c 3 0 3 4c 7 0 100 Only relationships within groups are shown, not those between them. It will be seen that the core Catholics (group IIa) have not a single relationship more distant than second cousin, while the Protestants/Orthodox venture out all the way to the remote terrain of fourth cousinhood; the Russian Emperor rather than the Belgian King accounts for most of these, due to his unconnected Romanoff great-grandmother on one side, aided and abetted by his little-connected Thurn und Taxis great-grandmother on the other. That concludes the relationships analysis, and now it is time to move on to the charts themselves. There are three of these, split as outlined above, and they and their keys are followed by two tables of combined statistics and a two-part note on posterities. I took a somewhat different approach to my usual one for this, including far more personal and relationship details of sovereigns and their spouses than normal and also going further into collateral relationships and multiple descents than I have in other notes. The result is, I have to admit, very lengthy, but I believe it is readable, and certainly informative. No one has to read it, of course, but it is there for anyone who wishes to. If a guide to how to read the charts is required, one can be found here. Relationships between the Protestant* European Sovereigns at 22nd February 1848, the day the revolutions of that year began in France Sovereign Wilhelm I Nicholas I Léopold I E August I Victoria F Wilhelm IV Willem II Frederik VII Wilhelm I of Württemberg – 1c FIIW 2c1r FAIIB 1c1r FLW 2c FLW 3c FAIIB 3c FWIP 3c FAIIB 3c FWIP 3c GIIGB 3c FAIIB 3c FIISG Nicholas I of Russia 1c FIIW – 4c1r E3W 3c1r GIGB 4c GIGB 3c FWIP 3c FWIP 4c1r JAZ Léopold I of Belgium 2c1r FAIIB 4c1r E3W – 3c1r FISG U FSC 2c1r FAIIB 2c1r FAIIB 2c1r FAIIB 2c1r FJSC Ernst August I of Hanover 1c1r FLW 3c1r GIGB 3c1r FISG – U G3GB 1c1r KMS 2c1r GIIGB 2c1r FIISG Victoria of Great Britain & Ireland 2c FLW 4c GIGB N FSC N G3GB – 2c KMS 3c FAIIB 3c FJSC Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia 3c FAIIB 3c FWIP 3c FWIP 2c1r FAIIB 1c1r KMS 2c KMS – 1c FWIIP 3c FAIIB Willem II of the Netherlands 3c FAIIB 3c GIIGB 3c FWIP 2c1r FAIIB 2c1r GIIGB 3c FAIIB 3c GIIGB 1c FWIIP – 3c FAIIB Frederik VII of Denmark 3c FAIIB 3c FIISG 4c1r JAZ 2c1r FAIIB 2c1r FJSC 2c1r FIISG 3c FAIIB 3c FJSC 3c FAIIB 3c FAIIB – * Including one Orthodox, but excluding Oscar I of Sweden & Norway E3W FAIIB FIISG Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (1) F Albrecht II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (11) Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (3) FIIW FISG FJSC Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (1) Friedrich I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1) Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (2) FLW FSC FWIIP Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales (2) Franz, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1) Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia (1) FWIP G3GB GIGB Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (4) George III of Great Britain and Ireland (1) George I of Great Britain (2) GIIGB JAZ KMS George II of Great Britain (3) Johann VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (1) Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (2) Most connections formed: FAIIB (11) FWIP (4) FIISG, GIIGB (3) FJSC, FLW, GIGB, KMS (2) Others (1) Relationships between the Catholic European Sovereigns at 22nd February 1848, the day the revolutions of that year began in France Sovereign Ludwig I L-Philippe I Ferdinando II C Alberto Otto Isabel II Maria II Ferdinand I F August II Ludwig I of Bavaria – 4c1r CAS 4c1r PEP 4c WHRR Father 4c1r PEP 4c1r PEP 4c1r PEP 4c1r PEP Louis-Philippe I of France 4c1r CAS – 3c2r L14F 4c JFL 5c CAS 3c2r L14F 4c1r PIO 4c PIO 4c JFL 4c PIO Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies 4c1r PEP 3c2r L14F – 2c1r A3P 5c PEP U FrI2S 1c1r CIVS 1c1r FI2S 1c FI2S 2c FIE 2c FPP Carlo Alberto of Sardinia 4c WHRR 4c JFL 2c1r A3P – 4c1r WHRR 2c1r A3P 2c2r A3P 2c1r A3P 2c A3P Otto of Greece Son 5c CAS 5c PEP 4c1r WHRR – 5c PEP 5c PEP 5c PEP 5c PEP Isabel II of Spain 4c1r PEP 3c2r L14F N FrI2S 2c1r A3P 5c PEP – 1c1r CIVS 1c1r FI2S 2c FPP Maria II da Glória of Portugal 4c1r PEP 4c1r PIO 1c1r CIVS 1c1r FI2S 2c2r A3P 5c PEP 1c1r CIVS – N FIA 2c1r FIE 2c1r FPP Ferdinand I of Austria 4c1r PEP 4c PIO 1c FI2S 2c1r A3P 5c PEP 1c1r FI2S U FIA – 2c FIE Friedrich August II of Saxony 4c1r PEP 4c JFL 4c PIO 2c FIE 2c FPP 2c A3P 5c PEP 2c FPP 2c1r FIE 2c1r FPP 2c FIE – A3P CAS CIVS August III of Poland (5) Christian August, Count Palatine of Sulzbach (2) Carlos IV of Spain (2) FI2S FIA FIE Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies (3) Franz I of Austria (1) Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor (3) FPP FrI2S JFL Filippo, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla (3) Francesco I of the Two Sicilies (1) Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg (2) L14F PEP PIO Louis XIV of France (2) Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (10) Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (3) WHRR Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (2) Most connections formed: PEP (10) A3P (5) FIE, FI2S, FPP, PIO (3) CAS, CIVS, JFL, L14F, WHRR (2) Others (1) Relationships between the Protestant* and the Catholic European Sovereigns at 22nd February 1848, the day the revolutions of that year began in France Sovereign Ludwig I of Bavaria L-Philippe I of France Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies C Alberto of Sardinia Otto of Greece Isabel II of Spain Maria II of Portugal Ferdinand I of Austria F August II of Saxony Wilhelm I of Württemberg 4c ABA 4c JBA 5c WMB 4c LRBW 4c1r E3W 4c1r ABA 4c1r JBA 4c1r LRBW 4c1r LRBW 4c LRBW 4c LRBW Nicholas I of Russia 4c ABA 5c WMB 4c2r E3W 4c1r E3W 4c1r ABA 4c1r JAZ 4c2r E3W 4c3r E3W 4c2r E3W 4c1r E3W Léopold I of Belgium 4c1r EISG 4c1r WGCR 6c J7NS 3c1r LRBW 5c E3W 3c2r GAIIE 3c2r LRBW 3c2r LRBW 3c1r LRBW 3c1r LRBW Ernst August I of Hanover 3c1r JBA 5c GBL 5c1r FVP 5c1r GBL 5c1r JEIO 5c GBL 1c2r KMS 5c1r GBL 5c2r FVP 5c2r JEIO 5c2r JGIS 5c1r FVP 5c1r JEIO 5c GBL Victoria of Great Britain 4c JBA 5c1r GBL 4c LRBW 5c1r E3W 5c1r GBL 2c1r KMS 4c1r LRBW 4c1r LRBW 4c LRBW 4c LRBW Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia 1c1r GWHD 5c1r GBL 4c LRBW 5c1r E3W 5c1r GBL 1c1r KIIMS 4c1r LRBW 4c1r LRBW 4c LRBW 4c LRBW Willem II of the Netherlands 2c1r C3ZB 2c1r L8HD 5c1r GBL 4c LRBW 5c1r E3W 5c1r GBL 3c C3ZB 3c L8HD 4c1r LRBW 4c1r LRBW 4c LRBW 4c LRBW Frederik VII of Denmark 5c EISG 5c2r GBL 4c LRBW 5c1r E3W 5c1r F3D 4c AFIIMS 4c1r LRBW 4c1r LRBW 4c LRBW 4c LRBW Note: the relationship not directly linked for Ernst August I of Hanover and Maria II da Gloria of Portugal can be seen here (this link is very slow-loading; the two instances of the relationship come up sixth and seventh) ABA AFIIMS C3ZB Albrecht, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (4) A Friedrich II, D of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1) Christian III, C Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (2) E3W EISG F3D Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (12) Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha (2) Frederik III of Denmark and Norway (1) FVP GAIIE GBL Friedrich V, Elector Palatine (3) G Albrecht II, Count of Erbach-Fürstenau (1) Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (14) GWHD J7NS JAZ Landgrave Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt (1) Johann VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (1) Johann VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (1) JBA JEIO JGIS J Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (4) J Ernst I, Count of Oettingen-Oettingen (3) Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony (1) KIIMS KMS L8HD Karl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1) Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (2) Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (2) LRBW WGCR WMB L Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (30) W Georg, Count of Castell-Remlingen (1) Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Baden (2) Most connections formed: LRBW (30) GBL (14) E3W (12) ABA, JBA (4) FVP, JEIO (3 ) C3ZB, EISG, KMS, L8HD, WMB (2) Others (1) Combined statistics 1848 part one: individuals forming three or more connections Code Name T I II III Code Name T I II III LRBW L Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 30 - - 30 KMS Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 4 2 - 2 GBL Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 14 - - 14 FI2S Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies 3 - 3 - E3W Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg 13 1 - 12 FIE Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor 3 - 3 - FAIIB F Albrecht II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 11 11 - - FIISG Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 3 3 - - PEP Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine 10 - 10 - FPP Filippo, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla 3 - 3 - A3P August III of Poland 5 - 5 - FVP Friedrich V, Elector Palatine 3 - - 3 ABA Albrecht, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach 4 - - 4 GIIGB George II of Great Britain 3 3 - - FWIP Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia 4 4 - - JEIO Joachim Ernst I, Count of Oettingen-Oettingen 3 - - 3 JBA J Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach 4 - - 4 PIO Philippe I, Duke of Orléans 3 - 3 - Posted 1423844800 · Edited Reply with quote #10 Combined statistics 1848 part two: individuals forming under three connections C3ZB Christian III, C Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld 2 - - 2 F3D Frederik III of Denmark and Norway 1 - - 1 CAS Christian August, Count Palatine of Sulzbach 2 - 2 - FIA Franz I of Austria 1 - 1 - CIVS Carlos IV of Spain 2 - 2 - FIIW Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg 1 1 - - EISG Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha 2 - - 2 FISG Friedrich I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 1 1 - - FJSC Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 2 2 - - FrI2S Francesco I of the Two Sicilies 1 - 1 - FLW Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales 2 2 - - FSC Franz, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 1 1 - - GIGB George I of Great Britain 2 2 - - FWIIP Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia 1 1 - - JAZ Johann VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst 2 1 - 1 G3GB George III of Great Britain and Ireland 1 1 - - JFL Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg 2 - 2 - GAIIE G Albrecht II, Count of Erbach-Fürstenau 1 - - 1 L14F Louis XIV of France 2 - 2 - GWHD Landgrave G Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt 1 - - 1 L8HD Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt 2 - - 2 J7NS Johann VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen 1 - - 1 WHRR Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg 2 - 2 - JGIS Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony 1 - - 1 WMB Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Baden 2 - - 2 KIIMS Karl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 1 - - 1 AFIIMS Adolf Friedrich II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 1 - - 1 WGCR W Georg, Count of Castell-Remlingen 1 - - 1 A note on posterities part one – Protestants and Orthodox The charts lead off with Wilhelm I of Württemberg, who was both senior Protestant and the doyen of all these sovereigns, and so will this note. Second of the four Kings of Württemberg, his surviving posterity is from the two daughters of his third marriage, which was his second to a first cousin. He first married a Bavarian princess, a sister of the Catholic doyen Ludwig I, but that marriage was a sham, performed purely to protect the bride from being married off at Napoléon’s whim. Never consummated, the union was dissolved when Wilhelm met and fell in love with Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia, a daughter of Emperor Paul I and his wife Sophie Dorothea, sister to Wilhelm I’s father Friedrich I. They had a close and happy but brief marriage, Catherine dying within three years. Fifteen months later the still-grieving Wilhelm wed Duchess Pauline of Württemberg, a child of Duke Ludwig of the same, Friedrich I’s brother. To marry again was a necessity, there being two daughters (one of whom married Willem III of the Netherlands and had children, but no further descent; the other was childless) but no son from the second marriage. The third marriage was long, spanning forty-four years, but most of them were years of bitter estrangement and mutual loathing. Nevertheless it was fruitful, producing the desired son, who succeeded as Karl I but had no children himself, and the aforementioned two daughters. Wilhelm I’s posterity by them does not include any currently reigning monarch, but does both the Prince of Wied, a theoretical claimant to the Albanian throne, and Duke Wilhelm of Württemberg, who after his father is heir to the headship of the Royal House. He will in due course be the first head since Wilhelm II, the last King, to be descended from Wilhelm I, or indeed any other King of Württemberg; see Blood Royal post #11 for more on this. For the nearest collateral descents, six of the ten sovereigns reigning today have Wilhelm I’s brother Prince Paul of Württemberg among their ancestors. These are Margrethe II of Denmark, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Harald V of Norway, Henri of Luxembourg, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Philippe of Belgium. Continuing in the order of the charts, as I will throughout, Nicholas I of Russia was more fortunate than either his sister Catherine or his brother-in-law and cousin Wilhelm, as his one and only marriage was both long and happy. By it he is an ancestor of two current sovereigns, with a third to come. Margrethe II again is a descendant, as is Felipe VI. The one to come is the Prince of Wales. The Emperor’s sister Maria, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach by marriage to Grand Duke Karl Friedrich, is an ancestress of Carl XVI Gustaf (twice), and also of Margrethe II and Felipe VI once more (actually, twice more in both cases), and another sister, Anna, Queen of the Netherlands by marriage to Willem II, is an ancestress of King Willem-Alexander. To complete the picture, Margrethe II yet again descends from a third sister, Helena, the first wife of Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. And so does King Willem-Alexander. Only four of the ten current sovereigns can claim Romanoff ancestry, but those that do have it rather a lot; four times for the Queen of Denmark, thrice for the King of Spain, and twice each for the Kings of Sweden and the Netherlands. Léopold I of Belgium, a Protestant who for reasons of state married a Catholic and all of whose descendants adhere to that faith, has two current sovereigns among those descendants. These are King Philippe, of course, and also Grand Duke Henri. All other sovereigns bar the two Princes and the King of the Netherlands are descended from his sister Princess Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria, and also his brother Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, father of the Prince Consort. Ernst August I of Hanover married equally, once only, and for love. The union nevertheless caused a scandal, as his bride, his first cousin Duchess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, had already been wed twice and had a (probably undeserved) sinister reputation. By it he is an ancestor of Felipe VI only among current sovereigns, though his Queen can add Margrethe II and Carl XVI Gustaf, descendants of a child of her first marriage, and a well-known descendant of marriage number two is the Princess of Prussia. For collateral descents from the Hanoverian monarch, those descended from Queen Victoria, discussed next, are also descendants therefore of her father Edward Augustus, only Duke of Kent and Strathearn and an older brother of Ernst August (who was actually the British heir presumptive until the birth of Victoria’s first child); the link below from Edward VII to the Queen commences with George III, father of both Ernst August and Edward Augustus, so as to demonstrate this, and for good measure here is the Queen’s other descent from George III, via a third brother, Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge. Queen Victoria, who sat at the head of the mightiest Empire the world had yet seen and gave her name to an era, had nine children altogether by her famously devoted marriage to her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Of these seven have descendants today, her four sons and three of her five daughters. The eldest son, Victoria’s successor Edward VII, is among the ancestors of both the present Queen, naturally, and the King of Norway. His next brother Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, has no current crowned descendants. However, King Michael of Romania and Crown Prince Alexander II of Serbia both descend from him, and let us hope they both soon qualify as current sovereigns (again, in the case of King Michael). The third son, Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, is an ancestor of both Margrethe II and Carl XVI Gustaf; he can be seen in the second link above from Maria, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach to each of these sovereigns. Carl XVI Gustaf is also descended from the fourth son, Leopold, 1st Duke of Albany. The eldest of the daughters, Victoria, Princess Royal and by marriage German Empress, is twice an ancestress of Felipe VI and can be seen in both links from Maria, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach to him. The second of them, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine as wife of Grand Duke Ludwig IV, is not yet an ancestress of a current sovereign, but will be on the accession of the Prince of Wales. The third daughter, Princess Helena, married Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and had children, including the famous Princess Marie Louise, but her posterity is now extinct. The next daughter was Princess Louise, an accomplished sculptress among other talents. She married the future 9th Duke of Argyll, a love match but, as it turned out, an unhappy and unfruitful union. The fifth daughter and youngest child, Princess Beatrice, married Prince Heinrich of Battenberg and is an ancestress of the King of Spain. To be a descendant of Queen Victoria must be considered an honour but was not always a blessing; three of her children, Leopold, Alice and Beatrice, transmitted haemophilia into further generations, which in the cases of Alice’s grandson Tsesarevich Alexei and Beatrice’s grandsons Alfonso, Prince of Asturias and Infante Gonzalo was considerably more than just a family tragedy. Happily the defective gene, which most likely arose by spontaneous mutation in Queen Victoria herself, appears now to be extinct. Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia married but had no children. His brother and successor Wilhelm I, who became first of the three German Emperors, is however an ancestor of the Queen of Denmark, the King of Sweden and the King of Spain (twice), as can be seen in the first links above from Maria, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach to the two Scandinavian monarchs and both those to the Iberian one. The second link to each of Margrethe II and Carl XVI Gustaf shows in each case descent from a second brother, Prince Karl of Prussia. The Kings of Norway (twice) and Belgium and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg all descend from another sibling of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, his sister Princess Luise of Prussia, wife of Prince Frederik of the Netherlands, as indeed does the Queen of Denmark. The present King of the Netherlands is descended from a second sister, Alexandrine, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin as wife of Grand Duke Paul Friedrich. Inevitably, so is the Queen of Denmark, making a fourth descent for her and leaving her fellow Scandinavian monarchs in the dust as regards Hohenzollern descents. The King of Spain though is on her heels with his third descent from Friedrich Wilhelm III, father of these two Prussian monarchs, their brother Karl and their sisters Luise, Alexandrine and the as-yet-unmentioned Charlotte. She was Empress of All the Russias as wife of her third cousin Nicholas I, and so appears in the links above from the Emperor to both Felipe VI and the Prince of Wales, who will bring this descent to the British throne. And of course Charlotte also appears in the link from Nicholas I to Margrethe II, who decisively trumps the rest with her fifth descent from Friedrich Wilhelm III, and from a fifth child of his what is more. The children and further descendants of Constantine II of Greece can better this with eight descents of their own, though still only from five children. Descent does survive from a sixth child, Prince Albrecht, but does not extend to any current sovereign, or indeed living former sovereign. Willem II of the Netherlands can be more briefly dealt with; his only crowned descendant today is King Willem-Alexander, as can be seen in the link above from Willem II’s wife (who was also twice his third cousin) Grand Duchess Anna of Russia. Theirs was another unhappy but nevertheless fruitful union, descent surviving from their fifth child and youngest daughter Princess Sophie, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach by marriage to Grand Duke Karl Alexander, as well as from their eldest son, Willem II’s successor Willem III. The above-mentioned Prince Frederik, an ancestor of the Danish and Norwegian monarchs and the other two Benelux sovereigns, was Willem II’s brother, so collateral descent at least from the second King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg is quite widespread. As for Frederik VII of Denmark, last Danish monarch of the original line sprung from Frederik II (reigned 1559-1588), he was the second of these eight Protestant and Orthodox sovereigns to have no children (there is a suggestion that he fathered an illegitimate son, who has descendants today, but there is no conclusive evidence of this). He was married thrice, the first two times royally, both marriages ending in scandal and divorce. The third marriage was morganatic and also scandalous because of his bride’s common origins and her already having had an illegitimate son. It appears to have been happy, even though it may well have been an arrangement of convenience; the King lived in a ménage à trois with his third wife, Louise Rasmussen, and a Carl Berling, who appears to have been the lover of both spouses and was the father of the aforementioned illegitimate son of Frøken Rasmussen. Such were the peculiarities of Frederik VII’s private life that while he was still Crown Prince his father Christian VIII, of whom he was the only legitimate child to survive infancy, appointed an heir presumptive to him, the future Christian IX. Whose wife Landgravine Luise of Hesse-Cassel happened to be the niece of Christian VIII, while the Prince Consort was the great-nephew of his wife, Frederik VII’s mother Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (both relationships are shown as between Frederik VII himself and the respective spouses, rather than the individuals concerned). Without going into other collateral descents, which do exist, that establishes the Queen, the Danish and Norwegian monarchs and the King of Spain as descended from all four of Frederik VII’s grandparents, they all being descendants of both Christian IX and Queen Victoria. And now it is time to move on to the second part of the note, and the posterities of the Catholic monarchs of the day. A note on posterities part two – Catholics No current monarch descends from the senior Catholic sovereign on the chosen date, Ludwig I of Bavaria. A future monarch however does so descend; not the Prince of Wales this time, but rather Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein. Collateral descents exist from Ludwig I’s full sister Princess Augusta of Bavaria to Margrethe II of Denmark (twice), Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Harald V of Norway (three times), Henri of Luxembourg (twice) and Philippe of Belgium (also twice). These links have a dual purpose, as besides illustrating descent from Princess Augusta herself they also do this for her son-in-law Oscar I of Sweden and Norway, omitted from the charts because he had no royal ancestry beyond his father and thus was not connectable. Like both his father Maximilian I’s wives, Ludwig’s bride was a Protestant, his first cousin once removed Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Their marriage was the occasion of the first ever Oktoberfest, creating a tradition which still survives after two hundred years and more. While Therese was distressed by her husband’s numerous infidelities she endured them, and the union was productive of eight children that lived to adulthood, descent surviving from three of these. The marriage of Louis-Philippe I of France was as productive, and even more so in the next generation, with eight children living to adulthood and descent surviving from seven of the eight. The Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the Kings of Belgium and Spain are among these descendants, the first two tracing from Louis-Philippe’s eldest daughter Louise, Queen of the Belgians by marriage to Léopold I, and the third from both his eldest son Ferdinand, Prince Royal, and his youngest son (and child) Antoine, duc de Montpensier. Louis-Philippe’s descendants are numerous enough, but less so than they might have been due to very frequent intermarriage among them. The single and dual descents shown above are very restrained compared to, for example, the six descents held by the children of the comte de Paris, present legitimate (as opposed to legitimist) claimant to the French throne. But even six descents pales beside the eleven held by the children of Aimone, Duke of Apulia, of whom the eldest is eventual heir to both Italian claims. Eleven is I believe the current record, which is not to say that it will never be bettered. These children’s parents, of whom the father contributed seven descents and the mother, Princess Olga of Greece, the remaining four, were not even the most recent (16th September 2008) mutual descendants of Louis-Philippe to marry; on 25th June 2014 Prince François of Orléans (a five times descendant) was wed to Theresa von Einsiedel (descended once). The couple’s nearest relationships show a fairly typical picture, one that despite the general decline in equal marriage (and actually this marriage was not equal) will I am sure be seen again in the future, eventually leading to eleven descents being surpassed – perhaps, who knows, by grandchildren of Aimone and Olga. The original very fruitful union from which all these individuals spring was with Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, a daughter of Ferdinando IV/III, who later became Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies. Their nearest relationships were rather complicated, they being each other’s third cousin once removed thrice and fourth cousin four times, with three different mutual ancestors involved. When they married Naples was occupied by Napoléon, so the marriage was in Palermo, capital of Sicily, where they remained for their first few years together and where their first three children were born. Maria Amalia’s mother Queen Maria Carolina was a sister of Marie Antoinette and Louis-Philippe the son of the regicide Philippe Égalité, so she had unsurprisingly opposed the marriage at first. However, after lengthy interviews with her daughter’s suitor she eventually came round, influenced no doubt by the fact that at twenty-seven her daughter was well past the age at which a princess would usually marry and even a penniless exile with few prospects was preferable to no husband at all. We do not know what Maria Carolina would have thought of this same daughter becoming Queen of the French, she being long dead by then, but we do know what Maria Amalia herself did; she was horrified at the prospect, both because she considered it a usurpation and because she feared it would destroy their happy family life. She never fully reconciled herself to the reality, either, asking on her deathbed to have Duchess of Orléans rather than her royal style put on her gravestone, but fulfilled her duties as Queen and came to see the crown as a duty given to her husband by God, so that she was as fiercely opposed to his abdication as she had been to his accession. Abdicate he did, however, and the happy family life that had in fact survived her husband becoming King continued in England until his death. Maria Amalia’s nephew Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies married twice, his first wife being his second cousin Maria Cristina of Savoy, youngest daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I of Sardinia. Beatified a little over a year ago, she gave him one child, the future Francesco II, but died of complications arising from the birth. He therefore needed to marry again, and his choice fell on another second cousin, but three times over this time, Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria, daughter of the famous Archduke Karl who faced Napoléon in battle more times than any other general. Their marriage was regarded as happy and she gave him eight children that lived to adulthood, descent surviving from five of these (there is none from Francesco II). However, though widespread in deposed royal lines it is not so common in currently reigning ones, and is in fact enjoyed only by the King of Spain among today’s sovereigns. Via siblings of his parents descent is more widespread from Ferdinando II’s grandparents, Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies and Carlos IV of Spain (who were brothers) and their respective spouses. All the Catholic monarchs bar the Prince of Monaco descend in this way from all four grandparents of Ferdinando II, and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from his father Francesco I also, though not his mother, as the descent is via a half-sibling, a daughter of Francesco I’s first marriage. Although no one disputes his legitimate inheritance of the Sardinian throne, Carlo Alberto I was otherwise in a somewhat similar situation to Louis-Philippe; scion of a remote cadet line, which absent sons from him would become extinct, and for the last several generations had been making marriages which were either not quite equal or, while equal enough, would not usually be considered sufficiently prestigious for a member of the principal branch. I actually like the Orléans ancestry that resulted very much, it is fascinatingly different from the usual run of royal ancestries, yet there are points of contact. I am less fond of Carlo Alberto’s ancestry via his Savoy-Carignano forebears, but this is largely due to the number of times I had to explore it for the 1871 and 1914 threads, over-familiarity breeding weariness, and certainly it has its points of interest. Another way in which these two monarchs were in a similar situation prior to marriage was that despite their remoteness from the main line Salic law brought them close to the succession, enabling them to make more conventional royal marriages than their recent forebears could. At any rate I imagine this was another factor influencing Louis-Philippe’s future parents-in-law, and it surely was a factor for those of Carlo Alberto, he being when he married not merely close to the succession but second in line, and almost certain to become King. His bride was Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, youngest child of Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Despite all the above they were not that distantly related, she being twice his second cousin once removed. They had two children that survived infancy and had children of their own, the future unifier of Italy Vittorio Emanuele II and his brother Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa. Descent survives from both, and indeed Italy’s third and fourth Kings were descended from both. No current monarch descends from either, though, only those descended from Louis-Philippe having even a drop of Carignano blood. A restoration in Italy would obviously remedy this, the senior line being again descendants of both brothers and the junior Aosta line, which I nevertheless believe to have the only valid claim, from the elder brother only, but sadly cannot be expected. A restoration in Bulgaria is perhaps a slightly better prospect (though I must admit I do not really expect that to happen either), and would again give Carlo Alberto I a current crowned descendant of both his sons. Like his father Ludwig I of Bavaria, the Catholic Otto of Greece married a Protestant. Unlike his parents, however, Otto and his wife Duchess Amalia of Oldenburg were only distantly related, being each other’s fourth cousin once removed once and fifth cousin twice. Also unlike his parents they had no children at all. Otto is believed to have had an illegitimate son by a Greek woman, and if this is true then descent survives from him in Greece. For royal lines however all there is to look to is the direct and collateral descents from his father outlined above. Childlessness was not a problem Isabel II of Spain had; she had twelve children altogether, of whom five lived to adulthood, descent surviving from three of these. What is problematic is the question of exactly who was the father of these children, with various different candidates suspected for various of them. There are grounds for suspicion; in the early years of their marriage she and her husband (not to mention double first cousin) Infante Francisco de Asis did not get on at all well, and though they eventually became friends at least they lived largely separate lives from the beginning. Neither had wished to marry the other, but neither had been given a choice, and while the paternity of her children is merely questionable there seems little doubt of Isabel II having had extra-marital affairs. Personally, looking only at the three children, one son and two daughters, from whom there is surviving descent, I am inclined to believe that the elder of the daughters, Infanta Maria de la Paz, was not a child of Francisco de Asis. The son, Alfonso XII as he became, and the younger daughter Infanta Eulalia I tend to think were his children, though ‘think’ is as far as I would go. For what it is worth, in the first volume of her memoirs Infanta Eulalia describes her father as courteous and formal but distant, having apparently very little interest in his family, which the Infanta ascribes to her parents having married not for affection but for reasons of state. Which they did, but if her father’s coldness was also due to his legal children not being actually his Infanta Eulalia betrays no awareness of it. And in the end the question does not really matter one way or the other. It was Isabel II that was monarch of Spain, not her husband, and the acknowledged children of her marriage were thereby legitimate, and inherited and in three cases transmitted legitimate succession rights to Spain. The present Spanish monarch is her descendant and lawful and undoubted heir; elsewhere, there is descent at least from her (and her husband’s) grandfather Carlos IV to the other Catholic monarchs, the Prince of Monaco apart. Wikipedia states that Maria II da Glória is the only European monarch ever to have been born outside Europe, her birthplace being Rio de Janeiro. While this is true enough for more modern times, there were various Roman and Byzantine Emperors born in Asia or Africa. Anyway her children were all born in Portugal, in Lisbon to be precise, and it is they we are concerned with here. Having lost her first husband, a Beauharnais scion, after only two months of marriage she married again, the choice falling this time on her fourth cousin once removed (twice), Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She had eleven children altogether by him, and was in fact literally a martyr to childbearing. Warned that her constant pregnancies were wearing out her body and that further conceptions would be at great risk to her life, she replied that to bear children was her duty as a woman and a Queen. Sadly, the doctors were right, and she died of childbed complications aged only thirty-four. Six of the children she bore at such cost to herself lived to adulthood, descent surviving today from two. No current crowned head has it, but restoration in Romania would change that. Restoration in Austria would also suffice, but while there is some chance at least in Romania a revived Austrian (or Bohemian, or Hungarian) monarchy cannot realistically be looked for, much as we all would desire it. For collateral descents, I invite anyone interested to consult the final paragraph of my epic essay ‘Blood of the Braganças’, which can be found in the 1415 thread, post #13. There were exceptions, but the Catholic monarchs especially of the period were on the whole considerably inbred, as noted in the Introduction part II. As I have explained elsewhere, this can have deleterious effects but usually won’t. Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, whose parents were double first cousins, does however seem to have suffered from the fact. Physically, he was frail and somewhat deformed and suffered very gravely from epilepsy, having up to twenty fits a day. He was considered by many to be mentally subnormal, though I don’t feel he was (and some historians at least agree). He kept a journal and therefore was literate, and in the excerpts from it I have read comes across as endearingly childlike and innocent but perfectly able to express himself coherently, so if there was a degree of mental disablement I don’t think it can have been severe. In the journal he expresses great affection for his wife (and, not that it was relevant, two times second cousin) Princess Maria Ana of Savoy, an elder sister of the beatified first wife of Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies, but his epilepsy prevented physical expression of this affection and the unconsummated union was necessarily childless. He had eleven full siblings, only one of whom is known to have suffered from similar handicaps, six of them surviving to adulthood. There is descent surviving from three of these, which extends to one current sovereign, Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein. Beyond that, the King of Spain and Grand Duke of Luxembourg descend from all four of Emperor Ferdinand’s grandparents. The last monarch to consider is Friedrich August II of Saxony. He married twice, first to a sister of Ferdinand I then to a half-sister of Ludwig I, but both unions failed of issue. He was not however childless, as he had an illegitimate son, Theodor Uhlig, a musician and composer who played a not insignificant part in the Wagner story. There appears to have been no further posterity from him, nor is any current sovereign descended from either of the two siblings of Friedrich August II with surviving descent. This situation will eventually change, which once again will be on the accession of Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein. With which information I will conclude the second and final part of this very lengthy note; I hope that anyone who made it this far found things of interest and to enjoy, both in the note and the thread generally. Thanks for this comprehensive and enjoyable survey of the European monarchs in 1848, the year of revolutions, and for the interesting map at the top of this thread. Maria II da Gloria of Portugal, Otto of Greece, and Isabella II of Spain all acceded to their thrones within 5 years of each other. In 1833, King Otto of Greece and Queen Regnant Maria II were teenagers, while Regnant Queen Isabella II was all of 3 years old. Across the ocean, reigning Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was about 7 years old at this time. It was probably fortunate that these young monarchs had another 15 years to mature in order to cope with the 1848 revolutionary fervor sweeping Europe. None of them had very easy reigns. Otto reigned for many years in Greece, although he was eventually deposed. His deposition was for political reasons, although the fact that he and Queen Amalia were childless (except for the possible natural Greek child mentioned above) may have been a contributory factor. After the deposition, Otto and Amalia returned to Bavaria. Otto died a few years later, and Amalia outlived him by several years. A post-mortem medical examination determined that Amalia suffered from Mullerian agenesis, a not uncommon congenital condition, in which a female child is born without a uterus, and consequently has no menstrual cycles. Women with this condition do have normal hormones and ovaries. But due to the lack of a uterus, they cannot carry a pregnancy. Nowadays, with in vitro fertilisation, such women can become mothers, if a surrogate is available. Amalia was a princess of Grand Ducal Oldenburg, and the new King of Greece, chosen after Otto and Amalia's deposition, was George I of Glucksburg, another branch of the Oldenburg dynasty. Ludwig I of Bavaria and Friedrich August II of Saxony, wherever they may now be, are probably pleased that Prince Joseph Wenzel will, in the fullness of time, make them ancestors or collaterals of a reigning sovereign, albeit it will be in tiny Liechtenstein. Joseph Wenzel is also the Jacobite heir after his grand-uncles and his mother.This accession doesn't look promising and should not be counted upon, and so Joseph, in all likelihood, will have to be content with Liechtenstein. Although Joseph's birth in Portland Hospital and education at Malvern College does give one pause. Dis Aliter Visum "Beware of martyrs and those who would die for their beliefs; for they frequently make many others die with them, often before them, sometimes instead of them." Thanks, Windemere. I hadn’t known that about Queen Amalia; I did read her Wikipedia article, but must have missed that last bit. I’m a little surprised the marriage ever took place, as it must have been evident that she would be infertile. Perhaps they were in love, and certainly they seem to have been happy together for the thirty years of their marriage; I don’t personally think that ought to have taken priority over the requirement for an heir to the throne, but it does count for something. She was as you say ultimately of the same line agnatically as George I of Greece, who replaced her husband as Greek monarch. It was a fairly remote affinity, though; Amalia’s line originated with Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (1526-1586), youngest son of the second marriage of Frederik I of Denmark, while George I’s was from a younger son of Adolf’s elder half-brother Christian III (1503-1559). I have no idea why Prince Joseph Wenzel was either born in England or educated here, but I feel certain there was no Jacobite agenda behind it. It is 207 years since a Jacobite heir made even a token claim, so it would be a little late to be raising one now. Prince Joseph Wenzel will in the course of nature become lineal heir of William the Conqueror and Robert the Bruce, but it is over 300 years since that constituted a claim to the throne, and it is now a distinction to take pride in but not to act on. Something else notable about his ancestry; through his mother’s Saxon blood he is a descendant of the great Jan III Sobieski of Poland, and when he eventually accedes will be the first monarch since 1946 (Simeon II of Bulgaria) who can say as much – unless an Italian, Austrian or Bulgarian restoration intervenes, all sadly unlikely prospects. The Polish monarch’s greatest fame is from his successful defence of Vienna against the Turks in the siege of 1683. There were two other great commanders involved in that victory; Jan III entirely merits his fame from it, but has still somewhat unfairly overshadowed the other two in historical memory. Prince Joseph Wenzel actually descends from all three. He descends several times from Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, grandfather of the Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, as of course do four of the five current Catholic monarchs, including his grandfather Hans-Adam II. But through his grandfather he descends also from Count Ernst Rüdiger of Starhemberg, of a line that was later raised to Imperial Immediacy and the rank of Prince and survives today as a mediatised House. This is a descent not shared by any of the other monarchs, and neither Hans-Adam II nor Prince Joseph Wenzel’s father Hereditary Prince Alois has the descent from Jan III Sobieski; this comes as said through Prince Joseph Wenzel’s mother Duchess Sophie in Bavaria, Princess of Bavaria (who also descends from Count Ernst Rüdiger, via her paternal grandmother Countess Maritsa Draskovich de Trakostjan). While there are various others besides the Prince’s mother who descend from all three of the commanders responsible for one of the most famous victories in European history, I believe Prince Joseph Wenzel will be the first sovereign ever to do so. The links above from Count Ernst Rüdiger trace respectively to the Prince’s father and mother; he actually has two more such descents, and here is one of them that goes all the way. Now, after all that I have quite a lot to say about Maria II da Glória of Portugal and her brother Pedro II of Brazil, and charts and tables to accompany the verbiage. The graphical material is ready, the verbiage is not and anyway this has already been more than long enough, so I’ll resume with the Bragança siblings at another time. While I am grateful for Windemere’s appreciation of the thread, judging by the number of reads the appreciation is not widely shared. I doubt whether what follows will arouse much interest either, but still some may enjoy it and I think the work has at least a limited value, so will offer it. My original plan for continuation of the thread was that I would first cover the histories of the two 1848 sovereigns Maria II da Glória of Portugal and Pedro II of Brazil, focussing more on Pedro II as his sister had already had some coverage. Following that I would delve more into their ancestries and relationships with two charts, the first introduced at the end of the joint history and followed by some discussion and a second chart, which would finally conclude the thread. I am still going to do all that, but the first part grew in the writing and extended back to become a narrative and genealogical discussion of all the sovereigns of the House of Bragança; in fact, a Blood of the Braganças II, which is what I have called it. Or the first part of it, anyway; due to its length I have actually divided it into parts II and III, the first of these taking the story from the children of João IV, first monarch of the House and restorer of Portuguese sovereignty, up to João VI, through whose many children Bragança blood began to branch out into the dynasties of Europe. Part III will then give these children’s histories and also those of the next generation of Bragança monarchs, and will be followed by the charts and discussion previously described. All this along with my 1415 in-depth study of Bragança forebears probably makes me seem a little obsessed with the House, a charge to which I would have to plead guilty. They were a characterful and often tragic dynasty, with a fascinating heritage of blood from João IV and his gallant Queen Doña Luisa de Guzmán, and I believe their story is worth the telling. I hope some people at least will read it, and see whether they agree. For now there will be just part II to do that with; the various charts are ready but not the discussion of them, nor is part III. However rather than wait and post everything in one go I thought I would give the chance to digest this instalment before the next arrives. Until all is complete the thread will be locked so as to maintain sequence; after that it will again be open to replies, and anyone who wishes to reply in the meantime is, as ever, invited to do so in the discussion thread at the top of the page. Blood of the Braganças part II The wide-ranging ancestry covered in the preceding part took some time to ‘break out’ into general Catholic royalty, and then failed to spread altogether effectively. While it is no surprise, for example, that the Prince of Monaco has no Bragança blood, it is that the King of Spain has not a drop either; the most recent Portuguese monarch from whom he descends is in fact the Habsburg Filipe III (Felipe IV of Spain, reigned in Portugal 1621-1640), and the most recent native sovereign of Portugal found in his ancestry is Manoel I, reigned 1495-1521. The most recent from whom descent is possible is Maria II da Glória, who reigned from 1826 to 1828 and then again from 1834 to 1853, so that is quite a gap. Mind you, for today’s Protestant sovereigns the gap is wider still, the most recent Portuguese monarch in their ancestries being Duarte I, reigned 1433-1438. The religious divide produced by the Reformation explains that readily enough, but why the Catholic monarch of neighbouring Spain should have to reach back to the early 16th century for a Portuguese sovereign ancestor is not so easy to understand. The answer lies in the first factor mentioned above, the length of time that Bragança blood remained confined to Portugal, not giving it time to establish itself universally in Catholic reigning houses before the general collapse of European monarchies and the decline in equal marriage checked its spread. What follows will recount the history of the dynasty from when it first mounted the throne, and along the way the causes of the delay in Bragança blood spreading will become clear. A dynasty in peril Fragile from its beginnings, the Royal House of Bragança more than once nearly went extinct. João IV, first monarch of the House, and his Queen had seven children together, but only the last of these produced children in his turn. This was Pedro II, who succeeded his insane brother Afonso VI in 1683 but had in fact been ruling since 1668, when he had seized power in a coup and exiled his brother to the Azores, nevertheless allowing Afonso VI’s nominal reign to continue until his death. Pedro II took more than the reins of government from his brother. He also took his wife, Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy-Nemours, whose marriage to Afonso had been annulled on grounds of impotence. They however had only one child, Infanta Isabel. With the third generation of royal Braganças containing exactly one member, a sickly teenage girl, it is no surprise that Pedro II married again when his first wife died, shortly after she became Queen for the second time. The only surprise is that he took nearly four years to get round to it, marrying Maria Sophia, Countess Palatine of Neuburg, on 11th August 1687. There were three reasons for the choice. First, her father Philipp Wilhelm had recently acceded as Elector Palatine, making him one of the great princes of the Empire and raising his and his family’s status accordingly. Second, her mother, Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, was a woman of exceptional beauty, who had passed her looks to her daughters. And the third and probably most important reason was that Elisabeth Amalie was also exceptionally fertile, having given birth to seventeen children, of whom thirteen lived to adulthood. These factors had already made the eldest child Eleonore Magdalene Empress as wife of Emperor Leopold I, and now made Maria Sophia Queen of Portugal. She proved a very popular Queen, devout and devoted to the welfare of the poor, but died aged only 32, leaving her husband a widower for the second time. They had though by then had nine children together, so Maria Sophia had indeed inherited her mother’s fertility along with her beauty. The first of these, Infante João, was born just over a year after the marriage and displaced his half-sister Isabel in the succession, but her position as heiress presumptive was restored when the child died in his third week. However, a little over a year later a second Infante João was born, and he lived to be João V. A year less a day after that Infanta Isabel died aged 21 and unmarried, and that third generation was back to one member.* It was soon increased though by the arrival of Infante Francisco, and after that children arrived at regular intervals until Maria Sophia’s early death. Some died young but five of his legitimate children survived Pedro II. Portugal’s Sun King The dynasty’s position was still not assured, though, as exactly one of these children had legitimate issue of his own. This was João V, first Portuguese sovereign to bear the Papal title ‘Most Faithful Majesty’, who married his first cousin Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, a daughter of Emperor Leopold I and Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (Pedro II and Maria Sophia had incidentally been fifth cousins once removed). They were to have six children altogether, of whom four survived infancy to be raised amid the splendours of Europe’s most magnificent Court after Versailles; indeed, Joao V was known as O Rei-Sol Português, such was the pomp and grandeur surrounding him. Gold flooding in from Brazil paid for these splendours and allowed João V to dispense with the Cortes, having no need of financial grants, and rule absolutely, as his successors continued to do until 1822. The enormous wealth at his disposal was also put to use in amassing one of Europe’s greatest art collections, and in further expanding the music library, already the largest in the world, established by João V’s grandfather João IV, a composer of some repute and an expert musicologist besides his better-known occupation as King. But still the dynasty’s survival was imperilled. In 1750 when João V died three of those four children remained alive (the fourth had died unmarried aged nineteen), but only one had yet produced grandchildren for him. This was his successor José I, who had married Infanta Maria Anna Victoria of Spain, daughter of Felipe V by his second wife Elisabeth Farnese, another granddaughter of the Elector Palatine Philipp Wilhelm, the bride and bridegroom thereby being twice second cousins. There were four daughters of this marriage living when their grandfather died, but no son. Of João V’s other children, his daughter Barbara was Queen of Spain as wife of Fernando VI, but was childless and aged 38 could be expected to remain so, and his younger son Pedro was a 33-year-old bachelor. The monarch and the minister The pleasure-loving José I entrusted governmental affairs to the Marqués de Pombal, a gifted and imaginative administrator who effectively ruled as an enlightened despot in the King’s name, introducing far-reaching reforms, curbing the power of the nobility and expelling the Jesuits, who hitherto had exerted a paralysing grip on the country’s educational systems. In the meantime his royal master devoted himself to hunting, his mistresses and attending operatic performances, the latter interest leading him to still further expand the great music library, adding to it the largest collection of opera scores and libretti amassed to that date. But this idyllic way of life was brought to an abrupt end by the terrible Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, which levelled the ancient and beautiful city, killed upwards of 100,000 people and, in a cultural tragedy accompanying the human tragedy of so great a loss of life, destroyed the marvellous art and music collections. The King fled to the hills with his family, where they lived in a tent city, José I refusing for some time to go within walls. Pombal was left to attend to reviving and rebuilding the capital, which within a year had arisen afresh, more beautiful than ever and constructed to be earthquake-proof this time. The style of architecture developed under his direction, still one of the chief glories of Lisbon to this day, is justly known as ‘Pombaline’. Five years after the calamity Infante Pedro married at last, aged 42. His bride was also his niece, Maria, Princess of Brazil and eldest daughter of Pedro’s brother José I. Not expecting to have further children and his only son having been stillborn, her father had given her the traditional title of the heir apparent on his accession and, desiring the throne to continue in the Bragança male line, subsequently arranged the marriage to his brother. Which was happy despite their seventeen-year age difference, and productive of three children that lived past infancy. The eldest of these children, Infante José, became Prince of Brazil in his turn on his mother’s accession, and was married to his maternal aunt and paternal first cousin Infanta Benedita, youngest daughter of José I (neither of the other two daughters ever wed). The marriage had been at the express wish of the old King, but he died two months before and did not live to see either it or the birth of a child who would have been simultaneously his grandchild, great-grandchild and great-nephew or -niece, being the son or daughter of his grandson/nephew by his daughter. And in fact no child was ever born with this quasi-Ptolemaic ancestry, nor did Infante José ever become José II, being struck down by smallpox aged 27. This left the continuation of the dynasty to his brother Infante João, who now himself became Prince of Brazil, or if he failed of issue continuation of the Bragança bloodline at least to his sister Maria Ana Vitória. The mad Queen When José I’s death brought Maria I to the throne her husband thereby became Pedro III. However his style as a sovereign did not empower him to share the rule, which he had no inclination to in any case, and Maria I took this firmly into her own hands, beginning by dismissing the great Pombal. An unpromising start, but in fact Maria reigned admirably well until, nine years after her accession and just before her husband’s death, the first symptoms of mental instability became apparent. The loss of her husband caused further deterioration, and when five years later her eldest son too died her reason collapsed altogether. She never recovered, and the remaining 24 years of her reign were under the regency of her only remaining son Infante João, at first informal but in 1799 made official. Her other surviving child, her daughter Infanta Maria Ana Vitória, married Infante Gabriel of Spain but died with her husband in an outbreak of smallpox, leaving one son who in turn left a son, Infante Sebastian of both Portugal and Spain. A Carlist general, he was stripped of his titles and dynastic status for warring against the Crown, and while he has a considerable posterity today it does not extend to any royal line. Infante João, the future João VI, had however played his part in the dynasty’s continuation and it is through his children that Bragança blood at last began to spread to other reigning houses. These children, of whom he had nine altogether, all but one living to adulthood, were with his wife and twice second cousin Infanta Carlota Joaquina of Spain, daughter of Carlos IV. A productive marriage, but in all other respects disastrous. Infante João was plump, of easy temperament and lived simply, apart from his devotion to gastronomy. Infanta Carlota can only be described as an evil witch, a harridan who made her husband’s life a misery in every conceivable way and continually schemed and intrigued against him, serving always her own interests or those of her native Spain with never a thought for the interests of Portugal. Later in life she would egg on her youngest son Infante Miguel, whom she dominated, to repeatedly rebel against his father and ultimately to seize the Throne from its rightful occupant. In the 1990s an examination of João VI’s remains confirmed what had long been suspected, that he died of poisoning. It cannot be confirmed that his wife had a hand in this, but suspicion of her is unavoidable, she having shown herself capable of any crime and they having long been the most bitter of enemies, both politically and personally. A great deal of water, though, had flowed under the bridge between Maria I’s collapse into insanity and the murder of her son and successor, whether at his wife’s instigation or no. And it had flowed also under the keels of a fleet bearing the entire Portuguese royal family over the seas to Brazil. A House in exile No European Court had ever before established itself in one of its colonial possessions, nor would any do so again. The Portuguese Court would not have done so either were it not for the most pressing of circumstances, the approach in late 1807 of French armies so numerous and strong that there was no hope of successful resistance. The whole period of Infante João’s regency had been dominated by the struggle with first Revolutionary and then Napoleonic France, and the endgame now approached, for this phase at least. Choosing reluctantly to, as it would appear, desert his people rather than have himself and the entire Portuguese Royal House become Napoléon’s captives, he chose also to seek refuge not in comparatively nearby England but in faraway Brazil, the vast land which was the source of Portugal’s, and the dynasty’s, great wealth but which no member of the Royal House had ever set foot in before. It was to be a momentous choice, for both colony and motherland. Portugal had been content under absolute rule, orderly, peaceful and prosperous. Now its people saw themselves as abandoned and betrayed by their Prince, and though the French occupation of Portugal lasted less than a year, the invaders being driven out by British forces under the future Duke of Wellington, that was enough time for liberal ideas to spread and establish themselves. The relationship between the Portuguese people and their sovereign would never be the same, and nor would Brazil ever be the same. For all its vast size and great resources, Brazil was backward and the people poor. The arrival of the Prince Regent and all the Court to take direct charge of the colony led to as big a transformation as could be imagined. Freed from the immediate pressures of war Dom João proved an industrious, imaginative and caring ruler, creating many institutions to advance Brazil’s prosperity and status and creating also a sense of Brazilian national identity, where none had existed before. In 1815, the year before death finally freed the insane Maria I from decades of torment by her own ruined mind, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was declared. The declaration was issued not in Lisbon but in Rio de Janeiro, the Prince Regent and the rest of the royal family showing no inclination to return to Portugal despite Napoléon’s final defeat. They were still there on the accession of João VI in 1816, and still there in 1820 when a revolution in Portugal brought the triumph of liberal forces. They did not seek the monarchy’s overthrow but demanded that the King come back to his homeland, and demanded also the enactment of a Constitution and the return of Brazil to subordinate status. The King tried to send the heir Infante Pedro in his stead, but he would not go and in 1821 João VI embarked for Europe, as reluctantly as he had sailed for the Americas 13 years before. The next year the required Constitution was enacted, and so two of the rebel demands had been met. The third, though, was a non-starter; Brazil had changed too much and advanced too far to again become an exploited colony. In the same year of 1822 the Empire of Brazil was proclaimed by that same Infante Pedro, who had remained as Regent of Brazil and now became its Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender. On the face of it a most unfilial rebellion, but in fact all the signs are that the King, recognising the inevitability of Brazil’s separation, had encouraged his son to lead rather than resist the independence movement, retaining Brazil for the Portuguese Royal House even if not for Portugal, the latter being impossible of accomplishment. None of this could be admitted publicly, and it was three years before the dispute between motherland and former colony was resolved, Portugal recognising both Brazil’s independence and its Emperor, while João VI was acknowledged titular Emperor of Brazil for life, reigning though not ruling alongside his son. Nevertheless, on João VI’s arsenic-hastened death in 1826 his truly unfilial son Infante Miguel was able to parlay his elder brother’s rebellion – a sin of which he had repeatedly himself been guilty, and not with the complicity of his father and King – into a claim for the Throne. Which he made good, and which led to more years of turmoil and warfare for the country the dynasty had hitherto served so well. The story of those years, and of the children and further descent of João VI and the execrable Carlota Joaquina, will be told in the third and final part of Blood of the Braganças. * Infanta Isabel’s mother Queen Maria Francesca was incidentally the great-great-aunt of Louis XV of France, and he in turn was among the great-great-grandparents of the children of João VI, so though it took some time Maria Francesca’s descents did make it to the House two sovereigns of which she married, even if not her own personal blood. Quick Navigation: Select a Category Guidelines, Announcements, and Introductions General British Isles and the Commonwealth Europe European Royal Genealogy Asia and Africa Americas Off-topic Serious Off-topic Social	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line966
__label__wiki	0.733073	0.733073	Family of US-detained Nigerian Man cries out, seeks FG’s intervention By Oghenahogie OshokoPublished Sunday 16 December 2018 1:58 PM 0 CommentTags: Family of US detained Nigerian Man Cry Out When Mr. Ayodeji Ojo, a middle-aged man, visited the United States of America (USA), in August 2016, together with his wife and two other persons, Mr. Olufolajimi Ayodeji Abegunde, a Nigerian resident in Atlanta, Georgia, out of caring friendship and affectionate compassion, warmly hosted and accommodated his friend, and his immediate family members. But that act of brotherly love and kind generosity will soon turn out to be his greatest undoing, as Olufolajimi, few months after, was arrested and has been in detention in US, since February this year. PRNigeria gathered that Olufolajimi, 32, had gone to make a date-change for a proposed trip to the Dominican Republic at the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, on 7 February 2018, when the Airport’s officials arrested him as he was about to leave. They accused him of attempting to flee the country on account of a Federal Indictment by FBI in August 2017. He was thereafter charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. According to Anjolaoluwa Abegunde, the brother to the detained Olufolajimi, the genesis of the worrisome incident began in 2016 after Mr. Ojo and his family visited US. “He was selflessly accommodated by my younger brother, Olufolajimi, for some days,” Anjolaoluwa said, adding that: ‘’It happened that Mr. Ojo, during his trip, needed to withdraw some cash from his Bank of America account. However, the account had been closed by the bank authorities. “So the only option left available for him to access the money domiciled in the account was to open a new account. My younger brother offered to help by providing his residential address as part of requirements for a new account to be opened. But sometimes around August 2017, two special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stormed his US apartment and questioned him on issues related to fraud and money laundering.’’ He further stated that though the FBI, without any judicial pronouncement, indicted his brother in August 2017 after invading his home. He wasn’t at any time arrested or summoned by America’s security personnel. He said his younger brother, Olufolajimi, freely moved about and carried out his personal commitments without let or hindrance, up till February 7 when he was finally arrested. When asked if Mr. Ojo, who stayed with his brother, may actually have engaged in fraudulent activities while opening a new account using Olufolajimi’s US home address, Anjolaoluwa, who is also a lawyer, described Mr. Ojo as a responsible and young man of good moral character. ‘’Mr. Ojo is someone who is well known to our family. We have never known him to be a dubious, criminal or fraudulent. Hence, we are very confident he didn’t do anything illicit, though my brother’s ordeal started after his visit to US sometimes in 2016’’, he added. In a phone chat with PRNigeria, Mrs. Oluseyi Abegunde, mother of Olufolajimi, said her son was initially detained in Atlanta while his bond application came up. ‘’The bond was however denied, and he was moved to Tennessee, where he has been held at the Dyton Detention Facility in Mason. Efforts made to appeal the earlier bond application dragged on from February until June 25, 2018 when it was again denied. Then, the trial was fixed for October 9, 2018. In the intervening period between June and the proposed trial date, a superseding Indictment came up with, ‘Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Money laundering conspiracy, Marriage Fraud conspiracy and Witness Tampering’ as the new offences my son was accused to have committed. The new charges were due for hearing on December 10, 2018. The earlier charge of aggravated identity theft however was dropped, as it is not contained in the superseding indictment’’, she added. The utterly traumatized mother, said amidst grief, that the ugly issue has seriously traumatized her and the entire members of her family. Mrs. Abegunde said: ‘’It has been emotionally terrible for me, in view of the fact that I have had to raise Olufolajimi from age 6 when he lost his father in 1992. My family has had to endure the agonizing experience of long-drawn appearances in court, coupled with the unfortunate experience with pick and drop legal representations on whom we have spent all our resources.’’ She said as part of efforts to get her son quickly released from continued incarceration, she had in November written a letter to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, seeking her benevolent intervention and assistance, considering the fact her son has been detained for over 9 months now. Meanwhile, a correspondence from Mrs. Abegunde had, on November 7, been forwarded the Consular-General, Nigerian Consulate, in Atlanta, Georgia. But PRNigeria gathered that her letter which was dated November 15, and received by an official of the National Diaspora Commission, is yet to be replied. Attempts to get Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa to speak on the efforts been made by her Commission to resolve the issue diplomatically were unsuccessful at the time of going to press. Several calls put to her mobile number and also a text message sent by our reporter was not responded to. Next » Anti-Corruption Groups give Buratai (COAS) 2 weeks to Account for Army’s Spending on Operations « Previous Metele Attack: Theater Command gives befitting burial to fallen heroes	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line967
__label__cc	0.594476	0.405524	Relative Location Representation RFC - Proposed Standard (October 2013; No errata) Was draft-ietf-geopriv-relative-location (geopriv WG) draft-thomson-geopriv-relative-location GENART Last Call Review (of -06): Ready SECDIR Last Call Review (of -04): Ready WG Document Alissa Cooper RFC 7035 (Proposed Standard) Richard Barnes RFC-Ed-Ack Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) M. Thomson Request for Comments: 7035 Microsoft Category: Standards Track B. Rosen ISSN: 2070-1721 Neustar D. Stanley G. Bajko Lookingglass This document defines an extension to the Presence Information Data Format Location Object (PIDF-LO) (RFC 4119) for the expression of location information that is defined relative to a reference point. The reference point may be expressed as a geodetic or civic location, and the relative offset may be one of several shapes. An alternative binary representation is described. Optionally, a reference to a secondary document (such as a map image) can be included, along with the relationship of the map coordinate system to the reference/offset coordinate system, to allow display of the map with the reference point and the relative offset. This is an Internet Standards Track document. This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7035. Thomson, et al. Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 7035 Relative Location October 2013 1. Introduction ....................................................4 2. Conventions Used in This Document ...............................4 3. Overview ........................................................4 4. Relative Location ...............................................7 4.1. Relative Coordinate System .................................8 4.2. Placement of XML Elements ..................................8 4.3. Binary Format ..............................................9 4.4. Distances and Angles .......................................9 4.5. Value Encoding ............................................10 4.6. Relative Location Restrictions ............................10 4.7. Baseline TLVs .............................................10 4.8. Reference TLVs ............................................10 4.9. Shapes ....................................................11 4.9.1. Point ..............................................11 4.9.2. Circle or Sphere Shape .............................12 4.9.3. Ellipse or Ellipsoid Shape .........................13 4.9.4. Polygon or Prism Shape .............................15 4.9.5. Arc-Band Shape .....................................18 4.10. Dynamic Location TLVs ....................................20 4.10.1. Orientation .......................................20 4.10.2. Speed .............................................20 4.10.3. Heading ...........................................20 4.11. Secondary Map Metadata ...................................21 4.11.1. Map URL ...........................................21 4.11.2. Map Coordinate Reference System ...................21	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line969
__label__wiki	0.832975	0.832975	Tag: Pearl Harbor A Film Festival For The Community Ziggy Mrkich and Renee O'Connor, co-directorsof SPIFF (photo by John Mattera) It was founded to celebrate the diverse culture and community of San Pedro, and after its successful inaugural event last October, the San Pedro International Film Festival is back for its second annual event. San Pedro has always had a rich film history, in fact, several movies — the original King Kong, Chinatown, The Usual Suspects, Pearl Harbor, and (500) Days of Summer — and television shows — NCIS, Mad Men and Dexter — have been shot on the streets of the city. It’s the films, and the community of San Pedro, that the San Pedro International Film Festival was founded to celebrate, and founder Ziggy Mrkich proved last year that she is up for the job. Mrkich is no stranger to the film festival circuit, she has more than a decade of festival involvement on her resume, and after a successful inaugural event, she is “very excited,” for this year’s festivities. “We had a very successful first year,” she says. “And I am dedicated to continuing this festival and continuing to showcase films, really good films, from the festival circuit.” “San Pedro has a long and rich history in the cinematic arts. With dozens of feature films, television shows and commercials shot here every year, it’s fitting that we now are host to a festival that celebrates the city’s diverse culture and community, and its contributions to film,” says Los Angeles City Councilman, Joe Buscaino. Last year’s event, which drew more than 700 people, was the Los Angeles premier of Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. The film went on to win several major awards, including Lawrence’s Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. “I was very surprised, but extremely happy to acquire the film as part of our first year,” Mrkich says. “We were very proud to have had the opportunity to be the first in the area to screen it.” This year’s festival will feature screenings of both documentaries and short films. Mrkich says they received more than 550 submissions. One of the hardest parts of the festival planning is securing feature films for the weekend, she says. “I handpick the feature films based on the attention the films are getting at other festivals, namely the Toronto Film Festival,” she says. “In addition, I really try to include films that are already getting Oscar buzz.” She says oftentimes it is difficult to secure the films, but it’s this that makes her job “exciting.” “It’s actually really very hard to secure feature films,” she says. “I do get a lot of ‘No’s,’ but programming isn’t easy at any festival, but it all works out in the end, you just have to know going into it that you will not get to screen every film you want.” The workload lightened a bit this year for Mrkich when she brought Renee O’Connor on board. The duo says the goal of this year’s festival is to “provide a service to the community by attracting new visitors to San Pedro, and exposing them to films they may otherwise not see.” O’Connor, a director, producer and actress best known for her role as Gabrielle in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, is facilitating the filmmakers for various panels. She says the panels will include information on producing small and large budget independent films. “I am passionate about helping fellow filmmakers,” she says. “These panels will allow for future filmmakers to be in the same room as current filmmakers — it’s oftentimes hard to get into the industry, and this will provide an opportunity for people to share their experience of how they did it.” The San Pedro International Film Festival is featuring screenings at the historic Warner Grand Theatre, as well as new outdoor screenings, pop-up screenings and a special screening aboard the newest addition to San Pedro, the historic Navy battleship, the U.S.S. Iowa. In addition, Mrkich and O’Connor will be paying tribute to legendary filmmaker Tony Scott, who died in San Pedro last August. Scott, a renowned presence in Hollywood, spent over 40 years working in the business, carving out a career as both a director and producer. Top Gun, arguably his best-known film, starring Tom Cruise, grossed more than $350 worldwide. Scott also directed Days of Thunder (also starring Tom Cruise), Beverly Hills Cop II, True Romance, Crimson Tide (starring Denzel Washington), and Spy Game (starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt), among many others. “The tribute will include a brief retrospective of Scott’s work and his contributions to the San Pedro community,” O’Connor says. “Tony Scott shot several films in San Pedro, and has a very strong tie to this community and we want to honor that, and thank him for his contributions to the city.” Scott’s family, including widow, Donna Scott, is expected to be in attendance. O’Connor and Mrkich say they are “overly excited” about this year’s festival. “This is the community’s festival,” Mrkich says. “We have an open door for people who want to volunteer or be involved — this is a festival for the community, and that is why we are including a local program.” O’Connor says that anyone who has never been to a festival should experience it just once. “This is a great opportunity to come and experience what a film festival can create,” she says. “You can come in off the street and sit down and be right next to the person who wrote and directed the film you are about to see — it’s wonderful.” Mrkich adds, “The San Pedro International Film Festival is a win-win for audiences and filmmakers. We support filmmakers by providing an audience and platform for films, and the audience can see films they otherwise might have missed.” spt The San Pedro International Film Festival will take place the weekend of October 4-6 at various venues in downtown San Pedro. This special edition of San Pedro Today includes the complete program and schedule for the festival. For more news and info, visit www.spiffest.org. Posted on October 3, 2013 Author Kelsey DuckettCategories Cover Stories, Features, Headline, MagazineTags 500 Days of Summer, Beverly Hills Cop II, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Chinatown, Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder, Denzel Washington, Dexter, Donna Scott, film festival, Jennifer Lawrence, Joe Buscaino, King Kong, Los Angeles, Mad Men, NCIS, Pearl Harbor, Port of Los Angeles, Renee O'Connor, Robert Redford, San Pedro, San Pedro Ca, South Bay, SPIFFEST, Spy Game, The Usual Suspects, Tom Cruise, Tony Scott, Top Gun, Toronto Film Festival, True Romance, USS Iowa, Warner Grand Theatre, Xena Warrior Princess, Ziggy Mrkich993 Comments on A Film Festival For The Community Life & How To Live It Harry Hall, photographed at his home on May 10, 2013 (photo by Joshua Stecker) Harry Hall has lived through both World Wars and the Great Depression. He was already an adult when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. He’s bore witness to the modern motion picture and the advent of air travel, and was alive before the first transcontinental telephone call between New York City and San Francisco ever occurred. The same year Hall was born also saw the completion of the Angels Gate Lighthouse, the opening of the Panama Canal and introduction of Ford’s modern assembly line. To say that Harry Hall has seen a few things in his lifetime is an understatement. The son of Charles and Christine Hall, Hall was born on June 7, 1913, in San Pedro, and is the youngest of eight children. He would go on to attend Barton Hill Elementary School, Bandini Street School and San Pedro High School, where he was the humor editor for the school’s Fore ‘n Aft newspaper and the yearbook. Today, nearly a century later, Hall is healthy and happy and living a treasured life in his home in San Pedro; in the same house he’s lived in since the 1950s. You know, when he was in his 40s. “Well, hello there,” Hall says as he welcomes this reporter into his home. He has a slow yet steady gait as he navigates his way through his living room, settling down in the middle of his couch. “Have a seat,” he says. For someone approaching a century in age, Harry Hall shows no signs of slowing down. Sitting in khaki pants and a Hawaiian shirt, with his silver mane slicked and well coiffed, the man many people know as “that guy who plays the violin” is all too happy to discuss his life as he nears such an amazing milestone. “My daily routine, you know, for a 100 year old, it’s not much,” laughs Hall. “I have nobody here to do the housework, you know. But I’ve got a gardener and I’ve got friends next door.” It’s surprising to realize that Hall is as independent as ever. He still drives around town and lives on his own (though relatives drive him when he needs to go outside of San Pedro). He’s constantly entertaining the multitude of guests that stop by to make sure he’s doing ok on a daily basis. It’s safe to say that entertaining has been his life’s work. A Lifetime Love Affair Hall is never too far from his trusty violin. It’s the instrument that has come to define his life. The way he explains it, his introduction to the violin came in the form of a door-to-door salesman who was selling violin lessons in town. “My folks thought it’d be nice if I studied some music,” he recalls. “It didn’t matter what it would be. If the guy who came to our door was selling pianos, maybe I’d have taken piano. But no, I started the violin. I found out I enjoyed it very much. And that I was capable of doing it.” Since Hall didn’t own his own violin, he would pay a dollar a week to his teacher for a year, after the year was up, he could keep the violin he had been practicing on. “It was a violin and a bow,” he says. “Then you’d pick the music up every week. That was a 10-cent sheet of music and it was gradually getting harder and harder as you went. But if you did it for one year – and it was a dollar a lesson – one year, the violin was yours.” That one year turned into a lifetime love affair with music. Eventually, Hall joined the Navy Seabees and served during WWII. While stationed at Camp Peary in Virginia, Hall called to have his violin shipped to him. “I was entertaining the kids, you know, the fellows,” he remembers. “Somebody would have a guitar and they’d sing and if there was a piano, they had a pianist too. So we had a little group that we could get together.” After the war, Hall joined the faculty of the National Institute of Music and traveled around the western United States teaching violin to students and teaching teachers, as well. In 1948, Hall would experience one of his life’s highlights as he conducted an orchestra of 2,000 violins at the Hollywood Bowl. In 1950, Hall married his first wife, Muzelle Davis. Sadly, Muzelle would die of cancer in October 1961. Looking to move on, in December 1963, Hall would marry Eda Cortner. They would be married for 32 years before Eda’s passing from a stroke in 1995. Both marriages never spawned children. Even through those difficult times, Hall always found solace in music. While he could read music, he claims he was a better learner by ear. “My ear is pretty good,” claims Hall. “So, you know, I could actually play tunes that a lot of kids can’t play. They can’t play tunes that they’ve heard.” Even though he has been around the world with the Navy and traveled across the country as a violin teacher, he still calls San Pedro home, where he’s taught countless San Pedro kids (and adults) the art of the violin. From the bay window in his living room you can see the Angels Gate Lighthouse, two San Pedro stalwarts, both approaching a major life milestone. When asked about all the changes he’s seen just in San Pedro, the first thing he mentions is the razing of Beacon Street in downtown, even though he was in his 60s when the bulldozers came through in the 1970s. “There were a lot of changes here that I’m not too crazy about,” he says. “The fact that the downtown district is gone. You know, we used to have great clothing stores here.” Hall will tell you how he remembers when the Palos Verdes hill was nothing but farmland, or how a dime could buy you a burger and soda on Pacific Ave. “Those were good days,” he says. Today, as Hall approaches his 100th birthday, you can still find him playing violin at The Whale and Ale in downtown or entertaining the residents at the Harbor Terrace retirement community. Every Saturday night, his neighbors come over to his house and bring wine and snacks as they sit around the coffee table telling stories to each other. “We talk about old times,” he says. Even though his active lifestyle may be a clue, when asked what his secret to reaching 100 is, Hall pauses to think for a second. He may have been asked this before, but his answer takes some thought. “Study music because you’ll live longer,” he says. “Oh, and chardonnay.” He has a glass of it every night. spt Posted on June 7, 2013 May 27, 2013 Author San Pedro TodayCategories NewsTags Angels Gate Lighthouse, Bandini Street School, Barton Hill, Camp Peary, Charles Hall, Christine Hall, Eda Cortner, Fore n Aft, Great Depression, Harry Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, Muzelle Davis, National Institute of Music, Navy, Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, San Pedro Ca, San Pedro High School, Seabees, South Bay, The Whale & Ale, violin, Virginia, World Wars, WWII11 Comments on Life & How To Live It San Pedro’s Living Treasures On March 1, the San Pedro Historic Downtown Waterfront District will host the Living Treasures Dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown San Pedro, kicking off the year-long celebration of our port town’s 125th anniversary. While there are plenty of living treasures in San Pedro who could be on this list, the following select few are being honored for their contributions to our community. (photos by Joleen D'Rage) Jean Wilder Jean Acalin Wilder has lived her entire life in San Pedro. She was born in 1928 to Italian and Dalmatian parents. She lives in a beautiful 100-year old Craftsman house built in 1913 that has a spectacular view of the Cabrillo Beach breakwater. The home sits on two lots in the Point Fermin area that was given to her husband’s family by George H. Peck, one of San Pedro’s notable real estate developers. Jean and her husband, Charles Wilder Jr., had six children together – five boys and one girl, all of which were born at the old, brick, San Pedro Hospital. Joe Marino Joe Marino moved to San Pedro with his family from Rockford, Ill., at the age of 13. Marino, a Sicilian, has lived in town now for more than 72 years, and says he’s “in love with the town of San Pedro and the community at large, as the community has come together to make this a great place to work and live.” Marino spent 48 years as an educator and worked as a local elementary school teacher for 10 years –at Leland, White Point, and Crestwood – and as a school administrator for 25 years. After retiring from the LAUSD, Marino mentored college students studying to be schoolteachers at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1992, and did so for 13 years. Marino was honored as LAUSD’s Principal of the Year in 1987 and was Honorary Mayor of San Pedro from 1988-1989. Joe is married to his lovely wife, Marian. Together they have two children and three grandchildren. Harry Hall will celebrate his 100th birthday this June, which makes Harry and the Angel’s Gate Lighthouse the exact same age. Born and raised in San Pedro, Hall’s parents came from Swedish immigrant families that settled in Minnesota. Hall made it to San Pedro when his family moved there in 1905. At age 9, Harry fell in love with the violin after a salesman knocked on the family door selling violin lessons. This love would lead Hall to become a professional violinist and teacher, teaching lessons at Vine’s Music, Compton College and a private studio in Palos Verdes Estates, just to name a few. He even conducted a 2,000-violin orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl in 1948. Hall married two times, and is twice widowed, but says he feels blessed to have had two wives who both shared his passion for music and his love of San Pedro. Amazingly, Hall is still playing the violin around town. You can find him at such as the Harbor Terrace Retirement Community, First United Methodist Church and a downtown favorite, The Whale and Ale. Anne Gusha You can still find Anne Gusha behind the counter of Williams’ Book Store on 6th Street in downtown San Pedro. At 93-years-old (and still counting), the Seattle-born Gusha is best known as the current owner of the historic, and historically independent, bookstore. Soon after she was born, she moved to San Pedro from Washington with her Croatian family in 1920. Gusha first stepped foot in the bookstore when she was eight. In 1941, Gusha began working at the store for then-owner Ethel Williams. When Williams retired in 1980, Gusha and her son, Jerry, took over the store, calling it their own. Gusha has spent much of her time on philanthropic causes, such as Soroptomist International, Los Angeles Harbor, and has worked hard to promote literacy and women’s issues. Anne was married in 1945 and has three children. Muriel Olguin Muriel Olguin says that San Pedro “was the best place to raise kids and build careers while living in one of the most beautiful places.” Born in our port town in 1923, Olguin, 89, bounced around the Harbor Area before settling in San Pedro, where she’s lived for the past 65 years. Her life with her late husband, John Olguin, was the stuff of legend and romance novels, and was chronicled in San Pedro Today columnist Jack Baric‘s San Pedro documentary, Port Town, where the couple’s love of sleeping outside under the stars and rowing their 15-foot rowboat to the Isthmus at the West End of Catalina Island was featured. An artist and philanthropist, Olguin completed a Master of Arts degree in 1958, at a time when “mothers didn’t go to college with children and a husband at home,” she says. She was a founding member of the Angel’s Gate Cultural Center, the Rembrandt Crew that started the Palos Verdes Art Center, and with other artists, The Loft in downtown San Pedro. Both Muriel and John Olguin, for the majority of their lives, have immensely and unselfishly contributed to San Pedro and the surrounding communities. Together they had three children and a very active home life in San Pedro. Matty Domancich Kuzma Domancich, best known around town as “Matty,” is as true a San Pedran as they come. Born of Croatian parents and raised in San Pedro for the past 90 years, Matty remains one of San Pedro’s greatest, active, goodwill ambassadors. Domancich founded and became the first President of San Pedro High School’s Pirate Booster Club in 1958, an all-volunteer, fundraising organization originally established to provide moral and monetary support to some of the high school’s athletes and their needs. Today, it has expanded its support to include all SPHS sports, academic clubs, theater arts and many other campus-sponsored activities. It is also believed to be the LAUSD’s oldest booster club. Domancich also served as a past Honorary Mayor of San Pedro from 1989-1991 and is a past “Exalted Ruler” of the San Pedro Elks Lodge. If you’re old enough, you may remember Domancich’s two Shell Gas Stations – one on Gaffey St. and the other on Pacific Ave. After Shell told him to stop providing full-service to his customers, Domancich became angry, immediately closed-up shop, and went on to open the Bike Palace. Today, you can find Domancich selling historic photos of San Pedro with the proceeds going to the San Pedro Elks Lodge, who in turn funds scholarships for local students. Domancich was married to his late wife Mary and they had one daughter. Goldeen Kaloper Goldeen Kaloper turns 96 this month. Born in Zlarin, Croatia, Kaloper came to the United States with her family at the young age of 12, first settling in Seattle, Wash. In 1942, Kaloper met her second husband and they moved to San Pedro. Both were widows with small infants at the time, and built a long and happy marriage of 65 years. Together, they had five children. She was one of the “cannery girls” and worked there for 24 years. The Kaloper home was a center for hospitality, especially for fishermen whose families were still back in the “old country.” God and family are the two most important things in Kaloper’s life. She believes this is what makes San Pedro great – as long as people have a deep faith, and love for their families, problems can be solved. She says the secret to a long life is, “Eat healthy, wish good for everyone, and God bless my children who take care of me!” Thelma Gatlin Thelma Gatlin was born in Shreveport, La. on July 15, 1924. Born Thelma Johnson, she was one of 18 children. Gatlin moved to San Pedro in 1942 to work in the shipyards during World War II. She soon married John Gatlin in 1944 and had they had children. At 88 years of age, Thelma is still very active in the community and serves on several boards, including the Toberman executive board and First Neighborhood Council in San Pedro. In the past, Gatlin served on the first board for the Central Neighborhood Council, and was one of the first recipients of the YWCA’s “Racial Justice Award.” She has also served as the President of the San Pedro YWCA board, President of the Women Church United, Vice President of the Republican Club in San Pedro. Today, you can find Gatlin as an active member of Ocean View Baptist Church. Helen DiMaggio Helen DiMaggio is 94-years-old and the wife of the late Neno DiMaggio. Half Mexican and half Croatian, she is the daughter of Andrew & Mary Fistonich who founded Star Fisheries Inc. in 1921. After her father Andrew passed away, her husband Neno assumed leadership of the company. With her husband at the helm, DiMaggio worked behind the scenes for 39 years, along with her sister, Anita Mardesich, who continued in the family business with subsidiary, American Fisheries. DiMaggio has been active in many community groups including San Pedro Peninsula Cancer Guild, Little Sisters of the Poor Auxiliary, the Assistance League of San Pedro, Mary Star of the Sea Church and Holy Trinity Church. She is past president of the prestigious Rotary Ann’s and was an active member of the former Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Nicoletta “Nikky” Troy Born in San Pedro on January 12, 1924, 89-year old Nicoletta Troy grew up with four siblings, speaking both Greek and English. Nikki was born at one of the Papadakis family homes, by the help of a midwife, and is cousin to San Pedro community leader, John Papadakis, former owner of Papadakis Taverna. She began working at the age of 12 at her father’s restaurant on Beacon Street, known as the City Hall Café. At just 4′ 10″ tall, she fondly remembers standing on a box in the kitchen to cook hamburgers and hot dogs for their customers. She worked side-by-side with her father until she graduated high school and continued working as a waitress throughout her adult years, at restaurants such as The Fireside, a carhop located on the corner of 6th St. and Gaffey, Cigo’s Restaurant on 9th St. and Pacific, and the legendary Ante’s, from which she retired at age 75. Florence Collins (no picture available at press time) Ninety-eight-years-old and still going strong, Florence Collins was born in San Pedro to Italian/Ischian parents on May 28, 1914. She attended Fifth Street School, San Pedro’s original elementary school, which was located where the San Pedro Courthouse sits today. Florence was also in the first graduating class of Dana Middle School. A young wife and mother during the Great Depression, she and her husband, Bill Collins, lived on 9th St., which at the time was referred to as “Dago Flats.” Her husband was a sailor stationed with the Pacific Fleet in San Pedro, which was eventually moved to Pearl Harbor before WWII. His ship, the USS West Virginia, was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. For two weeks, Collins did not know whether or not her husband had survived. It turns out Bill was knocked unconscious below deck, but was carried up top by a fellow crew member and thrown overboard, which saved his life. Collins has been a lifelong member of Mary Star of the Sea Church, and has several dozen grandchildren, great grand-children and great, great grandchildren, almost all of whom still reside in San Pedro. Posted on March 6, 2013 March 5, 2013 Author San Pedro TodayCategories NewsTags American Fisheries, Andrew Fistonich, Angels Gate Cultural Center, Angels Gate Lighthouse, Anita Mardesich, Anne Gusha, Ante's, Assistance League of San Pedro, Beacon Street, Bike Palace, Bill Collins, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Catalina Island, Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, Charles Wilder Jr, Cigo's Restaurant, City Hall Cafe, Compton College, Crestwood Elementary, Croatian, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dana Middle School, Ethel Williams, Fifth Street School, First United Methodist Church, Florence Collins, George H Peck, Goldeen Kaloper, Great Depression, Greek, Harbor Terrace Retirement Community, Harry Hall, Helen DiMaggio, Hollywood Bowl, Holy Trinity Church, Honorary Mayor, Illinois, Jack Baric, Jean Wilder, Joe Marino, John Gatlin, John Olguin, John Papadakis, LAUSD, Leland Elementary, Little Sisters of the Poor Auxiliary, Los Angeles, Lousiana, Mary Fistonich, Mary Star of the Sea Church, Matty Kuzma Domancich, Minnesota, Muriel Olguin, Neno DiMaggio, Nicoletta Nikky Troy, Ocean View Baptist Church, Pacific Fleet, Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes Estates, Papadakis Taverna, Pearl Harbor, Port of Los Angeles, Port Town, Racial Justice Award, Rembrandt Crew, Republican Club, Rockford, Rotary Anns, San Pedro, San Pedro Ca, San Pedro Elks Lodge 966, San Pedro High School, San Pedro High School Pirate Booster Club, San Pedro Historic Waterfront District, San Pedro Peninsula Cancer Guild, Seattle, Shreveport, Sicilian, South Bay, Star Fisheries, The Fireside, The Loft, The Whale and Ale, Thelma Gatlin, Toberman, USS West Virginia, Vine's Music, Washington, White Point Elementary, Williams Bookstore, Women Church United, Women's Chamber of Commerce, YWCA, Zlarin162 Comments on San Pedro’s Living Treasures Historical San Pedro Poems Still Ring True on 125th Birthday In honor of San Pedro’s 125th birthday, I’m offering a couple of historic poems that speak volumes about our town and, despite their age, haven’t lost relevance. The first is “To Their Memory,” written in 1924 by Minna Irving as a tribute to the 48 sailors who died in an explosion aboard the battleship USS Mississippi during gunnery practice off the coast of San Pedro on June 12 of that year. As part of the Pacific Battle Fleet, the Mississippi called San Pedro home from 1919 to 1940; when the rest of the fleet relocated to Pearl Harbor, the Mississippi went to the Atlantic and escaped that disaster. The funeral for the Mississippi crewmen at San Pedro’s Trona Field was one of the largest events in town up to that time. In a sad postscript, an almost identical accident occurred during the war off the Gilbert Islands; another explosion in the same turret killed 43 sailors on Nov. 20, 1943. The poem has added poignancy today with the addition of the USS Iowa to our waterfront. The Iowa suffered an eerily similar peacetime tragedy in 1989 when an explosion in No. 2 turret during gunnery practice off Puerto Rico killed 47 sailors. I don’t know where the poem first appeared, but this version comes from Harvey Beigel’s classic Battleship Country, which details the long history of the Pacific Fleet in San Pedro. The “Missy” is the proudest ship That rides the billow’s crest, In gunnery she’s unexcelled, Her skippers are the best. Five years she’s held the “Iron Men” For athletes none can beat, And in efficiency but few Approach her in the fleet. A greater pride is hers today Though it is dimmed with tears, For in her log a list of eight And forty names appears — Her seamen, unafraid who met Man’s ancient grisly foe, And passed with steadfast shining souls To join the watch below. Calm were the blue Pacific swells, Clear was the azure sky, Peace spread her wings above the world, No enemy was nigh, The Mississippi’s mighty guns At target practice roared, When Death, a silent visitor, Unbidden came aboard. Through hatches battered down he went In Turret No. 2, Where round the giant guns they served Stood all the gunner’s crew, Some thought of home and little ones Beyond the ocean’s rim, Some thought of service-stripes to earn, But no one thought of him. Within that chamber wrought of steel He grimly took command, And turned its deadly forces loose On that devoted band. They saw him then—a dreadful shape, They felt his scorching breath, And knew him by his shroud of flame And veil of smoke as Death. They died as men in battle die, Each sailor at his post, Fit mates of Lawrence, Hull, Paul Jones, And all that hero host, With Skrynas at the telephone His last report to give, While Ensign Erwin stepped aside That other lads might live. Horatius at the bridge, El Cid, Great Charlemagne of old, Rustem the peerless Persian—they Were men of god-like mold, The crew of Turret No. 2, Who perished at their guns, When Glory calls the roll reply With these illustrious ones. Oh! It is not her battleships That makes the Navy strong. The thickness of her armor-plates, Her batteries in song, Her might is in her sturdy tars To flag and service true, Like those immortal men who died In Turret No. 2. I can’t even remember where I got the following poem. It was published on a little notecard, the title simply “San Pedro,” with the copyright 1920. Earl Ihme is the author, and at the bottom it gives his address as 730 W. 21st Street. San Pedrans love their town, but as this poem amply demonstrates, it is not a recent phenomenon. San Pedro was only 32 years old and already affectionately called Pedro. You ought to live in San Pedro, Where the ships and the railroads link, For the pulse is as throbbing in Pedro As on anywhere else I can think. Oh, we want to live in San Pedro, Where the sky and the ocean meet, Where the khaki and blue as “our hero”— They are manning our fort and our fleet. We are happy! — We live in San Pedro, Where the sky and the sun is a smile, Where the folks have the aim and the ether O’ the works that are worthy of while. Oh, we like to live in San Pedro, At the door of an opening world; For the future and flag of our Pedro They shall yet to be fully unfurled. Oh, we love to live in San Pedro! We may move, we may roam everywhere, We will always be longing for Pedro For our home and our happiness there. Some things never change. Happy birthday, San Pedro. spt Posted on March 1, 2013 February 26, 2013 Author Steve MarconiCategories Magazine, News, VoicesTags Battleship Country, Gilbert Islands, Harvey Beigel, Los Angeles, Minna Irving, Pacific Battle Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Port of Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, San Pedro, San Pedro Ca, South Bay, Steve Marconi, Trona Field, USS Iowa, USS Mississippi37 Comments on Historical San Pedro Poems Still Ring True on 125th Birthday	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line970
__label__wiki	0.80346	0.80346	Navalny does better than expected in Moscow mayor election September 9, 2013 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections (Business New Europe – bne.eu – September 9, 2013) What to make of opposition blogger Alexei Navalny’s unexpectedly strong result in the Moscow mayor elections on Sunday, September 8? With over 98% of the votes counted Navalny received 27.37% against the incumbent Sergei Sobyanin’s 51.15%, the election committee said on Monday, September 9. Navalny’s tally is a lot more than the 18-20% that polls were giving him going into the election, and Sobyanin’s was a lot less than the 60% he was expected to win. Moreover, the result puts the election within a hair’s breadth of having to go to a second round. Navalny’s camp are claiming the election fraud and ballot stuffing that is par for the course in a Russian election was sufficient to require a recount. Navalny’s election campaign says its polls gave Sobyanin only 46% while Navalny got 35.6%. “The exit polls undoubtedly show that there will be a second round,” Navalny told journalists after announcing the results, according to video posted online by his campaign. “We call on Moscow city hall not to take any steps and falsify the results. We understand very well that they are tempted to add another eight or nine percent of the vote and make it look like a first-round victory.” Sobyanin’s team predictably says there was nothing wrong with the result. “There was no significant complaints, problems, violations in Moscow,” Lyudmila Shvetsova, Sobyanin’s campaign manager said. “There was nothing that could compromise Muscovites’ will and desire to participate in the mayoral election. Still a test for the Kremlin The first thing to be clear about is that the outcome was never in doubt: Sobyanin was always going to win and even if the vote goes to a second round, he is going to win that too. The election is significant because it is one of the few electoral litmus tests for the strength of the opposition. And on this basis the high number is a huge success, as it suggests the opposition has, for once, managed to coalesce around an opposition figure and increases Navalny’s legitimacy greatly; going into the vote, Navalny’s problem was that while he plays an important role as an anti-corruption campaigner, he lacks political clout because he has a small base to work from. However, digging a bit deeper and Navalny’s score was probably boosted by the very low voter turnout: only 33% of Muscovites bothered to show up. It seems that given Sobyanin was such a shoo-in, “the couch was the real winner in this election,” quipped one commentator. Sobyanin barely ran any campaign at all, concentrating instead on his duties (that were well covered in the press) to make himself look mayoral. But that was not enough to get his supporters and thanks to the improvements he has made in the capital he has a real and strong base of support – to actually show up at the ballot box. Navalny as the underdog ran what has been widely hailed as the “first western-style campaign” in Russia’s modern history. He was on the streets and stump constantly in recent weeks. Excluded from the state-controlled airwaves, he concentrated his campaign on the internet, and that was fairly effective in the gizmo-loving Russian capital. But most importantly, Navalny’s supporters were committed to the cause and always likely to turn out in higher numbers come rain or shine. Had Sobyanin made more of an effort and got more of his supporters to show up, then Navalny’s result would probably been closer to the poll scores. So who really “won” this poll from a moral perspective? Moscow is the home to the opposition and a hotbed of discontent. Here, Russian President Vladimir Putin scored by far his worst result in the national presidential elections in Moscow in 2012. Yet Sobyanin, despite being the establishment’s candidate, won the election legitimately with a clear majority. Muscovites wanted someone with experience and proven ability to run their city, and Sobyanin is that man. But it was also a real victory for Navalny, who is appealing a five-year jail sentence on corruption charges handed down in August. Some commentators have speculated that if he won more than 25% in this poll, he can’t be jailed. The next few weeks will deliver a conclusion to this question. But given that he was convicted by a court and Putin has always played lip service to the rule of law in Russia, it seems highly likely that if the appeals court uphold the sentence, Navalny will have to do his time. Sobyanin is also a winner, as he has won some real legitimacy. Without Navalny running, he would have been open to charges of being a stool pigeon for the Kremlin and as more protests are likely in the future, this could have caused serious problems further down the road. Ironically, Navalny’s strong showing will actually strengthen Sobyanin’s hold on his job and control over the city. And the fact that the elections were held at all represents a step forward for democracy and a change in style for the Kremlin, which has become more concerned lately with the “democractic” side of its managed system. Popular elections of regional heads were abolished under Putin’s initiative in 2004 as a move to strengthen federal control over the regions following the Beslan school hostage crisis in the Northern Caucasus. And these elections were the first vote for a regional head (Moscow counts as a region in its own right) in eight years. Clearly Sobyanin believed he needed to shore up his legitimacy with a snap election despite the fact that he still had two more years to serve under his pervious term. “Muscovites don’t want elections in two or three years, but now,” Sobyanin said in a radio interview with Ekho Moskvy in late August. “I realized that if I leave everything to circumstance, after a while they’ll consider me a coward.” As for the charges of ballot stuffing, these could well be true. It is widely believed (and there is evidence to support the view) that the Kremlin injected about 12% extra votes for the United Russia party in the December 2011 election, which sparked the whole protest movement. Likewise, Putin was handed an estimated 5% of extra votes in the presidential election. The point of this ballot stuffing is not to win the respective elections the same people would have been in charge without this electoral fraud it is symbolic. United Russia needed a good majority to make the point they were clearly in charge. Putin needed to break into the 60s, instead of accepting the 50-something he actually won to reassure the elites that he has a firm grip on power, thus nipping any resistance in the bud. A scandal could follow over the alleged ballot stuffing in Sunday’s election. However, it is unlikely because the form seems to be that the Kremlin can get away with adding a few percentage points to the results; it has already pushed it to the max with the 12% it forced through in the 2011 parliamentary elections. However, given Moscow is the heart of the opposition movement, the Kremlin needs to win this election without electoral fraud, as that would be the most effective way to subdue the opposition. If it has been forced to resort to the kind of ballot stuffing of the past, then this election is a real defeat for the establishment. But the bottom line and the real revolution from this result is the Kremlin has been caught napping and its complacency nearly caused it a big embarrassment. Navalny has changed the terms of the game. Russia runs a “managed democracy” system. While most commentators concentrated on the “managed” part of this equation, the “democracy” part is just as important. The whole point of why Navalny was let out of jail was to give these elections some real democratic legitimacy. Then the Kremlin uses its hold on the media etc. to manage the process to make sure their man wins and wins in the first round. But Navalny has come as close as you can in Russia to upsetting that process. From now on, the Kremlin will have to actually run campaigns and think about policies if they want to keep getting enough real votes so they don’t have to start ram double-digit fixes down the throats of the electorate. Sobyanin did a little of this. His campaign hijacked in the western democratic style several of Navalny’s campaign ideas, so if judged purely in policy terms, the two candidates were almost identical. However, going forward, the Kremlin – if it is clever – will focus a bit more on running a real campaign and listening a little more closely to what the people want. This isn’t the end of authoritarianism in the Russian political system, but it is another step in the right direction. Communist Party candidate Ivan Melnikov won 10.73% of the votes, while Yabloko’s candidate Sergei Mitrokhin and Mikhail Degtyarev from LDPR received 3.54% and 2.87% respectively. Leave a comment Elections, Moscow, Navalny, Opposition, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Sobyanin	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line973
__label__cc	0.503262	0.496738	What is Right to Information? Right to Information is a fundamental right under Article 19(1) of the Constitution. Article 19 (1) says that every citizen has freedom of speech and _expression. As early as in 1976, the Supreme Court said in the case of Raj Narain vs State of UP, that people cannot speak or express themselves unless they know. Therefore, right to information is embedded in article 19 and is a fundamental right. In the same case, Supreme Court further said that India is a democracy. People are the masters. Therefore, the masters have a right to know how the governments, meant to serve them, are functioning. Further, every citizen pays taxes. The citizens therefore, have a right to know how their money was being spent. These three principles were laid down by the Supreme Court while saying that RTI is a fundamental right of the people of India. If RTI is a fundamental right, then why do we need an Act? This is because if you went to any Government Department and told the officer there, “RTI is my fundamental right, and that I am the master of this country. Therefore, please show me all your files”, he would not do that. In all probability, he would throw you out of his room. Therefore, we need a machinery or a process through which we can exercise this fundamental right. Right to Information Act 2005, which became effective on 13th October 2005, provides that machinery. It lays down the process on how to apply for information, where to apply, how much fees etc. Important provisions of RTI Act 2005: Right to Information Act 2005 empowers every citizen to Ask any questions from the Government or seek any information Take copies of any government documents Inspect any government documents. Inspect any Government works Take samples of materials of any Government work. One or more officers in every Government Department have been designated as Public Information Officers (PIO). These are the nodal officers, who are supposed to accept any application under RTI, collect information from that Department and provide it to the applicant. If the desired information is not provided within 30 days of application or if the information provided is incomplete, the concerned officer becomes liable for a penalty of Rs 250 per day of default upto a maximum of Rs 25,000 per application. And if wrong information is provided, a penalty upto a maximum of Rs 25,000 can be imposed on the officer. Read sec 2(f), 2(j), 4(1)(d), 5(1), 5(2), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, briefly explain State IC and CIC, 18, 19, 20, 22 of the RTI Act and discuss in detail. These are the most important sections. But if you wish to use RTI frequently in your life, you must carefully read the entire Act in detail later. Read all the rules (both Central rules and rules of your state) in detail. Also, discuss the composition of CIC and State IC How has RTI Act been used? Some instances: Before this law was enacted, similar laws existed in 9 states. In the last few years, people have used RTI in several ways. Some instances: Uday is a software engineer. He saw that the Outer Ring Road from IIT flyover to Panchsheel flyover was made last February and it came off within 10 days. He applied for inspection of files, inspection of road and sample of material used in the road. Two days before he was called for inspection, the entire road was relaid. Triveni is a matriculate. She was shocked to discover that her ration shopkeeper was siphoning off rations meant for her by making false thumb impressions on cash memos in her name. Actually, she didn’t receive any grains for the last six months. Whenever she would go to the shop, the shop would either be closed or the shopkeeper would say that there was no stock. Triveni is a poor woman, who lives in a slum colony in East Delhi. She holds an Antyodaya card issued by the government to the poorest of the poor. However, it isn’t easy to get ration from a ration shop. In February 2003, Triveni filed an application under the Right to Information Act asking for the quantity of ration issued to her as per records and also copies of cash memos purported to have been issued to her. After a month, she received a reply stating that she had been issued 25 Kgs of wheat @ Rs 2 per Kg and 10 Kgs of rice @ Rs 3 per Kg every month in the last three months. The cash memos showed thumb impressions having been made in her name. She is a literate woman. She never puts thumb but always signs. Naturally, the thumb impressions do not belong to her but are fakes. This shows that the shopkeeper had been drawing her ration by faking thumb impressions in her name for the last so many months. Triveni was shocked. But now she was equipped with evidence to proceed against the shopkeeper. Before she could take any action, the shopkeeper came to her house and pleaded with her not to take any action and that he would mend his ways in future. Since then, Triveni is getting right amount of ration at the right price for the last year and a half. Nannu is a daily wage earner. He lives in Welcome Mazdoor Colony, another slum habitation in East Delhi. He lost his ration card and applied for a duplicate one in January this year. He made several rounds of the local Food & Civil Supplies office for the next three months. But the clerks and officials would not even look at him, leave alone do his job or bother to tell him the status of his application. Ultimately, he filed an application under the Right to Information Act asking for the daily progress made on his application, names of the officials who were supposed to act on his application and what action would be taken against these officials. Within a week of filing application under Right to Information Act, he was visited by an inspector from the Food Department, who informed him that the card had been made and he could collect it from the office. When Nannu went to collect his card next day, he was given a very warm treatment by the Food & Supply Officer (FSO), who is the head of a Circle. The FSO offered him tea and requested him to withdraw his application under Right to Information, since his work had already been done.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line976
__label__wiki	0.841116	0.841116	Man Sentenced to 18 Years to Life for Brutal Domestic Violence Murder SAN FRANCISCO – Today, District Attorney George Gascón announced that Rickey Joseph Roberts, age 60, of San Francisco has been sentenced to 18 years to life for the second-degree murder of Olga Diaz-Clark, a 60-year-old San Francisco resident. Earlier this summer, a San Francisco jury found Mr. Roberts guilty of second-degree murder and of making criminal threats against the victim. Ms. Diaz-Clark was an ex-girlfriend of Mr. Roberts at the time of her death. “The defendant, over time, stripped Ms. Diaz-Clark of her right to live her life in peace,”said District Attorney George Gascón. “Domestic violence is not a crime that only occurs in the shadows; it’s visible and intervention is possible. If you’re living under constant threat, or know someone who is, please reach out. You’re not alone.” According to court documents, on December 13, 2015, at approximately 5:00 a.m., Ms. Diaz-Clark was sleeping when Mr. Roberts entered her residence. She woke up as he assaulted her. He punched her repeatedly in the face and head with closed fists while threatening to kill her. He used both hands to choke her, causing her to fall and lose consciousness. When Ms. Diaz-Clark regained consciousness, she was lying on the floor of her apartment but Mr. Roberts was gone. She went to the lobby of her apartment complex and asked the security guard to dial 911. She had visible injuries to her face and neck, and was in distress from the attack. The security guard relayed the details of the assault to the 911 operator as Ms. Diaz-Clark described them to him, including that the victim had been “choked-out” by Mr. Roberts. At approximately 5:49 AM, medical personnel and police officers arrived at the apartment complex. Ms. Diaz-Clark, crying and shaking, described how Mr. Roberts assaulted her and caused her to lose consciousness for several minutes. She also stated that Mr. Roberts lived in the same apartment complex. Officers approached the unit that Mr. Roberts lived in and knocked on the door. Mr. Roberts’ brother answered and gave the officers permission to enter. They discovered Mr. Roberts asleep on the couch. They woke him and questioned him about what happened between him and Ms. Diaz-Clark. He was subsequently arrested and taken into custody. Medical personnel determined that Ms. Diaz-Clark had sustained a blow to the right side of her head, resulting in blood clotting, a depression behind her right ear, a cut to her lower lip, swelling of her right jaw, abrasions and redness on her throat; and was experiencing pain to the left side of her head and right side of her stomach. She was rushed to the hospital where she eventually went into a coma. Doctors attempted to release pressure on her brain by surgical means but were unsuccessful. She subsequently went into a vegetative state and passed away on December 16, 2015, as a result of the assault by Mr. Roberts. Officers interviewed Mr. Roberts the day after the assault, but he denied causing the victim’s injuries. He had a long history of assaulting, strangling, and threatening Ms. Diaz-Clark. Prior to the assault that led to her death, Mr. Roberts had left the victim numerous voice messages throughout the month of November 2015, threatening to “hunt” her down and kill her. “Ms. Diaz-Clark suffered many years of mental and physical abuse at the hands of Rickey Roberts,” said Assistant District Attorney Sam Totah. “The victim’s family showed remarkable strength during the pendency of this case, and I commend them for working with our office to achieve justice for their loved one.” The Honorable Carol Yaggy presided. This successful prosecution is due to the excellent investigation by Sergeant Inspector David Almaguer of the SFPD’s Special Victims Unit and Sergeant Gary Watts of the SFPD’s Homicide Unit. Special recognition goes to our city’s community organizations dedicated to stopping domestic violence for their support throughout the case. Additional thanks go to Paralegal Tony Yu, and Victim Advocates Priscilla Portillo and Peter Huynh. Assistant District Attorney Sam Totah prosecuted the case.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line984
__label__wiki	0.696448	0.696448	Sources for The Merchant of Venice There are many possible texts that Shakespeare could have used in constructing The Merchant of Venice, and while we can confirm that he relied upon two particular sources, the others sources I will mention were likely, though not definitely, influences on Shakespeare. His chief source was a tale in an Italian collection entitled Il Pecorone or The Simpleton, written in 1378 by Giovanni Fiorentino, and published in 1565. No known English translation existed for Shakespeare to use, but it is possible, although very unlikely, that someone Shakespeare knew had translated his own private copy and gave it to Shakespeare to read. It is more likely that Shakespeare was more learned than people like to assume, and that he read the text in its original Italian. The story in Il Pecorone tells of a wealthy woman at Belmont who marries an upstanding young gentleman. Her husband needs money and has friend, desperate to help, goes to a money-lender to borrow the required cash for his friend. The money-lender, who is also a Jew in Il Pecorone demands a pound of flesh as payment if the money is not paid back. When the money is not paid in time, the Jew goes to court to ensure he receives what he is owed. The friend’s life is saved when the wealthy wife speaks in court of true justice and convinces the judge to refuse the Jew his pound of flesh. Shakespeare adds the casket story line and the Shylock’s usury — in Il Pecorone the Jew lends the friend money without interest. Portia’s suitors and the game of casket choosing they must play for her hand in marriage are from the Gesta Romanorum, a medieval collection of stories translated by Richard Robinson, and published in 1577. Here is the excerpt from Gesta Romanorum relevant to The Merchant of Venice, as reprinted in the edition of Shakespeare’s play edited by H. H. Furness: Then was the emperour right glad of her safety and comming, and had great compassion on her, saying: Ah faire lady, for the love of my sonne thou hast suffered much woe, nevertheless if thou be worthie to be his wife, soone shall I prove. And when he had said thus, he commanded to bring forth three vessels, the first was made of pure gold, beset with precious stones without, and within full of dead mens bones, and thereupon was ingraven this posey: Whoso chooseth me shall finde that he deserveth. The second vessel was made of fine silver, filled with earth and wormes, and the superscription was thus: Whoso chooseth me shall finde what his nature desireth. The third vessel was mad of lead, full within of precious stones, and the superscription, Whoso chooseth me shall finde what God hath disposed to him. In addition to the aforementioned sources, Shakespeare could have relied upon a play called The Jew. No copy of this play exists and the only acknowledgement of it ever existing comes from a book called Schoole of Abuse (1579), by Gosson. He mentions briefly that a play by that name was once performed at the Bull Inn, but no other details are known. He also could have used a novel called Zelauto, written by the English playwright Anthony Munday in 1580. Similarities exist between Jessica and one of the female characters in that text. Lastly, in approximately 1591, http://shakespeare-online.com/biography/shakespearecontemps.htmlChristopher Marlowe wrote The Jew of Malta. Marlowe, considered by most to be the greatest playwright other than Shakespeare in the English language, crafted his hero, Barabas, the wealthiest Jew in Malta, no doubt from the same sources as Shakespeare used. Barabas is cunning and extremely intelligent, but his intellect prompts his downfall, and he dies in the trap that he set for his enemy. Marlowe’s play was a wild success, and its popularity may have been the reason why Shakespeare decided to write his own version of the tale told in Il Pecorone.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line985
__label__cc	0.70409	0.29591	Two women ironing by Edgar Degas Yawning wolf Yawning tiger Barred owl mouth open, perhaps yawning The sound of yawning Problems listening to these files? See media help. A yawn is a reflex. It involves a large, long taking in of air, the stretching of eardrums as the jaw opens wide, and last a (sometimes loud) breathing out. Pandiculation is the act of yawning and stretching simultaneously.[1] It is easy to see when someone is yawning, but no-one knows what its function is. Yawning is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, overwork, lack of stimulation and boredom. In humans, yawning is often triggered by others yawning (e.g. seeing a person yawning, talking to someone on the phone who is yawning) and is a typical example of positive feedback.[2] This "infectious" yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees and dogs.[3][4] Cats both yawn and stretch, though not necessarily at the same time. 1 Contagiousness 2 Reasons, functions 3 Other vertebrates Contagiousness[change \| change source] The yawn reflex has long been observed to be contagious. In 1508, Erasmus wrote, "One man's yawning makes another yawn.,"[5] and the French proverbialized the idea to "Un bon bâilleur en fait bâillier deux." ("One good gaper makes two others gape").[6] Often, if one person yawns, this may cause another person to "empathetically" yawn.[7][8] Observing another person's yawning face (especially his/her eyes), even reading, or thinking about yawning, or looking at a yawning picture can cause a person to yawn.[7][9][10] The immediate cause for contagious yawning may be the mirror neurons in the frontal cortex of certain vertebrates, which, upon being exposed to a stimulus, activates the same regions in the brain.[11] Mirror neurons have been proposed as a driving force for imitation which lies at the root of much human learning such as language acquisition. Yawning may be an offshoot of the same imitative impulse. Reasons, functions[change \| change source] Charles Darwin argued, in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, that if a behaviour was present in many cultures, then it must be inherited (wholly or partly). All traits which appear in a wide range of animals must have some function which is supported (or was supported) by natural selection.[12] In most cases the function is obvious, but with yawning we do not know what that function is. Suggestions have been made, but they do not seem to account for its widespread occurrence in mammals, and possibly in other vertebrates. Other vertebrates[change \| change source] Because mammals have similar emotions, and can show their emotions very clearly,[12] it is agreed that when they look as if they are yawning, it is yawning in every sense. The reasons for this are similar to the reasons why we think other humans feel the same as us when the show the same signs. ↑ MedOnline.net, "pandiculate" ↑ Camazine, Deneubourg, Franks, Sneyd, Theraulaz, Bonabeau 2003. Self-Organization in Biological Systems, Princeton University Press, 18. ISBN 0-691-11624-5 ↑ Carpenter, Jennifer (August 5, 2008). "Pet dogs can 'catch' human yawns". BBC NEWS. Retrieved 2009-10-03. ↑ Shepherd, Alex J.; Senju, Atsushi; Joly-Mascheroni, Ramiro M. (2008). "Dogs catch human yawns". Biology Letters 4 (5): 446–8. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0333. PMC 2610100. PMID 18682357. ↑ Erasmus Adagio Chil. III, cent. iv, No 95 (1508) quoted in Stevenson, Burton ed. The Macmillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Famous Phrases. New York: Macmillan, 1948. ↑ Stevenson, Burton ed. The Macmillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Famous Phrases. New York: Macmillan, 1948. non selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may cause yawning. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Provine, Robert 2005. American Scientist 93, 532 ↑ The website by Émilie attempts to prove this. ↑ Provine RR (1986). "Yawning as a stereotyped action pattern and releasing stimulus". Ethology 72 (2): 109–122. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1986.tb00611.x. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=8101503. ↑ Krulwich, Robert (2007). "The quest to design the perfect yawn: NPR". NPR. Retrieved 2009-09-01. ↑ V.S. Ramachandran, "Mirror Neurons and imitation learning as the driving force behind "the great leap forward" in human evolution". Retrieved 2006-11-16. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Darwin, Charles 1872. The expression of emotions in man and animals. London: John Murray. Reprinted many times by different publishers Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yawn&oldid=6176742"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line990
__label__wiki	0.592603	0.592603	The Exception Extinction Posted on 10 September 2015 by howardlee The end-Ordovician was unlike most other extinction events, but it proves the rule: big changes in the carbon cycle trigger big changes in climate, with dire consequences for life on Earth. Regular readers of Skeptical Science will be familiar with the growing body of evidence that ties four of the “big five” mass extinctions In Earth’s past to episodes of abrupt global warming triggered by intense greenhouse emissions from gargantuan eruptions called Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs). The end-Cretaceous, end Triassic, and end-Permian episodes of abrupt climate change have been the subject of earlier blog posts. But what about the other one, the one out of five that wasn’t? The mass extinction at the end of the Ordovician period 444 million years ago extinguished 85% of marine species, but it was associated with global cooling rather than warming. This fascinating episode of Earth’s past was an exception, but it was the exception that proves the rule: big changes in the carbon cycle trigger big changes in climate, with dire consequences for life on Earth. Complex life on Earth back then was relatively young. It was going through the “Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event” (GOBE), developing complex food webs and proliferating into all the ecological niches (like coral reefs) that would persist until the end of the Permian period. The world in the Ordovician, showing the Hirnantian glaciation. Redrawn from Torsvik et al, Earth-Science Reviews (2012), Modern coastlines for reference. Hirnantian glaciation extent based on Nutz et al, J. Sedimentary Res. 2013 Most biodiversity was in the waters and seabeds of continental shelves, since deeper water was oxygen-starved. Land life in the early Ordovician was limited to bacteria, algae, fungi, lichen and some primitive, liverwort-like plants. More sophisticated land plants (“cryptophytes” - a loose group of early moss-like plants) appeared in the middle Ordovician about 470 million years ago, and they colonized suitably damp habitats across the globe along with early land arthropods. There was also a major radiation of photosynthesizing phytoplankton at that time. The earliest vascular plants (with woody tissues that support stems, and which can tolerate dryer habitats) appeared shortly before the Hirnantian at around 450 million years ago on the continent of Gondwana. So the latter half of the Ordovician saw the development of a brand-new, plant-dominated terrestrial biosphere. "a brand-new, plant-dominated terrestrial biosphere" During the Ordovician the global climate went through a long cooling trend punctuated by short term colder blips that corresponded with carbon cycle perturbations. Those carbon perturbations appear as positive carbon-13 isotope excursions (CIEs in the figure below), meaning that life went through episodes of increased consumption of carbon-12, changing the fossilized ratio between carbon-12 and carbon-13. For more on carbon isotopes see this explainer by NOAA. As the climate cooled, an ice sheet developed on the southern continent of Gondwana, fluctuating with orbital wobbles and expanding during each positive CIE. There were also a couple of moderate-sized asteroid impacts through this time: Clearwater East, and Slate Islands at around 470 and 450 million years ago respectively. Neither seems to have had much effect on the planet. A 2-strike extinction In the final million years of the Ordovician, the planet underwent a particularly severe episode of glaciation called the Hirnantian Glaciation, coinciding with the mass extinction. Detailed studies of that geologically brief episode have revealed there was not one but two pulses of mass extinction. The first pulse coincided with the beginning of the Hirnantian Glaciation, and the second with its abrupt end. Cooling climate before the Hirnantian Mass Extinction. Cyan horizontal band is the Hirnantian Stage. Redrawn from Armstrong & Harper 2014. 13C-derived CO2 range from Pancost et al 2013, Plant spore first appearance simplified from Edwards et al 2014 and Rubinstein et al 2010. Ordovician CO2 and oxygen levels Older papers infer very high CO2 levels in the Ordovician, generating a paradox of a major glaciation during a time of high greenhouse gas levels. Not even the 4% fainter sun back then could explain that away. But recent work has shown that atmospheric CO2 was falling through the Ordovician, and must have been less than 8 times preindustrial values towards the end. This may sound very high, but with a fainter sun back then and with a large continent over the South Pole, it was low enough to trigger a major continental ice sheet. Ordovician oxygen levels were also much lower than they are today, at just 15 to 50% of present levels. Oxygen-starved deep water was widespread, and even in the surface layer of the oceans oxygen levels were much lower than they are today, limiting their productivity. At low oxygen levels the atmosphere is less dense, so scattering of shortwave light (ie closer to visible wavelengths than to thermal infrared) by air molecules and clouds is less frequent, leading to slightly more surface warming. Extinction Strike 1 The Hirnantian glaciation was the culmination of the general cooling trend, but it was also much more extreme than the preceding glacial cycles, and its onset (slightly before the Hirnantian) was relatively rapid. Something set the already-glacial climate over a “tipping point” that caused the expansion of ice to an extent far larger than modern Antarctica, causing a drop in global sea levels of 80 to 130 meters. To put that in context, the difference in sea level between today and the Last Glacial Maximum about 26,000 years ago is about the same. A sea level drop of that magnitude removed a large portion of continental shelf habitat, which trapped most biodiversity on Earth between falling sea levels and oxygen-starved deep water. Those species that lost out in the scramble for habitat went extinct. To make matters even worse, life in temperate latitudes got squeezed between the expanded polar zone and the tropics. Again, species that lost out in the scramble for habitat went extinct. "trapped most biodiversity ... between falling sea levels and oxygen-starved deep water" This icehouse world persisted for around about 1 million years with the ice sheet waxing and waning through orbitally-controlled glacial-interglacial cycles, like they did in the most recent ice ages. Recent work has linked the first pulse of extinction to the earliest of those interglacials, which suggests that as sea levels rose, oxygen-starved seawater travelled inland with them, even further compressing the habitable zone. Just before the second strike of the Hirnantian mass extinction there was strong intensification of the glaciation and sea levels dropped even lower. Then, within perhaps 200,000 years, the climate did a complete about-face as the ice sheet collapsed in response to about a 6°C (11°F) rise in temperatures. This resulted in an abrupt and total reversal of the sea level fall, returning to pre-Hirnantian levels or higher. Oxygen-starved water advanced up the continental shelves depositing sulfurous black muds, compressing the habitable zone so that middle-depth-adapted life lost habitat and went extinct preferentially. There was also a phytoplankton extinction at this time. The strongest and sharpest spike in the Hirnantian carbon isotope excursion is associated with this 2nd extinction pulse, indicating a surge in light carbon (carbon-12) burial, possibly the result of a big influx of nutrients washed from land by rapidly melting ice. The cumulative effect of this environmental whiplash was the permanent loss of about 85% of marine species, making this 2nd after the Permian Mass Extinction in terms of species loss. But interestingly land plant diversity doesn’t seem to have suffered. Some ice persisted, and sea levels continued to fluctuate throughout the subsequent Silurian period, but a mass extinction on the scale of the Hirnantian was not seen again until the late Devonian. The 2 pulses of the end-Ordovician extinction. Temperature and extinction pattern from Armstrong & Harper 2014, sea-level change, carbon isotope curve and extinction zones from Ghienne et al 2014. All scaled in time to match orbitally-tuned timeframe in figure 3 of Ghienne et al 2014. So what could trigger such paroxysmal planetary change? Various theories have been put forward including:- Strike 1: Weathering reducing CO2 at a rate that outpaced background volcanic CO2 emissions (Kump et al 1999, Young et al 2010) Weathering, ocean fertilization and carbon burial and by plants (Lenton et al 2012) Reduction in carbon burial due to the extent of ice cover (Young et al 2010) Large Igneous Province (LIP) greenhouse gas emissions (Kravchinsky 2012, Kidder & Worsley 2012) I should note at the outset that this is an area of active research, and that detailed correlation of events in Hirnantian strata across the world is far from trivial, as discussed here and here. This was a time of mountain building (the Taconic/Caledonian orogeny) and violent ashy volcanic eruptions as the continents of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalonia began to collide. Mountain building, lots of fresh volcanic ash and erosion tend to accelerate the weathering of silicate rocks, which draws down CO2 from the atmosphere, cooling the planet on a timeframe of hundreds of thousands to millions of years. And indeed, strontium isotopes confirm a large increase in the contribution of weathered volcanic rocks into ocean waters between about 470 and 450 million years ago. Neodymium isotopes (a proxy for ancient sea level change) show that ice sheets were in place well before the Hirnantian, and so the Hirnantian represents an extreme within a long-established glaciation. To explain the extreme nature and rapid onset of the Hirnantian glaciation, it could be that this progressive cooling and weathering CO2 drawdown reached a tipping point as more and more water got locked up in ice, reflecting more and more sunlight as ice spread, creating a runaway glaciation. But weathering alone cannot explain the large positive carbon and sulfur isotope spikes observed. They tell us that in the Hirnantian there was a major increase in photosynthesizing activity and a corresponding major increase in organic carbon burial in the seafloor. Typically this requires a big influx of nutrients washed from the land, fertilizing plankton activity. Ordovician sediments are often rich in fossil algae Gloeocapsomorpha prisca, implying widespread algal blooms, and enhanced biological productivity in the surface layer of the ocean uses up dissolved oxygen, causing the spread of oxygen-starved ocean dead zones. "a massive increase in liberation of nutrients from the land ... the rate of carbon burial in the oceans was about 15 times present levels!" In their paper titled “First plants cooled the Ordovician,” Lenton et al demonstrated that even the early moss-like plants must have accelerated rock weathering rates, simultaneously drawing down CO2 and supplying nutrients like phosphorous to the oceans, which would have fertilized plankton activity. The Darriwillian CIE occurring very shortly after the radiation of cryptophyte plants makes sense in this context. But the Hirnantian CIE requires a tripling of the phosphorous supply which suggests a massive increase in liberation of nutrients from the land, and carbon isotopes show that the rate of carbon burial in the oceans was about 15 times present levels! This can be explained by the radiation of the earliest vascular plants onto previously unvegetated land, causing a pulse of phosphorus weathering as they spread, fertilizing the oceans, boosting ocean productivity, and locking CO2 away in degradation-resistant vascular tissue at the same time. So it seems that although both geological and biological causes conspired to prime the planet for glaciation, it was likely the initial radiation of vascular plants that pushed the climate over a tipping point resulting in an abrupt and severe glaciation that in turn caused the first pulse of the mass extinction. Environmental whiplash in the Hirnantian. Based on Armstrong & Harper 2014 modified to match sequence in Ghienne et al 2014. But what explains the 2nd strike? We know from the most recent ice ages that a complicated set of feedbacks causes the waxing and waning of ice sheets in response to varying sunlight intensity with orbital wobbles on timescales of tens and hundreds of millennia. These factors sometimes conspire to create relatively long warmish interglacials such as MIS 11 about 400,000 years ago. But observations of Hirnantian rocks suggest that the climate went through about 5 such oscillations without triggering collapse of the ice sheet and drastic sea level rise, or a 2nd extinction pulse. This suggests something else must have come into play at the 2nd extinction. Young et al proposed that as ice sheets expanded they covered ever more land area, preventing silicate weathering from drawing down CO2 from the atmosphere, allowing volcanic CO2 to build and warm the planet past that tipping point again, resulting in the collapse of the Hirnantian ice sheet. It’s true that the ice sheet collapse happened just after a strong intensification of the already severe glaciation, but the buildup of background volcanic CO2 is slow process, requiring hundreds of thousands of years, whereas the termination of the Hirnantian was rapid. The symptoms of abrupt warming and sea level rise have been linked to large and rapid greenhouse gas emissions by Large Igneous Province eruptions for numerous other warming episodes in Earth’s past, and several of those have been associated with mass extinctions. Examples include the mid-Cambrian, the end-Permian, the end-Triassic, the Toarcian, end-Cretaceous, the PETM and others (see this post). Both Kravchinsky in 2012, and Kidder & Worsley in 2012, made the association between the end-Ordovician and such a LIP eruption, but could not point to a well-dated LIP that matched. Subsequent work by Khudoley et al has identified the Suordakh LIP on the eastern margin of Siberia that dates to exactly the right time: 444 million years ago, albeit with a wide uncertainty of ± 22 million years. The presence of malformed plankton also hints at possible ocean acidification at this time, a phenomenon that typifies other LIP events. So, tentatively, it seems that this second pulse of the end-Ordovician extinction might have more in common with other mass extinction events after all. Greenhouse gas emissions from a Large Igneous Province may have warmed the planet and terminated the Hirnantian glaciation, thereby triggering the 2nd strike of the Hirnantian (end-Ordovician) mass extinction, in just the same way LIPs did in the other 4 of the big 5 mass extinctions. This episode of Earth’s past shows that innovative new species can drastically alter the climate when they proliferate across the globe. The evolution and spread of terrestrial plants at the end of the Ordovician not only may have triggered one of the biggest mass extinctions of life on Earth, but it also boosted oxygen levels. Those higher oxygen levels led to the oxygenation of deep ocean water, breaking the link between subsequent ice ages and mass extinctions. And those higher oxygen levels also enabled the emergence of large and energetic vertebrates, eventually leading to a new innovative species with planet-transforming, mass-extinction-causing power - us. This is an expansion from Howard Lee’s book: “Your Life as Planet Earth,” an account of past climate changes, how they affected life, and how Earth and life affected climate. Torsvik, T. H., Van der Voo, R., Preeden, U., Mac Niocaill, C., Steinberger, B., Doubrovine, P. V., ... & Cocks, L. R. M. (2012). Phanerozoic polar wander, palaeogeography and dynamics. Earth-Science Reviews, 114(3), 325-368. Nutz, A., Ghienne, J. F., & Štorch, P. (2013). Circular, cryogenic structures from the Hirnantian deglaciation sequence (Anti-Atlas, Morocco). Journal of Sedimentary Research, 83(1), 115-131. Rubinstein, C. V., Gerrienne, P., de la Puente, G., Astini, R. A., & Steemans, P. (2010). Early Middle Ordovician evidence for land plants in Argentina (eastern Gondwana). 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A., Paris, F., Verniers, J., & Wellman, C. H. (2009). Origin and radiation of the earliest vascular land plants. Science, 324(5925), 353-353. Wellman, C. H., Steemans, P., & Vecoli, M. (2013). Palaeophytogeography of Ordovician–Silurian land plants. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 38(1), 461-476. Armstrong, H. A., & Harper, D. A. (2014). An earth system approach to understanding the end-Ordovician (Hirnantian) mass extinction. Geological Society of America Special Papers, 505, 287-300. Earth Impact Database, 2015. www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/ (Accessed: 27/8/2015) Pancost, R. D., Freeman, K. H., Herrmann, A. D., Patzkowsky, M. E., Ainsaar, L., & Martma, T. (2013). Reconstructing Late Ordovician carbon cycle variations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 105, 433-454. Feulner, G. (2012). The faint young Sun problem. Reviews of Geophysics,50(2). Herrmann, A. D., Patzkowsky, M. E., & Pollard, D. (2003). Obliquity forcing with 8–12 times preindustrial levels of atmospheric pCO2 during the Late Ordovician glaciation. Geology, 31(6), 485-488. Dahl, T. W., Hammarlund, E. U., Anbar, A. D., Bond, D. P., Gill, B. C., Gordon, G. W., ... & Canfield, D. E. (2010). Devonian rise in atmospheric oxygen correlated to the radiations of terrestrial plants and large predatory fish.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(42), 17911-17915. Poulsen, C. J., Tabor, C., & White, J. D. (2015). Long-term climate forcing by atmospheric oxygen concentrations. Science, 348(6240), 1238-1241. Zhou, L., Algeo, T. J., Shen, J., Hu, Z., Gong, H., Xie, S., ... & Gao, S. (2015). Changes in marine productivity and redox conditions during the Late Ordovician Hirnantian glaciation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology,420, 223-234. Kröger, B., Ebbestad, J. O. R., Lehnert, O., Ullmann, C. V., Korte, C., Frei, R., & Rasmussen, C. M. (2015). Subaerial speleothems and deep karst in central Sweden linked to Hirnantian glaciations. Journal of the Geological Society,172(3), 349-356. Ghienne, J. F., Desrochers, A., Vandenbroucke, T. R., Achab, A., Asselin, E., Dabard, M. P., ... & Veizer, J. (2014). A Cenozoic-style scenario for the end-Ordovician glaciation. Nature communications, 5. Holmden, C., Mitchell, C. E., LaPorte, D. F., Patterson, W. P., Melchin, M. J., & Finney, S. C. (2013). Nd isotope records of late Ordovician sea-level change—Implications for glaciation frequency and global stratigraphic correlation.Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 386, 131-144. Spina, A. (2015). Latest Ordovician (Hirnantian) miospores from the Nl-2 well, Algeria, North Africa, and their evolutionary significance. Palynology, 39(2), 205-219. Lehnert, O., Männik, P., Joachimski, M. M., Calner, M., & Frýda, J. (2010). Palaeoclimate perturbations before the Sheinwoodian glaciation: A trigger for extinctions during the ‘Ireviken Event’. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 296(3), 320-331. Kump, L. R., Arthur, M. A., Patzkowsky, M. E., Gibbs, M. T., Pinkus, D. S., & Sheehan, P. M. (1999). A weathering hypothesis for glaciation at high atmospheric pCO 2 during the Late Ordovician. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 152(1), 173-187. Young, S. A., Saltzman, M. R., Ausich, W. I., Desrochers, A., & Kaljo, D. (2010). Did changes in atmospheric CO 2 coincide with latest Ordovician glacial–interglacial cycles?. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 296(3), 376-388. Lenton, T. M., Crouch, M., Johnson, M., Pires, N., & Dolan, L. (2012). First plants cooled the Ordovician. Nature Geoscience, 5(2), 86-89. Kravchinsky, V. A. (2012). Paleozoic large igneous provinces of Northern Eurasia: Correlation with mass extinction events. Global and Planetary Change,86, 31-36. Kidder, D. L., & Worsley, T. R. (2012). A human-induced hothouse climate?.GSA Today, 22(2), 1-11. Saltzman, M. R., Edwards, C. T., Leslie, S. A., Dwyer, G. S., Bauer, J. A., Repetski, J. E., ... & Bergström, S. M. (2014). Calibration of a conodont apatite-based Ordovician 87Sr/86Sr curve to biostratigraphy and geochronology: Implications for stratigraphic resolution. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 126(11-12), 1551-1568. Khudoley, A. K., Prokopiev, A. V., Chamberlain, K. R., Ernst, R. E., Jowitt, S. M., Malyshev, S. V., ... & Koroleva, O. V. (2013). Early Paleozoic mafic magmatic events on the eastern margin of the Siberian Craton. Lithos, 174, 44-56. Munnecke, A., Delabroye, A., Servais, T., Vandenbroucke, T. R., & Vecoli, M. (2012). Systematic occurrences of malformed (teratological) acritarchs in the run-up of Early Palaeozoic δ 13 C isotope excursions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 367, 137-146. Printable Version \| Link to this page Comments 1 to 5: mitch at 01:22 AM on 11 September, 2015 One of the problems with the extinction interpretation presented here is that it is very difficult to make deep water anoxic. Any cooling in winter/at the poles will make a dense water mass loaded with oxygen, while tides will mix and pump up the existing deep water. Since nutrients go down with the organic matter that drives oxygen down, there is a steady state deep ocean that typically contains oxygen. In the present oceans, about 50% to 2/3 of the oxygen in deep waters is used. One needs to have an extraordinary release of additional nutrients from a non-ocean reservoir to drive the deep waters anoxic. If only the deepwater exchange with the surface drops, so do the upwelling nutrients, which lowers productivity and lowers the transfer of organic matter to the deep, lowering deep oxygen consumption. howardlee at 04:47 AM on 11 September, 2015 That the deep waters were anoxic is not so much interpretation as what is recorded in the geochemistry and geology. According to Armstrong & Harper: "The fact that a large reservoir of anoxic deep water persisted below the storm- and wave-influenced mixed layer is corroborated by a number of geochemical and sedimentary proxies." See also Zhou et al. We also have to bear in mind that atmoshperic oxygen levels were much lower back then. Marine sulfate concentrations reduced, indicating increased pyrite burial in the Hirnantian. "together these proxies indicate that as global sea level fell, increased nutrient flux and photic zone bioproductivity intensified and widewpread anoxic, and in places euxinic, conditions prevailed or expanded as the chemocline rose through the water column" (Armstrong & Harper). The extraordinary release of nutrients from a non-ocean reservoir is essentially Lenton et als' argument. Tom Curtis at 10:33 AM on 11 September, 2015 mitch @1, cooling at winter will make polar water more oxygen rich, but absent freezing of surface waters to increase salinity, that oxygen rich water will not be carried to the ocean depths. This is particularly the case absent strong north (or south) flowing surface currents from the tropics (which also contribute to high salinity in polar seas). If you look at figure one, it is evident that without any analog of the North Atlantic, ocean water transport to poles would have been much less at the end Ordovician. Further, the much larger south polar land mass would (I think) have greatly weakened the Antarctic Circumpolar Current System, thereby weakening the flow of surface water to the deeps in the south. On top of that, figure 2 above clearly indicates greenhouse forcing and tropical temperatures inconsistent with polar ice in the Ordovician. Thus it is highly likely that prior to the start of glaciation deep waters would have been anoxic. Whether glaciation (and the return of one of the pumps that drives the thermo-haline circulation) would have been enough to generate substantial abyssal circulation is an open question, and if it had, whether it would have been sustained long enough to re-oxygenate the deep ocean another. These are questions that would need to be settled empirically, and apparently have been settled in the negative (although resolution and timing of geological data is always an issue). Given how different the Ordovican ocean is to ours, however, we certainly cannot simply assume anoxic conditions to be prima facie improbable. Tom @ 3 makes many good points. I just have to correct the tropical temperatures/greenhouse forcing point: Recent literature supports Gondwanan ice from the mid-Ordovician on, and the CO2 levels coupled with the polar continent and weaker sunlight are compatible with this coolhouse scenario. The temperatures in the figures are tropical, not global. It's not clear to me that if there was also northern sea ice. Without substantial northern landmasses it's not clear if that northern sea ice was sustainable. That might be a factor in reducing ocean turnover. Given the geochemistry and sediments it's clear the oceans were indeed anoxic, but why they were so is a key question. The literature explains it with nutrient load and low atmoshperic oxygen, but sluggish turnover was probably also a factor. The ACC is a much later phenomenon, arriving at the Eocene-Oligocene transition. As Tom notes, Ordovician land configuration does not support an Ordovician equivalent, perhaps clearer on this image from Colorado Plateau Geosystems: PluviAL at 18:03 PM on 12 September, 2015 Beautiful article, one of the best I have seen here or anywhere. Al along reading I was groping about the pendulum swings and stabilizing mechanics which was the conclusion. One of the stabilizing factors I was groping for is the increasing masses of both carbon in storage factors, and in the capacity of the biome to reach plane adjusting scale. Finally, the one point that very little attention is given to, is the possibility that CO2 affects cryosphere dynamics and inertial mass, and potentially volcanism. If so, then mechanisms that adjust CO2, also adjust volcanism. The mechanics are enhanced by direct and indirect effects on storage systems. For example: CO2 to temperature, to clathrates and permafrost, to temperature, to volcanism, to temperature, to greater clathrate releases, etc. This is just a guess, but it sure seems plausible in the clear and colorful light of this article. The other thing is that we are working these mechanics by ignorance and so, we can work them by knowledge too: We can adjust climate, and subclimates, if we chose to. You need to be logged in to post a comment. Login via the left margin or if you're new, register here.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line994
__label__wiki	0.990818	0.990818	Steven Gerrard: Rangers could have beaten Celtic by more Ryan Jack's first Rangers strike earned Old Firm bragging rights, but manager Steven Gerrard believes his side should have beaten Celtic by more goals. 29 December, 2018 21:45 IST Steven Gerrard feels Rangers could have ensured a more comprehensive victory. - Getty Images Steven Gerrard dedicated Rangers' first win over Celtic in 90 minutes since 2012 to the club's fans while claiming its 1-0 victory could have been by a wider margin. Ryan Jack's first goal for the club moved Rangers level on points with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership as Gerrard triumphed over his former manager at Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers. The title race is now hotting up and Gerrard felt the 1-0 result could have been more emphatic in favour of his side. Read \| Gerrard: Talks of succeeding Klopp are presumptuous "This moment is all about the supporters, they’ve been through a lot," he told Sky Sports. "Over the last couple of years they’ve been punished in these fixtures, so today is all about the supporters. 'Outstanding' "The players to a man were outstanding, all over the pitch. I asked them to win more one v ones across the pitch and we won them all. We were better to a man, we were the better team, we could have won it more comfortably. Their keeper made some outstanding saves and we hit the woodwork. Scott Arfield (right) celebrates Rangers' win. Photo: Getty Images "We played with courage, we played with belief, we were brave, competed all over the pitch. I asked them to bring their A-game and they did — that’s what I want to see on a regular basis. There's still a lot of work. Celtic are a good team, have a good manager, but the first half of the season has gone very well. But today is about the supporters. They need to enjoy the night and the next couple of weeks, because they haven’t had bragging rights in this city in a long time." 'Smiles on the faces' Scott Arfield starred in a midfield role for Gerrard's side and the Canada international hailed his team's derby win. "It means so much to this football club. It's been a number of years," Arfield said to Sky Sports. "This club has a tradition of success and to put smiles on the faces of those supporters is what it's all about. We want to be top of this league, but we know it's just one game to get us back on track." Scott Arfield	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line996
__label__wiki	0.617255	0.617255	stenote Ave Maria Day at Lourdes Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees in France. It lies at an elevation of 420 m and in a central position through which runs the fast-flowing river Gave de Pau. Every year, Lourdes is visited by millions of pilgrims, they come to see the site of a famous vision experienced by a young girl called Bernadette Soubirous. Pilgrims may visit to be cleansed of their sins and to be cured of their illnesses. It is believed that spring water from the grotto can heal people if they are sick. Millions of visitors come to Lourdes each year in the hope of being cured. The one of the reasons for pilgrims to go to Lourdes, is to bathe in the spring water, to be fully immersed into the bath and drink the water for cleansing and healing. The bath is a symbol of baptism and also strengthening the faith of the pilgrims. The history began on 11th February 1858, as Bernadette Soubrirous, a 14-year-old local girl, went out with her sister Toinette, and a friend Jeanne, to fetch firewood near the local grotto. Suddenly, a lady appeared to her in a brilliant white dress tied with a blue ribbon; her body was covered with a long white veil that fell to her feet. This lady later identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception" which is an attribute of Santa Maria. Santa Maria then appeared 18 times to Bernadette, and on 25th February She asked the girl to dig up a spring of water where none had been found before. Santa Maria told her “Go and drink at the Spring and wash yourself there”. Even though this area was muddy, the next day, the ground flowed with clear water. Almost immediately cures were reported from drinking the water, and since then many people were cured by applying or drinking the water. The Spring water of Lourdes became popular because of the miracles associated with it. What is particularly striking to the casual visitor is the number of sick and disabled people present in Lourdes. All those traumatised by life may find a certain degree of comfort in Lourdes. Officially, 80,000 sick and disabled people from many countries come to Lourdes each year. Despite their wounds or disabilities, they feel they are in a haven of peace and joy. Posted by stenote at 4:55 PM No comments: An Interview with Giuseppe I was lucky to be granted an interview by Giuseppe, as he was known as an intensely private man, who regards journalists, biographers, as well as his neighbors in Busseto, as intrusive people, against whose prying attentions he needed to protect himself. So I guessed that I got the interview because he considered me as a not so well-known journalist, not a nosy and gossipy type, therefore I could not do any harms. But still I thought that in any case I must be careful not to ask too deep questions about his personal affairs. So following the appointment, I met him after the opera performance of Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) at the Bolshoi theatre in Moscow. We sat in a café near the Karl Marx square during a chilly night in April. I opened the conversation: “ I am bewildered that you would come to Moscow to watch one of your opera, what makes you come here you of the blue?” Giuseppe: “The Bolshoi theatre in Moscow has a long history of hosting many historic opera premier. Sadly a massive fire broke out in 1853 and ruined the building completely, the theatre had to be closed for a three-year-long overhaul, and opened its doors after renovation right in time for the coronation of Tsar Alexander II. Then it was hit by a bomb in 1941, and got renovated several times because of various damages and the final reconstruction lasted for six years and in 2011 the refurbished theatre opened its doors once again. So I am glad to be here to witness the new Bolshoi hosting Un Ballo in Maschera.” “I found that Alessandra Premoli and Davide Livermore directed the opera performance very well, with impressive digitally enhanced stage set by Gio Forma and video design by D-wok. There were the flying and preying crows in the digital background of the stage dominated in black and white, haunting the people with the ominous fortune foretold by the witch Ulrica. The performance tonight exposed me to a new experience. It makes opera more attractive, may bring younger audiences, gives wider alternatives to creative artists and technicians, and will probably take costs down.” “I can only ask for more. It can be really beautiful, but equally it can detract. It comes down to what the production is really. It would certainly be appropriate for some but overall I definitely prefer traditional opera. However some modern productions may benefit from this. Surely no one could say it should always, or never, be used.” “ You are known of your greatness, to find a way of speaking to limitless crowds, and your method to adsorb yourself completely into your characters. You never composed music for music’s sake, every music note has a precise dramatic implication. The most astounding scenes in your work are those in which all the voices come together in a visceral mass, like the voices at the end of “Un Ballo”, overcome by the spiritual greatness of a dying man.” “The scene is about the dying Riccardo as he admits to Renato : ‘You must listen to me, she is pure: in the arms of death, while God hears my words, I swear it (Ella è pura: in braccio a morte Te lo giuro, Iddio m’ascolta)’. The dying Riccardo confirms that, although he was in love with Amelia, Renato’s wife, she never broke her marriage vows. Then he shows Renato the order for the couple’s repatriation to England, a gesture to show that he forgives Renato and the conspirators. The crowd bewails the loss of their generous-hearted governor as Renato is consumed by remorse.” “One of your most successful opera is La Traviata, which means “the fallen woman” or “the one who goes astray” and in context it connotes the loss of sexual innocence. It represents the thinking of a time when sexual activity outside of marriage was considered immoral and unmarried couples living together were the subject of scandal. That time in Paris in the world of the rich and powerful, social conventions bound everyone to a righteous lifestyle on the surface, but beneath that existed another world where the nobility could enjoy the excess of their wealth including the company of women, the courtesan who were expected to entertain him, and also go to the theater and opera with him.” “ The story of this opera is “a subject for our time.” I was determined to use the opera to arouse sympathy for society’s outcasts, the sort of people we might go out of our way to avoid on the streets. Like Alexandre Dumas “The Lady of the Camellias” upon which novel and play the opera is based, I wanted to protest the exploitation of women, and I gave the opera a contemporary setting.” “Indeed in La Traviata you not only put a cry story on stage, you set it all to contemporary music : the waltzes and polkas were that time the sounds that accompanied the libidinous pleasures of booze and sensuality. The most famous of those is the Brindisi drinking song in the first act, Alfredo’s waltzing “Libiamo” – “let’s get drunk”, basically. It is a famous duet with chorus, one of the best-known opera melodies and a popular performance choice for many great tenors. Giuseppe, imitating Alfredo in Brindisi, the drinking song : “Libiamo, libiamo ne’lieti calici Let us drink from the goblets of joy che la belleza infiora. adorned with beauty, E la fuggevol ora s’inebrii and the fleeting hour shall be adorned a voluttà. with pleasure.” “It required a strong character to live the life that you live; to preserve at your golden years that freshness of interest, that intensity of purpose. To produce an opera means to negotiate with an impresario, secure and edit a libretto, find or approve the singers, compose the music, supervise rehearsals, conduct some of the performances, deal with publishers, and more. What drives you to be so passionate to produce operas?” “The explanation may be partly found in my humble origin, my simple upbringing. My father kept a little inn and grocery shop in the village of Roncole. He was not rich, but prosperous enough to be able to give his son a thorough musical education. My father arranged music lessons before I was four. When only eleven, I succeeded my teacher in the post, at a salary of thirty-six francs a year! I had a hundred francs when I left six years later, but I was then walking every Sunday and festival day from Busseto, three miles distant, for my general education.” “At Busseto there lived a musical amateur, named Barezzi. He took you, opened his home to you in his warehouse, and allowed you the treat of practicing on a piano. Barezzi had a daughter who also played piano. The usual results of this situation you fell in love with each other, and were married in 1835.” “I was so poor at this time that he had to pawn my wife’s trinkets for the rent. Margherita gave birth to two children, Virginia and Icilio. Both died in infancy while I was working on my first opera Oberto at the age of 26. Premiered at Milan’s La Scala in November 1839, Oberto enjoyed a fair success and the theatre's impresario Bartolomeo Merelli was impressed enough to offer me a contract that would guarantee two more works. “ “You live a life with more moments of tragedy than most of us could take. As a young man you lost both of your children in infancy, and your wife Margherita died soon after in 1840 because of encephalitis. That happened when you had just accepted an engagement to write a comic opera, Un giorno di regno (King fo a Day) and you went on with it while your heart was breaking. It was a failure and we can hardly wonder that the opera was a failure. With your personal life shattered and your professional life disrupted by grief, you have been drawn sitting moody and silent for a whole year and more, writing nothing, seeing nobody, as if declaring that life was not worth living.” “I was alone! Irredeemably alone! …My family had been wiped out!... And to keep the commitment I’d made, at that very painful moment in my life, I had to write Un giorno di regno which was not liked….. Tormented by my family woes, which the failure of my work only exacerbated, I was convinced that art would never bring me solace, and I decided to stop writing music!....” “Then in a dreary winter’s day in 1841 after a chance meeting with Bartolomeo Merelli, La Scala's impresario, he gave you a copy of Temistocle Solera's libretto for Nabucco. “ “I took it home, and threw it on the table with an almost violent gesture. ... In falling, it had opened of itself; without my realising it, my eyes clung to the open page and to one special line: 'Va pensiero, sull' ali dorate' meaning ‘Go, thought, on golden wings’. I ran through the verses that followed and was much moved, all the more because they were almost a paraphrase from the Bible, the reading of which always had delighted me. I read it enthusiastically one passage after another. Then, resolute in my determination to write no more, I forced myself to close the manuscript and went to bed. But it was no use- I couldn’t get Nabucco out of my head. Unable to sleep, I got up and read the libretto, not once, but two or three times, so that by the morning, I know Solera’s libretto almost by heart. Nevertheless, I still refused to compose the music, taking the manuscript back to the impresario next day. But Merelli would accept no refusal and he immediately stuffed the papers back into my pocket and, not only threw me out of his office, but slammed the door in my face and locked himself in. Then gradually I worked on the music, this verse today, tomorrow that, here a note, there a whole phrase, and little by little the opera was written, so that by the autumn of 1841 it was complete. “ "Then needless to say what happened next , Nabucco premier at La Scala on the evening of 9 March 1842 was a huge success, and this work became your first immortal creation. For you it was a turn from despair to “Viva Verdi, Viva Verdi……” Like the wording in 'Va pensiero, sull' ali dorate', which was inspired by Psalm 137: ‘or let the Lord inspire a concert That may give to endure our suffering’ This is an imaginary interview in memory of Giuseppe Verdi Posted by stenote at 4:33 AM No comments: Verona, at Aida In the Act II, the Egyptian army lead by Radames, march triumphantly into the grand gate of the city of Thebes on its return following their victory over the Ethiopians. Musicians playing long trumpets lead the Egyptian troops into the city. Dancers follow, waving palms and banners, and the crowd of Egyptian women sing in chorus: “Dance, sons of Egypt, circling round, And sing your mystic praises, As round the sun in mazes Dance the bright stars of night.” More troops enter, bringing with them slaves bearing gifts for the gods, and Radames appears in a golden chariot. At the height of the celebration, he meets the Pharaoh, who steps down from his throne to embrace him. Aida is one of Verdi's best known and best loved operas. It encompasses all of Verdi's main signatures – human drama; conflict; subtle and effective use of music; and of course a dramatic ending. It is based on a love story that took place in the Egyptian Pharaonic era, found in Papyrus and re-written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Aida, an Arabic female name meaning "visitor" or "returning", shows how love can be forbidden when she gets stuck between her love for the Egyptian leader Radames and between her love for her father and country, Ethiopia. Through a portrait of brutal war between love and duty, Verdi explores the different aspects of a work in which individuals’ destinies are being shaped. Studying Egypt’s history, music and geography, Verdi composed varied Egyptian melodies harmonically. The composer had developed an extraordinarily clever ear for orchestral effects and theatrical atmosphere. The opera revolves around its main character, Aida, an Ethiopian princess who is captured and made into a slave in Egypt during the war between the countries. But Aida and the Egyptian military commander Radames find that they have come together and fallen in love. Radames, is also adored by Amneris, the daughter of the Egyptian king. However, the feeling is not a mutual one, and Amneris even suspects that this is the case. Suspecting Aida, she tricks the Ethiopian princess into declaring her true feelings after falsely claiming that Radames has died in combat. After Radames returns successful from battle as a hero, the king says that he can have anything he wishes. However, his request for the release of Aida and her father the Ethiopian king Amonasro , now hostages, is denied. Instead, the Egyptian king proclaims that Radames will be wed to his daughter Amneris and will be a successor to the throne. Aida and Radames plan to run away together so they can be happily married without the pressures of their countries, but are caught together. Separated, Radames believes that Aida has fled to her country, while he is imprisoned as a traitor of the country. Having reported Radames for his plans to flee with Aida, Amneris now feels remorse at causing his imprisonment. But this remorse is mixed with her resentment towards Aida and the fact that Radames was willing to give up everything for her. She asks Radames to appear before her and tells him that, if he renounces Aida, she will save him from the judgement of the priests and death sentence. Radames says that his conscience is clear and that he would never renounce his love of Aida. This sends Amneris into a fury and she tells him that no one but she can save him. Still, Radames refuses to submit to her demand and is willing to go to his death. The final scene gives this opera its overwhelming originality. Radames is in the tomb where he has been buried alive. He thinks about the fact that he will never see Aida again when she suddenly appears. Knowing that he would be sentenced to death in there, she has snuck into the tomb and been waiting for him so they can die together. He is horrified at first but the two of them bid farewell to the world together. As the two bid farewell to the world, the music is heavenly as well as euphoric, suggesting that the two will meet again in heaven. The music becomes a trio in the final moments when Amneris joins in with her prayers. Her music has a peaceful tone as she prays for Radames, she wishes him “pace” (peace), and repeats the word as the opera ends in a murmur, “pace”….. Verona, at Il trovatore Il trovatore (The Troubadour) is an opera in four acts by the famous Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. Themes of obsession, revenge, war, love and family are conveyed through characters who present dramatic images. It was based on the play El trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez, a youth of seventeen. This youth took the play to a theatre, where it was at once put in rehearsal. Fortunately, the play El trovador obtained a phenomenal success. The opera was also a triumph from the first night, a success due to Verdi's work over the three years. The premiere took place at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 19 January 1853. The eagerness of the Roman public to hear it was extraordinary. On the eve of the premiere, the Tiber river had risen in flood and invaded the whole district near the theatre. But in spite of everything - the cold, the mud, and discomfort - from nine o’clock in the morning the doors of the Apollo were beseiged by a great crowd, who, with their feet in water up to the ankles, squeezed, pushed, and disputed in order to get places for the evening. It evoked frenzied excitement. Its success spread fast, not only in Italy but through the whole of Europe. Theatre after theatre produced it, answering the clamour of eager subscribers and patrons. At Naples three houses were giving it at the same time. Seldom was an opera more fortunate. Now Il trovatore is one of the famous operas frequently performed at the Arena di Verona, which each summer hosts the Verona Opera Festival. Its great acoustics and architecture make the Arena di Verona the ideal stage for large scale operas such as this. There is definitely something magical in listening to the arias soaring up to the sky from the stage with a spectacularly lavish stage set. The plot of Il Trovatore begins in the acts of a gypsy mother burned for suspected witchcraft, and avenged by her daughter, Azucena, when she throws the child of her executioner into the fire. Possessed by a dark force in that moment, the child she threw into the flame was her own. Azucena sees the event repeating in every waking moment, in the flicker of the fire, and in the shape of shadows. But only she knows the truth. She raises the child as her own child, calling him Manrico. Constantly haunted by her mother’s dying words ‘mi vendica’ (avenge me), Azucena sets in motion a series of events which lead to Manrico’s death. The child’s father seeks vengeance for the act and forces his surviving son, the Count di Luna, to devote his life to avenging his brother’s death. The unknowing brothers Manrico and di Luna become rivals for the love of Leonora, the Princess. But Leonora has fallen in love with a mysterious troubadour, which is Manrico, who sings of his love at her window, and so rejects the advances of Count di Luna. Manrico and di Luna are destined to oppose each other, first as leaders of opposing factions in the war, and now in the pursuit of Leonora’s heart. Not until the final blow is struck and Manrico dies at di Luna’s order does Azucena reveal that his rival was his brother, and to cry out that her mother has finally been avenged.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1006
__label__wiki	0.92152	0.92152	Local startup Good Eats Food Co. ready for business by Paul Gatling (pgatling@nwabj.com) December 5, 2016 12:00 am 762 views There’s a secret to making vegetables more appealing to consumers — make them tastier and easier to prepare. That is the formula to the business plan behind Fayetteville startup Good Eats Food Co., founded in September 2015 by Trey Taylor and Matt Brown. They have a combined 30-plus years in the food industry, and are financially backed by Scout Retail, a portfolio company of Rogers private equity firm NewRoad Capital Partners. “Not only are restaurants becoming more veg-centric, but consumers in general are more interested in new ways to eat vegetables,” Brown said. “Everything we do at Good Eats is focused on making it easier to eat and enjoy vegetables.” Taylor and Brown met at Sager Creek Vegetable Co. (formerly Allen’s Canning) of Siloam Springs, where Brown was vice president of foodservice sales, and Taylor was vice president of marketing. Brown graduated from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in 2005 and immediately went to work for Allen’s. Taylor’s previous work experience before joining Sager Creek in 2014 included marketing roles at Sonic Drive-In, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and AdvncePierre Foods. The two men started forging their own path in the spring of 2015, shortly after Del Monte Foods Inc. completed its $75 million acquisition of Sager Creek. During the transition of ownership, during one of several conversations about their future, Taylor and Brown discovered a shared dream of entrepreneurship, and they also agreed that the frozen vegetable category could use a dose of innovation — new brands, new flavors and new ways of eating. “Sometimes in your gut, you just know when the opportunity is right,” Taylor said. “I just really believed in the white space that was there. I saw a place in the market where we could play.” During the transition in ownership, Taylor and Brown were introduced to Clete Brewer, managing partner at NewRoad Capital Partners, who introduced them to the leaders of Scout Retail, led by Craig Soos (CEO) and Cade Collister (COO). “My son always jokes that if we had been on [the television show] ‘Shark Tank’ we would’ve never been funded,” Taylor said. “We had no revenue, we had no company name. But that really speaks to NewRoad and to Scout Retail and those guys. They rallied behind the vision and the belief and the story we were presenting. We don’t ever take that for granted. We’re grateful to them for giving us the runway to develop the company. Brown added: “We wouldn’t be in existence without them. We didn’t have a product line. We would’ve had to bootstrap, and I don’t know if we would’ve made it. The Scout Retail funding is critical to this, and that is what has set us in motion.” The Good Eats principals declined to say how much the Scout Retail capital investment was, only that the company typically makes investments in the range of $100,000 to $500,000. To bring their ideas to life, Good Eats partnered with two independent pilot plants and a network of best-in-class manufacturers, providing access to over 20 R&D developers and chefs, as well as their strategic sourcing partners. Good Eats now has four product lines behind two brands — Ruthie’s Twisted Harvest and Serious Bean Co. — with a total of nine stock keeping unit (SKUs). Cauli-Smashers is the first product the company is introducing to restaurants and grocery stores. Why cauliflower? Brown said trend watchers report cauliflower is one of the top food trends, often noted as “the next kale.” It is served as a side item like mashed potatoes. “Consumers love it because it’s low-carb and packed with vitamins and minerals,” Brown said. Good Eats made its first shipments in August, and the next to be distributed are a line of frozen, single-serve soups and boldly flavored corn. “We currently have distribution in 60 foodservice locations, and our goal is to have a national presence in both foodservice and grocery retail,” Taylor said.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1016
__label__cc	0.681532	0.318468	The Common Core: …a Disaster for American Education by Stephen Krashen Knowledge Quest 42(3): 37-45 (2014). There never has been a need for the common core and there is no evidence that it will do students any good. The common core ignores the real problem in American education: Poverty. The common core will continue the process of turning schools into test-prep centers, and bleed billions from places the money is badly needed, where it can help protect children from the effects of poverty. The only real goal of the common core is to do the opposite, to profit a small group of the elite, the .01% at taxpayer expense, a classic case of "take from the needy, give to the greedy." There has never been a need for the common core, and there is no evidence it will do students any good. The major argument for the common core is the assertion that our schools are terrible and that something needs to be done about the situation. The only evidence cited in support of this argument is the claim that our international test scores are very low. We must therefore force students and teachers into doing better. This "improvement" will be done by establishing tough standards that control what is taught and by testing students on the standards, thereby making sure that the standards are taught. But analyses of our international test scores have revealed that American international test scores are nowhere near as bad as critics claim and that they have not declined (Loveless 2011). In fact, when we control for the effects of poverty, American students rank near the top of the world (Carnoy and Rothstein 2013). Our overall scores are unspectacular because of our high rate (more than 23%) of child poverty, the second highest among all industrialized countries (UNICEF, 2012). In comparison, Finland, a country that consistently has high scores, has about 5% child poverty. The products of our educational system do very well: The U.S. economy is ranked as the fifth most innovative in the world out of 142, according to the 2013 Global Innovation Index, which is based in part on the availability of education, new patents and the publication of scientific and technical journal articles (Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO, 2013). Every indication points to a continuation of this record of success. Our educational system is doing much better than it needs to in the area of science and technology. In the US two to three qualified graduates are available for each science/tech opening (Salzman, 2012; Salzman and Lowell, 2007, 2008; see also Teitelbaum, 2007) and according to the Atlantic (Weismann, 2013), the US is producing more Ph.D.s in science than the market can absorb. Finally, there is no evidence that having national standards and increasing testing have improved student learning in the past (Nichols, Glass and Berliner, 2006; Tienken, 2011). The real problem: Poverty As noted above, when we control for poverty, American students rank near the top of the world on international tests. This finding confirms that poverty is the major factor in determining school achievement, a finding that is consistent with the results of many studies showing the powerful negative impact of poverty on many aspects of learning, including, of course, reading comprehension and other aspects of literacy development (e.g. Biddle, 2001; Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 2001). Studies have documented how poverty impacts school performance: Food insecurity, lack of health care, and lack of access to books, among other aspects of poverty, all have devastating effects on student's ability to learn. Children of poverty are likely to suffer from food insecurity (hunger and concern about future availability of food). Studies (Coles 2008/2009) show that food insecure children more likely to have slow language development and problems in social behavior and emotional control. They are more likely to miss school days, repeat a grade, and have academic problems. The effects of food insecurity are reversible: when previously food-secure children experience food insecurity, their reading development slows down relative to food secure children. But "a change from food insecurity to food security can bring concomitant improvements: the study also found that poor reading performance for food insecure children in the beginning grades was reversed if the household became food secure by 3rd grade" (Coles, 2008/2009). Lack of health care High-poverty families are more likely to lack medical insurance or have high co-payments, circumstances that result in less medical care, and more childhood illness and absenteeism, which of course negatively impacts school achievement. David Berliner cites studies showing that "children in poor families in most states are six times more likely to be in less than optimal health, experiencing a wide variety of illnesses and injuries, as compared with children in higher income families" (2009, p. 16). School is not helping: Poor schools are more likely to have no school nurse or have a high ratio of students to nurses (Berliner, 2009). Lack of access to books There is very clear evidence that children from high-poverty families have very little access to books at home, at school, and in their communities (Newman and Celano, 2001; Duke, 2001; additional studies reviewed in Krashen, 2004). Studies also show when children have access to interesting and comprehensible reading material, they read (Krashen, 2001; 2004). And finally, when children read, they improve in all aspects of literacy, including vocabulary, grammar, spelling, reading and writing ability (McQuillan, 1998; Krashen, 2004). In fact, the evidence is strong that reading for pleasure, self-selected reading, is the major cause of advanced literacy development. Making sure that all children have access to books makes literacy development possible. Without it, literacy development is impossible. Libraries are often the only source of books and other reading material for children of poverty and they are a potent source: A number of studies confirm that providing access to books via libraries has a positive impact on reading development: The better the library (more books, presence of a credentialed librarian, better staffing), the higher the reading scores (e.g. Lance and Helgren, 2010) Krashen, 2011). Multivariate studies show that the positive impact of school libraries can be as strong as the negative impact of poverty on reading achievement (Achterman, 2008; Krashen, Lee and McQuillan, 2012): in other words, a good library can offset the effect of poverty on literacy development. Protect children from the effect of poverty The implications are straight-forward: until poverty is eliminated, until we have full employment at a living wage, we need to protect children from the effects of poverty. This reality means they need adequate food programs, improved health care, including providing more school nurses in high poverty schools, and, of course, more investment in libraries and librarians. As readers of this journal know, however, library funding is not being increased: It is being cut (Kelley, 2010)… For the complete article, go to Stephen Krashen’s Blog: Click Here. Labels: ed reform Public Schools for Sale? (An Interview with Bill M... My job is now about tests and data — not children.... The Folly of More Restrictions for the Illinois Co... ILLINOIS PUBLIC PENSION LAWSUIT: LAST UPDATED July... The Illinois Budget and How Does Illinois Spending... Act to Abolish the Charter Commission Delay the implementation of Common Core State Stan... The Common Core: …a Disaster for American Educatio... Vote for Fred Klonsky as Your Illinois Retired Del... We Need State Corporate Tax Reform (from the Cente... The plight of college adjunct faculty members also... “Higher education too often informs a deadening dy... The Illinois Democratic/Republican Party System Is... A Review of the New Pension Benefit Law and Implem... Ukraine: “There is little the United States can do... Fred Klonsky for IEA Delegate Regarding the Illinois Education Association’s For... The Court Challenge to the New Illinois Pension La... At One 2-Year College, Adjuncts Feel Left Out by R... The Illinois Pension White/Green List: Senators an... Fifth Pension Lawsuit Filed: State Universities An... Why So Many Adjunct Faculty Members Are On Food St... The Just-in-Time Professor: A Staff Report Summari... Part-time Professors Represented Among the Working... Professional Employment Practices for Non-Tenure-T... Placing Illinois Pension Costs in Context: How The... “The fight for contingent faculty parallels the st... A statement given at a press conference with Drumm...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1017
__label__wiki	0.832105	0.832105	Sujata Massey Author of the Perveen Mistry and Rei Shimura Mystery Series Archive for journalism · March 13, 2019 Picturing History with Homai Vyarawalla These days, photography seems to have become an expected skill for writers. Confession: I like to take pictures, but I don’t understand how to artfully compose them or wait until the right moment to get a great shot. I wish I’d learned more during my years as a newspaper features reporter, because so many photographers were working just over my shoulder. When I think back on that era—the late 1980s—I remember that out of the newspaper’s whole photography department, just two photographers were women. This was a significantly greater gender gap than among the newspapers reporters, although there were many more males than females in the newsroom. The composition of my newspaper’s staff made me all the more surprised and impressed to learn about India’s first woman photojournalist, Homai Vyarawalla. I first heard this name in a conversation with a smart and famous Bollywood actress. She said to me, “You probably already know about India’s first woman photojournalist, who was working in British India during the time of your books…” I didn’t know anything about her. But I was intrigued. Homai was born in 1913 into a priestly Parsi family who moved from Gujarat to Bombay for a better life; her father worked in the fledgling film industry that later became known as Bollywood. Some accounts say that Homai married at age 13; other accounts say that at 13, she met the man whom she later married. The gentleman in question, Manekshaw Vyarawalla, was both an accountant and a photographer. After high school, Homai went to Bombay’s famous training school for artist and artisans, the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School for the Arts. Homai was interested in painting, but because the new field of photography was booming and had paying jobs, she went for the latter. Her first jobs were snapping pictures of women and often went into the Bombay Chronicle. She earned one rupee per published picture. Because Homai was a woman, she wasn’t considered a trained and reputable photographer, and she therefore had to use her husband’s name on her work. Later on, when she was accepted as a working photographer, she created a catchy professional name: Dada 13. This was a combination of her car license number, her birth year, and the age she was when she met Manekshaw. During Homai’s years in Bombay, her pictures had a wide range of subjects, but during World War II, she and her husband shifted to New Delhi, and she was hired by India’s ministry of information to take official photographs as part of an imperial propaganda force: the British Information Service. (In my novel The Sleeping Dictionary, this was the kind of work Mr. Lewes undertook during the war). While Homai was shooting pictures for the government, Manekshaw Vyarwalla managed the studio and dark rooms where the film was processed. Homai now had front row access to shoot both staged and candid photos of famous politicians and visitors to India. Among her typical subjects were Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Mountbatton, the Dalai Lama, Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, whom she considered her favorite subject of all time because he was both photogenic and fun to be with. Homai’s photographs were always shot in monochrome and processed by her; they are mostly part of the Alkazi Collection of Photography in New Delhi. Some of her most famous photographs are gathered in this story by Catch News. After the British were gone and there was no longer a need for British propaganda, she worked for the Illustrated Weekly of India, which ran from 1880-1983 and was kind of like Time, Newsweek and People rolled together. Within the press corps, Homai Vyarawalla was a standout, with her practical but elegant short hairstyle and trademark sari or salwar kameez. Although many Parsi women felt free to wear dresses instead of saris, she chose the sari as her daily dress probably as a means of securing a bit of respectful distance at the chaotic, male dominated events. Yet she was no shrinking violet. Homai carried her own cameras, rode long journeys to get the pictures she needed, and did not ask for special favors. She talks about her special vintage cameras and the adventures they brought to her in this documentary film by producer CS Lakshmi. In 1970, one year after her husband’s death, Homai abruptly quit working as a photographer. She was at the peak of her career, but she said she was sick of the rude behavior of the photography corps. She retired to live with her only child, now an adult, and after his death, stayed alone in a walk-up apartment without a telephone in a small town. Far removed from the life she’d once lived close to the top of Indian politics and power, she passed her days quietly and thriftily, sewing her own clothes and doing other homemaking. Yet journalists persisted in visiting to ask about her trailblazing career, before she passed away in 2012 at age 98. Fortunately, she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honor, in 2011, when she was still alive to receive it. Being first at something, and even being very good at it, does not guarantee a long or well-paid or publicly honored career. Such was the situation for Cornelia Sorabji and Mithan Tata Lam, India’s first two women lawyers. But the joy for the ones who come afterward is exploring the records they left for us. These great ladies may not have felt like legends during their lifetime, but the work they left ensured it. Categories : feminism, India, India history, journalism Death in the Newsroom Last week’s mass shooting of the five employees at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis made headlines around the world, but especially here in Maryland. These premeditated, cold-blooded murders are a tragedy for the families and friends of Gerald Fischman, Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters, Rob Hiaasen, and John McNamara. But the murders are alsoan attack on the culture of journalism. Reporters walk alone into neighborhoods full of guns to investigate the suffering of people there; editors authorize the publication of stories that sometimes point out wrongdoing in the community. This work is done as a service to the community; but there are those who disagree with it. Usually, they send a letter to the editor about it. But not always. Such was the situation with suspected shooter Jarrod W. Ramos, who was convicted of harassing a woman he knew in high school. He then tried to sue the Capital Gazette because of a published story about the harassment. Ramos’s case was dismissed as too groundless to be tried in a court of law, but the man wouldn’t give up. During the last presidential campaign, Ramos threatened the newspaper on Twitter for an opinion piece that referred to Trump as “unqualified.” He also used Twitter to violently threaten the reporter who wrote about him, as well as Rob Hiaasen, who was the deputy editor. The Capital Gazette is a very old newspaper that became part of the Baltimore Sun Media Group in recent years. The CG’s deputy editor, Rob Hiaasen, was the first employee killed by Ramos. Before he became an editor in Annapolis, Rob was a general assignment features reporter at the Baltimore Sun when I was a features reporter for the afternoon paper, The Evening Sun. I remember Rob as full of laughs: a funny, gregarious, and skilled writer. This New York Times opinion piece by Laura Lippman, who was Rob’s close friend, describes him much better than I can. I recall smiling at Rob’s stories and his status as the newsroom’s bon vivant. I left the Sun in 1991, but I had the gift of an out-of-the-blue email from Rob about ten years ago. He had read through all the mystery short stories in Baltimore Noir, an Akashic anthology published in 2006, and he wanted to congratulate me on mine. I was surprised and flattered, especially since I regarded that particular story, “Goodwood Gardens,” as being all about women. But Rob didn’t believe in stories being for ladies or gents. He read what he wanted, and he was known to praise and encourage writers whether they were in his newsroom or not. During my years at the newspaper, I recall receiving a few nasty unsigned letters, typically filled with racist complaints about the newspaper’s coverage. Also, a local man picketed the newspaper for years holding a sign that said “Sun Lies.” I don’t know whether there was a story that bothered him, or he just didn’t like the paper. In my five years as a reporter, I understood there would always be readers who felt wronged by the paper, but I really thought the biggest danger for me was going into deserted neighborhoods alone. I am shocked that threats against these journalists that appeared on Twitter were not addressed by the police. I believe these threats multiply and gain traction because President Trump tweets frequently against the press, often by name, and has called the entire news media “the enemy of the American people.” With a climate like this, I don’t like imagining what will come next. Categories : journalism Baltimore’s Rap Sheet Grows I was as eager as anyone to see Netflix new television miniseries, The Keepers. The program, which investigates an unsolved murder in 1969 Baltimore, has received admiring reviews. It’s the story of former Keough School students—now women in their sixties—trying to identify the killer of their beloved teacher, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik. The Keepers is a sensitive, well-produced show which gives proper gravity to the crime and its lifelong impact on family and friends. I was sad at the end of the first episode, but for reasons that go beyond what I’d watched. You see, The Keepers is just the latest Baltimore crime story. It follows a wildly successful podcast called Serial that re-investigates the prosecution of Adnan Syed, a young Baltimore man for the 1999 murder of his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Sarah Koenig, the investigative reporter who wrote the podcast, discover many pieces of suppressed evidence that might have kept Adnan from jail. After the podcast, a series of legal challenges were made, and Adnan was granted a second trial, which will be held next year. Serial made its splash following David Simon’s The Wire, an internationally celebrated HBO series focusing on Baltimore police’s battle against crime, and before that Homicide, another Simon series with crime on Baltimore’s streets. Interestingly, each of these crime dramas involves the hand of an alumnus or alumna of the Baltimore Sun—the great daily newspaper where I began my own writing career. When I was a college intern working at the paper, I had Sunday duty on the “crime desk.” It meant calling the various police stations to learn how many people had died and by what means. What I did was the very opposite of hardboiled beat reporting. David Simon of Homicide and The Wire, Sarah Koenig of Serial, and Bob Erlandson, who’s interviewed in The Keepers, were highly seasoned Sun writers who followed some homicides for months—or even years. A freelance journalist, Tom Nugent, collected research on Sister Cathy for years and wrote a 6000-word article about her for the Baltimore City Paper in 2005. I greatly admire the reporting and editing that went into all of these programs. But the rise of this genre disturbs me. It makes me concerned that Baltimore’s image around the world is nothing but murder. It would be cool if network executives were interested in a parallel track: dramatic programming about Baltimore that weren’t so deadly. The only non-murder show that comes to mind is Ace of Cakes, a reality show on the Food Network. Just thirty years ago, the city’s image was charmingly quirky. In the late 1980s, films like The Accidental Tourist, Hairspray, and Diner served up a historic East Coast city short on glamour, but full of characters. People fretted that Baltimore was always typecast as the home of cheerful, blue collar people who spoke with long Os. We all wanted to get beyond that stereotype and diversify. I wouldn’t mind a few Os, if I could get some back. Categories : Baltimore, journalism, Television · March 9, 2016 Year of the Journalist Actors playing journalists in “Spotlight” People routinely denigrate the press for spreading falsehoods and looking for scandal. In recent years, many have traded in newspaper subscriptions for free online blogs where bloggers write pieces that are rarely fact-checked or vetted. Internet media is often all about enjoyment. Therefore, I’ve been surprised to see traditional journalists resurfacing as heroes in popular culture. Spotlight, a 2015 movie about the Boston Globe’s reporting on Catholic priest sex abuse, won an Oscar for best picture. I’m impressed it was even possible to get a film made about a serious subject and the writers of a newspaper series from so long ago. Spotlight reveals how one newspaper’s reporters and editors built a big story over time gathering information from many sources and carefully verifying all details before breaking the news. Last week, a journalism escape film arrived in U.S. theaters. I’ve labeled Whisky Tango Foxtrot an escape film for a couple of reasons. First, the ambitious but unseasoned correspondent played by Tina Fey is bored with her long career as a TV news producer in an American city, and trades it in to report from dangerous, exotic Afghanistan. The other reason is WTF absolutely revels in portraying foreign correspondents as hard-drinking, partying, fraternity members. The producers made the choice to employ a number of non-South Asian actors to play Afghans; again, an easy escape. WTF is a celluloid version of a memoir, Taliban Shuffle, by the New York Times’ reporter Kim Barker, who was recast as a TV reporter called Kim Baker in the film. Tina Fey’s Kim character is one of only two women reporters living in a guest house; both of whom wind up having affairs with guys in the house. It’s a cheery, fraternity party sort of place, where the women are treated like the guys, for the most part. This “Ka-Bubble” of their Kabul seems ridiculously removed—but very intense and addicting. Kim’s story takes pains to show the stupid things a reporter can do to endanger the lives of her “fixer” (a local man who’s a combination of editor and translator), as well as her driver, photographer and security guard. However, by taking the risks, she gets a great story. I appreciated the nuanced look at this issue. The foreign reporter always gets a byline or camera-time and fame; the local person who does the reporting work earns a small salary for a life-threatening job. Whether they are unofficial “fixers” or byline journalists, too many reporters have died in recent years. One of my favorite museums in Washington DC is the Newseum. This modern museum is all about the best in media, past and present. The museum has daily displays of front pages of newspapers from around the globe, and dense exhibits focusing on huge American news stories of the past and present. A particularly haunting stop is the Journalists Memorial. This is a massive wall with columns of dead writers’ names. Nearby is a colorful mosaic that, when you get closer, turns out to be hundreds of photos of these writers. The Newseum’s Journalists Memorial includes a searchable online database that includes all the names. You can click on a face and name to learn more. This reporter, Sai Reddy, was a little-known rural journalist in central India with a tragic death. As a writer for the newspaper Deshbandu, Mr. Reddy spent 20 years documenting the hardships of families struggling to live in a community where Maoists and police battled each other. Mr. Reddy, who came from the very community he wrote about, had his home fire-bombed by the police, but was ultimately hacked to death with knives and machetes by Maoists in a city market. In the late 1980s, I was a reporter for the features section at a daily city newspaper. I wrote mostly about people, the arts, fashion and food. You can deduce form this that I never had the kind of stories that ran on the front page. The gravest danger I encountered was when visiting decaying, crime-ridden neighborhoods. I still recall driving to an almost completely deserted West Baltimore neighborhood to interview the city’s first South Asian grocer. I was writing a story about the city’s ethnic markets and was determined to move past the well-known standards. The Indian shop turned out to be in a neighborhood full of vacant houses. It was in a sliver of a dilapidated building, with a buzzer entry system and metal grills for protection from thieves and bulletproof glass around the cash register to protect the Indian grocer. Walking to and from the store, I had to pass a trio of teenagers who were staring appraisingly at me. Given the isolation, the poverty, and the intense scrutiny, I had that sixth sense that I might be robbed. The young men didn’t touch me. Thinking back on their reaction—that seemingly brutal staring—I imagine they were probably curious why a stranger had come to their forgotten corner. And I was walking past them, carrying my own stereotypes, which fortunately did not make it into print. My reporting experiences were nothing compared to the risky work of journalists reporting on conflict around the world. But just like the overseas correspondents, I wouldn’t never have said “I don’t feel comfortable driving to that place,” or “Can I pass on this assignment?” I understood the job requirement. Categories : journalism, News	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1020
__label__wiki	0.697955	0.697955	Tag Archives: WEEE March 18, 2017 by topetempler Inside the toxic graveyard of Lagos • Saving 21 million Lagosians from toxic waste By Tope Templer Olaiya, Metro Editor That Lagos, the commercial capital of the most populous black nation in the world, Nigeria, is the fifth largest economy in Africa is undisputed; what may not be known to many is that Lagos is also the world’s leading destination for toxic and electronic waste. Only recently, the Koko community of Warri North Local Council of Delta State, hugged the limelight over a toxic waste dump, which is a repeat of the sad episode of the 1987/88 incident when two Italians – Giafranco Raffaeli and Renato Pent of the waste broker firms, Ecomor and Jelly Wax conspired with a Nigerian, Sunday Nana of Iruekpen Construction company to import from Italy, 18,000 drums of hazardous waste under the pretext of substances relating to the building trade, and as residual and allied chemicals. The latest development is, allegedly, being perpetrated by a local company, Ebenco Global Links Ltd., an integrated waste management facility based in Koko. Already, the Executive Director of ERA/ FoEN, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, has called on both the Delta State government and the National Environmental Standard Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to immediately set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the recent dumping of toxic waste in Koko town. But beyond Koko is the disaster waiting to explode in the beautiful city of Lagos. With a population well over 20 million, Lagos has a rich history of economic growth and transformation. Although it covers only 0.4th of Nigeria’s territorial landmass, making it the smallest state in the country, it accounts for over 60 per cent of industrial and commercial activities in the country. Lagos has emerged as a major hub for the hundreds of national and multinational companies and the complex business and professional services that support them. Koko toxic waste dump in Delta State Inside this boisterous state, which is the seventh fastest growing city in the world, and the second largest city in Africa, is a thriving informal sector, fueled by a burgeoning secondhand culture. This has given rise to a web of intricate industries and mega-markets that are mostly import-dependent. The disposal of computers and other electronic and electrical goods, known as e-waste, is a growing global problem, though junk electronics represent a quality raw material for waste processing industries, especially in the developing world. It is, however, no news that many of these junk electronics find their way to some Lagos markets like Ladipo auto spare-parts market in Mushin, Computer Village in Ikeja and the International electronics Market in Alaba. These products come largely in 40-feet containers. “On average, a 40-feet container weighing 9.9 tonnes of used electronics can contain 195 pieces of TV, 94 pieces of computer (monitor), 230 pieces of DVD players, 322 pieces of video player, 249 pieces of pressing iron, 810 pieces of blenders, 113 pieces of microwave ovens, 106 pieces of HiFi, 616 pieces of radio, and 558 pieces of electric kettles,” a 2012 Nigerian country assessment report, which contains data for 2010, noted. In 2016, the world threw away 91.5 million tonnes of electrical equipment. A tonne is the equivalent of a thousand kilogramme, which is about the weight of a small car. It is left to be imagined how many of these found their way to the Apapa and Tin Can seaports. In 2005, it was estimated that 75 per cent of electrical and electronic goods imported into Lagos were junk, with e-waste accounting for 12.5 per cent of shipments in 2009. By 2011, 70 per cent of electronics imported into Lagos were second-hand and only 15 per cent of that was non-repairable. This is a huge concern because dumped electronic consumer goods are, essentially, toxic waste. Old-style televisions and monitors contain lead and phosphorous pentachloride, printed circuit boards contain arsenic mercury and bromides, same as fridges. Buried in landfill, broken up improperly or burnt, these toxins can be exposed to the air or leach out into the soil and water table, leading to a severe healthcare crisis. In the European Union (EU), the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) regulations govern how e-waste should be treated and processed, and also restrict where it can be exported. For instance, equipment cannot be shipped to developing countries for recycling and recovery, only for reuse. They must be tested to show that they are fully functional and packed so that they are not damaged in transport, otherwise they are classed as waste. Unserviceable TV sets at Alaba market, Lagos In the second-hand markets of Lagos, little consideration is given to whether the item is tested or untested due to an abundance of local repairers. Equipment shipped untested is classified as e-waste, and so it is in the country illegally. They are usually shipped in containers hidden behind working goods, concealed inside a car, or falsely described as personal items. With a very lax regulation at the port of entry, there is often poor treatment of toxic waste materials, leading to the release of hazardous chemicals that can harm both people and the environment. Most consumers abroad making the journey to the local dump with their “e-waste” might expect their equipment to be disposed of properly and safely, even if they are unaware of the WEEE directive that requires the disposal or reuse of this waste without damage to the environment. How has Alaba electronics market infamously become the final destination for thousands of tonnes of televisions, computers, DVD players and other electronic items that previously sat in homes and offices of European countries before being taken for disposal to a municipal waste site? In 2010, following a tip-off from a local authority insider that unusable e-waste was being bought and sent for export, there was a joint investigation by The Independent, Sky News and Greenpeace all based in the United Kingdom. A large television set, with the base cut away to render it beyond repair, was left at a Hampshire County Council civic amenity site by investigators. Under the WEEE regulations, it should have been disposed of by a specialist recycler, but the set was bought along with other electronic items by BJ Electronics (UK) Ltd, one of about 200 companies and individuals who tour municipal waste sites in Britain buying equipment. A satellite tracking device inside the television showed it was taken to BJ Electronics’ warehouse before being sold to another company, who loaded it onto a cargo container bound for export. The economics of the illegal export trade are straightforward. A whole consignment can be bought for a pittance from a civic amenity site, most of which will be working and a proportion of which will not. The system is supposed to filter out the hazardous e-waste and allow a legitimate second hand export trade. But what is happening is that it is all being lumped together and sent abroad, where the working items are sold and the broken stuff just thrown away to cause pollution. Within days, the container was loaded onto the MV Grande America cargo ship bound for Lagos, from where it was unloaded and delivered to one of the hundreds of secondhand dealers in Alaba market. It was just one of up to 15 containers of used electronics arriving in Alaba from Europe and Asia everyday. Prof. Osibanjo Igwe Chinedu, leader of the Alaba Technicians Association, said of the 600 to 700 televisions in each container, about 250 do not work. “We find that for each container, about 35 to 40 per cent of its contents are useless. Of those, only 35 per cent can be fixed. The rest goes to the scavenger children at the dumpsite.” Prof. Oladele Osibanjo, retired professor of analytical and environmental chemistry at the University of Ibadan (UI), former director at the Basel Convention Regional Co-ordinating Centre for Africa in UI and a board member of Sustainable Electronic Recycling International (SERI), United States, said: “We have about half a million used electronics coming into Lagos every month, and only 25 per cent are working. The volume is so large that the people who trade it burn it like ordinary refuse. “The lead, the mercury and all the other toxins bio-accumulate. The people that break open these CRT monitors tell me that they suffer from nausea, headaches and chest and respiratory problems. As a result of breaking these things and burning the wires, the children inhale a lot of fumes. “We have done a lot of studies and we were able to show that all the cells where e-waste dismantling takes place are heavily polluted. You are not only dumping the hardware, but also hazardous substances.” Osibanjo explained that the poisonous chemicals withstand high temperature and are eventually released into the soil and ground water. “Where you burn them, they are being released into the earth. When it is really raining, they will wash into rivers and so on. A Ph.D student of mine in Abuja went to dump sites where they also raise cattle. She was able to get milk from a cow and then we looked at chicken eggs and all eggs. We found them all contaminated.” However, the respected analytical chemist, said electronic recycling, when properly done, could be a goldmine for Nigeria. In this regard, he advised the Federal Government to consider recycling old phones, computers and other electronics, saying it was a good source of wealth and employment. According to him, there were about 250 kilogrammes of gold in one million phones, adding that with e-recycling the country would witness economic prosperity and massive job creation. He stated that the United Nations had acknowledged the wealth potential of recycling, noting that Nigeria would no longer have to bank on oil, as she would be getting gold and silver from e-recycling. Osibanjo further stated that although plans were underway to attract investors into the country for the establishment of e-recycling centres, poor regulations suffocating business environment were impeding the efforts. Underscoring the dangers of e-waste on the environment, a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 6, 2017, has revealed that one in four young children die each year as a result of unhealthy environments. “A polluted environment is a deadly one—particularly for young children,” said WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, in a press statement. “Their developing organs and immune systems and smaller bodies and airways, make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water.” Beginning in the uterus, children are exposed to harmful environmental risks. According to the study, roughly 1.7 million children under the age of five die each year from factors that could have been prevented through addressing environmental risks, which WHO called “a shocking missed opportunity. “Another category of threat to children’s health is emerging environmental hazards, including chemicals, electronic waste and climate change,” the report said. Electronic waste was “another growing concern”. When it is not disposed of properly, it can expose children to “a myriad of chemicals and toxicants, many of which are associated with reduced intelligence, attention deficits, lung damage and cancer”. The import of e-waste from Europe into Nigeria is illegal by both European and Nigerian standards. Still, hundreds of thousand tonnes of illegal e-waste are imported annually into Nigeria. Despite local laws banning the import, inefficient enforcement still makes Nigeria one of the largest e-waste importing countries in the world. The e-waste trade is illegal because Nigeria does not possess any organized e-waste recycling or dismantling facility. The mass deposits of e-waste are therefore left to be crudely recycled under hazardous conditions. This crude recycling of e-waste is toxic to humans and to the environment. Intriguingly, it is not only the electronic secondhand markets that populate Lagos with toxic waste. Cosmetic manufacturing industries produce ignitable waste, flammable solvents, strong acids and bases. Printing industry dealing in heavy metal solutions, waste ink, solvents and spent electroplating wastes contribute its fair share to the toxic waste deposit. Same with furniture and wood manufacturing and refinishing plants, which produce ignitable wastes and spent solvents; metal manufacturing firms producing waste containing heavy metals, strong acids and bases; as well as leather products manufacturing and processing firms producing benzene and toluene wastes. Ladipo Market Another notorious spot where heavy metal wastes, ignitable wastes and spent solvents are generated in quantum quantity is the Ladipo auto spare-parts market tucked between Oshodi industrial estate and Mushin city centre at Toyota bus-stop along Apapa-Oshodi expressway. Like a cancer, the market, which has become a Grease Land, has grown in leaps and bounds, spiraling into every available space. As the motor spare parts merchants expand their empire, even the service lane of the Oshodi-Apapa expressway from Five Star to Charity bus-stop is not spared. There are more than 30,000 parts in a car. There is none hard to find in Ladipo. In fact, there are several assembly points where vehicles are butchered into parts, and scraps brought into the country are remodeled into useable vehicles. At the Grease Land, every section of the market is a beehive of metal merchants’ activities. Daily, vast stretches of the roads are converted to mechanic workshops, where cars take turns to be serviced. These artisans that have appropriated large parts of the road as adhoc mechanic workshops, carry out major assignments including replacing car engines and even spraying of vehicles right on the road. Apart from thousands of importers of used electrical equipment making money off e-waste, the industry has also created a lot of jobs in the informal sector. Nearly 100,000 people are estimated to work as scavengers, people who pick the electronic waste from homes, dumpsites and other places. Another 50,000 are estimated to work as refurbishers, repairing the ‘non-tested’, non-functional electronics. They make a living sweating to see that the imported waste can be repaired and have their life cycle extended. Despite being illegal and hazardous, there is a craving for both e-waste and used electrical equipment among many Nigerians. The major reason for this, several retailers and traders said is economic. Most Nigerians cannot afford new products. According to the United Nations Human Development Index, over half of Nigeria’s N170 million live in poverty. To enjoy the luxury of basic electrical and electronic equipment like fridges, TVs, and microwave ovens, most of them turn to the secondhand market. Besides cost, some Nigerians quite curiously feel the used products from Europe and America are of better quality than new ones imported from China. “I’m even afraid of the quality of the new equipment coming into Nigeria, because you find out that most of these new equipment transforms faster into e-waste because of low quality,” said Segun Odeyingbo, an official of StEP Initiative, an organisation dedicated to combating shipment of e-waste to Nigeria. “A DVD player can easily be designed to last you for six months, and then it has already turned into e-waste.” In his reaction to the growing incidence of toxic waste being imported into the country, Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Dr. Lawrence Anukam, blamed the rise in global electronic or e-waste scourge on technological advancement. Anukam Anukam, who spoke during a recent sensitisation workshop on the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for the electrical/electronics sector at the British High Commission residency in Ikoyi, Lagos, said the high technology consumption rate implies that sustainable production and consumption of electrical/electronics equipment would help control e-waste. He explained that as a regulatory agency, NESREA is working with International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), Lyon in France on issues of environmental crime such as e-waste, illegal wildlife business and trans-boundary pollution. The programme provides alert system on any ship bringing in e-waste into the country and enable coordinate action with the customs and the Navy to arrest such ships. He said NESREA had developed 24 regulations which are sector specific, one of which is protect species of endangered wildlife from extinction through the prohibition of trade, importation, etc. Other measures the country’s e-waste regulator has adopted to regulate importation of used electronics is by registering the importers. This is to ensure only functional used electronics are imported.However, a lot of the importers are still not registered, the Lagos State coordinator of NESREA, Nosa Aigbedion Dickson, said.“Some of them are trying to evade the process. We have a situation where someone just goes to, maybe, the UK, takes equipment from the road free, assembles them together, puts it in the container, and ships it down to sell the junks as untested. But we are trying to see how we can ensure that it is only registered dealers that are bringing used electronics.” https://guardian.ng/features/inside-the-toxic-graveyard-of-lagos/ https://eniaroo.blogspot.com.ng/2017/03/inside-toxic-graveyard-of-lagos.html Tagged Alaba Market, Anukam, e-Waste, Environment, Koko community, Ladipo Market, Lagos, NESREA, Nigeria, Osibanjo, Toxic Waste, UN, WEEE, WHO	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1029
__label__wiki	0.809615	0.809615	Toyota develops small, doll-like robot --- ‘Kirobo Mini’ Submitted by Nalin Sahdev on Tue, 10/04/2016 - 08:35 Bigwig Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. has developed a small, doll-like robot which has been designed to act as a virtual companion. The 10-centimeter tall robot -- small enough to be easily carried around -- is called 'Kirobo Mini.' According to the details shared by Toyota, the Kirobo Mini robot is scheduled for shipments in 2017. Pre-orders for the robot, priced at ¥39,800 (approximately $390), will be opened by Toyota at its dealerships soon. With regard to the availability of the Kirobo Mini robot, Toyota said that, as of now, it has no plans to launch the robot in international markets. The availability of the robot will initially be limited to Tokyo and Aichi prefecture in central Japan - close to Toyota's headquarters - to receive feedback from consumers. The Kirobo Mini robot will be equipped with a microphone, camera, and Bluetooth. The robot has the capability to connect to a smartphone, after the installation of a special software application. Highlighting the fact that the Kirobo Mini robot can listen to and respond to chat from people anywhere, even inside a car, by turning its head towards a voice, Toyota said that the robot will be able to chat for up to two-and-a-half hours on batteries.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1030
__label__wiki	0.932686	0.932686	Tucson.COM \| By Ryan Finley Arizona Daily Star 21 September 2018 Tucson's Indoor Football League team has been christened the Sugar Skulls, a nod to the tradition of Dia de los Muertos and Tucson’s All Souls Procession. The name, unveiled Thursday night at Tucson's Mercado San Agustin, was selected from among more than 1,000 entrees as part of the name-the-team contest. For her creativity, Leah Rhey of Sahuarita will receive two season tickets. The Sugar Skulls will play their first game in March at Tucson Arena. They will share the downtown venue with the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League. “We wanted our name to reflect the culture and the history of Tucson,” said Cathy Guy, the Sugar Skulls founder and co-owner. “We believe Sugar Skulls captures the identity of our community and the people who live here. As important as its connection to the city is that the name is unique in professional sports and will forever be linked to Tucson.” The team’s colors are black and yellow, with maroon accents. The primary logo depicts a sunglasses-wearing skeleton, a sombrero on his head, wrapping his bony hands around the team name. A secondary logo depicts a skull flanked by guitar necks; it’s reminiscent of the 1995 movie “Desperado,” a name the team also reportedly considered, and bears a resemblance to the logo used by the old AFL’s New Orleans VooDoo. (There may be a reason for that; Sugar Skulls executive director Mike Feder used to run the VooDoo). The Sugar Skulls will wear that logo on their helmets, which will be black. The team has launched a website, tucsonsugarskulls.com , and is also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The Sugar Skulls have been taking season ticket deposits since Tucson was granted an expansion franchise last month. The team has named Marcus Coleman, former defensive coordinator of the Iowa Barnstomers, as its first-ever coach. Tucson’s addition to the IFL is part of what the league hopes is a gradual western expansion. The Sugar Skulls have found a natural rival in the Arizona Rattlers, the Phoenix-based team that has dominated arena football for decades. Complicating and intensifying matters is the franchises’ shared lineage. Tucson co-owner Kevin Guy is the Rattlers’ longtime coach, and plans on staying with the Phoenix team for at least a few more seasons. His wife, Cathy, is running the Tucson franchise. Sugar skulls, or calaveras, have been ubiquitous in Mexico since the 18th century. Sugar skulls featuring the names of departed relatives are traditionally placed as part of a family’s ofrenda — offering — during the Day of the Dead. Sugar skulls are also arguably the most iconic image in Tucson’s All Souls Procession, which takes place every November. Last year, tens of thousands of Tucsonans painted their faces, dressed up and paraded through Barrio Hollywood and Menlo Park neighborhoods to honor their deceased loved ones. Feder, a longtime Tucsonan and veteran sports executive, said he wants Sugar skulls games to be “a reflection of the sugar skulls tradition of celebrations, honor and festivity. “It’s a tradition that dates back hundreds of years and we will treat the name with the dignity and the respect that it deserves while hopefully establishing some new traditions,” he said.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1033
__label__wiki	0.948586	0.948586	Brexit: Hundreds of gagging orders taken out by government (c) Sky News 2019: <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/brexit-hundreds-of-gagging-orders-taken-out-by-government-11671933">Brexit: Hundreds of gagging orders taken out by government</a> Sky News 22 March 2019 Sky News can reveal that the government has taken out hundreds of gagging orders as part of its preparations for a no-deal Brexit. The orders, formerly known as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), are legally binding contracts to stop confidential conversations being talked about in public. They are typically used to maintain secrecy around corporate deals or to protect intellectual property. However, we have discovered that the use of these NDAs has become prevalent across great swathes of the UK government. Using freedom of information requests, Sky News asked departments to reveal how many NDAs each had taken out as part of their preparations for Brexit. All responded, although not all of them actually answered the question. The Department for Transport (DfT) told us it had 79 separate NDAs by the end of February. Of these, we understand that around 50 had been signed in the preceding three months, at an average of around four per week. Although the names of those involved have obviously not been made public, we understand that the DfT's gagging orders involve hauliers, public transport companies, infrastructure operators and petrol retailers. Some told us they felt frustrated that a government "obsession with secrecy" had hindered constructive debate and exchange of information. The Department of Health and Social Care revealed it had taken out 26 gagging orders, while the Department for Exiting the European Union confirmed it had taken out seven. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has fewer than five. The Home Office refused to answer the question, saying that it would be too burdensome to research the answer. However, Sky News has since confirmed that the Home Office has taken out at least 100 gagging orders, simply in relation to ports. It is unclear how many gagging orders it has in relation to the rest of its work. Chief executive of the British Ports Association, Richard Ballantyne, told us: "Signing NDAs can disrupt the necessary flow of information with the wider logistics industry, who we often work very closely with, as well as with colleagues in Europe. "We have found it difficult to share some information that may have helped smooth preparations with ports and customs authorities in Ireland and mainland Europe, who until relatively recently had reported little direct contact with authorities in the UK on this matter." Nine departments, including the Department of Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education, said had not taken out any NDAs in relation to Brexit. Several others told us that the information "was not held centrally", while the Department for Business said that it was "not in the public interest" for the information to be revealed, even though the same details had been provided by every other section of government. Others, though, were more evasive. Both the Treasury and the Department for the Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs, told Sky News that they had signed NDAs, but refused to elaborate on the numbers they had signed. They said that it would be too burdensome to calculate, suggesting that it would take a worker more than two days of work to collate the information. We spoke to many in British business who said that Whitehall's use of these gagging orders had frustrated their Brexit plans. The Food and Drink Federation said: "One of our frustrations throughout the process of no-deal planning has been an inconsistent approach to confidentiality across government. "Documents are often shown to us, but we're then told we cannot take them away from meetings and share them with members and more widely. This limits our ability to provide high-quality feedback. "Where NDAs have been employed this clearly creates a two-tier relationship with industry, with some businesses being insiders and others kept out of the loop. Quite apart from the practical consequences, it is no way to build trust." Rod McKenzie, managing director of the Road Haulage Association, said that the use of non-disclosure agreements had "hindered and frustrated" his industry. He said: "NDAs have been used far, far too much. It is not fair and it is simply wrong to use them in this way. They are gagging trade associations like ours from telling our members about the effect of Brexit. "I understand that government doesn't want its plans for a no-deal Brexit to end up in newspapers, but there comes a point when we have to tell our members what is actually going on, and we have been gagged from doing that on a continual basis." The Department for Transport told Sky News: "Good government relies on practical decisions being informed by the best advice available and requires the opportunity to make a full consideration of all the available options, without threat of premature disclosure during this live process. "The decisions involved will have wide implications for the UK, and it is absolutely vital that the process is able to proceed in a safe space, and that officials and ministers are able to have those discussions, and raise potential options and risks, necessary to fully inform the best possible policy decisions." Police testing technology to 'assess the risk of someone committing a crime' in UK Next prime minister urged to lower salary threshold for migrants	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1036
__label__cc	0.501656	0.498344	Jack Brooksbank reveals he's in charge of drinks at his and Princess Eugenie's wedding Jack and Eugenie get married next week (PA) Jack Brooksbank is providing the alcohol at his own wedding to Princess Eugenie on October 12. The Daily Mail’s Sebastian Shakespeare revealed in his column that the 32-year-old has arranged for guests at their evening reception, to be served with Casamigos tequila – a company co-founded by actor George Clooney and of which, Jack is the European Brand Manager. He said: ‘I’ve not been kept out of all the planning. I get to decide some things. I’m in charge of drinks and we’ll be serving Casamigos.’ He said he couldn’t say whether Clooney would be in attendance for their nuptials. The couple have been dating for about eight years (PA) Jack left school and got a job as a waiter at Chelsea’s Admiral Codrington pub, before joining the Markham Inn where he met one of Prince Harry’s closest friends, Guy Pelly. It was Guy who helped Jack get a job at infamous Mayfair club, and one of Prince Harry’s old haunts, Mahiki. He met Princess Eugenie, 28, during a skiing holiday in Verbier around eight years and the pair have been dating ever since. Jack and Eugenie announced their engagement in January earlier this year. The pair will wed at St George’s Chapel in Windsor – the same venue that Eugenie’s cousin Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married at in May. The evening reception is set to take place at Royal Lodge. Before that, there will be a lunch for the newlyweds and their guests at Windsor Castle, hosted by the Queen. Why October is a very busy month for the royal family This is how you actually pronounce Eugenie’s name Princess Eugenie shares excited throwback photo ahead of her wedding What to wear at Royal Ascot: the 2019 outfit rules	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1037
__label__wiki	0.877048	0.877048	Boxing Champ Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Mosaic Goes Up for Auction in United Kingdom By thetouch1410 January 24, 2015 3:00 PM This mosaic of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., made by artist Mark Kennedy, is being auctioned off at a fundraiser Jan. 31 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo: Mark Kennedy/Manchester Sports and Entertainment Limited) British artist Mark Kennedy specializes in mosaics. With his father being “massive fan” of undefeated professional boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., he created a piece of the 37-year-old Grand Rapids native. The 5,000-tile, black-and-white mosaic is going up for auction next Saturday in Manchester, United Kingdom. The unique Mayweather piece is being auctioned off Jan. 31 at Vegas Fight Night at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate, with all monies raised going to local British charities, including Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Once Upon A Smile and The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust. James Lindemann is director of Manchester Sports and Entertainment Limited, which organized the fund-raised. He claims to have sent a photo of the mosaic to Mayweather’s contacts, and Mayweather reportedly was said to be “very impressed.” In a statement, Kennedy said: “If Floyd himself would bid on the mosaic it would be fantastic.” The piece is currently on display at Affleck’s Palace in Manchester’s City Centre. Organizers hope to raise “thousands of pounds” (a pound is currently worth about $1.50) with the auction, The Manchester Evening News reported. Mayweather, whose nickname is “Money,” is a 5-foot, 8-inch 147-pounder who’s been fighting of late as a welterweight. His professional record is 47 wins and zero losses with 26 knockouts. He won world titles in several weight classes, and is the current super welterweight and welterweight champion for both the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Association (WBA). Filed Under: auction \| boxing \| charity \| Floyd Mayweather Jr. \| Grand Rapids \| Las Vegas \| Mark Kennedy \| mosaic \| United Kingdom Category: Articles \| Grand Rapids News \| Local News \| Michigan News \| News \| Sports	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1041
__label__wiki	0.970661	0.970661	Howard Rodman on Distributor Universal Len Deighton’s nameless working class spy becomes Harry Palmer, “the thinking man’s Bond” in the first of three downsized Harry Saltzman productions (star Michael Caine revisted the character in two ’90s entries). Many personnel from the Bond films contributed, but it’s director Sidney Furie’s off-center compositions and clever use of Techniscope that makes this one fly. More Trailers with Howard Rodman Howard RodmanJosh Olson on About Howard Rodman Howard A. Rodman, a Professor and former Chair of the screenwriting program at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and an artistic director of the Sundance Screenwriting Labs, wrote Savage Grace with Julianne Moore, August with Josh Hartnett and David Bowie, and the opening night film of the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, Joe Gould’s Secret, with Ian Holm and Stanley Tucci. The sleaziest character in Steven Soderbergh’s film The Underneath is named “Howard Rodman,” for reasons which need not be enumerated here.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1042
__label__cc	0.582644	0.417356	January 23, 2019 Eurasia News Online Packages, Reviews 6 luxurious trains that’ll spoil you Trains are one of the oldest means of long-distance travel. They do a good job of providing an uncluttered, simple and straightforward travel experience where the problems are few and the advantages many. However, for those of us who’d like a touch of sophistication added to this seemingly simple mode of transport, what are the choices? Plenty, but here are the best among them. Many of these are well on par with the most luxurious of hotels, despite being quite old. The Venice-Simplon Orient Express The name instantly reminds you of the very famous novel ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ by renowned novelist Agatha Christie. Interestingly, the Venice-Simplon Orient Express by Belmond has quite a few similarities to the fictitious creation by Christie. The most distinctive being the opulence and magnetism as it is described in the book. This is achieved by the old-school charm of the restored early 20th century vintage cabins. The train begins at London and runs through Paris, Innsbruck and Verona ending in Venice. The Belmond British Pullman is used for the UK leg of the journey and the ‘actual’ Orient Express begins only from Calais since the train is not licensed to travel through the Channel Tunnel. Intricate attention is given to the smallest of details. This is immediately apparent as soon as you step foot on the platform at the Calais Station. You’re greeted by a full regalia of 1930’s uniformed staff, your own carriage attendant and welcome drinks. The train has a mixed variation of single cabins, twin cabins and cabin suites. The train regularly runs full. The Indian Pacific Trans-Continental This 774 metre long embodiment of luxury is one of the very rare truly transcontinental trains, transcending across a staggering 4352 kilometres at a leisurely pace of 85 km/hr. The leisurely pace is perhaps the most luxurious thing the train has to offer as it subtly yet extremely effectively allows you to enjoy the breath-taking scenery of the Great Australian Outback cutting through everything from the mountains to the forests to the desert. Nonetheless, you’ll find yourself in ‘the middle of nowhere’ more times than you can count. The platinum cabin which features a twin bed, long windows and an en-suite bathroom is the most opulent of the offerings. You also get access to an exclusive lounge and there’s also a fully stocked, partially self-service bar to indefinitely indulge in. The service is top-notch with a hint of friendly hospitality to it, consequently exuding a very warm atmosphere. Royal Scotsman Yet another exemplary offering by Belmond, this is one train which stands out on any list. More so since the addition of the Bamford Haybarn spa car (a dedicated spa carriage for the train). The setting is finely intimate, with a maximum of just 40 passengers on board which allows it to boast a remarkable passenger to staff ratio of 3:1. The vintage ambience is completely authentic owing to the 1960s equipment carefully preserved and used to this day. The five sleeping carriages contain a variety of cabin configurations which include twin-bedded, double bedded and single bedded cabins. All the cabins contain compact en-suite bathrooms along with a dressing-table, full-length wardrobe and any other basic bedroom paraphernalia you can think of. Also, you’re guaranteed to sleep like a koala since the train stops on quiet sidings during the night-time. The train’s trump card though is the observation car. It can accommodate all of the 40 people at once and provides an enthralling lookout to the amazing Scottish landscape scurrying past the Royal Scotsman. This burgundy coloured kilometre long five-star hotel on rails is insanely luxurious; and that’s putting it mildly. It’s the most expensive luxury train in Asia. The services and amenities are said to remind oneself of a by-gone era, making you wonder how well the higher officials were served during colonialism. This train compromises on nothing. It’s almost the perfect train. The train travels from Mumbai in West-Central India to Delhi in the North passing through Rajasthan (Eastern Frontier). There are various configurations of suites available with twin and double beds, all of which contain a full-size en-suite bathroom and a private butler who apparently doesn’t even need to be summoned. Service is impeccable. The signature offering however is the Presidential suite which essentially comprises of a whole carriage complete with its own sitting room, two bedrooms, two showers and a bath. Dining on the Maharaja Express is unlike any other, the standard is such that even the best of hotels would be outrun single-handedly by the extremely talented chefs of the two restaurants on-board who have absolutely no qualms in going to any extent to meet the expectations of their esteemed guests. Eastern & Oriental Express Belmond knows their stuff pretty well. The Eastern & Oriental Express is the third one in this list which is an advent of Belmond. This train is spectacular in its own right not just for the luxury, but also owing to the fact that the train passes across three glorious nations in just two days; from Singapore to Thailand through Malaysia. You’d be challenged to find a more fabulous way to travel across three phenomenal different countries within two days. The cosy cabin includes an elegant en-suite bathroom stacked up with every creature comfort you might ever need. Food is exquisite, to say the least and the chefs have no hesitancy in fulfilling any ‘special’ dietary requirements. But the most enticing is how the formal dress code in the dining area give way to create a royal air all over the carriage. The Eastern & Oriental is stark, beautiful and immensely satisfying at the same time for some stately reason which you can’t pinpoint as to why. Seven Stars of Kyushu This dark burgundy modern contemporary creation encompassed by handcrafted woodwork and delicate artwork is Japan’s triumphing answer to Belmond’s best. The interiors showcase the very finest of Japanese craftsmanship. Walls of rosewood and maple, walnut floors, shoji paper screens for window coverings and sliding glass doors etched with all sorts of contemporary patterns and artwork. It’s all very, Japanese; enkindling a soothingly exotic vibe. The train contains just 12 en-suite rooms and 2 luxury suites. The occupancy of the suites is decided by a lottery and things tend to get pretty tense. Talk about exclusivity! The dining experience on this one might just be the best of all the avenues listed here. It deserves a separate article all by itself. The texture and appearance are as important as the taste. The dishes served are consistently photography worthy with immensely rare and extremely high quality ingredients being used. Every meal is a celebration. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these can very much be considered the best of the best even though there are a lot of luxury trains out there offering wildly varying experiences. Every train in this list serves alcohol on-board. All the products mentioned here do of course have their shortcomings but they are highly subjective. Nevertheless, every journey listed here is guaranteed to gift you a once in a lifetime experience and a lot of things to reminisce on. Chug along now! Source: https://www.aluxurytravelblog.com/2018/02/06/6-luxurious-trains-thatll-spoil-you/?utm_content=buffer37d05&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Tagged Tours One thought on “6 luxurious trains that’ll spoil you” Librarylady says: I’ve never knew travelling by train could be so luxurious! Just like most people don’t know about the beautiful libraries in the world. Interesting blog, I’ll follow along. Beijing’s Daxing set to be world’s largest and busiest airport Russia’s Franz Josef Land in the Arctic may become major tourism alternative to Spitsbergen	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1043
__label__wiki	0.988436	0.988436	5401 Caroline Street http://hmh.org/ Learn about the Holocaust and remember the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honor the survivor's legacy at the Holocaust Museum Houston. Join the 20-year-long discussion on the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy in the Butterfly Project exhibit. Admire a renowned painting series highlighting the aftermath of the Holocaust in the "HOPE: Paintings by Samuel Blak" exhibit. Connect with the history of the Holocaust while gaining an understanding of how it has shaped the world today at the Holocaust Museum Houston. Discounts: Children, Seniors, Students, Military Available: Self-Guided Tour, Guided Tour, Private Tour, Gift Shop, Souvenirs Children's Museum of Houston (0.17 miles) Miller Outdoor Theatre (0.44 miles) Houston Zoo (0.76 miles) Houston Museum District (0.92 miles) Houston CityPASS (2.59 miles) Downtown Aquarium - Houston (2.92 miles) Rainforest Cafe - Houston (4.67 miles) The Galleria Mall (4.8 miles) Molly's Pub - Westchase (11.27 miles) K1 Speed Houston (13.82 miles) Children's Museum of Houston (0.17 miles) Houston Museum District (0.92 miles) Fort Bend Children's Discovery (16.65 miles) National Museum of Funeral History (18.47 miles) Space Center Houston (21.15 miles) Moody Gardens (44.84 miles) George H.W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum (83.3 miles)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1055
__label__wiki	0.884155	0.884155	The force is with J. Wakefield’s tropical brews Posted on February 24, 2016 at 11:00 pm. Written by Nicole Martinez If there’s a place where beers with kumquat and dragon fruit can take off, it’s Miami. South Florida native Johnathan Wakefield, an accountant turned brewer, has earned hoppy fame and made a career out of reviving dead styles of beer and breathing new life into them with unusual ingredients and tropical notes. But when his wife gave him a home brewing kit for Christmas in 2005, that was far from his mind. “Eleven years ago this was just a hobby,” Wakefield said. Today he has opened his own craft brewery, J.Wakefield Brewing, a quirky Star Wars-themed bar on a bustling Wynwood street corner. One of his beers has earned a spot on the global beer registry. Master brewer Johnathan Wakefield (Courtesy of J.Wakefield Brewery) Brewing remained merely a hobby for years, with Wakefield using his friends as testers. But in 2009 he joined up with Tampa’s Cigar City Brewing to learn a bit more about pushing the envelope with his brews and began carting them around to a wider audience at Hunahpuh’s Day, a seven-year-old beer festival hosted by the brewery. “I was preparing test batches for them on a very small scale,” Wakefield said. “I took some of those to the Hunahpuh’s Day in 2009, and every year since then I’ve been part of Hunahpuh’s Day, and that’s how people got to know my beers.” Loyal craft beer aficionados told him they liked what they tasted and Wakefield began considering opening his own shop. He rejoined Cigar City in 2013, this time as a brewer, to learn commercial-scale brewing. “To me it would have been a mistake to jump in without knowing every aspect of the business,” he said. “I jumped ship and left the job I had been doing for 15 years to find out if this was truly something I could do for the rest of my life, and I found that passion only got deeper,” Wakefield said. It was during that time at Cigar City that Wakefield first brewed his Dragon Fruit/Passion Fruit Berliner Weisse, a beer that landed on global beer registry RateBeer as the eighth best beer in the world that year. With its magenta hue and fruity notes, Wakefield’s concoction grabbed people’s attention. J. Wakefield’s Dragonfruit/Passionfruit Berliner Weisse “I was messing around with oddball beer styles, and no one had brewed a Berliner Weisse in a long time,” Wakefield said. “I decided to try and resurrect it and see what I could take it too. I added the dragon fruit and passionfruit, which you can get here in Miami. The taste was great, but the color of the beer was an added bonus.” Armed with such significant recognition – RateBeer has reviewed thousands of beers, and has hundreds of thousands of avid followers – Wakefield decided it was time to open his own shop. He opened a Crowd Beer account in 2013 to fund the launching of his own operation. “My goal was to raise $55,000 in 45 days,” he said. “We reached it in two days, and went on to collect over $100,000. My mind was completely blown.” Wakefield saw tremendous potential in Wynwood, which was up-and-coming and lacked a craft beer haunt. “I saw it was in the stages of becoming something much greater than it already was,” he said. Opening its doors in 2015, J. Wakefield Brewing has quickly become a Miami favorite, which the owner credits to his obsession with creating new brews. His signature beers are also sold in more than 200 restaurants and bars across Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. Lately he’s been experimenting with the Kottbusser Colonel Plank, a beer only four other breweries in the world are making right now, and another creation that includes kumquats and starfruit. “I think people like drinking our beers because of their diversity,” he notes. “We have our flagship beers but I go crazy if I’m not making something new and different.” By Nicole Martinez Nicole is a freelance writer and crop top enthusiast based in Miami Beach. A lifelong 305-er, she loves finding new stuff to love in her city everyday. Read more Drink What’s up in Little Havana: Life House Avocado toast on pan cubano? Yes, please Corporate Cocktail Giveaway at PAMM	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1057
__label__cc	0.613995	0.386005	The Sewanee Pep Band rises again November 1, 2014 thesewaneepurple Arts and Entertainment Leave a comment by Alysse Schultheis Lost in the sea of forgotten clubs, the Sewanee Pep Band finally emerged again in 2011 thanks to Adam McAnally (C’15) and Zackrey Garner (C’15), who together with faculty advisor Dr. Stephen Miller re-formed the Pep Band through the Student Activities Board. The new club had less than ten members, but today it has grown to an accompaniment of sixteen musicians. In the beginning, the charter members spent most of their time trying to find as much music to play as they could with a limited number of people. They also faced the problem of a limited representation of instrumental sections, an issue solved many times by custom arrangements from dedicated members or by music professor Prakash Wright. The last few years, the Pep Band has not only grown in members, but also increased the size of its repertoire, now including a full clarinet and trumpet section. This year marked the first pep rally Sewanee has seen in a long time, and the Pep Band participated by hosting a flash performance in McClurg to raise excitement for the first football game of the season. They also coordinated with the cheer and dance teams to form a parade through campus as everyone marched to the football game. The Pep Band opened the game by playing on the football field for the first time, as opposed to standing in the bleachers, to play the National Anthem. In addition to these achievements for the Pep Band, McAnally also values the “bonds formed with each other through mutual love of music” most of all. Their ability to “bridge gaps between years of study and forging new links between people that otherwise may have never known each other that well” helps bring the Pep Band and the Sewanee student body together. McAnally said they even had an alumnus join in and sing the fight song they recovered from the archives at one game. The re-addition of the Sewanee Pep Band, and the continued efforts of other organizations on campus, successfully brings students and fans together to have fun every game day. Ats and Entertainmentsmusicianspep ralliesSewanee Pep band Previous Post: Poet Laureate Charles writes Next Post: A conversation with acclaimed actress Cherry Jones	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1060
__label__wiki	0.54475	0.54475	build a little kindness in your bones 2019 remains a tough year. My brother S. called me Monday to let me know he and his wife are having some serious difficulties. The word 'divorce' has been said. He didn't go into all the specifics but we talked for a long time about how marriage is hard work. He told me the ball was in her court, I told him if he wanted it to work out that it didn't matter in whose court the ball bounced, he had to make it clear that he loves her and he'll do whatever it takes. It just breaks my heart and I hope they can find a way. I like her a lot. I wanted to reach out to her without being intrusive so I texted her yesterday to check to see how my niece was doing after a bad spider bite she got last week. Almost immediately after I texted C had my niece on Facetime and we had the most fun conversation about cats and rainbows. At one point she asked me if I missed my mom, Gran B, and if I was sad. "I'm very sad," I told her. "I think about her every day." "Me too," my niece said as she continued to draw. Everything's just been such a roller coaster I hope S and C can find some quiet space to work this through but if they don't I'll still love C and, of course, my brother. "I've failed at a lot of things," he told me. "And it's hard with Mom gone because she's the one I would talk to for advice. You're the closest I have to her now. He also talked to our other brother and our cousin and I'm glad--because it really does take three of us to make up even a sliver of my mother's wisdom. A, my youngest brother, is also having problems. Behavioral problems with his oldest kid, some arguments over that with his wife. He's starting therapy. We sat in my mom's house yesterday, both of us there to water the lawn and deal with some real estate stuff, and talked about how everything is different now, difficult to navigate in ways we didn't expect. I just want peace and a chance to breathe. I just want 2019 to build some kindness into its bones. P.S. Thank you for the words of encouragement. RANDOMLY, I hit the "random entry" link and it's suddenly working again and it brought me to this very, very, very old entry in which we run into my mother in the wild, aid a couple of teenagers in getting to prom and hang out with friends. it feels like 10 million years ago.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1061
__label__wiki	0.517048	0.517048	Alan Jackson’s New Coke? As Readers no doubt know, not only am I a gun nut, at least as much of one as my limited budget will allow, but I am also a big music fan. And I like to spin one of my myriad cds as I clean my gun after each range trip. I can usually clean and oil the gun in the time it takes the cd to play, usually about 45-50 minutes at the longest. I know a lot of seasoned gunnies can clean their arms (at least their pistols) in a fraction of that time, but I am a bit diligent about it. You could eat off my guns after I am finished with ’em. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I was going through that post-range ritual with the Springfield 1911, listening to Alan Jackson’s 1994 cd Who I Am. That was not the first Alan Jackson cd I bought — that honor goes to his first greatest-hits cd — but it was Who I Am that made me see his greatness. “Livin’ On Love,” “Gone Country,” “Thank God for the Radio,” Job Description,” all those songs made Who I Am one of Jackson’s two best cds — along with 2002’s Drive — and, in my mind at least, cemented his legacy as the Merle Haggard of his generation — a simple singer of simple songs that every man can relate to at some point, all delivered in an unmistakably traditional country package. Which is why, to say the least, I am disturbed in the extreme by Jackson’s latest offering, “Like Red On A Rose.” I am not sure what to say about it, but that this is not the Alan Jackson that made the two cds referenced above, or for that matter, Don’t Rock the Jukebox, Here In the Real World or the rest of that catalog to date. Which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, but by Jackson’s lofty standards, this song, well, just sucks. Sucks molasses through a coffee stirrer in January. I had heard that Alison Krauss was producing this next cd, and I really like Krauss as a singer, so, to say the least, I was expecting much, much better than this. I had heard Alan had an interest in bluegrass, and I was expecting to hear something a little more in that vein. Perhaps we’ll hear some of that, perhaps this cd will just blow the doors off anything he’s done before, who the hell knows, but at this point I am not holding my breath. If this lead single is any indication, Jackson’s next cd is going to be his equivalent of New Coke, and it deserves to fail just as spectacularly. I recall Natalie Maines saying not so long ago about the country fans the Dixie Chicks once catered to, “I’d rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it…who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith. We don’t want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do.” I suppose perhaps that last sentence is true to an extent, and I’ll put my varied tastes up against anyone’s, but once you’ve established yourself as an artist with a certain sound — as both the Chicks and Jackson did — people are going to come to expect certain things from you, and if you do anything else, there are those who might come to see it as compromising what you stand for as an artist. I can’t speak for the Chicks, as I haven’t heard anything from their latest cd and have no plans to pick it up, but I’ll admit that I think Alan’s compromised himself here. I expected better, I really did. I’ve picked up every Jackson cd on the day it’s hit the stores for the last eight years — with the exception of the gospel cd, but the budget’s kinda tight these days — or at least within a couple of days after, but with this new one, I am just going to wait and see. I work hard for my money. I don’t want to spend it on something I don’t like. If I remember right, Keith Stegall has produced every Jackson cd from the start, right up to 2004’s What I Do, and he’s had a stellar track record with Jackson. Alan should have stuck with that. What I Do was a little ballad-heavy for my tastes, probably his most depressing album ever (though I think that opinion may be due to the bad situation I found myself in about the time it came out), the closest thing to a dud that Alan’s had, and not one of Alan’s better sellers, but it was still a solid, traditional country, Alan Jackson album, sure as hell not worth switching producers for. We’ll see what happens, but it’s not sounding good so far. Compromise For Thee, But Not For Me The Anchoress is one of my favorite bloggers, but I think she strikes out here… (emphasis mine — ed.) I guess the fact that Rudy poses a threat to the “favorite sons” of the far-right, Romney (unelectable) and Allen (unelectable), we’ll now have to watch Rudy’s own side try to sabotage him, just like the Dems are trying to toss Joe Lieberman under the bus. It’s shameful, but it is becoming less and less surprising. Recall, these are the same folks who, a few months ago, were almost calling for the impeachment of President Bush, because he was only giving them 75% of what they were demanding. Reagan had problems with these folks, too, recall. They are the folks who always let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I’m pro-life, pro gun-ownership and I would vote for Rudy in a New York minute. I trust him to do the right thing. He turned NYC from a hellhole into a haven. Maybe Rudy would do the right things vis-a-vis the General War on Terror, and for that he should be lauded and commended, but as far as everything else goes, he’s little better than the likes of Arlen Specter or Lincoln Chafee. Also, as far as turning NYC into a “haven,” if it was really that good, then Rudy’s successor, the would-be Napoleon Michael Bloomberg, would not have more or less declared war on a certain industry that has done nothing wrong. And in the same vein, surely the GOP can do better than someone who thinks that “just as a motorist must have a license, a gun owner should be required to have one as well.” Not only can it do better, but it must. Let the Democrats be the ones not to trust the people to do the right thing. But — and this is where the title of this post comes in — here is what really gets my goat: There can be no common ground on an idea that an “adult in good faith” should be able to take an underage girl out of state to procure an abortion. While Hillary and her cohorts plead “compassion” here what they are doing is making it easy for your 14 year-old daughter’s 24 year-old exploiter to take her across the state lines and have the evidence of his statutory rape vacuumed out of her body before he leaves her, crushed and alone, to deal forever with what has happened to her. Well, the fact of the matter is, there are more than a few of us who hold the exact same position on any kind of gun control — that is, we believe “there can be no common ground on the idea that the American people must be licensed by the government to own the best tools for the job of upholding the first law of nature, that of self defense.” We believe “there can be no common ground on the idea that the American people must be licensed by the government to own the very tools which raise the cost of that government’s potential oppression.” So it would seem that what is being advocated here is “compromise for me, but not for thee.” And say what you will, but I think that’s outrageously unfair. People can argue about abortion all day long, but owning a firearm is a natural right granted to a person by that person’s very existence. I refer you once again to the GeekWithA.45, who explained that first law of nature better than I ever could: Let’s start with the very first principles. I (we) exist. Inherent in that existence is the right to continue that existence, and that right exists everywhere we are. There is nowhere on this earth or off it where the right to defend yourself does not exist. Implicit in this right of self defense is the right to take positive action to actually effect that defense. Since you have the right to take action to defend yourself, you also have the right to use tools to make that defense as effective as possible. Since an immediate threat to your life is the most dire circumstance imaginable, and that this threat can emerge at any time, and in any place, and since failing to deal effectively with the threat means that you DIE FOREVER (as far as we can tell, anyway) any and all means are legitimate to effect your defense. Therefore, you naturally have the right to posess and have with you, anywhere, the most effective means available to defend yourself, be it a stick, spear, sword, flintlock, modern firearm, forcefield, or phaser. If you deny any element of the above, the whole thing will unravel all the way back to your very existence, and you are really arguing that someone else has a right to make you not exist. You might well ask, “what’s any of that have to do with Rudy Giuliani’s position on guns?” Everything. With that license proposal, he’s basically saying we should cede the decision to own a gun to a government-sanctioned body, regardless of all the basic violations of Constitutional and human rights that could ensue. I’ve heard it said before that in places like California, New Jersey and Massachusetts, you could be denied a purchase permit or Firearm Owner ID card/renewal if you went to your local police station (or whichever law enforcement agency regulates gun purchases in those respective states) wearing the wrong color shirt. Rudolph Giuliani wants to take that system and impose it on all of us, from sea to shining sea. And that is what some people think we should compromise on? Uh…no. Not just no, but hell no. If the Republicans cannot find someone to put on their ticket who will make the tough decisions in the War On Terror AND protect the basic, God-given rights our Founding Fathers fought and died for, pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for — if the Republicans cannot find someone who will do all that and ultimately trust the people to do the right thing, be it with their money, choice to own instruments of deadly force (you know, trust the people to take personal responsibility for that action and all it entails) or anything else — then maybe, just maybe, they deserve to lose. The only thing that makes me hesitate to say that is the fact that someone like John Kerry or Nancy Pelosi would then have their finger on the nuclear button, and then where would that leave us? The perfect is indeed often the enemy of the good, but as far as I am concerned, Rudy Giuliani doesn’t even rise to the level of “good.” We can do better, and we must. UPDATE: Via Gun Law News — Why Shooters Don’t Like Licenses: Why Shooters Don’t Like Licenses Advocates of tougher gun laws are unable to understand the horror that shooters feel when the word “license” comes up. After all, say the anti-gunners, aren’t drivers licensed? And pilots, and just about anyone who has anything to do with anything that moves? Well, here’s an example why we don’t like licensing, and it happened to a co-worker of mine who had a permit to keep two handguns in his home in New York City. Mr. M, as we will call him, moved from one borough of New York to another, and as required by law sent in his application for a new license with the new address, along with a money order for $340. Time went by, and nothing happened. When Mr. M called the New York City Police Department, he was told that his permit had been sent to him. Then, after much back and forth, he was told that the permit application had been lost (but not, apparently, the $340 money order). And then he was told that since he had not notified the NYPD of his move, his permit was revoked. Then followed a Kafka-esque back and forth with the NYPD, who advised Mr. M that since he didn’t have a permit for them, he had to surrender his guns or be arrested. So he did. And, pursuant to Title 38, Chapters 5 and 15 of the Rules of the City of New York, Mr. M requested a hearing, appealing the revocation of his license. He hired a lawyer to represent him and amazingly, the hearing officer found for him. This was on April 3, 2006. Well, you say, the system works; the system is fair. Not quite. On May 10, a Mr. Thomas Prasso, who is Director (of what he does not say) wrote a letter to Mr. M that says: “As a result of an administrative hearing held on April 3, 2006. Your license has been CANCELLED. A copy of the hearing report is enclosed. “This determination concludes the Police Department’s review of this matter. You may appeal this determination by commencing an Article 78 proceeding in Supreme Court within four months of the date of this letter.” And so Mr. M is out his two guns, which he will never see again, $340 for the money order, and $550 for the lawyer. If he is inclined to spend a lot more money and waste a lot more time, he can indeed pursue an Article 78. But what would you say his odds are of getting his license? How can ANYONE be pro-gun-ownership and support something like this being taken nationwide??? Observation of the Day: or, You’re Not A Gun Snob Until… Earlier today, Tam was blogging about gun snobbery: After thirteen years in the gun business, most guns bore me…I’m happy for your new Ruger SP-101 or Ed Brown Kobra, but I’m having to fake the oohs and ahs because I’ve seen a dozen of them and I can pick up the phone and order a dozen more. Even as someone who’s still fairly new to guns, I can understand that…really, in most cases, a gun is a gun is a gun. Don’t get me wrong, a Wilson Combat or Nighthawk custom 1911 pistol is a thing of sheer beauty, but, really, if you’ve seen one 1911 you’ve seen them all, at least if they’re made from the designs God handed JMB down from the mountain. 😉 And the aforementioned Ruger SP101 is a fine little compact revolver, built like a tank as all Ruger pistols and revolvers are, but it’s still based on a design that’s well over 100 years old. (Of course, if it’s a bona-fide 1911 GI .45 that saw combat on Guadalcanal or Verdun, well, that would definitely merit some ooohs and ahhhs.) But someone nailed the real gun snobs in the comments there… You’re not officially a snob until you start to insult the gun and the owner for getting it. “Ruger? Couldn’t you afford better?” You’ve got a long way to go before snobdom. A-yup. Really, I guess we should all be happy that they’re getting guns and not worry so much about makes and such, though if it’s a Jennings, Raven or Lorcin or something like that, that’s a whole ‘nother can of beans. 😉 Seriously, though, I am not a fan of any kind of polymer pistol, as I said, but if that’s what folks feel more comfortable with and shoot ’em well, well then, more power to them. Let us all bite our tongues, congratulate them for arming themselves, and beseech God and the spirit of John Moses Browning to show them all the error of their ways. 😉 /tongue in cheek We Interrupt These Musings… for a very important update: The latest goodness from the great Bill Whittle! An excerpt: There was a time – and being born in 1959, I am old enough to remember it – when the idea of Civilization needed no explanation or defense. Everybody knew what it meant. Civilization was tied to another term, now likewise mocked, and that term is Progress. Progress was the idea that society was moving forward, upward, toward higher goals – better medicine, faster transportation, the brutality of hard labor replaced by stronger, then smarter machines; abundant energy, increased wealth and leisure: all of these things were greatly desired, and society was proud to provide them, proud to show them off in World Fairs and Expos and in the mythology of the movies. Now “progress” and “civilization” are ironic terms, in sneer quotes, muttered with that pathetic, bored tone of cynical nihilism started by the narcissistic brats that I have been ten years behind for my entire life. Today, I try to exercise and watch my weight only so that I may live long enough to see the last of these radical hippies die in their sleep. And it only gets better from there… A Pleasant Surprise …via the AP and Houston Chronicle: The House voted Tuesday to prevent law enforcement officers from confiscating legally owned guns during a national disaster or emergency. …The House voted 322-99 in favor of the bill. It’s not really a surprise to me that the bill passed, given the more conservative bent of the House as compared to the Senate — but I would have never expected the vote tally to be so lopsided. It’s good to know at least a few of our countrymen on the other side of the aisle don’t believe natural disasters warrant disarmament of the citizenry. But, as usual, some people just don’t get it… Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., called the bill “insane.” He and some Democrats said the bill might satisfy the gun lobby, but it would put people into more danger during already perilous disasters. Riiiiight. As if they would be in less danger after being disarmed and left unable to protect themselves from looters and thugs who were after their generators, food and God knows what else. Spoken like a true politician (with, of course, an F- GOA rating). Further vindication of the bill comes in the very next sentence, though… The Fraternal Order of Police endorsed the measure. In a letter to Jindal, National President Chuck Canterbury said, “A law-abiding citizen who possesses a firearm lawfully represents no danger to law enforcement officers or any other first responder.“ I know there are more than a few folks behind the badge who agree with that, but it’s always good to see it in print, especially considering the firmly established bias of the media on any and all things gun-related. Considering that, it’s also quite surprising that there were absolutely no quotes from The Organizations Formerly Known as Handgun Control and The National Coalition To Ban Handguns, or the Violence Policy Center. A small victory, I know…but we should take those victories anywhere we can get them. More Thoughts on the Illinois Situation Bill aka Yosemite Sam at The Ten Ring got me to thinking again, with a rant worthy of the great Kim du Toit. An excerpt: Under no circumstances, should anyone that believes in the Right to Bear Arms live in the following Fascist states. These are, in no particular order, Illinois, California, New Jersey and Massachusetts. These states have absolutely no respect for the Constitution and as far as I’m concerned are no longer, in spirit at least, part of the United States of America. He’s right…and it made me reflect more on what I said a couple of days ago about the Illinois firearm manufacturers getting out of there — “…it gets me to wondering why the gun makers didn’t pull out long ago. I have a feeling I know why — money and the expertise of master gunsmiths and such.” Upon further reflection, I suppose that’s a valid concern, to an extent…but the people who build the guns should be as concerned and up in arms, so to speak, as the people who buy them and like to shoot them, and no doubt they are. And North Texas blogger Gandalf23 made an observation I can’t believe I didn’t think to make myself back when Springfield and the others threw down the gauntlet (emphasis mine — ed.): We’ve got great weather, good food, good local beer, lots of trained machinists (lots of aerospace companies in North Texas), no state income tax, low taxes on businesses, and a thriving market for your wares. I had forgotten about all about the thriving aerospace industry up in that part of the Lone Star State. Just right off the top of my head, I know Vought Aircraft is headquartered in Dallas and has a manufacturing site there and in Grand Prarie as well, Lockheed (formerly General Dynamics) has a huge plant over in Ft. Worth, and I know Raytheon once upon a time had a pretty big aircraft rebuilding and modification operation over in Greenville, 45 miles northeast of Dallas, though I am not sure whatever became of that. You never know where talent can be found. But in any event, I think it would only be good for the Illinois gunmakers to get the hell out, because, once again, I must agree with Bill: There are those who will say that we should continue the fight there and that there are a lot of good people in those states that believe in RKBA. My answer to that line of reasoning is that it’s too late. The fight in those states was lost decades ago and the fat lady has already left the stage. A-yup. The Geek said once upon a time about the voters of New Jersey, “The voters of New Jersey have made a loud, clear statement: “‘We’re perfectly happy to bend over and take it up the ass.'” One could say the same of the voters in the other states Bill mentioned as well. It may well be just a thin majority, and I do not mean to paint all the voters with the same broad brush (though in Jersey it might actually be fair). And Illinois is in quite the pickle, as you could probably say that Chicago and its leftist suburbs more or less impose their will on the downstate Illinois voters — but no matter the situation, the fact is the majority of voters in those states have indeed made the situation intolerable for those who cherish liberty, and getting the hell out of there by any means necessary would indeed be the prudent thing to do. Kim du Toit did it, the Geek did it, Bill and Denise did it, and so did this guy…and God only knows how many more could follow suit if they were willing to make the sacrifices. On Being Old Fashioned… Xavier had this to say, this morning… I used to be a young buck a few years back, and I packed the latest tactical hardware. Back then, it was called Beretta. Mel Gibson carried it in Lethal Weapon, and the military had finally wisened up and gotten rid of that obsolete WW1 pistol for a modern Beretta. I had one too. Glock and HK were the dark force in polymer avant-guard in those days. I would see the old fogies chomping cigars and shooting their six guns at the range. I would scare my targets half to death with hails of ammo peppering the entire area of the paper. I left no 4X4 inch area unshot. Dadgum I was good!… Well now. I guess I’m even more old-fashioned than I thought. I have absolutely no use for rap “music” or any kind of video game (though I have absolutely nothing against the latter), and most of the music I like came out long before I was born. Much new “country” music I can’t stand because, well, it’s just not country anymore (it’s not evolution of the genre, it’s consolidation and bastardization of it). To hell with Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney, gimme some Merle Haggard and George Jones. And even when I started shooting again, even though that first gun was a wondernine autopistol, I still had nothing against wheelguns and knew that I’d be adding some to my collection…and I had yet to discover the wonders and joys of that old WWI pistol Xavier talks about, but ever since I picked one up, it’s hard to pull myself away from it. Love at first shoot, it was, and as for wheelguns, there’s nothing like slipping a round in each chamber, snapping it shut and going to town. And I still have no interest in any kind of polymer pistol. Judas Priest, where’s my cane?? Tags:guns, music Posted in guns, music \| Leave a Comment » Illinois: A Little Closer to Tyranny The sun rises, the sun sets, and as it does so, Illinois comes ever closer to tyranny… Earlier this month, Cook County Board member Joseph Moreno stood before the county board and called for “…house to house searches to pull every gun out of Cook County.” Moreno’s statement comes within days of Blagojevich claiming that anyone in Chicago who owns a gun is a “gang banger” and is “…up to no good.” “I think the timing of the Blagojevich and Moreno remarks is more than just coincidence,” commented ISRA-PVF spokesman, Richard Pearson. “During the July 6th dedication of the Sparta shooting complex, Blagojevich didn’t mince any words when he essentially declared that any gun-owner north of I-80 is a criminal. Then, days later, a powerful member of the Cook County Board calls for police sweeps against the homes of lawful gun owners. These statements didn’t happen by accident — the intent is clear….House Bill 2414 remains alive in a House committee awaiting a call for a vote. If passed into law, HB2414 would result in the banning and forced confiscation of millions of lawfully-acquired firearms from law-abiding Illinois citizens. The raids would be aided by a database of firearm owners being maintained illegally by the Illinois State Police.” If you’ll recall, HB 2414 is the “assault weapons” ban currently in the Illinois legislature; the bill “(p)rohibits the knowing manufacture, delivery, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons, assault weapon attachments, 50 caliber rifles, and 50 caliber cartridges.” Illinois firearm manufacturers — Springfield Armory, Armalite and Rock River Arms — have told the Illinois State Rifle Association that “should any form of HB-2414 pass, they will be leaving the state, taking with them over $300 million in manufacturing.” Add to that Richard Daley’s demands to Illinois gun owners to appear before him and explain to him why their guns shouldn’t be banned and confiscated, and it gets me to wondering why the gun makers didn’t pull out long ago. I have a feeling I know why — money and the expertise of master gunsmiths and such — but still, if I were in the position to do it, I’d be doing my level best to get my company the hell out of such a place. I don’t think I could stand to put so much money into the pockets of people with such a hostile attitude towards the lawful, safe and fun products that put food on my family’s table and shoes on my kids’ feet. I have to wonder how many master craftsmen could be found down this way, and in neighboring states such as Oklahoma and Arkansas, should the Illinois gunmakers’ workers not want to relocate. It would be interesting to find out, and see what happens if 2414 ever becomes law, although I hope it doesn’t, for the simple reason that Illinois gun owners deserve better than to have Richard Daley’s demands shoved down their throat by Daley’s puppet Rod Blagojevich and his minions in the Illinois Legislature. Musings on Cross Canadian Ragweed Just for grins, the other day I figured I’d check out the customer reviews on Amazon.com for Texas-Oklahoma red dirt country band Cross Canadian Ragweed. I have their self-titled cd (the one with the purple cover, excellent disc, best one I bought in all of 2005), and I was aiming to pick up Soul Gravy, the 2004 follow-up, but before I did I figured I’d see what others had said about it. One reviewer offered this observation: But as a country fan myself I can say that this is NOT country music it is southern ROCK, and southern rock is not country music its ROCK. Now, granted, I can see his point. Haggard and Strait, CCR most definitely are not. Still, though, I have to wonder if this particular self-proclaimed “country fan” had any problem hearing the likes of Shania Twain and Rascal Flatts on CMT and country radio. And say what you will about “southern ROCK,” but I will tell you right here and now without even a hint of apology that bands like the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band had a hell of a lot more country “street cred” than poseurs like Kenny Chesney (Judas, talk about a one-trick pony!), Shania Twain and Rascal Flatts could ever even think of having. I just can’t help but think that more than a few people who think of a band like Cross Canadian Ragweed as a southern rock band, and see that as a bad thing, see what’s going on in mainstream country music today as the pinnacle of the genre’s evolution. And perhaps the greatest irony of that is that they’d tell people like me that we are the closed-minded ones, that country has room for all kinds of influences, yet in their next breath denigrate the country music credentials of a band like CCR. I daresay Cody Canada, Randy Ragsdale, Jeremy Plato and Grady Cross have more country soul in their respective little fingers than most of these Hot New Country “stars” have in their entire beings. Country? Maybe not in the strictest sense of what many would define as “Real Country Music,” but these guys have soul, style and passion, three things sorely missed in today’s “country music” environment. I hope they keep doing exactly what they’re doing, because it’s damned fine stuff indeed. Irony from the UK? (background here, here, here, here and here) Regarding the nasty, threatening comments made by moonbat leftist professor Deborah Frisch (whose name has now been immortalized as a verb) against Colorado blogger Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom, a fellow with the online handle of Brit had this to say: If this little fracas between two egotistical bloggers had taken place in the UK, and you had taken the matter to the authorities, you would have been told, in no uncertain terms, to grow a pair of balls and learn to cope with Ms Frisch’s colourful terminology in a less fearful manner. How rich is the irony there, coming as it supposedly did from a subject (you’ll note I didn’t call him a citizen) of the United Kingdom, where just about any kind of self-defense is outlawed, where they tell you if someone breaks into your house to give them what they want, to cooperate at all costs? I’d be willing to bet that they’d probably shut Goldstein’s site down and say it was all his fault if all this was going on over there. Whatever the case may be, I’d like to think that as far down the toilet the UK has gone, they still give half a shit when somebody makes any kind of threat against a toddler. Yet another reason I am glad I am an American, and a Texan, as if anyone threatened my loved ones like that, I have a hell of a lot more options, up to and including Mr. John Moses Browning’s creation. Looks like Mr. Goldstein might be taking that route, and I must say, I think he’s doing the right thing.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1062
__label__wiki	0.52776	0.52776	Another feminist contradiction I am a 20-year-old college student who has found the man of my dreams. We both believe it is acceptable (and in our case, preferable) for a woman to be a stay-at-home mother and wife. However, the number of people who have deemed our views “unacceptable” and “disgraceful” is astounding. I was actually spit on by a woman who accused me of being “the problem with women.” Wow, what does one say to that? It’s as if the feminists say, “You should be free to make your own choices without fear of judgment, as long as you make choices we approve of.” The treatment of Sarah Palin would seem to indicate they do the same thing vis-a-vis abortion, too. It strikes me that feminism really, well, isn’t. Tags:Uncategorized Yeah, I’m pretty sure you could do that. …or, I Get Referrals, from Irvine, California, “deer hunting with a 338 lapua.” Oh, I’m sure a .338 Lapua would make a FINE deer rifle, with that 200-grain bullet chugging along at 3340 fps or so and 4950 lb-ft. of energy at the muzzle. Compare that to, say, about 2620 lb-ft. for a 168-grain .308 round at about 2650 fps. If anything a .338 might be overkill, unless you’re making routine shots from 1,000 yards-plus. But hey, as the old saying goes, smoke ’em if you got ’em. I’d hunt with it if I could afford the feeding costs. 😉 Posted in guns \| 4 Comments » Sure, centrism deserves a place… …but not the kind of centrism Kathleen Parker advocates. I really don’t understand why Bob Inglis’ advocacy of a carbon tax in the middle of a struggling economy makes him a smart, sensible moderate as opposed to another would-be intellectual who completely fails to understand the consequences of such. No doubt Kathleen Parker would call Mark Kirk, for example, another sensible moderate because he wants to ban only semiautomatic rifles as opposed to all guns. Do you ever notice that Parker has never said anything about the libertarian brand of centrism, the one that supports, for example, gun rights AND gay marriage? It’s always, ALWAYS about a little more taxes and spending than the Republicans want and a little less than the Democrats want. As one of the commenters said, “I guess in Kathleen Parker’s world, a ‘moderate’ is a Republican who votes like a liberal Democrat, but conservatives are partisan extremists.” Huh. Wonder how he got those? I thought the handgun was the scourge of society, also… First came the phone calls, which left the 55-year-old woman in a fetal position, sobbing on the floor. Then came the 32-page letter. Each was a jarring reminder of that July day in 1975 when her mother and a family friend were killed in her West Virginia home by a man who refused to accept the end of their high school romance. They also served as grim proof that the killer, Thomas Creighton Shrader, had finally tracked her down, despite her family’s 1,200-mile flight to Texas and the passage of time. Shrader, 56, is appealing the stalking conviction, and one delivered in July that found he was a felon in possession of firearms. Agents found two shotguns and a rifle in his Mercer County home after his November 2009 arrest. Felon in possession of firearms. This guy broke the law! Imagine that! One more time, friends and neighbors, do you know what Thomas Creighton Shrader is? Thomas Creighton Shrader is another person that the Paul Helmkes, Joanne Petersons of the world think is just fine in free society as long as they can’t lawfully get a firearm. Not only that, but they think they have a mandate to make it harder for Mr. Shrader’s victims to defend themselves. And the woman was also 19 years old when she and Shrader broke up, so the antis among us also would have told you back then that she didn’t deserve to be able to carry a gun to defend herself against that madman because of her age. So, you take all that, and once again you should see exactly why I think the anti-gunners among us are, if not evil incarnate, the closest thing to it that walks the earth. As I have said before, evil doesn’t always come dressed in armbands and jackboots. Sometimes it comes in just a suit and tie, or a skirt and blouse, defending things like civilian disarmament and calling them “reasonable, common-sense gun laws.” Layers upon LAYERS of fact-checkers! That is, of course, what traditional media has over new media! A .556-caliber Sig? Wow. I wonder what the effective range is with that thing. Wait, I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself here. Why haven’t I heard anything about this gun? Have any of you heard anything? Did somebody sneak out this new caliber in, say, the last couple of days while we were all napping after Thanksgiving dinner? Tags:media Life for growing weed? With authorities closing in to seize 2,400 marijuana plants on John Robert Boone’s farm two years ago, the legendary Kentucky outlaw vanished like a puff of smoke. The prolific grower has been dodging the law ever since… …Boone, who’s trying to avoid the life sentence he would get if convicted a third time of growing pot, has plenty of sympathizers in an area where many farmers down on their luck have planted marijuana. “That’s all he’s ever done, raising pot,” said longtime friend Larry Hawkins, who owns a bar and restaurant called Hawk’s Place. “He never hurt nobody.” If anything, John Robert Boone set a great example. I hear a lot of people saying that American drug users have blood on their hands because their habits are fueling the violent drug cartel battles south of the border. (I can agree with that to an extent, though I do wonder how far it is from saying that to saying that American gun owners and the NRA have blood on their hands for opposing the tighter gun laws that the Mexican government wants us to enact.) Buying American-grown weed from folks like Boone takes that money and brings it home; of course, with the insane American drug laws, it only fuels the turf wars that take place here. But if we had more people like JRB here, it would at least lessen the potency of the argument that legalizing drugs wouldn’t help matters because the cartels are so powerful now. Add Pravda-on-Hudson to the list… …of those who don’t think 18-year-olds should be able to defend themselves. How about another fun game of word substitution? “Beyond the dubious legal claims, the idea that African Americans have a constitutional right to buy weapons and carry them loaded and concealed in public is breathtakingly irresponsible.” “Beyond the dubious legal claims, the idea that Irishmen who immigrate to America have a constitutional right to buy weapons and carry them loaded and concealed in public is breathtakingly irresponsible.” “Beyond the dubious legal claims, the idea that young Latinos ages 18 to 20 have a constitutional right to buy weapons and carry them loaded and concealed in public is breathtakingly irresponsible.” “Beyond the dubious legal claims, the idea that young individuals ages 18 to 20 have a constitutional right against self-incrimination is breathtakingly irresponsible.” “Beyond the dubious legal claims, the idea that young individuals ages 18 to 20 have a constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures is breathtakingly irresponsible.” “Beyond the dubious legal claims, the idea that young individuals ages 18 to 20 have a constitutional right to free speech is breathtakingly irresponsible.” We all know they’d rightfully get called out as a gang of bigoted assholes in any of those other instances, yes? Why is the right of self-defense so different? (h/t David Codrea) Tags:media, politics Posted in media, politics \| Leave a Comment » The Party of the United Race? Wow, talk about racial politics writ large. Many Latinos have become disgruntled with both political parties… Now I hear from people in their 20s who, in their disillusionment, are pining for something that had its heyday before they were born: the Raza Unida Party. “The legacy of the Raza Unida Party is the concept of independent thought and that we can speak for ourselves,” (party co-founder Jose Angel Gutierrez) said. “No ventriloquist needed.”… These days, Gutierrez’s hobbies include tweaking nativists with comments about how Anglos are losing sleep over the browning of the United States. “They think this is a white country,” he said. “And when someone says the opposite, then that’s the demon.” Just…wow. How sickening. “When somebody says the opposite, then that’s the demon.” Yes it is. And it’s EXACTLY THE SAME THING when a white person says it too. For the life of me I cannot understand why so many blacks and Latinos in positions of “leadership” within their respective communities think racist statements and actions automatically become race-neutral when said or done by someone who’s the “right” skin color. Maybe Jose Angel Gutierrez and his acolytes don’t have white sheets and hoods in their closets, but that really doesn’t make their racial politics any less odious. It only makes said politics less dangerous, at least over the short term. Over the long term, though, that’s a different story, as has been said here before. We know what they want, even if they don’t come right out and say it — practically open borders, people coming to the United States who don’t know English and have no desire to learn it or to assimilate into American culture, etc., which is going to — as it always does — lead to balkanization and tribal war. And what about that whole “concept for independent thought” and “speak(ing) for ourselves”? Somehow I don’t think that’s so cut-and-dried, considering the ideology of the folks we’re dealing with here. I would bet that just as with the two major political parties, the party bosses of this Raza Unida party are going to dictate the official positions of the party, and while certain factions might be allowed voices they won’t have any real effect. Honestly, does anyone really think those assimilated Latinos would be allowed to have any say in the policies the party would advocate? It seems to me that such would be contrary to the Raza Unida’s prima facie raison d’etre — to advocate for policies that benefit a certain race, or even a certain other country. (Which makes the whole “independent thought” thing ironic, as it’s not about thinking on an individual level, just a smaller group level — which really isn’t that independent, or thinking for oneself at all.) I suppose that might sound racist to some, but based on my own observations of the political scene I just can’t come to any other conclusion. Lack of respect, part God only knows. Somehow I didn’t find this the least bit surprising. Liberals like Al Sharpton and Jay Rockefeller don’t have any respect for the Second Amendment; what makes anyone think they’d have any respect for the First? And Rush should be taken off the air for “perceived” offenses? Somehow I think Sharpton thinks the mere existence of Rush Limbaugh is an offense to minorities. Say what you will about Rush, but at least he never falsely accused anyone of rape. From Nordlinger’s column: “One of those whom Sharpton and his partners accused (of Tawana Brawley’s rape — ed.) was an assistant district attorney, Steven Pagones, who was, needless to say, innocent (the crime never took place). After he was cleared, he held a press conference, which Sharpton, in his theatrical fashion, attempted to crash. ‘Your accuser has arrived!’ he bellowed. Sharpton had said before, ‘We stated openly that Steven Pagones did it. If we’re lying, sue us, so we can go into court with you and prove you did it. Sue us — sue us right now.’ Oddly enough, Pagones did. He spent a decade of his life pursuing a defamation case against Sharpton and his accomplices, finally winning that case one glorious, cleansing day in July of 1998.” That was a hell of a lot more than a “perceived offense,” yet Sharpton retained his freedom of speech. Yet he goes off saying that certain people need to be muzzled because of “perceived offenses.” What a thoroughgoing asshole. (h/t Alphecca) Missing out on masterpieces. (UPDATED!) So everybody’s making a big deal out of the Beatles’ catalog being available on iTunes now. As far as that goes vis-a-vis the Beatles, all I can say is, meh. (I always thought that, along with Bruce Springsteen, they were one of the most overrated acts in pop music history. The Rolling Stones always appealed much more to me.) But there is something about the whole thing that bugs me — the whole downloading-just-one-or-two-songs-per-album phenomenon. For the life of me I can’t understand why any music fan would do this. Whenever you get a group of fans together and a discussion gets rolling, inevitably said discussion is going to turn to “Favorite Unreleased Album Cuts.” And such treasures are going to go undiscovered with this new business model that concentrates on the song instead of the album. I can think of (almost literally) a thousand examples for myself off the top of my head; but just for one example, if I had downloaded what were then my two favorite songs from Iron Maiden’s Powerslave cd — “Aces High” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” — I would have missed out on “Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra),” “Flash of the Blade” and “The Duellists” — as Albatross said of that last one, “Never very popular, yet oh so good.” The title track and “Back In The Village” were also worth the price of the cd even if they didn’t end up being favorites. And the same could be said for those thousand other examples. I don’t know what this new business model holds for the future of the music industry vis-a-vis its profitability, but as far as creativity goes I don’t think it’s going to be good. What’s the incentive for the artists and labels to spend all that money on recording 8-12 songs if fans are going to buy only two or three of them? And I know every genre’s fans are going to be different, but what of unreleased gems from other genres — like, say, George Strait’s rollicking version of the Del Reeves classic “Good Time Charley’s”? I sure hate to think recordings like that would go unmade or be phased out for more popular downloads. Thoughts, anyone? UPDATE! Sabra with her comments made me think to Google “B-Side hits,” which yielded this link. Some of my favorites: “Born on the Bayou,” CCR “Not Fade Away,” Buddy Holly “Roadhouse Blues,” The Doors “Mercedez Benz,” Janis Joplin “Get Rhythm,” Johnny Cash “After the Thrill Is Gone,” the Eagles “Love Is A Rose,” Linda Ronstadt Now wouldn’t it have been a shame if those songs had gone unrecorded? Posted in music \| 1 Comment »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1063
__label__cc	0.54083	0.45917	Parks D to G Fort Worden Fort Worden Historical State Park NOTICE: Changes in campsite reservations at Fort Worden Reservations for campsites and the beach shelter are now handled through Washington State Parks' reservation system, either online or by phone at (888) 226-7688. For inquiries and reservations regarding dormitories, vacation homes and other accommodations at the park, please contact the Fort Worden Public Development Authority at (360) 344-4400 or visit online at Fort Worden website. ____________________________________________________ Hidden gun emplacements, expansive parade lawns and restored Victorian-era Officers homes place history front and center at Fort Worden Historical State Park. While today's park plays host to workshops, festivals and family reunions, the Fort Worden of 100 years ago was home to nearly 1,000 troops and officers training to defend the Puget Sound from potential enemy invaders. Fort Worden, Fort Flagler and Fort Casey, with their big guns and strategic locations, once made up the coastal defense system known as, "The Triangle of Fire." Constructed between 1898 and 1917, fascinating Fort Worden features more than 2 miles of beachfront and high bluffs with spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Want a comprehensive history lesson? Start at the Friends of Fort Worden Gift Shop, and grab a self-guided walking tour map. Stop into the Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum, Commanding Officer's House and Marine Science Center. Enjoy a meal in the Guard House Pub, and peruse the photogenic 1914 Point Wilson Lighthouse. Explore defunct coastal defense batteries, and imagine the compound teeming with enlisted men, officers and staff during World Wars I and II. Nurture your creative side by attending a world-class conference or retreat at the fort. Stay in a barracks-turned-dormitory, a Commanding Officer's home or a castle. Or camp at the beach, and fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing gently on the shore. This rich cultural treasure will delight military and maritime history buffs, as well as writers, musicians, visitors to nearby Port Townsend and anyone who's up for a great place to stay. Park features Fort Worden Historical State Park is a 432-acre multi-use park with more than 2 miles of saltwater shoreline and a wide variety of services and facilities, including a full-service conference center that can be booked for daylong or multi-day events. The park is co-managed by the Fort Worden Public Development Authority, which runs the overnight lodging and partners with Centrum Arts Foundation and other on-site organizations to provide unique experiences for visitors. For more information, visit online. Discover Pass: A Discover Pass is required for vehicle access to state parks for day use. At Fort Worden a Discover Pass is required to visit at a campsite, in the beach area and at the main trailheads for day use parking. For more information about the Discover Pass and exemptions, please visit the Discover Pass web page. Automated pay station: This park is equipped with an automated pay station for visitors to purchase a one-day or annual Discover Pass and boat launch permit. Public Development Authority The Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center, located in the park's main campus, is operated by the Fort Worden Public Development Authority (PDA). Information about food, lodging, programs and events at the learning center can be found on the PDA's website Fort Worden Advisory Committee The Fort Worden Advisory Committee was created by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission in 1973 to provide assistance and recommendations for the development and operation of Fort Worden State Park. Specifically, the committee provides a venue for public input and advice to executive leadership on matters relating to the operation and management of Fort Worden State Park. The committee has 11 voting members and 7 ex officio members. It meets the third Thursday of odd numbered months. To contact a committee member, please see the committee roster (PDF). The approved bylaws (PDF) are available for review. Meeting agendas and minutes are posted below. Most recent agenda, items & actions (PDF) \| View all agendas and actions ADA amenities/facilities Use our interactive ADA recreation map to search for other state parks with ADA amenities and facilities. Picnic & day-use facilities Fort Worden offers dozens of outstanding day-use and picnic areas. Whether overlooking the high centennial cliffs of Artillery Hill, the often wild Strait of Juan de Fuca, or a placid vista encompassing the distant Mt. Baker, framed by Point Wilson Lighthouse and the Port Townsend Marine Science Center on the end of the pier. Numerous day-use picnic tables and fire boxes provide for an excellent picnic spot. The Cable House Canteen is an on-site food and convenience store, offering sundries, delicious burgers or hot breakfast entrées. 2.6 miles of ADA hiking trails 8.3 miles of biking trails 11.2 miles of hiking trails Water activities & features 120 feet of dock Moorage buoys (6) Personal watercraft use Watercraft launches (2) Other activities & features Alternative fitness classes Baseball/softball field Beach exploration Fire circles (2) Kayak and bike rentals Tennis courts (2) Visitor center and gift shop INTERPRETIVE opportunities The Coast Artillery Museum was established to preserve and interpret coast artillery history with special emphasis on the harbor defenses of Puget Sound as they existed and functioned from the late 1800s to the end of World War II. Among the collections and artifacts, visitors will see a three-dimensional scale model of Battery Kinzie showing the design and structure of the massive fortifications and the emplacements for the two 12-inch disappearing guns that were kept in readiness for possible attack from 1910 to 1943. The museum is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Commanding Officer's Quarters overlooks Admiralty Inlet with the Cascades in the background. Completed in 1904, 33 families called this place home during the days of the fort. The building has been restored and furnished in keeping with the late Victorian period (1890 - 1910), providing a glimpse into the life of an officer and his family in the first decade of this century. Special tours can be arranged by calling (360) 385-1003. The Commanding Officer's Quarters is open daily May 1 through Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Tuesdays). Rothschild House is open daily May 1 through Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Tuesdays). The Port Townsend Marine Science Center is open April 1 through Oct. 31. There are several golf courses nearby. Visit the fascinating historic town of Port Townsend. The Olympic Mountains rise majestically nearby. From nearly everywhere, you can hear the cry of the gull and the call of the sea. Rent kayaks (singles) for $25 first hour, $10 each additional hour. A variety of kayaks and rowboats are available. Printable park brochure (PDF). Campsite information Campers may enjoy this scenic and historic fort at two delightful campgrounds with 80 campsites that may be reserved up to one year in advance. Both campgrounds have restrooms with showers. Maximum site length is 75-feet (limited availability). Beach campground features 50 full-hookup (water, electric, and sewer) sites tucked between the bluffs and the beaches of Point Wilson. The sites are level, spacious, and open. Most sites have an amazing view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Upper campground features 30 partial-hookup sites with water, electricity, and a sewer dump station nearby. The campsites are mostly forested, some with privacy. They are fairly level, and quite long. This campground offers easy access to miles of trails. Campsites are popular and fill quickly year-round. Reservations are highly recommended. Campgrounds convert to winter water after Thanksgiving until before Presidents' Day Weekend (subject to weather). Insulated winter water sources are available in each campground during this time. Individual campsite reservations can be made online or by calling (888)226-7688. With 456 bedrooms, Fort Worden offers a wide variety of overnight accommodations for family vacations, conferences, reunions, and retreats. Visitors may choose from century-old officers' housing, a castle, special one-room houses, and large dormitories. All accommodations are located on beautiful state park grounds that have miles of trails, sandy beaches, and unparalleled views of the Cascades and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There are 43 housing units available for renting year-round. Houses range from six-bedroom to single-bedroom units with living rooms, dining rooms, and kitchens. All the houses have fully equipped kitchens (coffee makers, utensils, dinnerware, and cookware), and have full linen service. These houses are very popular with conferences and travelers. Visit the vacation houses section for additional information. Fort Worden governance The Washington State Parks Commission unanimously adopted a lease and co-management agreement with the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center PDA. The agreement was the result of years of public process, discussion, research and negotiation. The documents related to the public process are included on this page. If you would like more information or need documents in an alternative format, please call 360-902-8626 or email us. Agenda Item E3 and Appendices 1-6 (PDF) Agenda Item E3 and Fort Worden Future Governance (PDF) Agenda Item E3 and Memorandum of Understanding with Centrum (PDF) Agenda Item E5 and Appendix 3 (PDF) Agenda Item E11 and Memorandum of Understanding with Centrum (PDF) Fort Worden-PDA Master Lease (PDF) Memo to Staff and Partners-Discover Pass 2013 (PDF) Resolution Regarding the Transfer of Ft Worden-PDA (PDF) Constructed between 1898 and 1917, the Fort Worden of 100 years ago was home to nearly 1,000 troops and officers training to defend the Puget Sound from potential invaders. As the headquarters of the defenses, Fort Worden was strategically placed at the north entrance to the Puget Sound, on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The trio of fortifications at Admiralty Inlet, composed of Fort Worden, Fort Casey and Fort Flagler, was later coined as the "Triangle of Fire." Fort Worden expanded during World War I and contracted again when the war ended, though the fort remained operational through World War II. The rise of the airplane and improvements in warships soon rendered much of the early 20th Century military technology obsolete. The military closed Fort Worden in 1953. Washington State Parks acquired portions of Fort Worden in 1957 but did not acquire all of its current property until 1989. In addition to the fort itself, a historic lighthouse stands on adjacent land at Point Wilson and is part of most park-goers' experience. Though there has been a lighthouse on Point Wilson since 1879, the current lighthouse has been in operation since 1914. Its light became automated in 1976. Park maps Fort Worden State Park (PDF) Fort Worden State Park Camping (PDF) Fort Worden State Park Conference Buildings (PDF) Fort Worden Trail Map (PDF) No Fireworks Fort Worden floating dock closed Winter Water Supply Shellfish Seasons and Closures View All Notify Me Burn Ban Info Get the latest state parks burn ban information (PDF). Fort Worden State Park 200 Battery Way Port Townsend, WA 98368 Campsite & beach shelter reservations Customer/guest services Reservations for vacation homes, group rentals, dormitories, etc. Ranger office The park is open year round for day use and overnight stays. Park winter schedule Sun Jul. 14 - Sat Jul. 20 High School Writers Conference Sun Jul. 14 - Sun Jul. 21 Port Townsend Writers Conference Timber Framing Basics Mon Jul. 22 - Fri Aug. 9 Timber Framing: Building a Structure Hand Tool Heaven: Joinery with Saws & Planes Sun Jul. 28 - Sun Aug. 4 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Workshop Beginning Digital Design and Fabrication Mon Aug. 5 - Fri Aug. 9 Explore Component Fabrication with Computer Numerical Control Daroga Deception Pass Doe Island Dosewallips Doug's Beach Federation Forest Fields Spring Flaming Geyser Fort Casey Fort Columbia Fort Ebey Fort Flagler Fort Simcoe Ginkgo Petrified Forest Goldendale Observatory Grayland Beach Griffiths-Priday	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1065
__label__cc	0.716913	0.283087	Beltway Biz Bon Voyage, Baan<@VM>High-Tech Legal Moves<@VM>Oops! Baan Co. NV, the struggling Netherlands-based business software provider, has pulled the plug on its plans to build a U.S. headquarters on a 280-acre campus in Ashburn, Va. Baan had planned a $40 million facility that would house up to 1,000 employees. Now it is seeking alternatives for the property, which Baan stopped developing because of recent financial difficulties. The Dutch software company reported a net loss of $250 million in its fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31 on revenue of $142 million. Non-recurring charges related to an aggressive restructuring plan accounted for about $160 million of the quarterly loss. The restructuring includes personnel reductions, office closures, sale of businesses and write down of certain assets.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1068
__label__wiki	0.535122	0.535122	Home SUTD-ians Faculty LEADING WOMEN IN TECH & DESIGN: Exposure to Science and Engineering has... LEADING WOMEN IN TECH & DESIGN: Exposure to Science and Engineering has to start from young When she was growing up, Assistant Professor Dawn Tan was always interested in science and engineering. “I remember when we first got a computer with internet access, I started learning day and night how to code a website and dabble a bit in rendering images,” she recalls. In college, where women were a minority in engineering, her mentors (“they were incredible”) gave her opportunities to conduct research experiments: first on supercapacitors and then on antennas, lasers and light-matter interaction. “It was extremely cool!” she says. All these gave her confidence to pursue engineering as career, and today she is a successful researcher with multiple publications and accolades. It’s the reason why she wants to get female students exposed to science and engineering as early as possible. “If girls are exposed to areas that are traditionally perceived as male-dominated and they do well, then they won’t be daunted by it later on,” she shares. Dawn joined SUTD six years ago, after spending several years studying and working in the US. She is part of the Engineering Product Development Pillar (EPD) and leads the Photonics Devices and Systems Group. Her interest lies in experimental optical physics, pertaining to the study of both nonlinear and linear optical phenomena, nanophotonics and quantum optics. One of the potential applications of her research is enhancing the transmission of data via the Internet by improving reliability and lowering costs. “I’m a bit sensitive to people saying that girls shouldn’t do this or that. They should be able to explore what they like!” Dawn has been awarded the L’Oréal for Women in Science National Fellowship and named an Innovator under 35 by MIT Technology Review. Most recently, she was named on the Nature Research Inspiring Science Longlist and featured in Prestige Magazine’s 40 under 40 list. Dawn has been active in generating more interest in science and tech among women, and not just as a faculty member of SUTD. She gave a TEDx talk to junior college students in 2017, and in 2018, she co-organised the Women in Technology and Design Conference, which brings together top minds in the local and global tech scene. She was also involved in outreach programmes when she was in the US, regularly working with K12 students and educators. She advises aspiring researchers to seek out the right field which leverages their interests and natural inclinations. SUTD students, she points out, can partake in research activities even from day one. “Where possible, look for research opportunities in diverse fields early on to get a sense of what you are good at,” she says. “I know a large numbers of individuals are already exposed to scientific research even in secondary schools, so that sort of exposure definitely helps the next generation to find their passion.” Previous articleweek 16 – Changgyeonggung Palace and Eating Live Squid Next articleGrad day in Taiwan 10 things to look out for at the SUTD Open House 2019	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1070
__label__cc	0.639788	0.360212	Lessons from Tom Fox Remembering a Courageous Quaker in the aftermath of 9/11 With all of the ceremony yesterday around the attacks of 9/11, I'm sure we all did a bit of reflection on the past ten years. For me (and I'm sure I'm not totally unique in this either) it led into some pretty deep stuff, and a piece of art that I hadn't engaged with in years. In 2001 I had just graduated from High School and was preparing to take a year off and spend time in Brasil when the towers fell (I flew through New York on a totally empty passenger plane 2 weeks after 9/11). I had solidified my persona as an outgoing, active Young Friend but had yet to go through the painful convincement experience at Guilford College. I certainly had no clue what we were in for as a country. There's a Spirit in Iraq Fast forward 5 years, and I'm in my senior year at Guilford in the middle of said convincement, writing a song about James Nayler, a Quaker who, in the 17th century, was persecuted for (arguably) his faithfulness. …and Tom Fox was taken hostage. Tom was an elder of mine (Friendly Adult Presence) from my Young Friends days who had been working for the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, doing work to reconnect Iraqi prisoners with their families. Tom was kidnapped with 3 other Christian Peacemakers and, after a 5 month ordeal, was found dead. We were holding regular candlelight vigils at Guilford, and I was suddenly reconnected with all of my old Young Friends buddies, who wanted to stay in touch to know what was happening with Tom. We were talking to the press and seeking ways to advocate for peace in such a hurt country seeking vengeance. When I finished the song about Nayler, I got a clear message that I would write one about Tom. That I would. It was the first time I got a leading that I wasn't supposed to do immediately. I waited until my next year, living at Pendle Hill, when I had processed some of the experiences and emotions, and allowed the Spirit to come through. It was a painful, difficult song to write and is equally difficult to perform, though it continues to be one of my most requested songs. New Music Video As I prepare for the release of my upcoming album (two weeks away!), I've been systematically sifting through some of my music from the past couple of projects, and posting them on youtube… as much for my own reflection as for yours (though you are more than welcome to come along!) and when I came to the song that I wrote about Tom Fox, I knew I had to do something special. A few hours into working on a video of newsreels and images of Tom, I remembered that my brother I had taken a bunch of footage a few years ago with the intention of making "There's a Spirit in Iraq" into a music video. Alas, my video editing skills were lacking, and my vision was too weak (we should all be grateful here, that my artistic career has thus far been driven by faithfulness and not by ego or necessity… if for nothing else, all of the crap art that we've been spared from!) and it got shelved. So two nights ago I dug it out, put it together, and lo and behold! A music video! (thanks, God… it's not like I had anything else on my plate right now) My second ever! Funny, because I'm about the release one (the third, I suppose) in another two weeks… but this one stands alone, I think! The video is an attempt to capture that feeing of being led to make a piece of art, trying to rise to the task, but it also is the story of my relationship with Tom Fox, which is my relationship to Quakerism, elders, the Iraq war, and nonviolence. An ambitious group of topics to cover! I think I did OK… Let me know if you agree: Click Here for the Music Video About Tom Fox (the best way to let me know you liked it is by sharing this email with your friends, or sharing the video on Facebook and twitter) thanks and New Blog Post: How to Heal From 9/11 It will continue to become clear that 9/11/01 was a turning point for our country. Not because we were attacked. Because of the way we responded to being attacked, which was far more damaging (to us) than the attacks themselves. The Example of Tom Fox Tom was a Quaker who, when our thirst for vengeance threw us into conflict with Iraq, felt led to put himself at risk by traveling into the middle of that conflict to be a peacemaker. Share this email: view email in browser \| unsubscribe \| update your profile \| forward to a friend You are receiving this email because you are signed up for Jon's newsletter. If you wish to stop receiving these emails, please hit "unsubscribe." Peace to you! Copyright (C) 2011 Jon Watts Music All rights reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1072
__label__cc	0.747023	0.252977	Top Ten Tuesday: Thought-Provoking Book Quotes Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we're focusing on quotes from books. Specifically, quotes that are either inspirational or thought-provoking. I'm too cynical to get deep into inspiration, but I love a book that makes me think, so here are ten quotes from books that get my brain going. "Does the walker chose the path, or the path the walker?"- Sabriel "Life is fleeting. Don't waste a single moment of your precious life. Wake up now! And now! And now!"- A Tale For The Time Being "Things can change in a day"- The God of Small Things "Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so very seriously."- Jitterbug Perfume "Is it really possible to tell someone else what one feels?"- Anna Karenina “To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect”- Sense and Sensibility “After all, what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?”- Remains of the Day “Imagination, of course, can open any door - turn the key and let terror walk right in.”- In Cold Blood “Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”- The Handmaid's Tale “We speak not only to tell other people what we think, but to tell ourselves what we think. Speech is a part of thought.”- Seeing Voices Posted by Gabby at 9:00 AM 4 comments: Labels: a tale for the time being, anna karenina, in cold blood, jitterbug perfume, remains of the day, sabriel, seeing voices, sense and sensibility, the god of small things, top ten tuesday A Month In The Life: April 2019 With tomorrow being the last day of April, that means we're 1/3 of the way through 2019 already, which just does not seem at all possible. It was another busy busy month, since we're still in session and this was the month the first major deadlines started cropping up but of course, I still managed to read books. In Books... All The President's Men: This book is a legend of political journalism, and I couldn't believe I hadn't read it yet. Honestly, though, it was so dry and seemed to be assuming that I had a lot of context around Watergate that I don't have. There's an amazing book to be written about this triumph of the free press, but the reporters were too far inside it to tell it effectively. Princess Masako: In just in a few days, Emperor Akihito will abdicate the Japanese throne in favor of his oldest son, Naruhito. Which means Naruhito's wife, Masako, will be empress. Her story is quite sad: a highly educated, accomplished woman, she's widely reputed to be miserable in her tightly constrained life as a royal. This book means to examine her life, but the quality you can expect is right there in the subtitle: "Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne". Thinly sourced and inflammatory, but not without entertainment value. The Last Romantics: This is the kind of long-ranging family-dynamics drama that I tend to enjoy, so it should come as no surprise that I really liked this book. Tara Conklin's writing is lovely and insightful, and the tensions that drive the plot arise from skillful character development. There were a few things that didn't quite work for me as plot points that kept it from being a true standout, but mostly this is a solid, engrossing read. Lilah: I hadn't read biblical fiction in a long time, and this didn't exactly encourage me to read more...Marek Halter did some decent characterization of Lilah, but the focus seemed strongly on the world-building and I thought the book, though short, dragged through the first half and rushed the second. The Fever: When one pretty teenage girl has a sudden seizure in class, it's a mystery. When a second does, though, and a third, it starts to feel like an epidemic. The entire small town starts to fray at the seams, and Megan Abbott's thriller keeps the tension high. I did find myself feeling like the three points of view was at least one too many, but this is a very readable, compelling book. The Lowland: This book tells the story of two brothers in India whose lives take divergent paths as they grow up, and a woman who they both marry, weaving through the course of their tragedies and triumphs over a lifetime. It is an elegant, accomplished novel with deft prose styling and layered characterization, but I never quite connected to it. There's a sense of remove that blunted its impact, for me. In Life... I was on Jeopardy!: Honestly, a lifelong dream. Even though I didn't win, I'm proud of my performance. I accomplished my goals...to make sure "Nevada" was pronounced correctly and getting to play Final Jeopardy! Session continues: We're now about 2/3 of the way through, just a little over a month to go! It'll be a pretty grueling month and change though, but then there will be some nice down time over the summer. One Thing: Instead of linking to something outside I'm going to write a little bit more about my Jeopardy! experience. I'm of two minds about it: on the one hand, I watched James play four shows before mine since I was on the last show of the day and knew what I was getting into...not that I was intimidated, per se, but his performance on the show has been of the sort where I don't feel bad that I lost. Lots of very smart, capable players have lost to James. I didn't lose a squeaker where I'd be kicking myself over one blown answer. On the other hand, I wish I'd gotten the experience of playing a "regular" show...getting your one chance to ever play be against such a dominant player is unfortunate timing but that's how life goes sometimes. For those of you, who (like me!) love to watch from home and shout out answers, know that buzzer timing is SO much of the game and WAY harder than you think it is. I never quite got the hang of it. But I am (I think) the first person from my hometown to ever make it on, which is pretty cool, and I will never forget that Edward is the other British king's name (along with Henry and George) to be used more than five times ever again in my life. Gratuitous Pug Picture: Labels: a month in the life, all the president's men, jeopardy, lilah, princess masako, the fever, the last romantics, the lowland Book 178: Stay With Me "I loved Yejide from the very first moment. No doubt about that. But there are things even love can't do. Before I got married, I believed love could do anything. I learned soon enough that it couldn't bear the weight of four years without children. If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it's in a thousand pieces under your feet, that doesn't mean it's no longer love." Dates read: September 19-22, 2017 Sometimes it seems like there are two kinds of long-married couples: those who genuinely love and appreciate each other, and those who seem to have just decided that they're sticking to it because of stubbornness, mutual resentment, "for the children", or any variety of reasons that aren't love. When I read stories about couples who've been married for decades, I find myself wondering which group that pair falls in. Are the latter something we should be celebrating, honestly? I've known people who got married only to find out later that the person they thought they were swearing forever to isn't who they've ended up with. Ending a marriage, even one that's gone sour, sounds like it's an agonizing decision, and I can't help but think that the social pressure to not make that decision keeps people together who might be better off apart. What exactly it means to be married, and married well, is at the heart of Ayobami Adebayo's Stay With Me. When we first meet Yejide, we learn that technically, she's had a long marriage. She's lived apart from her husband, Akin, for many years, but she receives an invitation to attend his father's funeral as his guest that sends her on a reminisce about their past, and how their separation came to be. They met at university in Nigeria, and though they were both seeing other people at the time, quickly fell in love and got married. Their marriage was happy, except that even after several years, they were childless. Though Akin and Yejide were a modern couple, his parents were traditional, and if their first-born son couldn't produce an heir for the family with his wife, they had a solution: a second wife. This is the first in a series of what come to be deep, deep cracks in Akin and Yejide's relationship. Yejide is desperate to keep her husband to herself, and knows that in order to do that, she must somehow become pregnant...which she does. The plot has several twists and turns, and while I'm usually not especially fussed about spoilers, this is one of the cases where I feel like letting the plot unfold as you read is important. Though the book is relatively short (under 300 pages), Adebayo deals with some powerful themes: love, marriage, mental health, trust, family, sex, and what it means to be a parent. This is a debut novel, and in some ways, it shows. Some of the plot twists seemed to be a little too difficult to believe, and it sometimes felt that they were being deployed too quickly, with too little time for each to really settle and resonate before the next one came along. And while I appreciated the way she paralleled the upheavals and tensions of the central marriage alongside the political turmoil roiling Nigeria during the lives of the characters, references to it often felt shoehorned in. I felt like the book should have been longer, which could have ameliorated both issues by letting the plot breathe a bit. At the end of the day, though, this is the kind of debut which makes me really excited for the author's follow-up(s). Yejide is a fantastic character...she's not always likable, and often makes poor choices, but remains sympathetic throughout. The perspective we get into her childhood informs the person she comes to be, and I wish we'd gotten a bit more of this with Akin. We get some, but he's less well-developed than she is and I think the book could have been even stronger if we'd gotten more of his perspective. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed this book and look forward to following Adeyabo's career. I would recommend it, but maybe not to everyone. I think it'll appeal most to readers who enjoy character-based domestic dramas and don't mind if they occasionally trend towards the implausible in their plotting. Tell me, blog friends...what do you think are good reasons for ending a marriage, if any? One year ago, I was reading: Rosemary's Baby (review to come) Two years ago, I was reading: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Three years ago, I was reading: The President's Club Labels: ayobami adeyabo, contemporary fiction, marriage, nigeria, parenthood, seven stars, stay with me Top Ten Tuesday: First Ten Books I Reviewed Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! My opinions on books often change over time, so with this week's subject, what I want to do is go back to the first ten books I reviewed on this blog and see how I feel about them a few years later. Rating then: 10/10 Rating now: 10/10 Comments: This book is a masterpiece. Rating then: 3/10 Rating now: 2/10 Comments: I stand by my low rating of this book, which I barely remember...in fact, it feels fair to lower my already low rating because I can't remember getting anything at all out of this book. Comments: This book was very bad and I rated it as such and I stand by that rating. Comments: Another one of those that I can barely remember, except that it felt like it threw a bunch of trendy YA concepts into a blender with Korean mythology (the author is white, so it's not even an own voices book). Through The Language Glass Comments: I really did enjoy this deep dive into linguistics, but it's very dry and technical and something I'm not super eager to re-read...though I would enjoy reading more along the same lines. The Nazi Officer's Wife Comments: This is a very, very good memoir, but usually I reserve that 10/10 for something that feels like a masterpiece and with some time in the rearview, this isn't a masterpiece. The Masks of God Rating then: ~5/10 (varying depending on volume) Comments: I spent a LOT of time slogging through the four volumes of this psychoanalytic perspective on the history of world mythology. It could have been about 1/3 the length and still would have been dense. I think I rated it higher at the time because I wanted to believe it was better than it was for all the time I invested in it. Kramer v Kramer Comments: This book is solid, but when I read it I thought it was better than I think it is now. Comments: This, on the other hand, is a masterpiece and continues to deserve its rating. Comments: I don't think this book was bad, there just wasn't much there. Some images from it have stayed with me, but with very few exceptions I remember so little of it I might as well have never read it at all. Labels: all the king's men, beloved, gilded, hood, kramer v kramer, reservation road, the masks of god, the nazi officer's wife, through the language glass, top ten tuesday, unbelievable Book 177: Duel With The Devil "This room, filled with the most distinguished legal eminences in the state, might have seemed a Gordian knot of tangled conflicts of interest: Burr’s company owned the murder scene, had employed the defendant, had rejected a bid by a relative of the deceased, had financial relationships with the court recorder and the clerk, and had political alliances and rivalries with his fellow counselors, the mayor, and the judge. In any other time or place, all this might have at least raised an eyebrow. But in Manhattan in 1800, it was just how business was done." True crime, it seems, has never been more popular. It's always had a fanbase: look at Unsolved Mysteries, or America's Most Wanted, or Ann Rule's entire career. But ever since the first season of Serial took the country by storm (it was the first podcast I ever subscribed to, and I don't think I'm alone in that), it seems like it's everywhere, from other podcasts like My Favorite Murder to TV shows like HBO's stellar The Jinx. And there's never-ending source material: there will always be cold cases and shaky convictions all over America every day. What remains to be seen is if this is a trend that's here to stay. One of America's oldest cold cases is the basis of Paul Collins' Duel With The Devil. Elma Sands, a young, often sickly Quaker woman who had come to New York City with her cousin, Catherine, and lived in a boarding house there, was found dead in a well in her best clothes. Suspicion quickly turned on Levi Weeks, a fellow boarder, who'd been seeing Elma and who she'd reputedly left her room the night she was killed to secretly marry. Levi happened to be the brother of Ezra Weeks, who was a well-connected businessman and arranged for Levi's defense by what was likely America's first legal Dream Team: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and Henry Brockholst Livingston. Despite the almost overwhelming public opinion that Levi had done it, the defense managed to echo (pre-echo?) the OJ Simpson case in another respect: he was found not guilty. His legal victory did nothing for his PR woes, though, so he left the city not long thereafter and ended up in Mississippi, where he lived out the rest of his life being mostly pretty boring. Collins complies his relatively brief book by doing four things: he gives the reader tons of background and context for the New York City in which the murder transpired and fleshes out the principals, he recounts the trial, he posits his own theory of who might have killed Elma, and he wraps up with the famous duel between the one-time co-counsels and long-time political enemies that cost Alexander Hamilton his life. I found Ezra Weeks to be a surprisingly interesting figure: we've all known of those "prominent citizen" types that seem to be able to pull all the strings, and he was able to get his brother two of the foremost attorneys in the city in a way that only one of those types could do. He was a local construction guy, and he had two customers with a taste for the finer things but without a budget to support that taste, who therefore owed him money: Hamilton and Burr. The full-on Hamilton craze seems to have peaked a while ago, but there's still a lot of interest in his story. To be perfectly honest, this book, and the case at the center of it, aren't much more than a footnote in a life that managed to encompass a great deal despite its relative brevity. Collins does what he's trying to do here well enough, but there's nothing revelatory. If you've got an interest in cold cases or you've found out about this case in particular and wanted to know more, this book tells its story with clear, informative prose and is worth your time. If, however, you're more interested in Hamilton's entire career, I'd recommend Ron Chernow's Hamilton instead, which I listened to on audio and is very long but fascinating. One year ago, I was reading: Chosen Country (review to come) Two years ago, I was reading: The Children of Henry VIII Three years ago, I was reading: Dune Labels: aaron burr, alexander hamilton, duel with the devil, four stars, nonfiction, paul collins, true crime Top Ten Tuesday: Watery Reads Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week's subject is actually "rainy day reads", but for me, those are just books that I happen to be reading when it rains. So I did a little twist on it, and went for books significantly tied to a body of water! The Life of Pi: The bulk of this book about a boy who survives a shipwreck takes place on a boat in the ocean. Moby-Dick: Another sea-faring book, this recounts a whaling voyage and the hunt for the legendary, titular white whale. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: I LOVED this book as a kid, with its story of a proper young lady who becomes embroiled in sailing ship intrigue and winds up a member of the crew. Dead Wake: This account of the sinking of the Lusitania introduced me to a whole part of history I knew basically nothing about and it was fascinating! Many Waters: This entry in the A Wrinkle In Time series sends the Murray twins, Sandy and Dennys, back to biblical times immediately before The Flood. La Belle Sauvage: Another flood story, this prequel to The Golden Compass features Lyra Belacqua as a tiny baby being rescued by teenage Malcom Polsted and his titular boat. Once Upon A River: The events of this wonderful novel from last year are kicked off by a man's accident on the rain-swollen Thames, and a little girl who seems to have drowned in it, until it turns out she's alive after all. Island of the Blue Dolphins: There's only really a ship in this one at the very beginning, but the circumstances that drive the action are rooted in people leaving on that ship and the surrounding water that isolates the island. James and the Giant Peach: An oversized stone fruit is the most unusual aquatic vessel on this list by a long shot. The Odyssey: The OG voyage adventure story on the ocean! Posted by Gabby at 9:00 AM 12 comments: Labels: dead wake, island of the blue dolphins, la belle sauvage, many waters, moby-dick, once upon a river, the life of pi, the odyssey, the true confessions of charlotte doyle, top ten tuesday Book 176: Valley of the Dolls "She stumbled out of bed and changed her pajamas. Dr. Mitchell was right—she was building up a tolerance to the pills. Maybe one more yellow...No, then she'd be groggy and hungover in the morning, and she had to learn those lyrics. Jesus. Today she had needed three green dolls just to get through the morning shooting. She poured a full glass of Scotch. Maybe one more red pill...yeah, they wore off faster. She swallowed it quickly. And she wouldn't drink all this Scotch, just sip at it until the pills worked." Dates read: September 9-15, 2017 Lists/awards: The New York Times bestseller Every once in a while, I realize I'm drinking just to drink. Having a drink after work just because. Or on the weekend, getting to the point where I have a happy little buzz going and then having another drink or two just because it's there. So I'll knock it off for a while, because the slope between substance use and substance abuse is slippery and I want to stay on the good side of it. Well, unless the substance is caffeine. I am 100% addicted to it and I am 100% okay with that. As long as there have been drugs, there have been people who've gotten hooked on them. Right now, it's opioids that are the hot topic and big area of concern, but back in the day, it was barbiturates. In Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls, there are two ways to take the title. In one sense, "dolls" has long referred to women, and the book tells the story of three of them. But throughout the novel, the characters refer to their pills as "dolls" as well. The book tells the story of three young women who are briefly roommates at the beginning of their careers: Anne, Neely, and Jennifer. Anne is a lovely, well-bred New Englander who flees her hometown because she's terrified of getting stuck in a passionless marriage and never accomplishing anything besides raising children. She goes to New York City, where she finds work in the office of a well-known entertainment lawyer/talent manager. Neely has been on the vaudeville circuit since she was a small child, and is trying to break into Broadway with a group act. When the dancers get cast in a show starring one of Anne's company's clients but Neely gets cut, Anne manages to score her a new spot. And Jennifer is a stunningly beautiful but not especially talented actress cast in the chorus. The women's stories all take different directions from there: Anne breaks off a relationship with a rich man who wants to marry her to pursue a relationship with Lyon, her boss's protegee, a veteran who's returned from war but thinks he maybe wants to be a writer instead of getting back into the rat race. She's crazy about him, but he's proud and doesn't want to marry her unless he can support her even though she's well-off enough for both of them. When they break up, she goes on to date an older cosmetics executive and becomes a TV spokesmodel. Neely goes to Hollywood to make it in the movies, where she's put on uppers so she can handle long song-and-dance rehearsals while skipping meals to lose weight, and gets herself onto downers so she can sleep. She becomes a huge star and wins an Oscar, but also turns into an addict. And Jennifer, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, chases a marriage with a successful lounge singer to lock in a source of support for her and her family...only to discover her beloved isn't who she thinks he is and winds up making "art films" overseas. She finally finds real love and security with a politican, but she also finds a lump in her breast. On the one hand, this is delightfully campy melodrama: Anne's terror of being "frigid" and desperate desire for Lyon, Lyon's refusal to be a "kept man", Neely's marriages and pill popping and downward spiral into addiction, Jennifer's secret white trash past and doomed marriage and soft-core porn career. Y'all, there is an actual scene in which a wig is snatched and flushed down the toilet. I found myself actually giggling out loud while reading it. But there's also a very real story there about how the entertainment industry chews women up and spits them out. Two of the three major characters are clearly based on real people: Neely's story has too many similarities to Judy Garland's to be mere coincidence, and Jennifer's is less clear but still obviously reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe. All three women are scared of aging, terrified of losing their looks and therefore their value. While Anne is the main character (the book begins and ends with "her" sections), perspective switches to Neely and Jennifer often enough to keep things interesting. The characters aren't necessarily super deep, but they are each flawed in their own way and so are at least well-rounded and generally sympathetic (although Neely takes a turn towards villainy near the end). There's definitely plenty of fluff, like I talked about above, but there's enough reality and pathos to balance it out so it doesn't feel like the book equivalent of a Twinkie. It's an entertaining, enjoyable read, and I'd recommend it...particularly to those interested in the entertainment industry and classic Broadway/Hollywood. One year ago, I was reading: The Color of Water (review to come) Two years ago, I was reading: Big Little Lies Three years ago, I was reading: Dead Wake Posted by Gabby at 9:00 AM No comments: Labels: broadway, contemporary fiction, female friendship, hollywood, jacqueline susann, ny times bestseller, seven stars, valley of the dolls Top Ten Tuesday: Things I’ve Done for the Love of Books Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we're looking at the maybe a little over-the-top things we've done because we love books so much! Collected far more of them than I have room for: Just ask my poor husband, who deals with piles of books on virtually every surface in our apartment. Started a book blog: I mean, I love books and reading so much I created a space on the internet to talk about it. Started a book newsletter on top of my book blog: A little less than a year ago, I decided that there might be people who can't get into the idea of checking a book blog but who might be able to get into a monthly newsletter in their inbox, so I've got that going on too. Literally carry one with me 100% of the time: I carry two things with me no matter what...a koozie for my beer and a book for my brain. Gone to a midnight release event: My sister and I went to a party for the release of the final Harry Potter book at our local Borders (RIP). Go to a bookstore whenever I visit a new city: Anytime I go someplace new, the first thing I do is find an independent bookstore, make plans to go, and buy a new book! Joined a book club: Speaking of indie bookstores, mine runs a book club that meets once per month and I've loved having a place to talk about books with people in real life! Indulge in bookish merch: I've got candles, shirts, tote bags and more that were inspired by books! Turned my insta into a quasi-bookstagram: It's not a formal booksta, and I don't pose anything all pretty and accessorized, but I do share what I'm reading and it's become at least half of what I post anymore! Got into audio: I never thought I'd be a person who listens to books, but it turns out it's a great way to liven up my walks/drives, and get my re-reading in! Book 175: The Sisters Chase "The Chase girls stayed the next morning until it was time to check out, lying on the bed and basking in the infinitude of being nowhere. The motel served Saran-Wrapped Danish, hard-boiled eggs, and orange for breakfast, and Mary and Hannah ate them in their room, Hannah feeling the optimism of going somewhere, Mary feeling the relief of having left. The Chase girls were always happiest in those brief moments of in-between, when neither of them was sacrificing, neither of them being sacrificed." Dates read: September 6-9, 2017 To be honest, I was not very excited about my sister when she arrived. I'd been perfectly happy as an only child, thank you very much. When she was about 6 weeks old (I was 4 and a half), my mom caught me carrying my sister towards the kitchen. She asked me what I was doing, so I told her that I was throwing her away because all she did was cry. When I was informed that I couldn't actually toss her in the trash, I tried to bargain down to returning her to the hospital. No dice. We fought like crazy growing up, but now that we're all grown up, she's someone I love and cherish. Thanks for not letting me bin her, Mom. The titular sisters of Sarah Healy's The Sisters Chase couldn't be more different. Fourteen years older, Mary has dark coloring and a corresponding dark personality...she's ruthlessly pragmatic, manipulative, proud and ungovernable. Hannah, however, is blonde and takes after the nursery rhyme in that she seems to be made of sugar and spice and everything nice. Their single mother owns and runs a hotel in a seaside town on the East Coast and has a night shift at a nearby casino to keep their family going during the off-season. But when she's killed in a car crash, Mary and Hannah find themselves on their own. Back taxes on the hotel and no life insurance mean that they're broke, and so Mary takes Hannah and leaves the only home they've ever known to try to take care of her. After Mary successfully prises some seed money from wealthy relatives in Florida, she and Hannah (who Mary calls "Bunny") connect with an old acquaintance of hers in New England. Things seem stable, and even like they might end up happy, but Mary's past shows up to bite them and they leave. As Hannah grows up, they continue to travel, Mary refusing to put roots down anywhere for too long, until they wind up in California. Hannah, now on the cusp of her teenage years, wants desperately to stay in one place and so several months pass, but the idyll can't last and eventually tragedy strikes. All of that is super vague, I know, because I do try to avoid spoilers and this book is very much "about" its plot and its mysteries. You'll notice above that I've rated this book quite poorly, and part of that is that is just because the kind of book that it is: plot-over-character is not my cup of tea, but this was a book club pick after a couple months of heavier, slower material so I gave it a shot. Turns out, I still don't get a lot out of this style of novel, and that's okay. Not every book is for every person, and my ratings are intended to be a reflection, at least in part, of my own experience of reading the book and the enjoyment I got out of it. But my ratings are also informed by my opinion of the quality of the book and how well it did what it was trying to do, and this is where The Sisters Chase really took a nosedive. One of the reasons I tend to be personally pro-spoiler is that I feel like if "the twists" are all you have, you don't have a story. The Sisters Chase indulges heavily in one of the ways I find most irritating of shielding "the twists"...it deliberately hides information known to the characters from the reader. It's not that this can't be done well (the way Gone Girl "hides" that Nick Dunne's mysterious calls are actually from his mistress because he's a bad husband, not from a conspirator because he's a murderer, for example), it's that this book doesn't do them well. I guessed the big twist long in advance and I'm awful at guessing the twist. And I had a huge issue with characterization, too. The book actually has very few characters it spends any significant amount of time with (primarily Mary and Hannah), so should be able to round them out more fully. Instead, both the girls are flat. Mary is the kind of "she's beautiful...but wild" stereotype I've always found deeply irritating, and Hannah is so milquetoast that she's barely there. I've always thought that the three most important elements of a novel are plot, character, and writing, and a book needs two of three better than average to be good, and all three to be truly great. This book was not successful, for me, in any of those areas. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Tell me, blog friends...do you try to rate books? If you do, are your rankings purely objective or is there subjectivity there too? One year ago, I was reading: Sophia of Silicon Valley (review to come) Two years ago, I was reading: Moonglow Three years ago, I was reading: Suspicious Minds Labels: contemporary fiction, mystery, sarah healy, sisters, the sisters chase, two stars Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we're talking about things that make a book jump out and say "pick me!" when we're browsing, so here are ten things that help a book find its way into my hands. Royalty: I'm a sucker for anyone with a crown, both in fiction and nonfiction. Sisters: As a sister myself, I'm always ready for books about the relationships between them! Friends Over Time: I love a book that follows a group of friends over time as they grow and change and their bonds get weaker and stronger. Based on Folklore: I love folk and fairy tales, so if I find out a book is based on myth/legend, I'm intrigued! True Crime: I started with Ann Rule anthologies in high school, and I've still got a weak spot for a book telling me about the investigation of a crime. A Historical Event: Either fictional or real, I enjoy reading accounts of major parts of history that give me more context or a new perspective for understanding. Trusted Author: If I've read and liked work from a writer before, I'm much more likely to pick up something else by them, either a new one or a backlist selection. Connection To A Place I Love/Have Lived In: If a book is about Michigan, Tuscaloosa, Reno, Florence...I'm automatically curious to see how it's depicted. Coming-of-Age: Even though I'm well on my way to my mid-30s, books about teenagers growing up still get me right in the feels. Boarding School: Either high school or dorm life in college, a group of inevitably very different people thrown into a tightly packed living arrangement makes for the kind of drama I usually like reading about! Top Ten Tuesday: Things I’ve Done for the Love of ... Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me Pick Up a Boo...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1078
__label__cc	0.614933	0.385067	Windham NH History The Story of a New Hampshire Town Windham NH Family History Tsienneto November 30, 2018 by Brad Dinsmore Windham Life and Times – November 30, 2018 The Derry Fairy You’ll be glad to know that this is the last time I will be writing about fairies, however, I could not leave the subject without relating the story of the “Derry fairy.” If you’re ever looking for a fun book, check our Weird New England, by Joseph Citro, which is loaded with weird tales of the supernatural and the just plain strange. Before moving on to the Derry fairy, I have to confess about a story of alien abduction that terrified me as a child. This was especially true, since I once observed a UFO, moving straight up into the sky from Sandy’s Bowling Alley parking lot. In evaluating the story of the Derry fairy, you have to wonder if it was really an alien siting of some kind. Betty and Barney Hill with their dog Delsey. Betty and Barney Hill were a couple that claimed they were abducted by aliens while travelling in the White Mountains, on September 20, 1961. Their ordeal was recorded in John Fuller’s best selling book, The Interrupted Journey, Two Lost Hours Aboard a Flying Saucer (1965). Theirs was the first widely reported case of alien abduction in the United States. The Hills lived in Portsmouth NH where he worked for the postal service and she was a social worker. The Hills were returning from a vacation in Niagara Falls when they saw a bright light in the sky on Route 3 in Twin Mountain, so they stopped the car to take a closer look and to walk their dog. Betty looking through binoculars saw an odd shaped craft with flashing lights. The Hills returned to the road and as they travelled slowly through Franconia Notch near the Old Man of the Mountain they saw that the craft was moving closer. Then it was hovering 80 to 100 feet over the Hill’s 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air causing Barney to stop the car in the middle of the highway. As they tried to escape, they heard buzzing noises which put them in a altered state of consciousness. They travelled nearly 30 miles but had no recollection of doing so. They made a sudden unplanned turned and their path was blocked by a fiery orb. They arrived at their home around dawn and started to experience odd impulses and sensations. There were shiny concentric circles on the car’s trunk that gave off magnetic pulses. Betty began to have vivid dreams of the encounter where the details of the abduction became known. They also described that they had experienced missing time. Under hypnosis, they remembered the encounter and how they were brought aboard the craft and physically examined by the aliens. Descriptions of “little green men” date back to the twelfth century in the Green Children of the Woolpit. In 1899, there was a story published in the Atlanta Constitution about a little green skinned alien in a tale called the Green Boy from Hurrah. The first reference of little green men being extraterrestrials is found in the Daily Kennebec Journal in 1910 where they were described as Martians. “Green aliens soon came to commonly portray extraterrestrials and adorned the covers of many of the 1920’s to 1950’s pulp fiction magazines with pictures of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon battling green monsters.” This is what we know about the Derry fairy, according to Joseph Citro: “Perhaps the crowned king of ugliness was a bewildering little gargoyle spotted in Derry, New Hampshire on December 15, 1956. A man was harvesting Christmas trees in the woods when suddenly he looked up and saw something looking back at him silently. Whatever it was stood about two feet tall, and seemed neither human nor animal. Its green skin was wrinkled and looked like the folds of elephant hide. The high dome of his head supported floppy ears comparable to those of a bloodhound. Tiny holes bred into the skull where the nose should be, and its eyes were covered with what appeared to be a protective film. Its arms and legs were short, ending with stump hands and toeless feet” The witness was “Alfred Horne who lived on Berry Road in Derry in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He says he watched the miniature mystery for a good twenty minutes. Then, realizing no one would believe his odd tale, he decided to capture it as proof. When he lunged at the creature, it let out a terrifying screeching that the witness, rather than the beast, ran away in fear.” If you would like to learn more about the Derry fairy, you can watch the 30 minute video produced by GreyStar Paranormal Institute. It features the Derry historian Richard Holmes, as well as, a paranormal investigation in the woods. So do you think Mr. Horne fabricated the story? Well, in 1981, a creature, almost identical to the one described by Alfred Horne, was spotted by five boys in Arnold Pennsylvania. One of the boys named Chris tried to capture it but it escaped. There was a full police investigation and all of the boys stories and descriptions matched exactly. Fate Magazine, published a story about the incident in May of 1982. It was entitled The Little Green Man Who Got Away. Posted in fairies, Fairy Faith, Osseo, Tsienneto, Uncategorized \| Leave a comment Fairy Homes Souterrain, Bushmills, ‘Wee Folks Cove’ – a view of an underground entrance with a boy at the mouth for scale. (Northern Ireland: County Antrim: Bushmills). Fairy Homes in Northern Ireland Tradition I found an interesting e-book online available for free with Project Gutenberg titled, Ulster Folklore, written by Elizabeth Andrews in 1913. In it there were many examples of the fairy beliefs in Northern Ireland. It seems that these legends arose out of some distant cultural memory of the people in Scotland and Ireland. “As you will see in the following pages, traditions record several small races in Ulster: the Grogachs, who are closely allied with the fairies, and also to the Scotch and English Brownies; the short Danes, whom I am inclined to identify with the Tuatha de Danann; the Pechts or Picts; and also the small Finns. My belief is that all these, including the fairies, represent primitive races of mankind, and the stories of woman, children, and men being carried off by the fairies, we have a record of warfare, when stealthy raids were made and captives brought to the dark souterrians. These souterrains, or as the country people call them, ‘coves,’ are very numerous. They are underground structures, built of rough stones without mortar, and roofed with large flat slabs.” “As a rule, although the fairies are regarded as ‘fallen angels,’ they are said to be kind to the poor, and to possess many good qualities. ‘It was better for the land before they went away’ is an expression I have heard more than once… Much of the primitive belief has gathered around the fairy—we have the fairy well and fairy thorn. It is said that fairies can make themselves so small that they can creep through keyholes, and they are generally invisible to ordinary mortals.” Mrs. Andrews goes on, “We have seen that fairies are believed to inhabit souterrains; they are also said to live in certain hills, and in forts where, so far as known, no underground structures exists. I may mention as an example the large fort on the Shimna River, near Newcastle, where I was told their music was often heard…” Souterrain, Ballymagreehan, Castlewellan – a view of an underground entrance with a lady beside it. (Location: Northern Ireland: County Down: Castlewellan). A “Wee Folk Cove?” on Beacon Hill Road in Windham “The tradition in regard to both Danes and fairies are very similar in different parts of Ireland. In the County Cavan the country people spoke of beautiful music of the fairies and told me of their living in a fort near Lough Oughter. One woman said they were sometimes called Ganelochs, and were about the size of children, and an old man described them as little people about one or two feet high, riding on small horses. A terrible story, showing how the fairies punish their captives, was told to me by and old woman at Armoy, in County Antrim, who vouched for it being ‘candid truth.’ A man’s wife was carried away by fairies; he married again, but one night his first wife met him, told him where she was, and besought him to release her, saying that if he would do so she would leave that part of the country and not trouble him any more. She begged him, however, not to make the attempt unless he was confident he could carry it out, as if he failed she would die a terrible death. He promised to save her, and she told him to watch at midnight, when she would be riding past the house with the fairies; she would put her hand in at the window, and he must grasp it and hold it tight. He did as she bade him, and although the fairies pulled hard, he had nearly saved her, when his second wife saw what was going on, and tore his hand away. The poor woman was dragged off, and across the fields he heard her piercing cries, and saw next morning the drops of blood where the fairies had murdered her.” (Good qualities?) Stone megalithic structures exist spread across all of New England, one of the most famous being Mystery Hill in Salem. They are very much in the same form and style of construction as found in Ireland. I have a book in my collection entitled, The Ruins of Greater Ireland in New England, by William B. Goodwin. It posits the theory that whatever race built the stone structures in Ireland also built the structures found in New England. It is curious that these structure have such small openings. Certainly when the Scotch-Irish arrived from Northern Ireland they must have recognized them as being the same type structures as they had back home and would ascribe to them the same fairy legends. The openings are just the right size for the “wee folk.” You might ask me to explain how the giant slabs of granite were put in place by such little people and I would answer, “They were gifted in magic and descended from fallen angels.” Certainly their inheritance included the power to lift such heavy stone slabs. Posted in fairies, Native American legends, Tsienneto, ulster scots \| Tagged fairy homes \| Leave a comment November 9, 2018 by Brad Dinsmore Windham Life and Times – November 9, 2018 New England Fairies Native American and Northern Irish Traditions Maura Dionne’s horseshoe found in her yard in Windham. So, for all of you folks who think that all of this business about fairies and other supernatural occurrences is nonsense and superstition, listen up. I had a nice note from Maura Dionne who lives near Haskell Pond, right here in Windham. She was in her yard planting spring bulbs. As she turned the soil and dug the holes her shovel hit something metallic, so she continued to dig it up. To her surprise, she found a horseshoe buried there. While that doesn’t rise to the level of a supernatural occurrence, what happened next does. After she finished planting her bulbs, she went to collect her mail. Maura is not a regular subscriber to the Windham News, she normally reads it in the library. That very day she received a complimentary copy in the mail. She relates that, “as I walked to my mailbox intrigued by my find – I coincidently opened up the Windham Independent to your article.” It was the very issue in which my column discussed the tradition of lucky horseshoes. The physicists tell us that most of the entire universe that surrounds us is empty space, and that there are multiple universes on which we can possibly travel. If that is true, the visualization of a lucky horse shoe, sent out into the multiverses, could certainly materialize, in a yard in Windham! Just a coincidence or the luck of the Irish? As most of you know, the settlers of these parts of New Hampshire were the Scotch-Irish. Even today, in Northern Ireland, the belief in fairies runs strong. We learn on FolkloreThurday.com in January of this year that the BBC, in 1952, ran a series about “Northern Ireland’s fascination with the wee folk.” “Only a few months ago we heard the Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae claiming that the dip in the motorway located in Kerry existed due to the presence of fairy forts disturbing the area.[1] Fairies were frequently blamed in Irish culture for events out of the ordinary or scenarios that were difficult to explain. An interest, curiosity, and belief in the fairies also holds an association with Irish cultural identity. Fairy belief is certainly associated with place and the natural environment. Jane Talbot cites her fascination of tree lore as the inspiration for her book ‘The Faerie Thorn and Other Stories’, basing this on the local fairy thorn tree on the farm where she lives with her husband in Ballymoney.[2] The MAC theatre in Belfast even decided to showcase a play based on Talbot’s book of stories on fairy lore. You may find it curious then that 2017 has actually much in common with the year of 1952. Of course, we have the Irish Folklore Commission collecting oral testimony and the British Broadcasting Corporation dedicated time to the collection of fairy lore in Northern Ireland, leading to a five-part series titled Fairy Faith in 1952.” A Fairy Thorn tree along a hedge-row in Northern Ireland. A Fairy Thorn tree in Ballymoney led a local woman to write a book about fairies? That’s interesting! The Dinsmores, lived in Ballymoney and most of the Scotch-Irish, who migrated to America in 1718 lived thereabouts. Did the legend of Tseinetto the fairy originate with the Scotch-Irish in Derry? The BBC program Fairy Faith salvaged the oral testimony of fairy belief surviving in Northern Ireland in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The program’s producer, Sam Hanna Bell, and folklorist, Michael J Murphy, recorded local people recalling their stories of fairy belief.[3] Murphy was the ethnographer who searched for first person testimonials across Northern Ireland and then Bell recorded these afterwards without interfering with scripting and re-recording the participants’ stories. They drew inspiration from the rural areas tracing folk stories and folklife.” So if the BBC felt it important to record for posterity, the fairy beliefs of Northern Ireland, there must have been very heart felt belief or folk memory among the residents there. In a 2015 story, the BBC reported on the fairy tree in Annacloy, Northern Ireland. “When civil engineers removed a thorn tree blocking a new road between Downpatrick and Ballynahinch, it caused consternation among the residents of Annacloy who believed it to be the home of fairies. In our archive report from 1964, locals talk about the fate that will befall those who have disrespected fairy traditions.” You can find the link to this BBC interview from 1964 on my blog. So what exactly is a fairy thorn tree? The site remarkabletrees.org states that, “Throughout the Northern Ireland countryside, there is a special tree – not one tree, but many, – standing alone, unharmed through generations, guarding its special place. It is the Fairy Thorn. Most are hawthorn, the white thorn with its May blossom… Fairy thorns may be associated with archaeological sites, such as the Neolithic chambered graves and wedge tombs. They may stand beside wells and springs, places known to early man and sometimes adopted by Christianity as Church sites or Holy Wells. In some rural sites there may be no apparent built artefact beside a fairy thorn, but the tree may guard a small rise in the ground – a fairy hill, place of entry to the under or other world of the fairy folk…Such special trees have a remarkable power about them. A gnarled thorn, often growing in harsh rocky ground, survivor of wind, weather, grazing, and many generations of man, has its own special strength. Stories still abound of misfortunes visited on those who risked disturbing such trees.” Posted in fairies, Native American legends, Osseo, Tsienneto, Uncategorized \| Leave a comment The fairy version of the story of Tsienneto, raises the question of where this legend, and other legends of New England fairies began. The legend of the fairy “Neto” has two possible origins; the Native Americans and the Scotch-Irish who both have long held traditions about the wee people that inhabit the wood. Perhaps, the story of “Neto” combines both Native American and Northern Irish traditions. Frances Jenkins Olcott is a well known children’s author who adapted many Native American legends into a children’s book called, The Red Indian Fairy Book. It was first published in 1917. How The Fairies Came, is a short children’s story, based on and old Algonquin legend “Osseo, the Son of the Evening Star” which was published in the book, The Indian Fairy Book, From the Original Legends, written by Cornelius Mathews and published in 1889. “In the country of the Wabanaki, ten sisters once lived in their father’s lodge. Each was more beautiful than any other maiden in the land, and the youngest was the most beautiful of all.” “Mandy handsome braves laid their gifts before the lodge door. So nine of the sisters married and went to live with their mothers-in-law. But the youngest refused all suitors, and stayed in her father’s lodge.” “One day an old man named Osseo came to woo the youngest. His eyes were bright and his thoughts keen and he sang softly before her door. And as the maiden was willing the marriage feast was held.” “The nine sisters came with their handsome husbands, and they laughed and jeered at the bride, because her husband was so old. But she only said: ‘Wait and see!’ Soon you shall know who has chosen most wisely.” “After the marriage feast was over, Osseo led his bride toward his lodge in the distant forest. The nine sisters and their husbands went with them along the path. Presently they passed a hollow log. Then Osseo gave a loud call, and leaving the side of his bride, dashed into the log. Immediately he came out the other end, no longer old and wrinkled, but younger and handsomer than the husbands of the nine sisters. He then led the party forward with a step as light as the Reindeer’s.” “Soon they reached a splendid lodge, and entered it. A delicious feast was spread in wooden dishes, and the sisters and their husbands sat down. ‘The food you see set before you is magic food,’ said Osseo; ‘eat it and receive a gift from the Evening Star, whose lodge this is.’ And as they all ate, sweet music like the voices of birds fell from the Sky. The lodge began to rise in the air. Higher it rose through the trees, and as it did so, it changed into a wonderful cage. Its poles became glittering silver wires, and its covering was of the shining wings of blue, green, and yellow insects.” “And as the silver cage passed above the tree-tops, the wooden dishes became scarlet shells, and the nine sisters and their husbands were transformed into birds. Some became Bluebirds, others Red Breasted Robins, still others Golden Orioles, and birds with scarlet wings. Immediately they all began to hop about the cage showing their bright feathers and singing songs sweeter than those sung in the woodland.” “ As for Osseo’s bride, she grew more lovely than ever, so that she shone like a star. Her garments were shimmering green, and in her hair was a silver feather. “Higher rose the cage until it reached the Evening Star.” “ ‘Welcome, my son,’ said he to Osseo. ‘Bring in your lovely bride, but hang the cage of colored birds at the door. Because the nine sisters laughed at the bride, they must stay outside.” “Be careful that you never open the cage, nor let the ray of light from the little Star dwelling near us, fall upon you. For the ray of light is the little Star’s bow and arrow, and if it touches you, your wife and the birds will become enchanted.’ So Osseo hung up the cage of colored birds at the door of the lodge; and he and his wife lived there in happiness. In time a son was born to them, who was brighter than the starlight. And when he grew older, Osseo made for him a little bow and arrows.” “One day to please the child who wished to shoot something, Osseo opened the door of the silver cage, and let the colored birds go free, and they flew singing to Earth. The little boy shot an arrow after them, and immediately a ray of light struck Osseo. Then the little boy began to float downward through the Sky. Soon he passed the soft white clouds, and felt gently upon a green island in the middle of a wide blue lake. The colored birds came flying to him with songs of joy.” “As for the silver cage, it descended after, its glittering insect wings fluttering from its sides. And in it were Osseo and his wife. As the cage touched the green island, it became a shining lodge, and Osseo and his wife, the little boy, and all the colored birds, were changed into bright and joyous Fairies.” ‘And ever since that day, on Summer starlit nights, the little Fairies join hands, and dance around. Their shining lodge may still be seen when the Moon’s beams light the green island. And by night the Indian fisher-boys, on the blue lake, hear the sweet voices of the Fairy dancers.” Olcott’s book contains other tales about fairies based on Native American legends. There is a story about the Native American hero, Glooskap and The Summer Fairies, and Leelinau the Fairy Girl. Osseo, Son of the Evening Star, was published in The Indian Fairy Book, From the Original Legends, by author Cornelius Mathews, first published in 1889. It is still available in reprint from Amazon and other sources. “There once lived an Indian in the north who had ten daughters, all of whom grew up to womanhood. They were noted for their beauty, especially Oweenee, the youngest, who was very independent in her way of thinking. She was a great admirer of romantic places, and spent much of her time with the flowers and winds and clouds in the open air. Though the flower were homely, if it was fragrant—though the wind were rough, if it was healthful—and though the cloud were dark, if it embosomed the fruitful rain, she knew how, in spite of appearances, to acknowledge the good qualities concealed from the eye. She paid very little attention to the many handsome young men who came to her father’s lodge for the purpose of seeing her.” “Her elder sisters were all sought in marriage, and one after the other they went off to dwell in the lodges of their husbands; but Oweenee was deaf to all proposals of the kind. At last she married an old man called Osseo, who was scarcely able to walk, and who was too poor to have things like others. The only property he owned in the world was the walking-staff which he carried in his hand. Though thus poor and homely, Osseo was a devout and good man; faithful in all his duties, and obedient in all things to the Good Spirit. Of course they jeered and laughed at Oweenee on all sides, but she seemed to be quite happy, and said to them, “It is my choice and you will see in the end who has acted the wisest.” “They made a special mock of the walking-staff, and scarcely an hour in the day passed that they had not some disparaging reference to it. Among themselves they spoke of Osseo of the walking-staff, in derision, as the owner of the big woods, or the great timber-man.” “True,” said Oweenee, “it is but a simple stick; but as it supports the steps of my husband, it is more precious to me than all the forests of the north.” “A time came when the sisters, and their husbands, and their parents were all invited to a feast. As the distance was considerable, they doubted whether Osseo, so aged and feeble, would be able to undertake the journey; but in spite of their friendly doubts, he joined them, and set out with a good heart.” “As they walked along the path they could not help pitying their young and handsome sister who had such an unsuitable mate. She, however, smiled upon Osseo, and kept with him by the way the same as if he had been the comeliest bridegroom in all the company. Osseo often stopped and gazed upward; but they could perceive nothing in the direction in which he looked, unless it was the faint glimmering of the evening star. They heard him muttering to himself as they went along, and one of the elder sisters caught the words, “Pity me, my father!” ” ‘Poor old man,’ said she; ‘he is talking to his father. What a pity it is that he would not fall and break his neck, that our sister might have a young husband.’ ” “Presently as they came to a great rock where Osseo had been used to breathe his morning and his evening prayer, the star emitted a brighter ray, which shone directly in his face. Osseo, with a sharp cry, fell trembling to the earth, where the others would have left him, but his good wife raised him up, and he sprang forward on the path, and with steps light as the reindeer he led the party, no longer decrepit and infirm, but a beautiful young man. On turning around to look for his wife, behold she had become changed, at the same moment, into an aged and feeble woman, bent almost double, and walking with the staff which he had cast aside” “Osseo immediately joined her, and with looks of fondness and the tenderest regard, bestowed on her every endearing attention, and constantly addressed her by the term of ne-ne-moosh-a, or my sweetheart.” “As they walked along, whenever they were not gazing fondly in each other’s face, they bent their looks on heaven, and a light, as if of far-off stars, was in their eyes.” “On arriving at the lodge of the hunter with whom they were to feast, they found the banquet ready, and as soon as their entertainer had finished his harangue—in which he told them his feasting was in honor of the Evening or Woman’s Star—they began to partake of the portion dealt out, according to age and character, to each one of the guests. The food was very delicious, and they were all happy but Osseo, who looked at his wife, and then gazed upward, as if he was looking into the substance of the sky. Sounds were soon heard, as if from far-off voices in the air, and they became plainer and plainer, till he could clearly distinguish some of the words.” “‘My son, my son,’ said the voice; ‘I have seen your afflictions, and pity your wants. I come to call you away from a scene that is stained with blood and tears. The earth is full of sorrows. Wicked spirits, the enemies of mankind, walk abroad, and lie in wait to ensnare the children of the sky. Every night they are lifting their voices to the Power of Evil, and every day they make themselves busy in casting mischief in the hunter’s path. You have long been their victim, but you shall be their victim no more. The spell you were under is broken. Your evil genius is overcome. I have cast him down by my superior strength, and it is this strength I now exert for your happiness. Ascend, my son; ascend into the skies, and partake of the feast I have prepared for you in the stars, and bring with you those you love.’ ” ” ‘The food set before you is enchanted and blessed. Fear not to partake of it. It is endowed with magic power to give immortality to mortals, and to change men to spirits. Your bowls and kettles shall no longer be wood and earth. The one shall become silver, and the other pure gold. They shall shine like fire, and glisten like the most beautiful scarlet. Every female shall also change her state and looks, and no longer be doomed to laborious tasks. She shall put on the beauty of the star-light, and become a shining bird of the air. She shall dance, and not work. She shall sing, and not cry.’ ” ” ‘My beams,’ continued the voice, ‘shine faintly on your lodge, but they have power to transform it into the lightness of the skies, and decorate it with the colors of the clouds. Come, Osseo, my son, and dwell no longer on earth. Think strongly on my words, and look steadfastly at my beams. My power is now at its height. Doubt not, delay not. It is the voice of the Spirit of the Stars that calls you away to happiness and celestial rest.’ ” “The words were intelligible to Osseo, but his companions thought them some far-off sounds of music, or birds singing in the woods. Very soon the lodge began to shake and tremble, and they felt it rising into the air. It was too late to run out, for they were already as high as the tops of the trees. Osseo looked around him as the lodge passed through the topmost boughs, and behold! their wooden dishes were changed into shells of a scarlet color, the poles of the lodge to glittering rods of silver, and the bark that covered them into the gorgeous wings of insects.” “A moment more and his brothers and sisters, and their parents and friends, were transformed into birds of various plumage. Some were jays, some partridges and pigeons, and others gay singing birds, who hopped about, displaying their many-colored feathers, and singing songs of cheerful note.” “But his wife, Oweenee, still kept her earthly garb, and exhibited all the indications of extreme old age. He again cast his eyes in the direction of the clouds, and uttered the peculiar cry which had given him the victory at the rock. In a moment the youth and beauty of his wife returned; her dingy garments assumed the shining appearance of green silk, and her staff was changed into a silver feather.” “The lodge again shook and trembled, for they were now passing through the uppermost clouds, and they immediately after found themselves in the Evening Star, the residence of Osseo’s father.” ” ‘My son,’ said the old man, ‘hang that cage of birds which you have brought along in your hand at the door, and I will inform you why you and your wife have been sent for.’ Osseo obeyed, and then took his seat in the lodge.” ” ‘Pity was shown to you,’ resumed the King of the Star, ‘on account of the contempt of your wife’s sister, who laughed at her ill fortune, and ridiculed you while you were under the power of that wicked spirit whom you overcame at the rock. That spirit lives in the next lodge, being the small star you see on the left of mine, and he has always felt envious of my family because we had greater power, and especially that we had committed to us the care of the female world. He failed in many attempts to destroy your brothers and sisters-in-law, but succeeded at last in transforming yourself and your wife into decrepid old persons. You must be careful and not let the light of his beams fall on you, while you are here, for therein lies the power of his enchantment. A ray of light is the bow and arrow he uses.’ ” “Osseo lived happy and contented in the parental lodge, and in due time his wife presented him with a son, who grew up rapidly, and in the very likeness of Osseo himself. He was very quick and ready in learning every thing that was done in his grandfather’s dominions, but he wished also to learn the art of hunting, for he had heard that this was a favorite pursuit below. To gratify him, his father made him a bow and arrows, and he then let the birds out of the cage that he might practice in shooting. In this pastime he soon became expert, and the very first day he brought down a bird; but when he went to pick it up, to his amazement it was a beautiful young woman, with the arrow sticking in her breast. It was one of his younger aunts.” “The moment her blood fell upon the surface of that pure and spotless planet, the charm was dissolved. The boy immediately found himself sinking, although he was partly upheld by something like wings until he passed through the lower clouds, and he then suddenly dropped upon a high, breezy island in a large lake. He was pleased, on looking up, to see all his aunts and uncles following him in the form of birds, and he soon discovered the silver lodge, with his father and mother, descending, with its waving tassels fluttering like so many insects’ gilded wings. It rested on the loftiest cliffs of the island, and there they fixed their residence. They all resumed their natural shapes, but they were diminished to the size of fairies; and as a mark of homage to the King of the Evening Star, they never failed on every pleasant evening during the summer season to join hands and dance upon the top of the rocks. These rocks were quickly observed by the Indians to be covered, in moonlight evenings, with a larger sort of Ininees, or little men, and were called Mish-in-e-mok-in-ok-ong, or Little Spirits, and the island is named from them to this day.” “Their shining lodge can be seen in the summer evenings, when the moon beams strongly on the pinnacles of the rocks; and the fishermen who go near those high cliffs at night, have even heard the voices of the happy little dancers. And Osseo and his wife, as fondly attached to each other as ever, always lead the dance.” The material on this site is copyright of the blog publisher. 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__label__cc	0.664409	0.335591	REFORM – THE IMPERATIVE NOW June 13, 2018 ~ steinringen ~ Leave a comment All democracies are imperfect. They need constantly to be improved. Continuous and never-ending reform is part and parcel of the democratic enterprise. If leaders and citizens think that their democracy has made it and found the Holy Grail, it is doomed. There are two reasons behind the imperative to reform: Democracy is a process of trial and error. We must be sensitive to failures and mistakes and seek better ways. Circumstances change, for example in domestic economies or world affairs, and democratic governance must adjust. For confidence in democracy, citizens need to see that leaders are attuned to shortcomings and willing and able to work for improvements. They need to see that leaders deal with problems. Otherwise they will, with justification, see democratic governance to be incapable and gridlocked. Professor Robert A. Dahl, in On Democracy (1998), recommend that democratic countries engage, every twenty years or so, in a thorough process of constitutional reform. Democracy is now under threat. That goes to both values and capabilities. This misfortune (hopefully temporary) has many causes. One cause is a tendency to sclerosis in reform. If we look to the United States, to Britain, to other European democracies, to the European Union, we see dysfunctions not being dealt with. It is not dysfunction itself that is the rot, but that problems are not confronted and taken on. It is time for us in America, Britain and the EU to follow Professor Dahl’s advice and look very seriously into the ways we do governance. The standard model today is representative democracy: citizens elect representatives to make and implement policies on their behalf. Reform can follow two paths. We can seek to repair what is deficient in the representative system, such as the organization of elections, the procedures of parliamentary decision-making, the methods for the nomination of candidates for election, the financing of candidacy and campaigns and the like. Or we can seek more far-reaching innovations towards alternative forms of democracy: participatory democracy, referendum democracy, deliberative democracy and the like. These are not strictly alternative strategies, but there is a complicated dialectic between them. There is no known alternative to the representative system, but that system as we now see it operating on the ground needs pretty serious repair to regain credibility. If we concentrate on alternative innovations, there is a danger of making the perfect the enemy of the good. The search for alternative models can even contribute to further undermining the credibility of the representative system without offering any practical alternative. Representative democracy is a model that has very much going for it. That needs to be preserved and improved, not replaced. There is a back-to-basics message here. It would seem, as things now stand, that the recommended strategy of reform would be, first and basically, to improve the representative system, and then, on that basis, to think of innovations as add-ons in support of the representative system. UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE? AND THE CHILDREN? February 6, 2018 ~ steinringen ~ 2 Comments We are celebrating, in Britain today, the centenary of women winning the right to vote. In 1918, the vote was extended to all men over 21, and to women of the propertied class and over 30 years of age. It was to be ten more years before all women over 21 got the vote. We are used to thinking that with all adult men and women having the vote, and the voting age having been lowered to usually 18, we have achieved universal suffrage. But that is not right. A whole class of citizens are still denied the power of the vote: children. That matters. The interests of children are light-weight in the competition over public policy. The Family Allowance that was introduced in the great welfare reforms at the end of World War II, has subsequently shrivelled in real value, the result being high rates of poverty among children. It has not had enough political support. In the great austerity drive after 2008, pensions have been singularly protected from any erosion in value. Pensioners have the vote and use it. It is mostly though obvious that children cannot have the vote, but that is sloppy thinking. It was once thought obvious that women could not vote. The battle against “the obvious” is the first bastion. In The Subjection of Women (1869) John Stuart Mill said it thus: “.. the burthen is hard on those who attack an almost universal opinion ..” The logic is that children should not have the vote because they cannot vote, but that is to confuse two separate questions, the should-question and the could-question. If we for a moment set practicalities aside in our minds, and ask only the should-question, we would surely conclude, theoretically, that children should have the vote. The principle of universal suffrage is that all citizens have an equal interest in government matters and that therefore all citizens should have an equal say. In the abstract, that must include children no less than other categories of citizens. The question, then, is really if they could have the vote. If a practical way could be found, there is no issue of principle standing in the way. In recent years, great advances have been made in the recognition of children’s rights. In many ways children are now, in law, citizens rather than subjects. For example, children have property rights. Children cannot manage property, but that is not taken to mean that they cannot have property. The practical solution is that someone is appointed to be the custodian of the property on behalf of the child, until the child is old enough to take care of it himself or herself. The custodian has a duty to manage the property in the best interest of the young owner. The similar logic in respect to the vote would be that all children have the right to vote but that this right is managed on behalf of the child by a custodian until the child comes of age, now sometimes referred to as demeny voting.. That’s a practical solution that solves the could-question. Since there is no independent should-question standing in the way, the matter should be resolved. The solution I have advocated is that the children’s vote is managed on their behalf by the mother (or the father if the mother is absent) so that the mother is the custodian of a second vote in addition to her own irrespective of the number of children. There are other ways it could be done, but this has been my preferred arrangement. There is every reason to trust that mothers would manage the second vote on behalf of their children and not as a second vote for themselves, just as we trust custodians to manage property. There is a small lobby in democratic countries in favour of the children’s vote. Not a powerful lobby – we have not yet won the battle against “the obvious” – but a persistent lobby. I first lent my voice to this following in an article in the then International Herald Tribune on 14 December 1996, under the heading “In a Democracy, Children Should get the Vote.” The progress that is being made is for a lowering of the voting age to 16, which has been introduced in some democracies and is coming elsewhere. But since there is a way that concurs with current legal thinking to include all children in the power of the vote, there should be no reason not to go the whole way. CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY: AN APPEAL TO PRESIDENTS BUSH AND OBAMA Look carefully. Something is happening in American politics. For the good. Democracy itself is striking back against the onslaught of anti-politics. In Washington, Congress is doing its job and holding the zeal of an erratic president in check. Out in the country, states and cities are running policies of their own, on health care, climate change, gerrymandering, campaign finance and more. We are seeing the volatility of the politics of anger. Anger is still involvement. Democracy would be worse off if the grass-roots were in apathy. Involvement can be turned from revenge to engagement. In unrelated events but on the same day, October 19, George W. Bush and Barack Obama both stepped on to the political stage and spoke in defense of the values and principles of democracy. Mr. Bush’s message, at a conference he himself convened, was stark. He spoke of fading confidence, a society torn apart by hatreds, the absence of common purpose, challenges to our most basic ideals, and the need to “recover our own identity.” Mr. Obama, for his part, had offered the same analysis in his final State of the Union Address, in January 2016. He called on his fellow Americans that “we fix our politics” to prevent “democracy from grinding to a halt.” A better politics, he said, “doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything, but it does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens. Democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter. Too many Americans feel that way right now.” Much is at stake. Radical populism is sweeping America and Europe. The core democracies, the United States and the United Kingdom, are in crises of identity, following through to dysfunctional governance. Societies are torn asunder by extremes of inequality and animosity. Internationally, the People’s Republic of China is claiming the mantel of world leadership. Leaders of authority in America and Europe are seeking to stimulate engagement from below to revitalize democracy. The George W. Bush Institute is launching a “call to action” to affirm democratic values and restore trust in democratic institutions. The recent Obama Foundation “summit” was a celebration of civic engagement trough examples of good practice. In Germany, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is orchestrating a nation-wide deliberation for better understanding of the imperative of democracy. The concern is the same as expressed by Bush and Obama, to fortify the foundations of democratic culture. The day Bush and Obama spoke for liberal democracy in America was also the second day of the Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. Here, the leader Xi Jinping, who in his first five years has tightened all the screws of dictatorship, was celebrating, with audacious self-confidence, the superiority of autocracy over democracy. In a comment (in the Süddeutsche Zeitung), the German author Kai Strittmatter called on the liberal democracies to “find their voice” up against the challenges of a threatening new world order under a totalitarian power state. Chinese autocracy promises prosperity on the condition that citizens give up their liberty. Liberal democracy promises both prosperity and liberty. Democracy has the moral high ground. But during his recent trip to Asia, the American president, the leader of the free world, had nothing to say about even basic human rights. The voice of democracy is not heard. The politics of anger can go both ways, to more revenge or to more engagement. It is not unusual these days to find opinions in the press that democracy has had its day and is finished. But experienced leaders like Bush, Obama and Steinmeier are telling us that there is engagement out there waiting to be mobilized. The time is right to turn from despondency to action. That requires a catalyst to tilt the balance. Democracy is ready to strike back, but that will not just happen, it must be taken in hand. As always, the democratic world needs American leadership. If America can “recover its identity” it can help the rest of us to “find our voice.” Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama have committed themselves. Let us ask these two most recently retired Presidents, who, from each side of the political divide, see the same problem and understand the urgency of action in the same way, to join forces. Let us ask them to teach us that our divisions are not irreconcilable. Let us offer to join them with our engagement. Let us ask them to make themselves the catalyst of the democratic revival that is ready to happen. Let us ask them to merge their formidable authority to mobilizing groups and communities into a Campaign for Democracy. Let us ask the Campaign for Democracy to spread through the democratic world. BREXIT – THE PIANO LESSON QUESTIONS August 24, 2017 ~ steinringen ~ 1 Comment Thanks to support from the European Social Fund, our local Adult Community College is able to offer beginners’ courses in the piano, allowing some of the good people of our town to enjoy the pleasure of hearing music arise from the work of their hands. If that support were to fall away, the College would have to rearrange its curriculum and the piano courses might fall victim. If Britain exits the European Union, our participation in the European Social Fund would presumably come to an end. This link between the European Union and local piano lessons gives rise to some questions: How deep is Britain’s integration in the European Union? The EU, it turns out, is not only about trade and borders. The Union is a partner in education, cultural life, regional policy and much more, down to the smallest detail. Innumerable Community Colleges and other local organisations up and down the country operate thanks the EU support. The biggest beneficiaries from the Social Fund are the west of Wales and Cornwall. In the decades since Britain joined, EU integration has deepened constantly. Leaving the EU will affect every strand of our social fabric. The national funding of Community Colleges, for example, is premised on part of their funding coming via the EU. If they are to continue their activity, there will have to be a new base of funding. Will new funding be available to Community Colleges once funding via the European Social Fund falls away? Probably, no one now knows. Do our negotiators in Brussels have the matter on their radar? Are plans being made in Whitehall so that Community Colleges will be able to maintain their range of activity? My guess is that this and many other fallouts from Brexit are in limbo. If new funding is to be made available, who will pay? It will have to come from government sources somewhere. That means that on this account there will be no saving for the Treasury from Brexit. What Britain now contributes to the Social Fund, will have to be reallocated to the institutions now benefitting from Social Fund support. This is emblematic of one of many Brexit illusions, that there will be massive savings to the taxpayer. If social and economic quality is to be maintained, activities now funded from Brussels will have to be funded from London. If new funding is not made available, who will suffer? In the case of the piano lessons, it will be the good people of our town who will have to abandon their musical ambitions or pay for more expensive private tuition. There will be a cost in the form of less social quality. Even an interim of confusion will do harm to Community Colleges and similar activities throughout the country. This example of the link between the most mundane little local activity and European integration is illustrative of a Brexit paradox. In large measure, Brexit will mean that what is now done in partnership between British and European institutions will have to be done by British institutions on their own. That represents a massive reorganisation for little or no purpose. As is seen in our local piano lessons, things now work. Why repair what works? Of course, what is now done in partnership between British and European institution may not be continued by British institutions on their own. If so, Brexit will result in an erosion of economic and social quality. THE DESPERATE NEED FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORM From a previous blog: “The trouble for democracy, at this time in history, comes from our own poor ability to reform.” Here is a short list of pending reform issues: We need systemic economic reform. Societies that define themselves by security and inclusion cannot live by deprivation and division. Globalization and automation, the targets of the politics of discontent, come with enormous benefits in the form of affluence and quality of work and life. But we have not found a way of combining this progress with inclusiveness. To underwrite democracy under advanced capitalism, we need a new social contract. The shallow individualism and small-government gospel of Reaganism and Thatcherism has shipwrecked. Before inclusiveness in public policy must come inclusiveness in mindsets. It is a matter of nothing less than the reinvention of democratic political culture. In Europe, the mindset of reform needs to include the European Union. British and European leaders should swallow their pride and sit down to devise a reformed union that can embrace all of Europe. The European Union is already a structure with many different forms of adhesion, from Swiss and Norwegian types of quasi-membership, via various combinations of inside and outside of the Schengen and the euro, to the comprehensive arrangements of the full-membership countries. Flexibility has proved to work and is now needed in respect to Brexit and to pre-empt other possible exits. Brussels may have to sacrifice a battle to win the war, but better that than to lose the war. In Britain, the time is over-ripe for constitutional reform. It is a misunderstanding that Britain does not have a written constitution just because constitutional provisions are not collected into a single document with “constitution” its heading. But the constitution is poorly protected and open to political manipulation. The Brexit referendum was called by Prime Minister Cameron ahead of the 2015 general election for opportunistic party-political reasons. If they can, politicians of the day will manipulate the constitution for their own advantage. That should not be possible. By coincidence, the week after the vote, the Chilcot report of the inquiry into Britain’s participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath was published, with deep criticism of a dysfunctional system of decision-making which resulted in colossal mistakes both on the entry into war and post-war management. Britain does not have a safe system of political decision-making. In America, what burst through the surface in 2016 was the pent-up pressure from a long, relentless, step-by-step erosion of political culture in which big business has fortified itself as the power behind the throne. The reason there is gridlock in Washington is that the holders of office, in Congress in particular, are not free to make policies for the public good. When big money is allowed to transgress massively into politics, those who control it gain power to decide who the successful candidates will be—those they wish to fund—and what they can decide once in office—that which is acceptable to those who hold the purse-strings. The representatives, or most of them, may not be personally corrupt, but the system in which they work is one of deep collusion between big politics and big money. It is a misunderstanding that politicians chase money; it is money chasing politicians. Read the full article in the Cairo Review. CHINA AND THE EMBARRASSMENT OF WESTERN DEMOCRACY February 1, 2017 October 18, 2017 ~ steinringen ~ Leave a comment It is an uncomfortable truth, as we leave 2016, the year of reaction, that democracy is in trouble. But the trouble for democracy does not come from Beijing, or from globalisation, or from abroad, or, in Britain, from Europe. It resides at home. The trouble for democracy, at this time in history, comes from our own poor ability to reform. The Chinese regime has had a good 2016 because it was a bad year for democracy. Official Chinese media and various commentators have made fun of the Brexit referendum in Britain and the Trump victory in the United States as being what you get if you are careless enough to let the people decide. The Chinese system is being held up as a model of stability. The leader, Xi Jinping, has exploited uncertainty and vacuum in the West, first at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Peru in November 2016 and then at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, to brazenly offer China up to the world as the guarantor of economic openness and free trade. The awkward thing for the democracy side is that the Chinese dictators have been given a godsend of democratic weakness, so much so that Western democracy is widely seen to be in “crisis.” Both the Brexit vote and Trump’s victory were perverse. In Britain, there is a majority in the population and in Parliament in favour of continued membership in the European Union, but because of low voter participation among the young, that majority did not prevail in the referendum. In America, the losing candidate won the majority of the popular vote. In both countries, ugly campaigns embraced and encouraged sundry voices of xenophobia, fear of the other, racism and divisiveness which we until the fateful year of 2016 had thought had been marginalised to the dark and dusty corners of the house of modernity. The turmoils of democracy in the West represent a shift in the balance of soft power in the world. Europe and America, in confusion and uncertainty, today look unimpressive. It is easy for Beijing to present the Chinese model as safe, stable and predictable. It is this shift in the power of esteem that Xi Jinping has been able to play on, successfully, in his travels to the West. But there is more to Beijing’s interpretation of the misfortunes of democracy. The Chinese leaders have perfected a model which has proved itself functional for the perpetuation of their own regime. It is for that purpose above all that they are determined to retain dictatorial control and not risk democratic reforms. However, there is also a view, both among regime insiders and some commentators, such as the political scientist Daniel A. Bell in his The China Model, that the Chinese political system is genuinely superior to any democratic system, both in delivering effective governance and also morally. We cannot know if the Chinese leaders really believe that their model is superior, or if their claim to superiority is only window dressing for the maintenance of the dictatorship they depend on. But if there is a temptation on their part to believe their own propaganda, that temptation will now have been stimulated. In my own analysis of the Chinese system, in my book The Perfect Dictatorship, I see the Chinese regime as a dangerous one in the world, or at least potentially dangerous. Its propensity to aggression is most visible in the South China Sea. The Chinese state is powerful. What may make it dangerous is a conviction in the minds of the leaders in Beijing that they are the custodians of a unique virtue. That conviction they are themselves cultivating with the revival of ideology in the form of the nationalistic and chauvinistic rhetoric of “the China Dream.” It has now been given the additional stimulus that their model has suddenly come to look better compared to the alternative. When democracy performs poorly, it is logical that those who have advocated autocracy feel that history is proving them right. It is logical that the leaders of a powerful state, who believe to be seeing that history is on their side, will make their state a more assertive one vis-à-vis neighbours and others. There is a competition in the world between Western democracy and Chinese-style autocracy. For the West to stand tall in that competition, democratic governments must see to it that their democratic systems perform, deliver and command respect. The way to do that is through constant reform. Democracies are imperfect. They are strong not by being perfect – only dictatorships can be perfect – but by imperfections being recognised and worked on. The systems the Chinese leaders and others are now able to make fun of, have neglected the imperative of constant reform. In America, the main problem is that the power of money has been allowed to prevail so that ordinary citizens rightly feel that the system is rigged in favour of the rich and that they themselves have no say. In Britain, the main problem is an excessively centralised system of political power with a wide gulf of distance between the rulers in London and the people throughout the land. In both countries, income and wealth has been redistributed to the rich and ultra-rich, leaving the middle class, not to mention the poor, behind in neglect and humiliation. The foundations of the democratic architecture has been allowed to crumble. (First published in openDemocracy)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1084
__label__wiki	0.941945	0.941945	TBS Home Stanford's Marching Band Could Beat Up Your Football Team By David A. Tomar Stanford's Marching Band is in big trouble...again. Apparently, that's kind of their thing. I know I'm not supposed to think it's funny, but I do. I can respect that some marching bands view it as their job to proliferate pep. I think it's cool that there are marching bands like the Ohio State University squad, whose mind-boggling formations and arrangements are truly the height of musical excellence. And really, at the heart of it, I can't overstate the importance of marching bands in general as a proving ground, meeting place, and performance space for aspiring young musicians. But forget about all that gooey claptrap for a minute. The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band exists only to spread mayhem, subvert order and gleefully micturate all over tradition. It is this lust for life that landed the self-proclaimed “World's Largest Rock and Roll Band” in deep dung this December. The band has been suspended and will not be permitted to take the field again during this academic season. This suspension was a long time coming. It's also not the first time its happened. To wit, this ensemble has been banned from more places than you've ever been. But this disciplinary action will come with far-reaching implications. For more than 50 years, Stanford's marching band has been student-run, with little to no directorial authority. The University says that the LSJUMB's days of self-determination have come to an end. When the band does return to the field in Fall of 2017, it will be under the yoke of a reconstituted leadership structure. So does this mean that the LSJUMB's reign as a force for loosely choreographed hooliganism are coming to an end? And if so, how should we feel about it? These kids have been a thorn in the side of administrators for decades, a constant source of controversy, and a hotbed for student misconduct. On the other hand, they're really funny. (Sidenote: Laughing out loud is not the same as condoning.) Anyway, let's quickly explore the charges against the band and then take a look at their rap sheet, which rivals the late, great Ol' Dirty Bastard for both prolificacy and creativity. The Charges Against Them The suspension comes as a consequence of a year-long investigation by the University's Organization Conduct Board (OCB), which found that musicians had violated both an alcohol suspension and travel ban (imposed for prior antics) by renting a cabin in Tahoe using band moneys. Laughing out loud is not the same as condoning. As scandals go, this one is minor for a band given over to frequent and public acts of disobedience. But there are also murmurings of hazing that include binge-drinking and sexually suggestive questioning during initiation interviews. Of course, these activities are not funny, but they were really just the icing on a whole huge cake of debauchery. In its conduct review, the university determined that there was “a total lack of accountability and responsibility in the current organization.” Administrators insisted that during its suspension, the band would be forced to confront its “systemic cultural problem,” particularly through the imposition of a new faculty director. The student-run band issued a response to the suspension that was not particularly conciliatory, arguing that the ensemble was being unfairly targeted because “it does not fit into the mold that provides the University a lucrative brand, a well-manicured image, and administrative expedience." All of this is, of course, true. And it's also not a particularly damning indictment of the university or its values. But the question does remain, if the band does not fit the university's mold, how has it become such an ingrained part of Stanford culture? Who are the LSJUMB? Before they were the bad boys of band camp, the LSJUMB was a traditional marching band overseen by a popular director named Julius Shuchat. When the university sacked Shuchat in favor of Art Barnes in 1963, band members revolted. In order to quell the rebellion, Barnes transformed his band into a student run organization. It is thus that the band's formative years coincided with an era of political protest, public demonstration, and civil disobedience. Against this historical backdrop, the LSJUMB evolved into an organization equal parts frat party and performance artistry. Operating as a so-called “scatter band,” one that moves chaotically into formation rather than in the order of a traditional marching band, the LSJUMB quickly became a force for provocation. Eschewing the usual Sgt. Pepper-style marching band uniforms in favor of fishing caps and flair, the band peddles almost entirely in powerhouse arrangements of classic and modern rock tunes. Billing itself as the World's Largest Rock and Roll Band, Stanford actually has 13 proper album releases under its belt. Pretty solid listenable stuff if you're into marching band arrangements of Green Day, Blind Melon, and P-Funk (which you obviously should be). The band's theme song is a killer adaptation of Free's epic riffer “All Right Now” but its arsenal is said to include thousands of rock arrangements. Such is to say that the band's musicianship is not up for debate. Like many of history great gonzo rockers, these guys are as talented as they are off-the-wall. But man, are they off-the-wall. For a sense of this band's orientation, take a quick look at their spirit animal. Their mascot is the Stanford Tree, which is basically what it would look like if your dog ate a bonsai then vomited the remains into a pile of stick-on googly eyes. The Tree is the anthropomorphic embodiment of all that is wonderful, weird and kind of embarrassing about the Stanford Marching Band. And one more quick note before getting into the band's glorious legacy of disruption. Owing less to its miscreant tendencies than to its relative disarray as a marching unit, the band was directly involved in one of the most famous and controversial plays in sports history. I mean literally, the whole 144 member entire marching band was involved in the play. “The Play,” as it is dubbed for its singular notoriety in football history, took place in the final four seconds of The Big Game against arch-rival University of California, Berkeley in 1982. Down 19-17 late in the 4th quarter, Stanford quarterback John Elway led the type of late-game comeback drive that would ultimately make him an NFL legend. Driving the ball into field goal range, Elway helped his team secure a 20-19 lead in the waning moments of the game. In order to limit the potential of a kickoff return, Stanford's kickoff team squibbed the ball to Cal's Kevin Moen, who lateraled to Richard Rodgers who, after gaining only a yard, pitched the ball back to Dwight Garner. As Stanford tacklers engulfed Garner, both the players and marching band members waiting behind the end zone presumed the game was over. All 144 band members rushed onto the field, unaware that Garner had effectively pitched the ball back to Rodgers. Rodgers broke free and pitched to Mariet Ford, who sprinted up-field and into the throng of band members. With one more pitch, he lateraled to Moen at the 25, who completed the unlikeliest touchdown return in history by plowing through a trombonist. Though officials couldn't be certain that each of the laterals leading to the touchdown was legal, the mayhem on the field also prevented them from determining otherwise. The score was upheld and Cal emerged victorious, 25-20 in what remains among the most shocking moments in sports lore. In fairness, that play isn't exactly part of the present story but it is absolutely stitched into the fabric of the LSJUMB's ridiculous history. Bad News Band The band's history is otherwise engulfed entirely in disrepute. These guys are pretty much constantly in trouble. The current suspension is only partially due to the events leading immediately up to it. Whatever went down this year, it was merely the last straw for frustrated administrators. Behold a towering legacy of inspired idiocy: In 1972, while visiting Anaheim for the Rose Bowl, LSJUMB members hijacked the microphones at Disneyland's Storyland Canal boats, regaling passengers with the scandalous “true story” of Storyland Canal. To date, the marching band is not welcome in Disneyland. In a 1986 home game performance against the Washington Huskies, several marching band members dropped their pants. Six of them were—perhaps due to chilly conditions—moved to relieve themselves on the field (on their own field. Tsk Tsk.) Not two weeks later, in a home game against USC, the scatter band managed to find a series of coherent formations, first spelling out the phrase “NO BALLZ” and consequently taking the shape of male genitalia. The band was consequently suspended for a two game stretch which included the annual Big Game against Cal. In 1989, the USC Trojan Marching Band festooned the beloved Stanford Tree with toilet paper. Their delicate sensibilities offended, the members of LSJUMB proceeded to initiate an all-out brawl with the rival marching band. Fisticuffs were broken up by referees. The band used a 1990 road game against the University of Oregon to stage a protest against logging and the destruction of spotted owl habitats in the northwest, taking various formations that included a chainsaw and the word Owl. By order of the governor himself, the band would not be welcome in the state of Oregon again until the year 2001. This incident also prompted a new policy requiring that each halftime show be reviewed and approved by the Stanford Athletic Department. A fat lot of good that policy did. During a 1991 halftime performance at Notre Dame, the band's drum major donned a nun's habit and conducted the band using a wooden cross. This…was not well received by the home team and led to a minor melee in which a disgruntled Fighting Irishwoman physically accosted said drum major, condemning him to eternal damnation. For some reason, the band really got a kick out of the whole O.J. Simpson thing. In 1994, 19 members of the band showed up at the Los Angeles County Superior Courthouse during Simpson jury selection to perform a set of thematically-selected classic rock tunes. Defense lawyer Robert Shapiro—an arbiter of good taste if ever there was one—called the gesture “a new low in tasteless behavior." The band stooped yet lower later that same year during a game against USC, O.J. Simpson's alma mater, driving a blood-spattered White Ford Bronco onto the field in a super-subtle halftime nod to Simpson's infamous medium-speed chase with police officers prior to his arrest for murder. Amazingly, in spite of the events there in 1991, the band was allowed back to Notre Dame for the 1997 travesty in which it doubled down on its Catholic-bashing while adding a Riverdance formation and a joke about the Irish potato famine to its performance. This earned LSJUMB a two-year ban. Cringe warning: In 1999, after opposing UCLA players were ensnared in a scandal involving the use of handicap accessible parking, the LSJUMB's halftime performance included the formation of a disability-accessible symbol and featured the Stanford Tree in a wheelchair. In both 2002 and 2006, the band was sanctioned for violations of the school's alcohol policies. The 2006 sanction coalesced into a full-fledged suspension just as the band was scheduled to move into an expensive new facility. Under the mistaken impression that their former Band Shak was to be demolished, band members subjected the trailer to a spirited round of vandalism. The band would eventually be reinstated in the summer of 2007 and would be removed from alcohol probation shortly thereafter. In 2015, the Stanford Organization Conduct Board panel and Title IX Office undertook a joint investigation into the band's behavior based on allegations that it had engaged in misconduct involving alcohol, controlled substances, and hazing. The investigation included a one year travel ban on athletic events away from campus. Just as soon as the ban was lifted, the band appeared at the 2016 Rose Bowl and favored University of Iowa opponents with a performance that included a corn maze, cow tipping, and an array of other farmer-baiting debasements. Iowa fans were outraged. Lucky for the Hawkeyes, the Fighting Irish, the Golden Bears, and every other would-be target of its musical lampooning, the LSJUMB was recently condemned by the OCB panel, bringing about the suspension that takes us up to present date. The reality is that Stanford's Marching Band has no intention of getting its act together. For all the traditions this band so joyously dismantles, it there is one tradition that remains cherished and closely guarded within its ranks. The LSJUMB's raison d'etre to stand unyielding to authority, taste and decency. Say what you want about its message (which is neither consistent nor coherent) but this ensemble is true to the twin spirits of rock and roll and rebellion. It's fun to laugh at these guys but I'm not sure I'd want them to represent me. And in spite of running afoul of sensitivities, breaking the kinds of rules that college students are wont to break, and generally failing at least a hundred standards of public decorum, they've never actually hurt anybody who wasn't dressed as the opposing team's mascot. Of course, we can't blame the University for this suspension. It's fun to laugh at these guys but I'm not sure I'd want them to represent me. Moreover, a little oversight probably couldn't hurt if the rather serious allegations about hazing and substance abuse are true. There is little to be gained from such off-field foolishness and it is the university's responsibility to ensure that such behavior does not continue. That said, we'd hate to see the band's on-field foolishness go along with it. Here's hoping the cultural reconfiguration of this band isn't too dramatic from a performance standpoint. There's no doubt that its performances are often edgy, frequently ill-conceived and indisputably offensive. But the Stanford band is possessed by a certain irrepressibly scrappy and harmlessly tasteless charm that adds color, life and unpredictability to an age-old game. Besides, where can you sow the spirit of rebellion if not on a college campus. May the LSJUMB return from its suspension with its sense of mischief intact. Popular TBS Articles The 100 Best Universities in the World Today The 50 Best Community Colleges in the United States The 25 Best Master of Social Work Degree Programs Copyright ©2019 The Quad	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1085
__label__cc	0.55204	0.44796	WC weighs Britain’s claim to Chagos Islands The Frontier Post / September 4, 2018 THE HAGUE (Reuters): The legality of Britain’s claim to the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, which house a major US military base, will be considered by the International Court of Justice on Monday when it starts a week of hearings. Britain has overseen the islands since 1814 and in 1965 detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, a British colony that became independent three years later. Britain went on to lease the Chagos Islands’ biggest island, Diego Garcia, to the United States in 1966, paving the way for construction of an air base that required the forced removal of around 1,500 people. Mauritius has said it was unfairly pressured to cede control of the islands during the negotiations, and had agreed only to their temporary use for military purposes. Mauritius petitioned the United Nations for an International Court of Justice opinion on the legality of Britain’s possession of Chagos. Britain and the United States opposed the demand, but were voted down by the U.N. general assembly. Britain is expected to argue that Mauritius is trying to improperly use the International Court of Justice or “World Court” to settle a bilateral dispute. More than 20 interested parties, including the United States and the African Union, have asked to take part in the hearings. “These things come together now in a combination of historical accident and intense political and popular interest in questions of colonial legacy,” international law expert Geoff Gordon of the Asser Institute in The Hague, said. The World Court will ultimately issue only an “advisory opinion” on the case, but opinions by the United Nations’ highest court can carry significant weight in international law. The people displaced from the Chagos Island have already lobbied to be able to return. But in 2016, Britain’s Foreign Ministry extended Diego Garcia’s lease until 2036 and declared the expelled islanders would not be allowed to return. The people from Chagos were originally moved to nearby Mauritius and the Seychelles and effectively barred from returning. Many eventually settled in southern England. Posted in Global	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1088
__label__wiki	0.543043	0.543043	Kindergarten Readiness: States Solid on Math, Reading but Lag on Approaches to Learning By Richard Chang A comprehensive analysis of kindergarten readiness standards across all 50 states revealed that while states fare well in general on assessing readiness, they lag in one important domain: approaches to learning. The Kindergarten Readiness Report, issued April 21 by Glendale, CA-based Age of Learning, creator of ABCmouse.com, revealed substantial common ground among state kindergarten readiness standards, with 15 skills (including literacy, math and physical health) that 85 percent or more of states would like to see children acquire before entering kindergarten. The report indicated that 100 percent of states have established specific standards in language, literacy, cognitive skills and math. However, the states vary widely when it comes to approaches to learning. About 74 percent of states included “shows curiosity to learn” as a key approach to learning. Only 70 percent mentioned “persistence” as a key approach, 64 percent included “shows ability to concentrate,” and 60 percent articulated “shows flexibility and inventiveness” as a key approach. In the cognitive and math domain, 92 percent of states included the ability to sort and classify objects by more than one attribute (size, color, shape and texture). But only 22 percent of states recognized problem-solving ability as an important trait, 20 percent focused on reasoning abilities, and only 18 percent of states looked for students’ ability to explore cause and effect relationships. In correlation with the readiness analysis and National Kindergarten Day, Age of Learning also launched on April 21 an in-depth Kindergarten readiness assessment tool, which parents can use with the ABCmouse curriculum to help better prepare children for kindergarten. The assessment tool, priced at $39.99, was developed with guidance from SRI International, an education and assessment research organization, and NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent research institution. “Kindergarten readiness is a critical indicator of long-term success in school,” said Rebecca Palacios, a National Teachers Hall of Fame inductee and curriculum board member at Age of Learning, in a prepared statement. Patricia Lozano, an independent educational consultant, is the author of the readiness report, titled “What It Means to Be Kindergarten Ready in the U.S.” It is available at ageoflearning.com/KR. Age of Learning is developing a teacher’s edition of its assessment tool, which will be free in classrooms, as well as an ABCmouse for Schools program to be sold to school districts. Richard Chang is associate editor of THE Journal. He can be reached at rchang@1105media.com. Delivering Desktops Virtually As Lubbock Independent School District makes the transition from Windows devices to Chromebooks, it's relying more and more heavily on virtual desktop infrastructure to give users — both students and staff — access to the learning and work applications and other tools that still require Windows access. At the beginning of 2019, over a single weekend, the Texas district implemented hyperconverged infrastructure, and it's not looking back. As Chief Technology Officer, Damon Jackson, and Senior Platform Technology Engineer, Jason Blackburn, discuss, HCI has given them the "Easy Button" they sought for network management and delivered "remarkably faster" performance. Read more...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1090
__label__cc	0.636596	0.363404	Home / News and Events / Poor technological capability undermining Africa’s growth potential Poor technological capability undermining Africa’s growth potential African governments and all national actors must grasp the increasing opportunities that technology and innovation offer for human development and transformation of the continent. This is because currently poor technological capability remains one of the major constraints to Africa’s efforts to achieve sustainable development. This was highlighted Saturday at the opening session of this year’s African Economic Conference, organized under the theme “Knowledge and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation”, which is taking place from November 1-3 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In her keynote address, Demitu Hambissa, the Ethiopian Minister of Ministry of Science and Technology, observed that the pace of skills and technological development and innovation has been slow in Africa mainly because of the absence of a critical mass of university-educated manpower skilled in hands-on technology. This is addition to lack of high quality laboratories and scientific equipment, the unavailability of long-term finance and weak private sector initiative. “To sustain the impressive economic growth Africa has experienced over the last decade, policy-makers of the region should focus and learn the best practice in fostering technology transfer and identifying critical innovation barriers and gaps to achieve increased productivity and structural transformation of its economies,” Hambissa said. The AEC 2014 theme, “Knowledge and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation”, draws from the African Union Agenda 2063 and the African Common Position on its Post-2015 Development Agenda which identify science, technology and innovation as key pillars for Africa’s development. “We need skills, technology, knowledge and innovation to ensure democratic and responsive governance that can deliver effective public services and to facilitate universal access to basic services such as food and nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter, health and education,” said Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the African Union Commission Chairperson. She further underscored the need to strengthen higher education in universities where enrolment has increased 16 per cent over the last decade. “We must all support the Universities summit planned for Dakar, Senegal, in March next year to ensure that we have in place a strategy for investing in higher education … to prevent the absurdity of graduate unemployment,” Zuma said. As the continent pursues its agenda of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena,” success will depend on adequate accumulation of skills, technology and competences for innovation, the organizers say. “Capacities are not the same as capabilities. We have lots of capabilities; but we need capacities,” said Carlos Lopes, the United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Africa, emphasizing the need to build capacity to transform growth into quality growth on the continent. He underscored the need to build capacity for strategic decision-making, enhanced productive economic activities and aggressive absorption and generation of knowledge intensive technologies. Africa’s stock of graduates is still highly skewed towards the humanities and social sciences, while the share of students enrolling in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics averages less than 25 percent, according to pre-conference briefs. In his remarks, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, Acting Chief Economist and Vice-President, AfDB, noted that adequate accumulation of skills, technology and competences for innovation is key to Africa’s transformation. He pointed out that though most governments recognise the importance of knowledge generation and innovation, implementation of strategies to address the skills deficit in areas that are critical for realisation of the goal of structural transformation is still lacking. “Innovation does not happen by chance or in a vacuum. Innovation can not be legislated; it takes deliberate policy actions, enablers, positive incentives and entrepreneurship to make it happen,” said Eugene Owusu, the UNDP Resident Representative for Ethiopia. “To leapfrog and sustain the resurgent Africa requires smart solutions anchored in knowledge and innovation,” said Owusu. The conference will have plenary and breakout sessions featuring presentations and discussions by prominent academics, policy-makers, business actors (including emerging technological/digital entrepreneurs and youth) and opinion leaders, as well as representatives of peer organizations. The breakout sessions will involve in-depth and technical analyses of salient issues arising from the thematic focus of the conference. The sub-themes will enable a broad range of discussions on the current state of Africa’s transformation capacity and generate valuable insights for improved policy-making. These include Knowledge Generation for Structural Transformation; Technology for Africa’s Transformation; and Addressing the Skills Deficit. Patterson Jennifer Ann	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1093
__label__wiki	0.913122	0.913122	President Barack Obama, arriving in Germany last week, has pardoned 79 more federal drug offenders. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Photo: Sean Gallup President pardons more federal drug offenders from Georgia Rhonda Cook, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution President Barack Obama has pardoned 79 people, including four Georgia men, who were convicted of federal drug crimes, the White House announced Tuesday. Obama has now pardoned 1,023 federal prisoners, most of them nonviolent drug offenders, although the list does include some people convicted of gun crimes. Obama's total represents more pardons than were issued by the past 11 presidents. The White House said the group pardoned Tuesday will have to spend two more years in prison before they are freed. Many were serving life sentences. “It makes no sense for a nonviolent drug offender to be serving decades, or sometimes life, in prison,” Obama wrote in a Facebook post. “That’s not serving taxpayers, and it’s not serving the public safety.” The four Georgians who were pardoned this week: William Henry Dudley, 50, of Atlanta was convicted in Florida in 2006 of conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of a cocaine-based drug, possession of more than 50 grams of a cocaine-based drug and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Instead of staying in prison until April 2023, his sentence will expire on Nov. 22, 2018, on the condition that he enrolls in a drug treatment program. Eddie James Reed, 46, of Albany pleaded guilty in the Middle District of Georgia in February 2007 to possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of a drug with a cocaine base and possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of a cocaine-based drug. He was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Under the pardon, his sentence will now end on Nov. 22, 2018. Avery Hardy, 35, of Smithville in Lee County was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years of supervised release for possession with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine. Hardy’s sentence will end Nov. 22, 2018, conditional on his enrollment in a drug treatment program. Efrem Berry, 49, of Americus was sentenced to 19½ years in federal prison, plus six years on supervised release, after he pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2007, to possession with intent to distribute “a detectable amount” of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute “a detectable amount” of MDMA. Obama reduced his sentence to 12 1/2 years, which would moved his release to two years from now. For years, Obama has said strict sentences for drug offenses are excessive and some offenders go to prison for too long. He has tried to pressure Congress to fix what he sees as onerous sentencing by aggressively using his executive powers to address individual cases. The administration expanded criteria for inmates applying for clemency, giving priority to nonviolent offenders who have had no problems while in prison, aren’t affiliated with gangs and would have received shorter sentences if they had been convicted a few years later. Also, his Justice Department in recent years has directed prosecutors to stop pursing harsh mandatory minimum sentences. More pardons are expected before Obama leaves office in January, but administration officials said there will still be a number of clemency petitions pending when Donald Trump is sworn in as president. In those cases, the Trump administration will decide whether to grant or reject them, said Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Promising during the presidential campaign to crack down on crime, Trump criticized Obama for pardoning prisoners, warning that he was putting Americans’ safety at risk.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1100
__label__wiki	0.996123	0.996123	Hoover school board approves bus fees for 2014-15 school year -- pending court approval Updated Apr 17, 2014 ; Posted Apr 17, 2014 (File photo) By Jon Anderson HOOVER, Alabama -- The Hoover school board tonight unanimously voted to charge students a fee to ride the bus to and from school in the 2014-15 school year, pending approval by the U.S. District Court. The school board approved a proposed fee schedule that would charge students $40.75 a month, or $2.26 per day, to ride the bus. Discounts would be available for low-income students who qualify for the federal reduced-price and free lunch programs, and for families with multiple bus riders in the same family. Tonight's decision follows a school board vote in July to end bus service for most students in Hoover City Schools and a December vote that rescinded the contentious July decision. Many Hoover residents protested the July decision to eliminate bus service, prompting inquiries by the U.S. Department of Justice, which expressed concern about how such a decision would impact students. Hoover school officials for months have been in talks with the Justice Department. Superintendent Andy Craig tonight said the Justice Department and school system have reached a "mutually agreeable fee structure." However, school board attorney Donald Sweeney said the school system will seek approval from the U.S. District Court before implementing the fees approved tonight. The federal court has jurisdiction over a consent decree that resulted from a desegregation lawsuit many years ago. Tonight's approval of the fee structure allows school officials to proceed with planning for next year while the federal court reviews the plan, Sweeney said. The Justice Department also wants the Hoover school system to establish a method to monitor the impact of school bus fees on students and bus ridership, Sweeney said. Craig said the Hoover system is committed to track data about bus ridership and the impact of the fee structure and is willing to share its data with the Justice Department. Here's the complete fee schedule approved tonight: Non-poverty students -- $40.75 per month, or $2.26 a day Students on reduced lunch -- $20.38 per month, or $1.13 a day Students on free lunch -- $14.88 per month, or 83 cents a day Families with two riders -- $28.53 per month, or $1.59 a day, per student Families with two riders (reduced lunch) -- $14.27 per month, or 80 cents a day, per student Families with two riders (free lunch) -- $10.42 per month, or 58 cents a day, per student Families with 3+ riders -- $21.40 per month, or $1.19 a day, per student Families with 3+ riders (reduced lunch) -- $10.70 per month, or 59 cents a day, per student Families with 3+ riders (free lunch) -- $7.82 per month, or 43 cents a day, per student Sweeney said the school district first had to prove to the Justice Department that it was facing a real fiscal problem, driving the need to charge fees. "Andy did a marvelous job when he flew to Washington to make sure they understood just how serious it was," Sweeney said. Second, Hoover school officials had to show that they wanted to deliver bus service in an efficient and equitable manner, he said. Craig said the proposed fees will allow the school district to implement a three-prong approach to funding bus service. Hoover will use state money supplied for transportation and will make up the difference between that revenue and actual transportation costs with a combination of fees and some local school district money, he said. The fees are expected to provide about $2 million for transportation, based on an estimated 6,400 bus riders, Craig said. "We're very pleased we've reached a solution at this point," he said. Hoover resident Trisha Crain asked whether athletic teams and other extracurricular groups that use school buses will have to pay fees to use the buses also. Craig said those costs were excluded from consideration in this proposal but officials can discuss that issue. School board member Donna Frazier said all three of her daughters were cheerleaders at Spain Park High School and had to raise money to help pay for transportation to events. Crain said that's not the way it always works. Parent Lisa Singer asked whether parents might be able to pay fees for one-way transportation to or from school, but not both. Some students need buses only either in the mornings or afternoons, but not both, she said. Craig said that would be an option that could be reviewed during the planning process. Singer and her father, Arnold Singer, said charging fees will cause undue hardship on a lot of people who can't afford them. Arnold Singer said he would like to see scholarships offered for special exceptions. "I think a touch of humanity is very important in that area," he said. Frazier said she thinks the school bus fee schedule is a great compromise the school board is making instead of eliminating bus service altogether. School board members from other cities, including Huntsville and Mobile, have told her they are watching Hoover's bus situation very closely because they are facing similar financial challenges. "They too are looking for ways to cut," she said. She predicts other school districts will follow Hoover's lead. "I'm thrilled that we are at the forefront leading the challenge with this," she said. Hoover school board member Derrick Murphy, the only board member who voted against eliminating bus service in July, said he voted in favor of the fees for bus riders because he knows the Justice Department is keeping a close eye on it and the federal courts will have final approval. "The Justice Department has a lot more data than I do," he said. School system and federal officials will be working hand in hand to keep an eye on the impact, he said. He understands the financial struggles that people face, he said. "Every dollar counts that comes in and out of the house," he said. "We'll see how this works out." Regardless of the outcome of the bus situation, the school system still has financial challenges that need addressing, Murphy said. Hoover resident Dan Fulton agreed. He thinks the bus fees create a "horrific hardship" on residents of Hoover but said the problem is larger than just bus fees. "We have a funding problem," Fulton said. Legislators in Montgomery have not adequately public education in Alabama, he said. "They've failed us." The city of Hoover also could do more, Fulton said. "I know nobody likes taxes, but we want great schools," he said. The Hoover City Schools Foundation, a private group that raises money to support the school system, also should do more to help, Fulton said. "We have people in this city with money to give away, but they have to be motivated," he said. See Hoover schools Superintendent Andy Craig's memo to the Hoover Board of Education, seeking approval to charge students a fee to ride the bus in the 2014-15 school year. This article was updated at 10:35 a.m. on April 18 to correct a word in a direct quote by school board member Donna Frazier. See more news from Hoover at www.al.com/hoover	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1101
__label__wiki	0.979619	0.979619	Many dead in fresh Chechen attack At least four policemen reportedly killed in a suicide bombing in Russian republic. Two suicide attacks in Grozny, Chechnya's capital, killed four policemen on August 21 [File: AFP] Ruslan Alkhanov, the Chechen interior minister, said the suicide bomber had been identified as a local resident. An investigative committee of Russian prosecutors said two civilians had also been wounded in the attack. Call for killing A pro-rebel website, Kavkazcenter.com, quoted sources as saying the attack had been claimed by the Caucasus Emirate, a group said to be led by Doku Umarov, a Chechen separatist fighter, but the claim has not been verified. The North Caucasus: A history of violence Chechnya's battle for independence The website also called for Ahmed Zakayev, a prominent separatist leader based in London, to be killed, saying he had abandoned Islam by recognising the legitimacy of Chechnya's Kremlin-backed government. "Public remarks show that he [Zakayev] has fallen away from Islam. The court has ruled that the killing of this apostate is a duty for Muslims," the website said, but did not specify which court had ordered the ruling. Zakayev, 50, fought Russia as a senior rebel commander in two wars with Moscow in 1994-2000. After Russia regained control of Chechnya, he fled to Europe and acted as an official rebel envoy until 2007. Russia has tried to extradite Zakayev for 13 alleged crimes including kidnapping and murder, but a British court rejected the request in 2003, causing a diplomatic row. In recent months Zakayev has entered talks with representatives of the pro-Moscow government of Chechnya, led by Ramzan Kadyrov. Last month Kadyrov said he would welcome Zakayev's return and possibly offer him a job in the regional culture ministry. Rise in violence The latest developments come days after four policemen were killed in two suicide attacks in Grozny, Chechnya's capital, and after a bombing in neighbouring Ingushetia killed at least 20 people. Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, flew into Chechnya on Monday to show support for Kadyrov, amid growing violence. Chechnya has been ravaged by two separatist wars in the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although the conflict in Chechnya has ended, the Russian Caucasus remain the site of a deadly uprising led by fighters battling pro-Kremlin local authorities, who in turn have been accused of human rights abuses.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1105
__label__wiki	0.942715	0.942715	Ruxley escorts Ruxley escorts - London Areas Simina Ruxley is a small settlement in South East London, inside the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bexley and London Borough of Bromley. It lies close to the border of Greater London with Kent, bordering the Sevenoaks District. It lies south east of Sidcup and north west of Swanley. Ruxley was previously a civil parish of the Ruxley (hundred), Sutton-at-Hone Lathe. However it was abolished in 1557 and the area was absorbed into the North Cray parish.[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62808&strquery=ruxley North Cray and Ruxley, British History Online][http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bexley/north-cray.html North Cray history at www.idealhomes.org] Ruxley Gravel Pits is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.[http://www.natureonthemap.naturalengland.org.uk/map.aspx?map=sssi&feature=1003658,sssi,HYPERLINK,LABEL Natural England, Map of Ruxley Gravel Pits] Ruxley is a small settlement in South East London, inside the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bexley and London Borough of Bromley. It lies close to the border of Greater London with Kent, bordering the Sevenoaks District. It lies south east of Sidcup and north west of Swanley. Maidstone Road is served by the Transport for London bus 233 from Swanley to Eltham via Sidcup, and Ruxley Corner is served by the 492 from Sidcup to Bluewater (shopping centre) via Bexleyheath and Dartford. The closest rail link to the area is at Sidcup station. Ruxley is a small settlement in South East London, inside the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bexley and London Borough of Bromley. It lies close to the border of Greater London with Kent, bordering the Sevenoaks District. It lies south east of Sidcup and north west of Swanley. Foots Cray North Cray * Sidcup * Swanley St Pauls Cray Bexley Ruxley is a small settlement in South East London, inside the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bexley and London Borough of Bromley. It lies close to the border of Greater London with Kent, bordering the Sevenoaks District. It lies south east of Sidcup and north west of Swanley. Category:Districts of Bromley Category:Districts of Bexley Category:Districts of London listed in the Domesday Book Please read ruxley escort girls Privacy Policy.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0014.json.gz/line1107

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