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Home/Norwich University
Because the world needs more Norwich stories. Our stories. Told by us.
By Randall H. Miller| 2018-11-26T11:35:37-07:00 November 17th, 2018|
Celebrate the Norwich University Bicentennial with 3 books about the Corps of Cadets: Faithful to the Past, Norwich Matters and Norwich Heroes. A blend of remarkable memories and behind-the-scenes accounts of events from the late 1980s and early 1990s, 'Faithful to the Past' is a candid celebration of the [...]
25% off Norwich Matters & Norwich Heroes
Paperback and eBook copies of Norwich Matters and Norwich Heroes are 25% off now through midnight of Cyber Monday (11/30/15). Spread the word!
Norwich Heroes FREE for Veteran’s Day
In honor of Veteran's Day the Kindle version of Norwich Heroes will be FREE for the next 48 hours. Enjoy the book, spread the word, and consider leaving a thoughtful review on Amazon if you decide to download it. Essayons! - Randy UPDATE: Below [...]
5 Tips for Parents of Norwich Cadets
By Randall H. Miller| 2017-08-25T16:53:41-07:00 August 28th, 2015|
You don’t have to wait for Rook Recognition, Junior Ring Ceremony, or graduation to be proud. Be proud now. Less than 1% of the American population serves in the U.S. Military. Even fewer college age kids across the country would ever consider challenging themselves with something like four years in the Norwich University Corps of Cadets. That’s a sign that your Cadet has some courage and you probably did something right in raising them.
Night Rider Friday
By Randall H. Miller| 2016-07-05T19:33:44-07:00 August 21st, 2015|
From the 1926 yearbook - “War Whoop." In honor of Rook arrival next Monday (Norwich class of 2019) let's make today Night Rider Friday! The archives recently published an excerpt from the 1927 Guidon that sheds slight on the Night Riders' early days. This is the #1 most [...]
Norwich Ranger in the ’93 Battle of Mogadishu – FREE
By Randall H. Miller| 2016-07-05T19:35:46-07:00 April 14th, 2015|
If you're interested in a brief firsthand account of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu from a '89 Norwich Grad - Chalk 2 is FREE for the next few days. It you download it - consider leaving a review on Amazon when you're finished reading. The reviews mean a lot for [...]
Celebrating The Norwich University Corps of Cadets Ring
By Randall H. Miller| 2016-07-05T19:36:24-07:00 April 7th, 2015|
Gary Appleby '90 recently created a Facebook Page celebrating the history of the Norwich University Corps of Cadets Ring and the alumni who wear it. The page also provides Corps alumni with a central location to share pictures and stories about their Rings. I've lost count of the number of loyal Corps grads [...]
Real World Advice For Transitioning Veterans
By Randall H. Miller| 2016-07-05T19:37:28-07:00 March 17th, 2015|
“Do you have any advice for me, as I'm about to finish college this summer and looking to enter the workforce? I'm hoping to translate intelligence analyst into business operations analyst type positions. I have a solid resume, and I honestly think I will be fine if I can get into an interview, but that's its own hurdle. I also don't want to undervalue myself by applying for a job below my level of experience. Thanks in advance for any advice or words of encouragement you could provide!” – “Joe”
40% off Paperback Copies of Norwich Matters and Norwich Heroes!
Paperback copies of Norwich Matters and Norwich Heroes are 40% off starting right now until the end of Cyber Monday or inventory runs out. Both books normally retail at $9.99 each - sale price is just $5.99 plus shipping! Order now and your discounted books will arrive in plenty of time before Christmas. If [...]
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Rec Report E-Newsletter
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Supplement Feature - February 2019
Aquatic Trends Report
By Emily Tipping
We also asked respondents to indicate the type of community they serve. Nearly half (45.8 percent) said they represented suburban communities. Smaller numbers were from rural areas (28.2 percent) and urban communities (26 percent). (See Figure 2.)
When it comes to the type of organization respondents work for, parks and recreation departments and districts were dominant, with more than half (51.1 percent) of respondents indicating they work for this type of organization. They were followed by: colleges and universities (12.3 percent); YMCAs, YWCAs, JCCs and Boys & Girls Clubs (8.8 percent); community or private recreation and sports centers (6.2 percent); campgrounds, RV parks and private or youth camps (5.6 percent); schools and school districts (4.5 percent); sports, health and fitness clubs, and medical fitness facilities (4 percent); resorts and resort hotels (2.1 percent); homeowners' associations (1.7 percent); and golf or country clubs (1.1 percent). Another 2.6 percent were from other types of organizations, including churches and military installations, among others. (See Figure 3.)
Different types of aquatic facilities were well represented in the report, with the predominant type being outdoor and indoor swimming pools. Some 61.4 percent of respondents said they have at least one outdoor swimming pool. More than half (51.6 percent) have at least one indoor swimming pool. Splash play areas were popular, with 37 percent of respondents indicating they had at least one. Some 28.3 percent had at least one hot tub, spa or whirlpool. More than one-fifth (20.9 percent) said they had at least one aquatic park (with a focus primarily on swimming pools and other aquatic activities). And 10.8 percent said they had at least one waterpark (with a focus primarily on rides and waterslides). (See Figure 4.)
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Home > Movie Trailers > Movies > Watch Trailer For ‘Alright Now’
Watch Trailer For ‘Alright Now’
RedCarpetCrash August 15, 20182018-08-15T11:57:14-05:002018-08-15T11:57:14-05:00
ALRIGHT NOW – Gravitas Ventures
IN SELECT THEATERS AND AVAILABLE ON VOD AND DIGITAL HD: September 7, 2018
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Jamie Adams
CAST: Cobie Smulders, Noel Clarke, Jessica Hynes, Griffin Dunne, Daisy Haggard
GENRE: Comedy, Independent, Drama
DISTRIBUTOR: Gravitas Ventures
SYNOPSIS: ALRIGHT NOW follows Joanne (Cobie Smulders, “How I Met Your Mother”) a rock musician who drunkenly enrolls in college after she breaks up with her boyfriend and her band falls apart. Convinced she will give the youngsters a run for their money, Joanne is shocked to discover that no one knows who she is and they could care less about her rock star past. Completely improvised and Directed by Jamie Adams (Black Mountain Poets), ALRIGHT NOW is a feel-good comedy about love, life and the search for new beginnings.
The Boxtrolls Spanish Trailer
Watch ‘Never Open The Door’ Trailer
‘Penguins Of Madagascar’ Character Posters
Watch ‘Star Wars’ Characters Dance To ‘Happy’ By Pharrell Williams
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Mourning & Honouring Dead Heroes
No updates had come through.
I was heartbroken.
It’d been a few months since I last visited, but there was always a new article to devour. Every single time.
It was a particular series of articles, one that had been running for years. Reading the latest in this series had started a ritual, one that involved good coffee, taking my phone off the hook, and closing down email.
But not this time. This time there were no updates. I hadn’t visited in almost six months, but there was still nothing to be found.
I bet you’ve had this happen to you.
Maybe a band that you adored and defined a decade for you decided to part ways and no longer make new music?
Maybe a book series that you feel in love with, one which you saw more of yourself in than any other piece of art, stopped because the author got bored or died or the publisher stopped returning her calls.
Or maybe a filmmaker whose movies were always the ones to make you feel better when you were sick, or ones you always watched with friends or family, started making awful money makers instead of something worth watching.
The work we love becomes a part of who we are. We grow alongside it and use it as markers along our own timelines.
So it’s no wonder it hurts when the those markers stop coming.
We love these pieces of work, but sometimes our love turns into idolatry.
We put the work on such a pedestal that we don’t ever think ourselves capable of reproducing such magnificence, so we never try. We don’t dare venture a step towards such greatness, we the mere mortals.
So when the maker stops making, we think the thread is finished, and assume a line has found its end.
We trick ourselves.
We make believe that the makers of such great work are special.
But they aren’t.
They might geniuses, yes, but they’re still human.
Their work that we so admire was inspired by other work, work that they themselves put upon a higher step. What to us is work to be admired is to them revivals of their own dead heroes. It’s work that was produced as homage to something they loved.
So why shouldn’t you do likewise?
All creative work worth noting is connected somehow.
There’s a family tree of ideas, and although some of the children on the end of a few chosen branches are so unique and wonderful and beautiful that they seem to be of their own species, they’re still a part of the rest of the family.
Every piece of creative work is inspired by another piece of creative work. Even the cave paintings of Lascaux were mimicking the beauty that nature distilled in her animals.
So when you find your heroes are no longer with you, bring their work down from their pedestal and use them as inspiration to create work that echoes your admiration.
Bring them back through homage.
Do what you think they would have done next in their careers, where should they have gone? What should they have made? How would they have reflected on what’s going on around them today? Or around you?
Mourn your lost heroes and thank them by making something in their honour.
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Finn & The Sharks - an interview with Billy Roues
Articles » Hemsby Rock n Roll Weekend No 44
Hemsby Rock n Roll Weekend No 44
Date of Publication -25 May 2010
Topic - Gig Feedbacks
Author of the article: rockinev
Total Vote Count - (1 users gave their votes)
Well this is becoming a bit of a regular feature on Rockabilly Bash, my expeditions to the Rock n Roll party that is probably the longest running and most famous weekender anywhere.
Arriving on Saturday afternoon somewhat later than planned due to car problems and drivers not staying on the correct road I caught only about 20 minutes of Johnny Bach’s set, aka John Lewis, he is a very familiar figure on the scene, his humour and beer drinking are well renowned. This set was somewhat different, just John and his guitar sitting down with a shallow wooden box on which he stamped for percussion. He belted out a number of rockabilly, blues influenced classics. I really enjoyed this set and it made a refreshing change to see someone doing something this different, it takes a confident and talented performer to pull this off, Johnny Bach, is certainly that.
Following Johnny, were Hemsby regulars The Infernos, they are one of the best Sun sounding bands about, tight energetic and professional. A great set and well appreciated by the growing afternoon crowd.
It was the first act of the evening session that provided the surprise of the day for me, Truly Lover Trio hail from Los Angeles and were playing their first ever UK gig. I had not heard them before so did not know what to expect, I got the impression this was the same for many in the crowd. However, we were soon blown away by what we heard. I have never seen a band cover the Roy Orbison Sun label stuff before, well apart the odd version of Rockhouse perhaps.
Marcel, the singer was so close to Roy’s distinctive sound it was scary, his guitar work was also first class, these tracks were interspersed with some great original material, chosen largely from the new CD release. They had captured the audiences attention well and ‘truly’ and the crowd grew larger and more attentive, but it wasn’t a rocker that brought the most surprise, it was Only The Lonely bringing them a deserved ovation. 3 encores and a long line of people buying their CD after the set showed just how well they were received. I hope to see them at another UK event soon.
Sadly, it has to be said that Jack Earls was unwell, recently diagnosed with cancer he had to cancel, however, Rudy ‘Tutti’ Grazell was booked late as a replacement.
It has to be said that he is small in stature but large in personality, a little crazy perhaps, I am sure he’d agree, he took to the stage through the crowd carrying an iron and tennis racket?
He delivered though a brilliant show, all his rockin ‘50’s singles were there, Let’s Go Wild, Ducktail, Judy, Jag-Ga-Lee-Ga, FBI Story etc. His voice is still strong and he highlighted two songs from an as yet unseen Clint Eastwood movie, one called Do the Rudy Tutti (at least I think that was it), however it was a great song, up tempo rockin. Backed by the always solid Infernos the show was entertaining if not a little loose, you got the impression that although they had rehearsed and had a set list, keeping up with what Rudy was doing next was somewhat fun. He got a very warm reception from the crowd and encores. I managed to get his autograph later, chatting with fans and signing memorabilia he was enjoying himself and why not for someone who’s in their late 70’s he had just performed to one of the largest rockin’ crowds anywhere.
Then came a very rare event, one that Rockabilly Bash started last year, Don Woody, his first ever UK performance. He took to the stage looking great and sounding very good. The Hemsby house band had clearly prepared for this, their sound was excellent and Paul Gaskin’s guitar work so reminiscent of the great Grady Martin who played on Don’s Decca sides. He is the first to accept that he released very few singles, but then as he sang Bird Dog, Make Like and Rock and Roll, Morse Code and of course You’re Barking up the Wrong Tree, I was suddenly reminded just how good they were, very distinctive, clean cut rockabilly catchy tunes and silly lyrics. I was very impressed that he and the band had actually worked up 2 previous demo’s from the new Bear Family album into full songs both A Lesson in Love and Hula Hula Girl made their very first public performance ever.
Don received a rapturous applause the crowd appreciating just what a rare and privileged event we had just seen. There are not many of the original 50’s stars still able to perform and for Don to suddenly return to the stage we should all be very thankful to him.
A great day out, good music and memories for sure, Hemsby is unique in the scene, the original, probably the friendliest and one of the most varied events of the year. Roll on October and No. 45! See you there.
Rockin Nev
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Comment by kitti
Thanks, Nev! Love the review! I wish I was there too!
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2019 European Cup - Senior Grand Masters (Over 70)
Dragons HC, Brasschaat, Belgium 19-29 June 2019
The 2019 Grand Masters European Cup and Tournament Trophy took place at Dragons Hockey Club, Brasschaat, Belgium from Wednesday 19 to Saturday 29 June. In the Senior Grand Masters European Cup, there were eight teams in two pools of four teams: Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland and Wales.
Scotland were in Pool B along with Germany, Ireland and Netherlands.
In the 2018 World Cup in Barcelona, Scotland finished in eighth place while Netherlands beat Germany to take the Bronze medal. Ireland did not compete in Barcelona but Scotland beat them in both their encounters in 2019, in the Celtic Cup in Swansea and the Four Nations Tournament in Aberdeen. Scotland have a depleted squad and face an uphill battle to qualify for the semi finals.
Netherlands - pool winners - and Germany proved too strong for Scotland and Ireland respectively. Scotland and Ireland drew their match and Scotland qualified third in the pool on goal difference. They lost their cross over tie with Belgium and met Ireland once again in their final match, which they won 3-0 to finish in seventh place.
Pool A Results
Germany 6 Scotland 0
Scotland, with a squad of only 12 players available on the day, got off to an encouraging start but the strength, experience and skills of the German team began to take its toll, and slightly against the run of play German captain Helmut Trentmann scored a field goal in twelve minutes, Gerd Schürfeld adding another in 14 minutes. The second quarter was dominated by Germany but their only reward was a penalty corner goal from Günter Heinemann just before the interval to make it 3-0 to Germany at half time. The third quarter was our best with much improved positioning and passing but Gerd Schürfeld scored his second goal midway through the third quarter to put the Scots 4-0 down. The tiring Scotland side lost a further two goals in the dying minutes through a field goal by Arved Luanu-Mierke and a penalty corner goal scored by Wolfgang Engelhard.
Despite the defeat there was an improvement in performance compared to the Four Nations and some momentum to take into Saturday’s game against Netherlands. The nomination for Man of the Match was delegated to the management team of Abi and Rona. A joint award was given. Firstly, to Ian Pett for his consistent, stalwart defending, and secondarily to Kieran McLernan for his impersonation of the Duracell bunny and holding off the big German men who were bullying him.
Netherlands 9 Ireland 0
Saturday 22 June
Netherlands 7 Scotland 0
Scotland again had only twelve players to call upon and faced an uphill struggle against the World Cup Bronze medallists Netherlands, but the good news was that Doug Turner rose like Lazarus from his injury and lasted the whole match, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Abi Reilly. Pepi Hanusch, so often the tormentor of the Scots in the past, bagged five goals, two in the first quarter, one in the third and another two in the final quarter of the match. Paul Verloop in the second quarter and Robert Schreve in the fourth completed the scoring for a dominant Netherlands team. Once again there was a joint award for Man of the Match, shared between Doug Turner and Duracell bunny mark 2 Ernie Brittain-Dodd.
Ernie Brittain-Dodd on the ball against Netherlands
With both Netherlands and Germany sitting on six points, Scotland and Ireland would fight it out on Monday morning for third place in the pool - a draw would be enough for Scotland who would have Doug Morrice as a reinforcement by then.
Germany 10 Ireland 1
Scotland 2 (Crichton, McLernan) Ireland 2 (Goode, O'Driscoll)
The first half of this match was possibly the most disappointing performance of this cycle. It was very much a case of ‘Sunday morning syndrome’ on a Monday. Ireland deservedly took the lead in the first quarter through Paddy Goode. Despite having 11 players to our 13 players Ireland coped better than Scotland with the heat and humid conditions, especially as one of their defenders was good at relieving pressure on his defence with his aerial passes. After a deserved, yet constructive, rollicking at half time from coach Sandy Keith Scotland were transformed in the third quarter playing some of their best hockey of the tournament so far. Scotland gained a quick equaliser in the second half with Roy Crichton scoring on his front stick after a penalty corner. Scotland continued to press and got a well deserved goal following a ‘stramash’ in the circle with Kieran McLernan calmly flicking the ball in to take the lead. Scotland continued to play well in the fourth quarter, although they were not as sound as in the previous quarter, and pressed hard for the killer goal, only to be undone by a defensive error that let David O'Driscoll equalise. Scotland snatched a draw from the jaws victory, however despite this the squad achieved their first objective of finishing third in their pool, albeit only on goal difference, in a very tough group with Germany and the Netherlands. They now face the hosts Belgium on Wednesday who themselves lost out on third spot in their pool due to goal difference of only one goal. The boys will need to step up a level to ensure they win this game to go into the 5/6 play off. Man of the Match by a significant margin was Alan Bryce, not only for his attitude and hard hitting but for the number of nose bleeds suffered crossing the centre line.
Netherlands won the group with a win over Germany.
Netherlands 1 Germany 0
Great Grand Masters Pool B
3 3 0 0 17 0 9 17
3 0 1 2 2 15 1 -13
The teams finishing first and second in each pool played off for positions 1-4 in the standard semi-final/final format, and the teams finishing third and fourth played off in the same way for positions 5-8.
Cross Over/Final Ties
Italy 1(3) Ireland 1(0) 5-8 Semi Final
Italy won 3-0 in a penalty shoot out.
Scotland 0 Belgium 3 (Peeters, Gielen, Frere) 5-8 Semi Final
Scotland were without captain Alan Auld and were back down to twelve players. After a non scoring first quarter, Daniel Peeters opened the scoring just before half time and Belgian captain Charles Gielen added a second from a penalty corner just before the interval. Francis Frere finished off Scotland with a goal just before the end of the match. The 3-0 defeat condemned Scotland to a second match against Ireland for ninth place.
Thursday 27 June
England 8 Germany 1 1-4 Semi Final
Netherlands 3 Wales 0 1-4 Semi Final
18:00 Pitch 2 Belgium 0 Italy 2 5-6 Final
18:00 Pitch 3 Scotland 3 Ireland 7-8 Final
Scotland finally came good in their last match, claiming seventh place in the Senior Grand Masters European Cup with a 3-1 win over Ireland. The match was played at 6 pm with some parts of the pitch in the shade, making the temperature slightly more comfortable for both teams. Yet again, Scotland started with a somewhat sluggish first quarter but in the second quarter they started to move up the gears and put Ireland under sustained pressure for much of the rest of the match, particularly as the Irish began to tire more quickly than the Scots and appeared to be carrying more injuries. It is credit to coach Sandy Keith that, at last, Scotland made their penalty corners count, all three goals coming from practised routines. Ian Pett gained bragging rights in the Pett household by opening the scoring in the third quarter and Alan Bryce scored a second in 60 minutes to put Scotland firmly in the driving seat. Scotland seemed to be coasting to victory at 2-0 but here was a slight wobble when Donal Sands pulled one back for Ireland with five minutes to go, but David Margerison showed fast reflexes to seal victory with Scotland's third goal close to the final hooter.
This was a creditable performance after a tournament in tough conditions with never more than twelve men per match, and it was nice to leave the wonderful and hospitable facilities of KHC Dragons in Brasschaat with a winning feeling. Scotland will use winter training to build on the strengths gained from this tournament as well as working on some areas for development. Man of the Match or rather Lady of the Match was Abigail Reilly who did an outstanding job as physio throughout the tournament with no player missing any matches through injury. Not only did she do a great job professionally but she fitted right in, rather more worryingly, with the squad of septuagenarians!
Wales 1 Germany 3 Bronze Medal
Netherlands 1(1) England 1(2)Gold/Silver
England won 1-0 in the penalty shoot out
Sandy Keith looks on in disbelief
England Gold, Netherlands Silver, Germany Bronze, Wales 4th, Italy 5th, Belgium 6th, Scotland 7th, Ireland 8th
Altiusrt results and information
Scotland Squad
Alan Auld (C) (missed Belgium match), Ernie Brittain-Dodd, Alan Bryce, Roy Crichton, Nigel Dixon (GK), David Margerison, Kieran McLernan, Martin Petty, Doug Morrice (last three matches), Ian Pett, Murdoch Shirreffs (missed last match), Dougie Turner, Sandy Weir.
Coach Sandy Keith, Manager Rona Beattie, Sports Massage Abigail Reilly
Results GM (Over 60) GGM (Over 65) SGM (Over 70) GM TT (Over 60) GGM TT (Over 65)
Last modified 06 July 2019 16:43:05 BST by Webmaster –
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Page 3: Dior Preaches New Feminist Message
Atume Philip 4 months ago 354
Popular fashion and accessories outfit Dior, has introduced a new feminist message which has caught the attention of most people, especially fashion enthusiast.
Karlie Kloss modelled the brand’s new-season feminist T-shirt before it even arrived at the autumn/winter 2019 collection showcased at the Paris Fashion Week.
Surprisingly, the slogan T-shirts have become an expected part of every collection since the appointment of Maria Grazia Chuiri in 2016.
Simply put, “Sisterhood is powerful,” is this year’s slogan which reportedly was inspired by Robin Morgan’s seminal 1970 book of the same name.
Harper’s Bazaar adds that “the anthology features radical feminist writings that were edited by the American poet and author.
However, the book’s title was originally coined by writer Kathie Sarachild in a flier that she wrote for the keynote speech she gave for New York Radical Women’s first public action.”
And this new slogan comes two years after the success of the ‘We should all be feminists’ T-shirt, inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s famed essay.
For autumn/winter 2019, Dior revealed two versions of the same T-shirt, the other which read “sisterhood is global”
Look below for the video
TagsDior Page 3
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Page 3: Basic Essential Dress Tips For The Working Class Woman
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Home \ News \ October 9, 2013 Community Happenings
October 9, 2013 Community Happenings
Created on Wednesday, 09 October 2013 10:20
‘Together We Can’
Event Set Oct. 24
Sitkans Against Family Violence will host a family friendly evening of discussion and engagement at ‘‘Together We Can’’ 7-8 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Centennial Hall Maksoutoff Room.
‘‘We’ll spend some time thinking about the ‘I can’ts’ that keep us from speaking up against violence, find ways to move past those ‘I can’ts’ to ‘I cans,’ and create art as a commitment to ourselves of what we can do to end violence in our community,’’ SAFV said. ‘‘Together, we can create a healthier, more respectful future for Sitka.’’
For more information call 747-3370.
Seniors Offered
Ceramics Course
Southeast Alaska Independent Living, working with Sitka Fine Arts Camp, will offer a beginning-level ceramics course for seniors at the Ceramics Studio on the SJ Campus.
“Handbuilding with Clay” will run 4:30-5:30 p.m. Oct. 25, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, and 3:30-5:30 on Nov. 15 and 22.
Wes Holloway, a local ceramics artist, will instruct the course. He earned his bachelor’s degree in ceramics at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and was a ceramics resident at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Mont. He is currently teaching the after-school pottery class for middle school kids at Sitka Fine Arts Camp.
The first course was offered last spring, coinciding with some major updates to the studio. The Sitka Permanent Charitable and Sitka Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant, & Retailers Association provided funding for the ramp into the building. Several kilns and a wide array of ceramics supplies were donated by artist Patti Baumgartner and her husband James Baumgartner of Sandpiper Studios in Juneau.
SAIL is a resource center that provides information, equipment, and recreational activities for seniors and people with disabilities. As an aging and disability resource center, SAIL strives to promote inclusive recreation programs for folks in Sitka and around Southeast Alaska.
Space is open for the class. A $100 fee covers five sessions, instruction, all supplies, transportation if necessary, and personal artwork to keep. Contact Alli at SAIL at 747-6859 for more information or to sign up.
Raffle to Raise
Money for Center
Betty Eliason Child Care Center is holding a Veterans Day raffle sponsored by the Sitka Emblem Club 142, Permit 524, to raise funds for playground projects.
Tickets cost $10 and prizes include two flags that have flown over the Capitol in Washington, D.C., cash, gift certificates and items.
Tickets are available at BECCC, the Elks Lodge, and on weekends at AC Lakeside.
Prize sponsors are AC Lakeside, Stereo North, Sitka by-the-Sea Professional Services, Kruz-In Lube and Oil LLC and Mama Bear’s Circus.
BIHA Board Meets
Baranof Island Housing Authority Board of Commissioners will meet 5 p.m. Oct. 15 at 245 Katlian Street. The public is welcome to attend.
Alaska Day Ball
Set for Oct. 17
The annual Alaska Day Festival Ball is planned for Harrigan Centennial Hall on Oct. 17, continuing a long tradition for that gala event in semi-formal attire for men and women, Native regalia, or period costume reminiscent of the 1867 Alaska Transfer era.
Advance purchase of tickets at $25 is urged because room capacity is limited. Ticket information is offered at 747-5466.
Restricted to adults age 21 and over, admission includes complimentary hors d’oeuvres served by Sitka Emblem Club. Channel Club cash bar service will be available. Photography is offered.
Doors open at 7 p.m. for seating. This year, local band “Slack Tide” will provide varied dance music until midnight.
Judging of period costumes will be done prior to 9 p.m., and the promenade at 9:30 p.m. will spotlight all who wish to display their finery. Awards will be announced in several categories, including costumes for American or Russian military and civilian attire for daytime or evening wear. The Frankie Haag Memorial Award will again be given to a woman who has made the ballgown she is wearing.
Ticket holders must be present to qualify for door prizes.
For more information, contact Ball coordinators Betty Conklin at 966-2281, or Helen Cunningham at 738-6738.
YAS Board Meets
Youth Advocates of Sitka’s board of directors will meet 5-7 p.m. Oct. 14 at 805 Lincoln Street. It is open to the public.
The group is accepting applications for board members. Those who are interested in becoming a YAS board member may contact Annette at 747-3687 for more information.
Sitka Sidewalk
Celebration Set
For Alaska Day
A walking tour of the Sitka Seawalk, followed by a dedication, ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception to celebrate the Sitka Seawalk’s completion, will be held on Alaska Day.
The walking tour will begin at the Crescent Harbor net shed at 9:15 a.m. on Oct. 18. Dan Tadic, the CBS project manager and Monique Anderson, Anderson Land Planning, will lead the tour and discuss the seawalk’s design, planning and construction process. Participants should come prepared to walk the full length of the seawalk from Crescent Harbor to the Sitka National Historical Park and back to the breakwater spur for the dedication ceremony.
At 10 a.m., walking tour participants and others will gather for the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony which will be held at the beginning of the seawalk’s breakwater spur next to the Crescent Harbor Park playground. Sen. Bert Stedman and Mayor Mim McConnell will be in attendance and cut the ribbon together.
A reception with refreshments will be held at the Sitka Sound Science Center following the ribbon cutting, 10:15-11 a.m.
The public is invited to attend all or any of the individual celebration activities. For more information, call Lynne Brandon at 747-1852.
Holiday Dinners
Planning Listed
Holiday dinners are being planned at the ANB Founders Hall again this year. Those interested in volunteering to help are being encouraged to call the Salvation Army at 747-3358.
Bake Sale for
Kaagwaantaan
A bake sale to benefit the Kaagwaantaan Clan will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m., or until sold out, on Oct. 18 at the Wells Fargo Bank lobby.
The sale will include a variety of homemade snacks and breads.
Blatchley Seeks
Blatchley Middle School is seeking parent volunteers for its annual Blatchley Kids Carnival Oct. 26.
Shifts are 9 a.m.-noon and noon-2:30 p.m.
Call Kari Sagel at 752-7323 to sign up. Parents are also needed to donate baked goods for the carnival.
Book Fair Set
At Blatchley
Blatchley Middle School will hold its annual Scholastic Book Fair in the library during school Oct. 14-18.
Students will visit the book fair during language arts classes. The fair also will be open during parent-teacher conferences on Oct. 15-16.
The Blatchley Kids Carnival on Oct. 26 will be the last chance to visit the book fair.
School Board Meets
Sitka School Board will hold a work session 6 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Sitka School District board room. the board will discuss math instruction. The public is invited to attend.
Tribal Council
Filing Saturday
The deadline for tribal citizens to apply to serve as Sitka Tribe of Alaska council members is Oct. 12.
Applications may be obtained at the election office at the Sheet’ka Kwáan Naa Kahídi 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. through Oct. 12 or by contacting Election Supervisor Kerry MacLane at 752-0654 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Stardust Ball
Tickets on Sale
Annual Stardust Ball tickets go on sale Oct. 10 to Raven Radio members at the $85 level or above. Attendees must be 21 or older and identification will be required at the door.
Tickets are $35 and will be available at the station between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The remaining tickets will go on sale at Old Harbor books on Friday, Oct. 11.
This year’s Stardust Ball is Oct. 26 and will feature Smoking Bill from Seattle.
Annual Meet Set
The Sitka Historical Society will host its annual membership meeting 6:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Maksoutoff Room at Centennial Hall.
The program celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Marine Highway and will feature a documentary.
Photographs and artifacts from the museum’s collection also will be on display. Board elections, refreshments and an introduction will round out the evening. Direct questions to curator Hayley Chambers at 747-6455.
Museum Lists
Winter hours at the Sitka Historical Museum will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. starting Oct. 15.
The museum will be closed Sundays, Mondays and major winter holidays. Admission is $2 per person. Every form of support, whether it is a membership or a donation, is deeply appreciated and allows the Historical Society to continue to fulfill its mission to educate and engage the community, a spokesperson said.
Direct questions to curator Hayley Chambers at 747-6455.
Fill-the-Bus
Food Drive Set
Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Center For Community’s The RIDE (Sitka’s fixed-route public transit system) and Sitkans Against Family Violence are co-sponsoring the annual Fill-the-Bus food drive 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 12 at both AC Lakeside and Sea Mart.
Donations will be given to the food banks and commodity programs for STA’s Social Services and SAFV.
For more information call The RIDE at 747-7103.
Pool Closure
Blatchley pool will be closed at 4 p.m. on Oct. 11 through Sunday for the annual October Splash sponsored by the Baranof Barracuda Swim Club.
The pool will reopen Monday for regular hours. Call 747-5677 with questions.
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Location:Home > sneakers > April 27 at Seguin High School where she will be selling and signing books. For more information(2)
April 27 at Seguin High School where she will be selling and signing books. For more information(2)
Children Mouse Book Adventures about
"The Mouse Tails of Dewey Alowishus,” is the first children’s book by local author and educator Linda McKenna Hohertz.
Valerie Bustamante - Seguin Gazette
A little country mouse from Guadalupe County with sneakers, a ball cap and a backpack is on a mission to share all of his grand adventures with those who are interested.
The mouse, known as Dewey Alowishus is the fearless character from “The Mouse Tails of Dewey Alowishus,” the first children’s book by local author and educator Linda McKenna Hohertz.
In “The Mouse Tails of Dewey Alowishus,” the adventurous mouse leaves behind his mother and 13 siblings on the farm to join the McAfee family, who own the farm, on their vacation to the Gulf Coast. While on his trip, Dewey gets to experience places no mouse has visited before.
“It’s a real story based on a true happening. I came up with the idea for it when my husband and I decided we were taking my mother who was visiting on an adventure to the coast,” Hohertz said. “When we did this we loaded everything in the truck and we arrived at Kemah Boardwalk. We had so much fun because we loved the ocean and the water. We took in all the sights and amusement rides.”
Little did they know there was a stowaway on the trip.
“When we went to get back in the truck my mom got in on the passenger side and as she got in a mouse ran under her legs in the truck,” Hohertz said. “She rode all the way home with her legs up on the dashboard because she was afraid the mouse was underneath.”
After wanting to write a children’s book for quite some time, Hohertz said the little mouse gave her the right inspiration.
“Dewey is an adventurous mouse who wants to see places and experience them, but also take in the history and arts around him,” she said. “This first adventure he is able to go and experience all of these different things Mr. and Mrs. McAfee and their grandmother experience. He stays away, but experiences everything from getting to ride the old time train to riding on the carousel.”
When creating Dewey’s character, Hohertz said she wanted to make him different.
“It took me a little to come up with the inner traits of this little mouse. There have been many tales about mice,” she said. “However, in this case, I wanted him to be different in that he had this sense of innocence about him, sense of dedication to his family. I wanted that sense of morality in there also, but the curiosity.”
Parts of Dewey’s personality were inspired by Hohertz’s students at Vogel Elementary.
“He had to have that spark like so many children. I think it was like taking some of my children that I teach and blending them together in a little personality I could bring to life for them,” she said.
Overall, Hohertz spent two years working on “The Mouse Tails of Dewey Alowishus,” she said.
“There were so many things I needed to learn as I developed it. Of course, I wanted it to truly represent what I wanted to get out there,” Hohertz said. “As I began to develop the story then I kept adding to it.”
The attention of detail to the book’s illustrations was also an important part to her, Hohertz said.
“Even though I didn’t paint or draw them I developed them all personally. All of the details in the illustrations and ideas all came from me,” she said. “I wanted for that train in Galveston to have the date on it and that it was a Huntington model. The fish needed to be particular kinds of fish. There were all these steps I needed to take.”
Hohertz already has an idea of where she is ready to take Dewey next.
“He’ll probably be going to the national parks in Utah. There’s going to be rock climbing and petroglyphs,” she said. “He’s going to take his cousin from Houston from the inner city with him on this adventure. He’s a little rowdy, but Dewey is going to try to keep him in line.”
Hohertrz plans to showcase her book at the Matador Book Festival at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 27 at Seguin High School where she will be selling and signing books.
For more information, visit “The Mouse Tails of Dewey Alowishus” Facebook page or email Hohertz at mckennahohertz66@gmail.com.
“The Mouse Tails of Dewey Alowishus” is available for purchase at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and the Apple iTunes store.
Valerie Bustamante is a staff writer for the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail her at valerie.bustamante@seguingazette.com.
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Maharaj Shri
Spirituality:
Sadguru
Prarthna
The Need of a Guru
The Need of a Guru 2
Gurupurnima Mahotsava
Maharaj shri says:
We do need to look outside in search of spirituality; it’s in our very nature. Believe me all of you who have assembled here are spiritual by nature. That is why you have the privilege of being in the company of saints and receiving their blessings.
Spirituality makes an individual aware of his inherent powers; it is the knowledge of the soul, a journey which merges his individuality, his existence as one with supreme consciousness. You cannot experience spirituality through debate or discussion but only through intuitive experience. You can get motivated through listening and remembrance but you can never completely submerge yourself into his divine presence.
In reality only those individuals have a complete understanding of spirituality are honest, selfless, and compassionate and have rock solid faith in God. Today man has fallen from higher ideals and may be in future the situation can get worse. In such dire moments, he needs a Sadguru who can guide him in the right direction.
Today, everyday life has become so complicated and troublesome that a common man doesn’t even have time to think of higher ideals and whether his thoughts and actions are in the right direction. That is why whenever you come to me for the first time, I shower you with material pleasures so as to satisfy your unfulfilled desires and then I steer your life towards spirituality so that you can fulfill the goal of complete freedom that was ordained for this human existence
Spiritual activities structured under his holy presence:
Daily morning and evening yoga and meditation activities are organized at Aastha manch where disciples practice yoga and meditation techniques to help them control the vagaries of mind.
Sun salutation (Surya Namaskar): Prayers are offered to the Sun, source of all life energy on this planet earth at dawn after one has completed his daily ablutions to bless humanity with its divine force.
In the presence of Maharaj Shri Vedic mantras are recited as thankful offerings to various gods and goddesses, Mother Nature and then aarti is performed by all devotees and disciples to receive blessings from the divine presence of maharaj shri.
After aarti, devotees listen to Maharaj shri’s message so that they can contemplate and follow his teachings in daily life. This is then followed with bhajans (devotional songs) and mantra jaap (recital) to help a disciple gain concentration, inner peace and harmony.
Devotees then assemble at the temple premises to perform puja for various gods and goddesses.
There is also a strong emphasis on selfless offering of physical work as one of the methods to develop positive qualities of humility and perseverance. To preserve the environment and to maintain a spiritual atmosphere which can propel the mind towards positive thoughts, yagya and havans (fire ceremony) are organized as per vedic rituals. These fire ceremonies fill the entire atmosphere with divinity and energy
Maharaj shri’s extensive tours in various locations within India, devotees get an opportunity to receive his blessings and message that would help them channel their energies in the right direction.
These tours are organized for a period of 3-9 days and during this period religious ceremonies, cultural activities are also organized to motivate and educate today’s generation about Sanatan Dharma (universal principles proposed by saints as prescribed in the Vedas)
There is a Chinese saying; a man has three sides to his identity, one which he thinks he has, one what others think he has and the one that is true reflection of his nature. Spirituality is a process, a method that guides an individual to realize his true identity and the sole purpose for his existence. Spirituality is the science of the soul, a technique that helps grasp the power of the mind with acute discrimination to bring it face to face with awareness of the self.
The foundation for spirituality was laid since time immemorial when yogis started the search for a solution to the vagaries of mind, they discovered the power of prayer, concentration and meditation which helped them open the mysteries of the soul. They reflected on these eternal truths that were discovered during the process and applied them for the benefit of humanity as dharma meaning "the art of living".
It’s a common belief today that spirituality is only meant for old and worthless folks. This couldn’t be further away from truth. It is not necessary for a spiritual person to be a monk who has left the world for the woods. Individuals who are living in this world, performing their daily deeds are as spiritual.
"The first sign of your becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful"
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St Davids Family Practice
St David's Family Practice
Hadrian Way
Middlesex, TW19 7HE
See an NHS GP by Video with LIVI
Patients registered at St David's can now see an NHS GP by video using the LIVI app. See an NHS GP by video for medical advice, prescriptions or referrals.
Get the LIVI app in the app store or visit www.livi.co.uk
Appointments are available from:
Saturday-Sunday, 9am-12
Extra GP Appointments Available
It is now even easier for people to make an appointment with a GP, thanks to a new national ‘extended access’ initiative, which will improve access to primary care services in North West Surrey.
This means, in addition to being able to book GP appointments at your local practice, you will also have access to additional appointments during the evenings and at weekends at four locations across the local area.
The extra appointments are being provided by the GP federation that brings together all 40 GP practices in the local area and is known as North West Surrey Integrated Care Services.
By working together in a new and different way local GP practices will be improving access to primary care appointments, making it even easier for local people to get the care and advice they need, at a time that’s convenient to them.
These additional appointments will be available from 6-9pm on weekday evenings (including bank holidays) and from 9am to midday at weekends. Patients can book these appointments through their local GP practice.
As these extra appointments are provided from three GP surgeries in the area and The Bedser Hub in Woking, the GP or clinician will have access to your medical record, with your consent, giving them access to all the information they would need to provide the best possible care.
The additional appointments will be provided at the following locations – and patients in North West Surrey can book appointments at any of these sites:
The Red Practice – Walton Health Centre (Rodney Road, Walton-on-Thames, KT12 3LB)
Studholme Medical Centre (50 Church Road, Ashford, TW15 2TU)
Sunbury Health Centre (Green Street, Sunbury-on-Thames, TW16 6RH)
The Bedser Hub, Woking Community Hospital (Heathside Road, Woking, GU22 7HS)
Initially, these extra appointments will be provided by local GPs but from October there are plans to extend this service to also include nurse-led clinics, blood tests, physiotherapy assessments and digital consultations (which includes online face to face consultations via a patient smartphone).
For more information about this new service and the North West Surrey Integrated Care Services federation see https://www.nicsfed.co.uk/
Welcome to St David's Family Practice
With patients' needs at the heart of everything we do, our website has been designed to make it easy for you to gain instant access to the information you need. As well as specific practice details such as opening hours and how to register, you’ll find a wealth of useful pages covering a wide range of health issues along with links to other relevant medical organisations.
Flu Campaign Winter 2018-2019
Vacccines for both adults and children are now available. If you are unsure if you qualify for a free vaccine, or should have one due to medical issues, please ask our Staff
Shingles Vaccination
Are you aged between 70 and 79?
If so you may be entitled to the Shingles Vaccine. Please contact reception to check eligibility and book an appointment.
Further information regarding this vaccine can be found at :-
Pneumococcal Vaccination
Over 65s are entitled to the Pneumococcal Vaccination
Please contact reception to book an appointment
GDPR:
GDPR Privacy Notice please click on the link:
For more information regarding GDPR please click on the link provided:
https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/
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Tamil Movie Chinna Veedu Year 1985
Starring : K. Bhagyaraj, Kalpana, Anu, Kovai Sarala, Chakri Toleti
Director : K. Bhagyaraj
Producer : C. K. Kannan, .M. K. Ramachandran
Music Director : Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography B. R. Vijayalakshmi
Edited by A. Selvanathan
Production company Jaya Vijaya Movies
Distributed by Sharanya Cine Combines
Release date 11 November 1985
Source 01:
Watch Tamil Full Movie Chinna Veedu Player 1
Chinna Veedu is a 1985 Tamil film written and directed by K. Bhagyaraj. Madanagopal is a bachelor who has great dreams about his future wife. He imagines a girl to be his dream girl who has all sorts of beauty right from head to foot. But his parents arrange marriage with a girl Bhagyalakshmi without his consent.
Gopal shocks on seeing the photograph of his future wife as she is a fat, ugly and uncultured and not even near to his expectations of his dream girl according to him.
On the day of marriage he runs away from the marriage hall and because of which marriage stops. Gopal parents find him and make him to marry her as their daughter needs to marry the brother of bride.
Tamil Movie Chinna Veedu Year 1985 | Tamilo.com Watch Tamil TV Serial Shows Online and Tamil Videos
Tamil Movie Chinna Veedu Year 1985 Starring : K. Bhagyaraj, Kalpana, Anu, Kovai Sarala, Chakri Toleti Director : K. Bhagyaraj Producer : C. K.
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January 6, 2019 adminjr10
Introduction:-
So far we have considered a 2-winding transformer as a means for changing the level of a given voltage to a desired voltage level. It may be recalled that a 2-winding transformer has two separate magnetically coupled coils with no electrical connection between them. In this lesson we shall show that change of level of voltage can also be done quite effectively by using a single coil only. The idea is rather simple to understand. Suppose you have a single coil of 200 turns (= NBC) wound over a iron core as shown in figure 27.1. If we apply an a.c voltage of 400 V, 50 Hz to the coil (between points B and C), voltage per turn will be 400/200 = 2 V. If we take out a wire from one end of the coil say C and take out another wire tapped from any arbitrary point E, we would expect some voltage available between points E and C. The magnitude of the voltage will obviously be 2 × NEC where NEC is the number of turns between points E and C. If tapping has been taken in such a way that NEC = 100, voltage between E and C would be 200 V. Thus we have been able to change 400 V input voltage to a 200 V output voltage by using a single coil only. Such transformers having a single coil with suitable tapings are called auto-transformers.
It is possible to connect a conventional 2-winding transformer as an auto-transformer or one can develop an auto-transformer as a single unit.
2-winding transformer as Auto-transformer:-
Suppose we have a single phase 200V/100V, 50Hz, 10kVA two winding transformer with polarity markings. Then the coils can be connected in various ways to have voltage ratios other than 2 also, Here the LV and the HV sides are connected in additive series. For rated applied voltage (100V) across the LV winding, 200V must be induced across the HV winding. So across the whole combination we shall get a voltage of 300V.
Thus the input voltage is stepped up by a factor of 3 (300 V/100 V). Now how much current can be supplied to a load at 300 V? From the given rating of the transformer we know, IHV rated = 50 A and ILV rated = 100 A. Therefore for safe operation of the transformer, these rated currents should not be exceeded in HV and LV coils. Since the load is in series with the HV coil, 50A current can be safely supplied. But a current of 50A in the HV demands that the LV winding current must be 100A and in a direction as shown, in order to keep the flux in the core constant. Therefore by applying KCL at the junction, the current drawn from the supply will be 150A. Obviously the kVA handled by the transformer is 30 kVA and without overloading either of the windings. It may look a bit surprising because as a two winding transformer its rating is only 10 kVA. The explanation is not far to seek. Unlike a two winding transformer, the coils here are connected electrically. So the kVA transferred from supply to the load side takes place both inductively as well as conductively – 10kVA being transferred inductively and remaining 20kVA transferred conductively. The other connections shown in (b), (c) and (d) of figure 27.2 can similarly explained and left to the reader to verify.
Auto-Transformer as a Single Unit:-
where the constructional features of an auto-transformer is shown. The core is constructed by taking a rectangular long strip of magnetic material (say CRGO) and rolled to give the radial thickness. Over the core, a continuous single coil is wound the free terminals of which are marked as C and A. A carbon brush attached to a manually rotating handle makes contact with different number of turns and brought out as a terminal, marked E. The number of turns between E & C, denoted by NEC can be varied from zero to a maximum of total number of turns between A & C i.e, NAC. The output voltage can be varied smoothly from zero to the value of the input voltage simply by rotating the handle in the clockwise direction.
This type of auto-transformers are commercially known as varic or dimmerstat and is an important piece of equipment in any laboratory.
Now we find that to change a given voltage V1 to another level of voltage V2 and to transfer a given KVA from one side to the other, we have two choices namely by using a Two Winding Transformer or by using an Auto-transformer. There are some advantages and disadvantages associated with either of them. To understand this aspect let us compare the two types of transformers in equal terms. Let,
It may be noted that in case of an auto-transformer, the portion EC is common between the primary and the secondary. At loaded condition current flowing through NEC is (I2 – I1). Therefore, compared to a two winding transformer lesser cross sectional area of the conductor in the portion EC can be chosen, thereby saving copper. We can in fact find out the ratio of amount of copper required in two types of transformers noting that the volume of copper required will be proportional to the product of current and the number of turns of a particular coil. This is because, length of copper wire is proportional to the number of turns and crossectional area of wire is proportional to the current value i.e.,
Volume of copper ∝ length of the wire × cross sectional area of copper wire
∝ N × I
= 1-1/a where, a is the turns ratio. Here we have assumed that N1 is greater than N2 i.e., a is greater than 1. The savings will of course be appreciable if the value of a is close to unity. For example if a = 1.2, copper required for auto-transformer will be only 17% compared to a two winding transformer, i.e, saving will be about 83%. On the other hand, if a = 2, savings will be only 50%. Therefore, it is always economical to employ auto-transformer where the voltage ratio change is close to unity. In fact auto-transformers could be used with advantage, to connect two power systems of voltages say 11 kV and 15 kV.
Three similar single units of auto-transformers could connected as shown in the figure 27.6 to get variable balanced three phase output voltage from a fixed three phase voltage. Such connections are often used in the laboratory to start 3-phase induction motor at reduced voltage.
Apart from being economical, auto-transformer has less leakage flux hence improved regulation. Copper loss in the common portion of the winding will be less, so efficiency will be slightly more. However its one major disadvantage is that it can not provide isolation between HV and LV side. In fact, due to an open circuit in the common portion between E & C, the voltage on the load side may soot up to dangerously high voltage causing damage to equipment. This unexpected rise in the voltage on the LV side is potentially dangerous to the personnel working on the LV side
Electrical Eng., Transformer
auto, log, transformer
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January 24, 2019 adminjr10
When two synchronous generators are connected in parallel, they have an inherent tendency to remain in step, on account of the changes produced in their armature currents by a divergence of phase. Consider identical machines 1 and 2, in parallel and working on to the same load. With respect to the load, their e.m.fs are normally in phase: with respect to the local circuit formed by the two armature windings, however, their e.m.fs are in phase-opposition.
Suppose there to be no external load. If machine 1 for some reason accelerates, its e.m.f. will draw ahead of that of machine 2. The resulting phase difference 2δ causes e.m.fs to lose phase-opposition in the local circuit so that there is in effect a local e.m.f Es which will circulate a current Is in the local circuit of the two armatures. The current Is flows in the synchronous impedance of the two machines together, so that it lags by θ = arc tan(xs/r) ≈ 90◦ on Es on account of the preponderance of reactance inZsIs therefore flows out of machine 1 nearly in phase with the e.m.f., and enters 2 in opposition to the e.m.f. Consequently machine 1 produces a power Ps ≈ E1Is as a generator, and supplies it (I2R losses excepted) to 2 as a synchronous motor. The synchronizing power Ps tends to retard the faster machine 1 and accelerate the slower, 2, pulling the two back into step. Within the limits of maximum power, there-fore, it is not possible to destroy the synchronous running of two synchronous generators in parallel, for a divergence of their angular positions results in the production of synchronizing power, which loads the forward machine and accelerates the backward machine to return the two to synchronous running.
The development of synchronizing power depends on the fact that the armature impedance is preponderating reactive. If it were not, the machines could not operate stably in parallel: for the circulating current Is would be almost in phase- quadrature with the generated e.m.f.’s, and would not contribute any power to slow the faster or speed up the slower machine.
When both machines are equally loaded pn to an external circuit, the synchronizing power is developed in the same way as on no load, the effect being to reduce the load of the slower machine at the same time as that of the faster machine is increased. The conditions, where I1, I2 are the equal load currents of the two machines before the
occurrence of phase displacement, and I1′ , I2′ are the currents as changed by the circulation of the synchronizing current Is.
The argument above has been applied to identical machines. Actually, it is not essential for them to be identical, nor to have equal excitations nor power supplies.
In general, the machines will have different synchronous impedance Zs1, Zs2; different e.m.f.’s E1 and E2 and different speed regulations. The governors of prime movers are usually arranged so that a reduction of the speed of the prime mover is necessary for the increase of the power developed. Unless the governor speed/load characteristics are identical the machines can never share the total load in accordance with their ratings. The governor character-istics take the form. If the two are not the same, the load will be shared in accordance with the relative load values at the running speed, for synchronous machines must necessarily run at identical speeds.
Electrical Eng., Synchronous Motor
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Jon Acuff
You broke my burrito! and 2 other moments I stink at giving people grace.
Sometimes I like to think I’m good at this grace thing.
Mostly this happens after I have listened to the song “Oceans” by Hillsong United. Having been hit with the audio waves of that fantastic chorus 92 times, I take my headphones out and make some strong declarations.
“This is it! I’m going to show other people grace! I am going to walk on water and be bold and brave and yay #TeamGrace!”
I don’t pronounce the word “Hashtag” out loud because I’m not 13 but in that moment, I do get ready to live with so much grace.
Until, I run into these three situations and realize I stink at grace:
1. When someone walks across an intersection I’m at and doesn’t hustle.
You see me. I know you see me waiting in my car for you to finish crossing. We’re making eye contact and I swear you actually slowed down. Why did you choose this moment to go all desert tortoise on me? Can’t you at the bare minimum do that awkward “intersection run/walk” gallop we all do when we realize a car is waiting for us to go? Is that too much to ask? I’m sure that when someone crossed in front of Jesus’ donkey he blessed them, but I’m not there yet. I’m not “make whip angry” which is the only level of anger Christians think they can have, but I’m not giving you much grace right this second.
2. When you poorly wrap my burrito.
I see a fissure right there. Before you’ve even encased it in the outer protective shell of aluminum foil, I can see a fault line developing along the southern hemisphere of my burrito. That crack is only going to get bigger. The second I bite into it my burrito is going to transform into a burrito bowl, collapsing under the weight of the Mexican goodness packed within. I don’t want you to start over, but a double wrap feels necessary. And if it’s not a split, the other crime against burritomanity is when one end isn’t properly closed. The bottom of the burrito is supposed to be the best bite. That’s where all the fantastic collects as you eat it from the top, sending flavors and salsas and quesos to the bottom creating one last super bite. But you didn’t seal it right so it looks like a busted flower, akin to the times bugs bunny put something at the end of Elmer Fudd’s shotgun and it exploded in his face. Jesus might forgive you, but I don’t.
3. When someone is slow to get off a plane.
Clearly I am not withholding grace from someone who has a legitimate reason to get off planes slowly. I am talking about people who act surprised that we have touched down and that there are 324 people behind them who would like to leave the plane now. We dropped 30,000 feet out of the sky. How did you miss that the earth, the very planet we inhabit, was getting closer to us? Remember that moment when the wheels squealed and it felt like we were on ground? It felt like that because we are. All of us. I’m not expecting you to exit the plane as fast as me. I’m like the Michael Jordan of leaving planes. I’m a pro. I would just like you to not gather items one by one, like some game of airplane pick up sticks. On the flip side of this one is the person who doesn’t have a connection to make but still jumps up and sprints as far as they can go down the aisle as soon as the plane lands. I’m not sure Jesus has ever been on a plane, though I do know he takes the wheel of cars, but I’m pretty even he would not be cool with that move. We all want to get off the plane Usain Bolt. There’s a widely accepted unwritten rule that you get off aisle by aisle. Accept it.
Do those things make me sound petty? I hope so because the goal of this post was to say, “Yes I am petty.” And prone to thinking the stupidest things while waiting for a burrito to be made.
Turns out I still stink at grace. I was going to say that I suck at it but then I’d have to enter into a long email exchange about my usage of that word. I would look up the Germanic roots, writing a detailed response that it was initially a farming term. You would argue it’s a swear and that I’m going to get a sofa bed in hell. And then I wouldn’t give you grace. So full circle. Let’s avoid that. Let’s instead go with the much safer, yet just as obvious statement, “I stink at grace.”
What’s one situation in life where you realize you’re not great at giving people grace?
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Steve Martin says
None of us are really quite up to it…this “grace” thing.
But we have our moments (good and bad).
But our Lord is up to it. And continues to lavish upon us His grace…no matter how many times we might “stink” at it.
I stink at grace when it comes to my job the most. Working at a donut shop with a drive thru is probably not the smartest idea. Especially considering that we lose points on our restaurant visits by how much time you spend in the drive thru and people need us to go through every single listing of coffee and donuts we carry.. sometimes even twice. I also stink at it when we’ve got customers at the front register who literally take 5 minutes to choose one donut (or twelve) as if it were the absolute most important decision of the day. That one really kicks up when there’s also a line of ten people behind them giving me the impatient staredown..
There, see what I mean? I stink at it too.
Victoria says
My biggest pet peeve is when people argue about something that’s petty like which day of the week they went to some concert 7 years ago. Just tell me about the concert, I really don’t care if it was Friday or Tuesday.
But then… I sometimes do the same thing.
Lord help me.
How about the people that stop in front of the exit door at church to get some fellowship on– all the while ignoring the bottle neck they’ve created of people who actually want to leave?
Or the people who sent “K” text messages?
My favorite, the SLOW phone talker. Spit it out, buddy. I don’t have all day.
Me? Struggle with grace? Nahhhhh.
Brandon J says
I have no grace for checkers that talk to everyone around us BUT me. Hi! Let’s focus here. Or the ones that read the packages as they scan them.
Also drivers that don’t maintain a speed. If you pass me or I pass you, I DO NOT want to see you again, once was enough, Thank You!
Kerry sharp says
mmm burrito
When people make out that they are listening but then go right ahead and act like they’ve not heard a word I’ve said. Fastest way to get me irritable. Man I hate it when that happens so much. The worse thing is that I do it all the time…
B. Weaver says
I love so much of this, and it reminded me to check this website with more frequency. I laughed out loud, which is rare when I’m reading something.
As for grace, I lack it for everything. The most stupid thing? I get frustrated when people take too long to finish their sentences or thoughts. I often end up mad-libbing them by just throwing out adjectives or nouns in hopes of speeding up the process. Yeah, I should probably work on that one.
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Strive Masiyiwa Closes Uganda TV Station Deal
World Cup Boosts Kwesé Iflix Usage
KWESÉ Brings All 64 World Cup Matches Live On TV And Mobile
Kwese Finally Awarded Broadcasting Rights
Econet Distances Self From Zimbabwe Football TV Rights
Zimbabwe’s wealthiest man , Strive Masiyiwa, has finally closed a deal to buy troubled Wavah Broadcasting Services (WBS) television from its owner . WBS TV Station was once the most viewed in the country had over time declined and gone down the drain before being put under URA’s management.
According to the The EastAfrican, the industry regulator , the Uganda Communications Commission and the Uganda Broadcasting Council have given the green light to the takeover by Strive Masiyiwa, ending WBS’s nearly two decades of ownership of Ugandan entrepreneur Gordon Wavamunno.
WBS required capital injection of at least $566,881 (Ush2 billion) to turn it around.
The procurement of WBS TV suggests that all 90 employees at the station will have to re-apply for their jobs. Many have chosen not to, having joined the station without the required academic rigor that Econet Media call for.
In an email to staff, Masiyiwa noted; “we are not trying to relieve you of your jobs, all we ask is that you just re-apply as procedures at Kwese TV dictate. We shall give all of you our former employees first priority as long as you meet the requirements of this new vision.”
“As a result of this development, WBS Limited will cease to operate as a public broadcaster on 14th December 2016 in line with the undertakings made to the industry regulator…Therefore I regret that all the company’s existing contracts will have to be terminated by that date,” the receiver wrote.
Reports have suggested that the station may be renamed Kwese Tv which telecasts free live sports activities both on TV sets and mobile gadgets.
A renowned and loved entrepreneur, Masiyiwa who now is based in London, England, says his Econet group is “one of a small, but rapidly growing number of global companies from Africa that are at the forefront of ensuring that the voice of African business is heard at major international gatherings.
Related Topics:Econet Media, featured, Uganda Broadcasting Council , Uganda Communications Commission, Wavah Broadcasting Services, WBS TV Station
How To Build A Good Gaming Laptop
#ComicFriday :SURGE -Superhero Switch-Ups
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New iPhone 5 Review | Features | Price
Admin Gadgets, Google, Interesting Facts, Latest, Mobiles, New features 0
For Price details – Click Here!
The Waiting is Over and the new iPhone 5 is here. The “iPhone 5 is the world’s thinnest smartphone,” Schiller said. And is also 20% lighter than the previous iPhone 4S.
The new iPhone 5 has a 4-inch “retina” display and has ability to surf at a high-speed 4G LTE network. Hence the
main complain by many of the previous iPhone users were that it has a smaller Screen and thus Apple has made
the Screen to 4 – inches. The Apple iPhone 5 also features a retina display and the screen will have a 1136 x 640
screen resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio.
And according to Schiller, the iPhone 5 has a better battery life than the previous iPhone 4S. While like the iPhone 4S, it features an 8 MP camera, it is 25% smaller. The iPhone 5 will run on a quad-core Cortex A6 processor. And Apple claims that this processor will make the device twice as fast as its predecessor. That Sounds really Wow right! Its gonna be twice as fast as the previous iPhone. And it Has also introduced a new-design for it earphones.
And the Other main thing to be noted is that the new iPhone 5 will run on Apple’s new OS that is the iOS 6 in which the audio system has also been updated and thus its gonna include 3 microphones.
The iPhone 5 is first launched at countries Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK. And in a week or sonner, the iPhone will be available in 22 more countries.
For the pricing details Given by Apple – Click Here!
Price of new iPhone 5 in India Motorola FlipOut – Flip Android Mobile with Touch & Qwerty
Google, Internet Tricks, New features, Uncategorized
Gadgets, How to, Smart Watch, Useful Stuff
How to Pick the Best Smartwatch for your Needs
Apps, Business, Digital, Impact, Latest, Mobiles
How is Mobile Technology Controlling Business?
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Court Finds Copyright Violations In Watching UFC Pay-Per-Piew Events on Free Internet Website, Awards $12,000 in Damages against Person who Watched Events and Failed to Pay $90 in Charges
The entertainment industry has struggled to keep up with technology and the growth of internet sites which make copyrighted material available for public use without charge. The music industry won a round in this continuing struggle when a federal judge shut down the popular music swapping site Napster, noting that the site encourages “wholesale infringement” of music industry copyrights.
A Federal Court Judge in New York now has levied a significant monetary judgment against a person who viewed two Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events on his home computer without paying the pay-per-view fee charged for the two events. In Zuffa LLC v. Pryce, the Court found that an individual watched the two UFC events on his home computer through the internet site Greenfeedz. Zuffa, the plaintiff and owner of the copyrights to UFC broadcasts, brought suit after it apparently obtained IP addresses of unauthorized viewers through subpoena in another federal court lawsuit. Zuffa then traced the use of Pryce’s home computer to his IP address at Time Warner.
The Court awarded $6,000 in damages and $5,948 in attorneys’ fees for the copyright violations. The per event pay-per-view fee was $45.
Copyright Law, Copyright Violation, Entertainment Law, UFC
Intern or Employee? Know the difference or suffer the consequences
Court Finds that Employee was not Terminated based on Pregnancy
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Sleep Clinic - A Counterpoint To The Geometric Lattices of Reality
The Brvtalist is proud to present a new mix from Sleep Clinic. On the heels of the artist's latest release, Stray Light I + II, out now on Total Black, this mix is a deep, twisting odyssey that showcases the bloodline of the some of the best new material in electronic music. From the artist:
This 4 hour mix is an extension and supplement to showcase Total Black's most recent batch of releases, including bonus material from Stray Light, and also an extension of the moods and atmospheres of the topography of the future as I have sensed it for most of my life.
I have always been fascinated by this topic [Stray Light] and its definition, and its (dis)function. This subtle kind of ghostly presence that is injecting havoc on data and perception. Stray light is a phenomenon which occurs in natural and artificial optical systems where light has deviated from its source. It's an unintended, eerie artifact, an error of sorts that can disrupt the design of a given system in many ways. This light that has gone astray, wandered, floated away into new pathways, in a sense becoming a new source separate from its original source, can be measured with software, the measurements translated into new data, the new data interpreted into data of adjustment and correction...that new data can theoretically be transformed into synthesized audio information. In other words, light turned into sound: visual-audio alchemy.
The poetic, surreal, paradoxical quality of this idea of light slithering, flowing away like water, like fog, hovering beyond its original design source as if it were a curious animal or a ghost who has grown tired of haunting its previous domain as well as the notion of alchemically transmuting light into sound through data processing, has many profound, imagination exploding possibilities. If this light can be processed into data, the data into synthesized sound, what if fictional, imaginary instruments could then be constructed via this synthesis? What would this orchestra, this ensemble of digitized ghost light sound like? Would the compositions culled from the digital ghost light create new pathways, possibilities of deviation in the mind of the listener? Could this create "stray sound" in the imagination of the listener, independent from its source, just as the ghost of stray light wandered from its source and became new data to be turned into sound in the computer?
This was the creative catalyst of my new double album, Stray Light. Data was gathered from stray light measurements, and this data was then, through synthesis and sound design, turned into patches (individual sounds) to be programed, arranged, sequenced and played back through the Elektron Analog4, an instrument perfectly suited for improvisational synth work. The effect of these improvised compositions yielded interesting, bizarre results. The ultra technical conceptual impetus of Stray Light lies in the heavy esoterica of math and engineering, but the manipulation and playfulness of the process of composing music with the synthesized data is more like drawing, painting, or sculpting. The resulting compositions are auditory daydreams, sonic ghosts liberated from their old cobwebs and shadows, eerie chamber music heard in the background while gazing into alien crystal balls, or abstract Muzak for corridors and waiting rooms in cities of the far future whose inhabitants aren't sure if they're light that has gone astray, ghosts set free to haunt new places, or both.
-Sleep Clinic (March 2017, Los Angeles)
Stray Light I + II by Sleep Clinic
SLEEP CLINIC - STRAY LIGHT I & II
Label: Total Black
Format: Cassette, Album, File
Released: 21 Dec 2016
Style: Ambient, Minimal
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Bristol UA/City
This is a modern unit which was reported on by the 2011 census. Most of our historical statistics were originally gathered for units with quite different boundaries. To give you a clear picture of long-run change, we have used our detailed information on boundaries and population distribution to redistrict the historical statistics to the modern units. More details here.
Statistical comparisons will be made with Gwynedd (change comparison)
How many people were at school. The distribution of graduates, and of the unqualified.
Numbers of babies born. Deaths, especially infant deaths. Causes of death by age and gender.
Unemployment rates and poor relief. What proportions of men and of women did paid work?
Total Population 1801 to 2011: Population grew from 59,526 in 1801 to 428,234 in 2011.
Age Structure, in 5-year bands, from 1861 to 2011: In 1861, only 4.67 per cent of the population were aged 65 and over, but by 2011 13.05 per cent were.
Infant Mortality Rate 1861 to 2011: The highest rate recorded was 153.4 infant deaths per thousand live births in 1861, and the lowest was 3.1 in 2011.
Changing Industrial Structure 1841 to 2011: In 1841, 38.33 per cent of all workers worked in manufacturing, but in 2011 this had fallen to 5.74 per cent.
Male Unemployment from 1931 to 2011: The highest male unemployment rate recorded by the census was 14.05 per cent in 1991, and the lowest was 1.62 in 1961.
Precentage of workforce with degrees 1951 to 2011: In 1951, only 2.238 per cent of occupied males had stayed in education past age 20, but in 2011 32.78 per cent of the population had degree-level qualifications.
Proportion of male workers with professional and managerial jobs, from 1951 to 2011: In 1951, 17.01 per cent of men had these generally better paid jobs, and in 2011 this had risen to 25.51 per cent.
Over-crowded housing, from 1911 to 2011: In 1911, 18.5 per cent of people were living in households with over 1.5 persons per room, but in 2011 this had fallen to 1.3 per cent.
We have created these time series for the modern local authority area by using a Geographical Information System to re-district statistics for a variety of historical units which covered the same area.
Census of Population (2001 Key Statistics)
Bristol UA/City, Gloucestershire
BRISTOL Preferred English Census of Population (2001 Key Statistics)
BRISTOL CITY OF Alternate English Census of Population (2011 Key Statistics)
CITY OF BRISTOL Alternate English Census of Population (2001 Key Statistics)
00HB Code: Office for National Statistics English Census of Population (2001 Key Statistics)
We know of no associations with other units.
SOUTH WEST Government Office Region Census of Population (2001 Key Statistics)
BRISTOL CfC Primary Urban Area Centre for Cities, Primary Urban Areas: Spatial definitions
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Bristol UA/City through time | Census tables with data for the District/Unitary Authority, A Vision of Britain through Time.
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9 with a long trip to Miami next, then a weeklong stay in Orlando and a trip to Chicago coming up, the Niners have an
EDMONTON, Alta -- The Minnesota Wild lost the first three games of their five-game road trip. Jeremy Hill Jersey .But as they prepare to play the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, Minnesotas coach and players said they feel like they should have come out with something more.All three were one-goal losses, including Friday 3-2 shootout loss to Calgary, and two came in the shootout.In each of the Wilds last five games, they scored first. So, its not like Minnesota is struggling badly. Its more of a case of small mistakes costing them points.Weve just got to get sharper, said Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk, who played 171 games as an Edmonton Oiler. Were a great hockey team. We talk about that in the room. Just because were a great hockey team doesnt mean its just going to happen for us. We have to go out there and be great. We have a lot of guys in this room that can do that. Its a long season. I have no doubt well get back to where we were.If the Wild could get some goals from their top line, they could turn narrow losses into victories. Coach Bruce Boudreau has been very critical of his top unit of Charlie Coyle, Zach Parise and Eric Staal. The trio didnt get a point against Calgary, and generated only four shots on goal.They were pointless in Tuesdays 5-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.(They) werent very good, Boudreau said of his top three. Theyve got to get going on their own. We can prod them, but in the end, we need those guys to be our best players or were not going to have success.The Oilers won only their second home game in their last seven on Saturday, a 3-2 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Leon Draisaitl scored the winner and has three goals in his last two games. Connor McDavid, the NHLs leader with 34 points, had his seven-game point streak snapped, but still has 15 points in his last eight outings.Sometimes it takes a little while to build chemistry and feel really comfortable with guys, Draisaitl said. We had some good looks (against the Ducks) and had the tough matchups.Oilers coach Todd McLellan is looking to get more out of the Oilers power play on home ice. It has been Jekyll-and-Hyde this season. On the road, it has a 26.8 percent success rate, but its only 12.6 at home.The Oilers got a power-play goal in Saturdays win, though, and another just as an Anaheim penalty was expiring. So the coach is hoping the team is snapping out of its home-ice funk.Weve moved a few people around and encouraged them to throw more pucks at the net, but tactically and systematically, there is not a lot of difference, McLellan said. They are just going in. We were in the crapper with the power play and now we are starting to come out of it and we need to keep it rolling.This will be the first meeting of the season between the Wild and Oilers. Boomer Esiason Jersey . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. Alex Erickson Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. http://www.cheapbengalsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-dre-kirkpatrick-jersey . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. NFL Nation reporters detail the biggest storylines -- and what they mean going forward -- for every team coming out of Week 11.?AFC East | AFC North| AFC South | AFC West NFC East | NFC North | NFC South | NFC WestAFC EASTBuffalo Bills?(5-5)The Bills snapped their three-game losing streak with a 16-12 win Sunday over the Bengals, but the victory did little to inspire confidence that Buffalo can make the playoffs. The Bills still have to win five of their final six games to finish with a 10-6 record and have a realistic shot at the postseason. With RB LeSean McCoy (thumb) and WR Robert Woods (knee) exiting Sundays game, the Bills dont seem to be healthy enough to mount a late-season winning streak. -- Mike RodakWeek 12: vs. Jacksonville, Sunday,?1 p.m. ETMiami Dolphins?(6-4)Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill is suddenly developing a clutch gene at the right time. Tannehill has had three game-winning or game-tying touchdown drives during Miamis five-game winning streak, including Sundays touchdown throw to receiver DeVante Parker in a 14-10 win over the Rams. This bodes well for Miami (6-4), which is in the thick of the playoff race with six games remaining. -- James WalkerWeek 12: vs. San Francisco, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETNew England Patriots?(8-2)A rainbow formed over Levis Stadium as Tom Brady was kneeling on the ball to close out a 30-17 victory over the 49ers. The win capped off Bradys happy homecoming on a day when a notable Patriots road crowd chanted Brady! at various points during the action. Brady was once again the key by making two remarkable plays on his third and fourth TD throws, but if the Patriots are to discover the pot of gold at the end of the season in the form of a Super Bowl championship, they know their still-in-transition defense will need to play more consistently.?-- Mike ReissWeek 12: at New York Jets, Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ETNew York Jets?(3-7)On Monday, Todd Bowles will announce his quarterback decision: Ryan Fitzpatrick or Bryce Petty. Fitzpatrick gives them the best chance to beat the Patriots on Sunday, if his sprained knee is OK. Petty needs time to audition for the 2017 job. The Jets are out of contention, so it makes sense to play Petty. But Bowles could be stubborn, trying to squeeze every win he can out of this season. -- Rich CiminiWeek 12: vs. New England, Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ETAFC NORTHBaltimore Ravens?(5-5)The Ravens are going to need CB Jimmy Smith to return from a back injury in order to make a strong playoff run. In six full quarters without Smith, Baltimore has allowed quarterbacks to produce a 126.9 passer rating, and teams have completed 75 percent of their passes for five touchdowns and one interception. The Ravens might get a break Sunday against the Bengals, who could be without receiver A.J. Green (hamstring). If were going to fight for our playoff lives, you want your biggest horses running the Kentucky Derby, Terrell Suggs said of getting back Smith. -- Jamison HensleyWeek 12: vs.?Cincinnati, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETCincinnati Bengals?(3-6-1)With A.J. Green potentially out for the season with a hamstring injury, the Bengals outlook on offense looks bleak. Theyre still mathematically in the playoff hunt after the Ravens lost on Sunday, but their offense must take a giant step forward if they want to have any shot at the AFC North. Green is their best playmaker, so its hard to imagine they would be able to right the ship without him. -- Katherine TerrellWeek 12: at Baltimore, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETCleveland Browns?(0-11)Cody Kesslers second concussion in five games makes the rest of his season iffy. The Browns likely will go back to Josh McCown as the starter Sunday against the Giants. Robert Griffin III has yet to be cleared for full contact. -- Pat McManamonWeek 12: vs. New York Giants, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETPittsburgh Steelers?(5-5)The Steelers found something on offense that will translate on the road: pound the ball with LeVeon Bell, starting Thursday night against the Colts. Pittsburgh controlled the pace against the Browns with Bells 28 carries for 146 yards. We need to finish drives and we need to get the ball in the hands of No. 26, said right tackle?Marcus Gilbert. The Steelers still need a consistent No. 2 receiving option behind Antonio Brown, but Bells 201 total yards plus the defenses eight sacks equals a good day for the Steelers, who got their first win in 42 days. -- Jeremy FowlerWeek 12: at Indianapolis, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ETAFC SOUTHHouston Texans?(6-3)Heading into the Texans Monday night game against the Raiders, all eyes will be on QB Brock Osweiler. In order to beat the 7-2 Raiders, Osweiler will likely need to play better than he did last week, when he threw for just 99 yards. -- Sarah BarshopWeek 12: vs. San Diego, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETIndianapolis Colts?(5-5)The Colts have a short week to prepare for a Pittsburgh team that has embarrassed them in the past two meetings, when the Steelers beat them by a combined 52 points. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was 64-of-88 for 886 yards with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in those games. -- Mike WellsWeek 12: vs.?Pittsburgh, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ETJacksonville Jaguars?(2-8)The Jaguars varied the script on Sunday, but they still ended up in the same place: with another loss. They forced turnovers for the first time since Week 4, played with a lead in the fourth quarter for the first time since Week 6 and held Detroit to just 14 yards rushing. But a pick-six -- Blake Bortles 10th of the season -- a punt return for a TD and SenDerrick Marks jumping offside on fourth down sealed their 20th loss in their past 22 road games. -- Mike DiRoccoWeek 12:?at Buffalo, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETTennessee Titans?(5-6)The Titans shift from a familiar opponent to an unfamiliar opponent -- after losing to to the Colts, Tennessee travels to Chicago. If the Titans can pressure Jay Cutler the way they pressured Andrew Luck -- on nearly half his dropbacks -- they would figure to have far better defensive success. They also need to work on flat starts on offense, which really hurt them in their most recent losses at San Diego and at Indianapolis. -- Paul KuharskyWeek 12: at Chicago, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETAFC WESTDenver Broncos?(7-3)The Broncos return to work Monday after their bye and will be as healthy as they were in September, but on the field, they have to find an answer for the offensive line. They havent protected QB Trevor Siemian well enough, and their 3.7 yards per carry was near the bottom of the league when this weekends games began. One of the solutions they have considered is whether to rotate players, especially at guard during games. The Broncos like to put seven offensive linemen in uniform on game days and have given some thought to moving players in and out of the lineup during games to try and find the combinations that work best. If they can play even slightly better than before, the Broncos can keep themselves in the race for their sixth consecutive division title. -- Jeff LegwoldWeek 12: vs. Kansas City, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET?Kansas City Chiefs?(7-3)The loss to the Buccaneers is something new, but the Chiefs problems on Sunday included an underachieving offense and a defense that struggled to get the opponent off the field, both of which have been ongoing for some time. Kansas City won its two previous games despite playing the same way, and now it has caught up to them. The Chiefs have a lot to fix before next Sunday nights matchup against the Broncos in Denver. The list is so long its reasonable to wonder whether they can pull everything in a weeks time. -- Adam TeicherWeek 12: at Denver, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET?Oakland Raiders?(7-2)Los Malosos estan en Mexico City. Translation: The Bad Boys are in Mexico City. But you already knew that, right? The Raiders jump right out of their bye week, which began after a prime-time beating of the defending champion Broncos, and into another nationally televised affair -- this time on ESPNs Monday Night Football against the Texans. Estadio Azteca sits more than 7,300 feet above sea level, so altitude will be a concern for both teams -- as if they wont be breathless enough from watching civil rights icon Tommie Smith light the Al Davis Torch before the game. Smiths raised-fist salute in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics transcended sport. -- Paul GutierrezWeek 12: vs. Carolina, Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET?San Diego Chargers?(4-6)After giving his players the week off, Chargers head coach Mike McCoy will hold practice at Chargers Park on Monday. McCoy is hopeful to get a handful of players back this week from injury, including WR Travis Benjamin (knee) and S Jahleel Addae (clavicle). San Diego also will hit the road to face the Texans on a short week. Houston plays the Raiders in Mexico City on Monday Night Football. -- Eric D. WilliamsWeek 12: at Houston, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETNFC EASTDallas Cowboys?(9-1)There is little time for the Cowboys to celebrate Sundays win over the Ravens; Dallas hosts Washington on Thanksgiving. In his opening statement, coach Jason Garrett said the Cowboys have to put the win to bed quickly and move on to Washington. The Cowboys will hold walkthrough practices Monday through Wednesday. Theres another reason to put the game to bed quickly: Even with a nine-game winning streak, the Cowboys (9-1) have not beeen able to separate much from the New York Giants (7-3). Trey Hopkins Jersey. -- Todd ArcherWeek 12: vs. Washington, Thursday, 4:30 p.m. ETNew York Giants?(7-3)It might be time to take the Giants seriously. They won their fifth straight game Sunday, a 22-10 victory over the Bears. With the Browns on deck, the Giants have 8-3 in their sights. Between improvement in their running attack and pass rush, and Eli Manning and the offense not turning the ball over, the Giants are proving to be contenders in the NFC. -- Jordan RaananWeek 12: at Cleveland, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETPhiladelphia Eagles?(5-5)The Eagles have little margin for error following a 26-15 loss to the Seahawks. Sitting at 5-5 and at the bottom of the NFC East, theyll have to be near perfect over the final six games in order to make the postseason. The offense in particular has been anything but perfect, and with injuries beginning to pile up, the Eagles have an uphill climb to turn around their fortunes. The next test comes at home on Monday Night Football against the Packers. -- Tim McManusWeek 12: vs. Green Bay, Monday, 8:30 p.m. ETWashington Redskins?(6-3-1)The Redskins dont get much time to celebrate their big win over the Packers, playing four days later in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day. The big question now: Can the Redskins they keep their offense rolling? Quarterback Kirk Cousins is coming off yet another strong game, with 375 yards and three touchdowns. He continues to play one good game after another, but hell now have to outduel rookie QB Dak Prescott. The big key this week will be hoping the defense can do a better job; if it cant stop the run, Prescott and the Cowboys will have a big game. -- John KeimWeek 12: at Dallas, Thursday, 4:30 p.m. ETNFC NORTHChicago Bears?(2-8)Sure, the Bears were upset after another tough loss, but the players were equally concerned about the health of rookie Leonard Floyd, who was taken to a local hospital after he suffered a neck injury. Thats one of our young bucks, said linebacker Pernell McPhee. Thats one of our playmakers. Hes a guy who we depend on. Floyds initial outlook is positive, but the injury could derail his promising rookie season. Floyd has played well for several weeks -- he is second on the team with five sacks -- and he recorded a tackle for loss against the Giants before the neck injury occurred. If Floyd misses time, hell be the fourth former first-round pick to suffer a significant injury in 2016.?Kevin White, Kyle Fuller and Kyle Long are all on injured reserve.-- Jeff DickersonWeek 12: vs. Tennessee, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET?Detroit Lions?(6-4)The Lions have been playing this cardiac style of football all season. Theyve trailed in the fourth quarter in every game theyve played, but unlike the winless Browns, Detroit is atop its division at 6-4. And the Lions, who admit theyd prefer to win more comfortably, have appeared to embrace that this is who they are. You have to accept that and find a way to win, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. Detroit has, and if it can pull off another win Thursday against Minnesota, the Lions would give themselves some breathing room where it matters most: the race for the divisional title. -- Michael RothsteinWeek 12:?vs. Minnesota,?Thursday, 12:30 p.m. ETGreen Bay Packers?(4-6)Can anyone bear to watch the Packers defense anymore? Youll get six more opportunities this season, but chances are it will be more of what you saw in Sundays loss at Washington. The Packers havent held a team under 30 points in a month and have allowed more than 40 points each of the past two weeks. Tune in next week on Monday Night Football to see how many points the Eagles score. -- Rob DemovskyWeek 12: at Philadelphia, Monday, 8:30 p.m. ETMinnesota Vikings?(6-4)After winning for the first time in more than a month, the Vikings wont get much time to enjoy the victory. The NFC North lead will be on the line Thanksgiving Day, when the Vikings travel to Detroit to face the Lions. Coach Mike Zimmer said he gave himself a victory 10 minutes after their 30-24 win over the Cardinals on Sunday and told himself the Vikings had to start moving on to the Lions, who beat Minnesota in overtime earlier this month. -- Ben GoesslingWeek 12:?at Detroit, Thursday, 12:30 p.m. ETNFC SOUTHAtlanta Falcons?(6-4)One of the big topics to keep an eye on is the status of Pro Bowl CB Desmond Trufant as he continues to recover from a shoulder/pectoral injury. Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Trufant is expected to be back at some point this season, maybe even during practice this week heading into Sundays Arizona game. The Falcons certainly need their best defensive player on the field for the stretch run after giving up 35 pass plays of 20-plus yards through the first 10 games. It could come down to how much pain Trufant is able to deal with as a result of the injury. -- Vaughn McClureWeek 12: vs. Arizona, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETCarolina Panthers?(4-6)Luke Kuechlys status is up in the air after the three-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker suffered a concussion in Thursdays win over New Orleans. But theres no questioning the Panthers have found themselves defensively. Heading into Sundays games, their 18 sacks were the most over the past four games and their 17.5 points a game rank fourth during that span -- they allowed 29.8 over the first six games. Carolina has won three of its past four to get back into playoff contention, and if the Panthers are to remain there, defense will be the key regardless of Kuechlys status. -- David NewtonWeek 12: at Oakland, Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ETNew Orleans Saints?(4-6)Special teams have become priority No. 1 for the 4-6 Saints, who have had blocked kicks or botched kick returns (or both) contribute to four of their losses this season. FOXs Jay Glazer reported that the Saints plan to bring in an additional special-teams coach to help address the problem during this nine-day break between games. The Saints have two home games in a row coming up against the Rams and Lions to try and salvage the season. -- Mike TriplettWeek 12: vs. Los Angeles, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETTampa Bay Buccaneers?(5-5)The Bucs beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, 19-17, improving to 5-5 and taking sole possession of second place in the NFC South. Head coach Dirk Koetter was thrilled with the way his young QB played against one of the leagues top defenses, even though the Bucs were just 1-of-5 in the red zone. Jameis Winston was out of sight today, Koetter said. Thats as good of quarterback play of however many years Ive been in the league now. Jameis was awesome all day. Kicker Roberto Aguayo was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals. Koetter said, He had his best day as a pro. Roberto was clutch today. -- Jenna LaineWeek 12: vs. Seattle, Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ETNFC WESTArizona Cardinals?(4-5-1)Some Cardinals players said theyre desperate after a 30-24 loss to the Vikings on Sunday. With another tough road game coming up next week in Atlanta, the Cardinals need to correct their self-inflicted mistakes, of which there were many. Throughout the locker room, a common message was finding a way to win, but next week wont be any easier for the Cardinals. -- Josh WeinfussWeek 12: at Atlanta, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLos Angeles Rams?(4-6)Rams QB Jared Goff didnt set the world on fire in his NFL debut, but the rookie out of Cal was mostly assignment correct and didnt turn the ball over against an aggressive Dolphins defensive front. Goff didnt throw a touchdown, finishing with 134 passing yards. He was sacked once. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said his offense played things close to the vest because of the unusually wet weather but will loosen things up a bit next week for Goff. His second start comes on the road against the Saints. -- Eric D. WilliamsWeek 12: at Los Angeles, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETSan Francisco 49ers?(1-9)The 49ers lost their ninth consecutive game Sunday and again had a chance to pull off an upset, but couldnt because they failed to perform in the second half. Safety Antoine Bethea said the second-half struggles have been a perpetual problem all season and referred to it as laying an egg after solid first-half performances. At 1-9 with a long trip to Miami next, then a weeklong stay in Orlando and a trip to Chicago coming up, the Niners have an uphill climb to find their second win -- especially if they cant find a way to finish. -- Nick WagonerWeek 12: at Miami, Sunday, 1 p.m. ETSeattle Seahawks?(7-2-1)Thomas Rawls returned from a fibula injury vs. the Eagles, and he will now be counted on to carry the Seahawks rushing attack going forward. Thats because C.J. Prosise suffered a scapula injury and will be out for a while, according to coach Pete Carroll. Rawls carried 14 times for 57 yards Sunday in his first action since Week 2. Last week, the Seahawks waived Christine Michael, and on Sunday, running back Troymaine Pope suffered a high ankle sprain against the Eagles. The good news for the Seahawks: They ran for a season-high 152 yards vs. the Eagles. Carroll wants balance, and even though the Seahawks strength has been the passing attack, Rawls will play a big role down the stretch. -- Sheil KapadiaWeek 12: at Tampa Bay, Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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y feel he can win the job, Guice said.THE TAKEAWAYSo much for the Alabama hangover for LSU , which had lost in two str >>
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Amanda Dambuza named Veuve Clicquot ELLE Boss Award winner
| News | Amanda Dambuza named Veuve Clicquot ELLE Boss Award winner
Posted by Uyandiswa 0
Amanda Dambuza, founder and director of consulting company Uyandiswa, was named the overall winner of this year’s coveted Veuve Clicquot ELLE Boss Award, in association with Old Mutual Corporate, at a bespoke event held in Johannesburg.
The Veuve Clicquot ELLE Boss Award, in association with Old Mutual Corporate, celebrates entrepreneurial women who have made a significant contribution to business life in South Africa.
The awards ceremony was held on Thursday, 9 November at the Ferrari Showroom in Bryanston, with guests of honour Christophe Farnaud, French ambassador to South Africa, and Veuve Clicquot International marketing director Chloe Stefani in attendance. The event saw guests enjoying an elegant celebration that honoured the finalists and their exceptional achievements.
Veuve Clicquot Champagne was served as some of South Africa’s top businesswomen used the evening as an opportunity to engage, reconnect or meet one another in an atmosphere of celebration.
The evening also offered finalists a chance to meet and network with some of their business heroes such as Nunu Nthsingila, head of Facebook Africa, CEO of Lereko Investments Dr Lulu Gwagwa and Khanyi Dhlomo, founder and CEO of Ndalo Media and publisher of ELLE magazine.
Following a day of intense debate, the panel of high-profile judges selected two winners – one from the Corporate category and one from the Entrepreneurial category, of which one overall winner was crowned Veuve Clicquot ELLE Boss, in association with Old Mutual Corporate, for 2017.
All the finalists showcased entrepreneurial spirit, leadership, creativity and determination, and all are women redefining the world of business one decision at a time, embodying Madame Clicquot’s audacious spirit and innovative approach to business.
Judges included businesswomen such as Yolanda Miya, managing director of the financing and solutions group for Deutsche Bank SA (and the only female on the Deutsche Bank AG Johannesburg branch’s executive committee) and, of course, powerhouse Khanyi Dhlomo.
This year’s honour of overall winner was awarded to exceptional entrepreneur Amanda Dambuza, who is not only the founder and director of consulting company Uyandiswa but also a respected businesswoman involved in a host of information technology businesses and management consultancies.
Dambuza is a member of various boards and is an independent director of Donate-A-Piece, an NPO that aims to take chess to disadvantaged schools and help build children’s analytical and strategic capabilities.
Founded just four years ago, Uyandiswa now employs more than 70 people. Dambuza is passionate about creating opportunities for other women in business, spending much of her time mentoring and helping women to navigate difficult corporate environments. She uses the resources at her disposal to create business opportunities and incubate women-owned companies. It was this combination of business savvy and compassion that impressed the judging panel.
Dynamic 5FM station manager Justine Cullinan was selected as the winner of the Corporate award. Cullinan began her tenure at 5FM in 2008 as marketing manager, and under her wing, the station saw listenership increase from 1.65 million to 2.3 million in four years.
In the past three years as station manager, she’s overseen the digital community increase beyond traditional listenership by pioneering platforms such as 5FM TV on YouTube and the 5FM mentorship programme.
In addition to the public recognition received at the awards evening and the exceptional networking opportunities provided, overall winner Dambuza will be flown to the prestigious Veuve Clicquot Maison, and be hosted by Veuve Clicquot in Reims, France, the home of champagne in 2018.
“Veuve Clicquot is a proud supporter of women in business internationally with the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman Award, honouring our founder, Madame Clicquot, who established herself as one of the first leading female figures in the world of business,” says Chloe Stefani. “We are therefore extremely proud to partner with ELLE magazine in South Africa. This award champions the success of South African businesswomen who share the same inspirational qualities as Madame Clicquot: an enterprising spirit, creativity, courage, determination and, of course, success.”
Veuve Clicquot ELLE Boss in association with Old Mutual Corporate judge Khanyi Dhlomo, who is recognised and honoured as one of SA’s most influential and inspiring businesswomen, summed up the 2017 awards.
“All of our finalists this year were natural leaders, and confident, strong, committed risk-takers who are driven to succeed,” said Dhlomo.
“Our overall winner, Amanda Dambuza, exemplifies what a true Veuve Clicquot ELLE Boss stands for: the kind of businesswoman making a real difference to everyday lives and moving South Africa forward.”
Orginal article by: Destinyconnect.com
Source: http://www.destinyconnect.com/2017/11/14/amanda-dambuza-named-veuve-clicquot-elle-boss-award-winner/
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Furthermore, possible correlations between white matter lesion scores, ventricular width, and age were investigated. Normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a potentially treatable syndrome with abnormal cerebrospinal fluid dynamics. Meningeal fibrosis and/or obliteration of the subarachnoid space has been suggested as the pathoanatomic basis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether meningeal fibrosis causes increased resistance to cerebrospinal fluid outflow (R(out)) and/or increased B-wave activity and whether pathological changes in the brain parenchyma after brain compliance, causing increased B-wave activity.
The study involved a group of 38 consecutively studied patients with clinical and radiological evidence of idiopathic NPH, for whom a frontal brain biopsy was obtained. For 29 patients, hydrodynamic criteria of NPH were fulfilled and a ventriculoperitoneal shunt was performed. The dosimetry was characterized by two independent methods: thermoluminescent dosimeters and radiochromic film.
The results suggest that leptomeningeal fibrosis is not the only pathoanatomic basis of increased R(out) and/or B-wave activity in patients with NPH and that various degenerative changes in the parenchyma may be responsible for the altered cerebrospinal fluid dynamics characteristic of NPH. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in patients with symptoms of reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), a disabling clinical condition with significant consequences of morbidity and loss of productivity.
We have used epidural SCS for pain control during the past 15 years. An analysis of our records revealed 12 consecutive patients diagnosed as having RSD before undergoing SCS. Eight of the 12 patients had undergone previous ablative sympathectomy. All 12 patients experienced relief of pain after trial stimulation and had their systems permanently implanted.
At an average of 41 months follow-up, all patients were using their stimulators regularly and only two were receiving adjunctive minor pain medication. The level of pain present pre- and postoperatively was determined by administering a modified McGill Pain Questionnaire and a visual analog scale to each patient. Both dosimetric methods showed a steep dose-distance fall-off relationship (proportional to the reciprocal of the cube of the distance from the probe tip).
Eight patients reported excellent pain relief, and four patients described good results. SCS is an effective treatment for the pain of RSD, including recurrent pain after ablative sympathectomy. The low morbidity of this procedure and its efficacy in patients with refractory pain related to RSD suggest that SCS is superior to ablative sympathectomy in the management of RSD.
We report the design and initial characterization of the dosimetry and radiobiology of a novel device for interstitial stereotactic radiosurgery. The device is lightweight, handheld, and battery-powered, and it emits x-ray radiation from the tip of a probe 3 mm in diameter by 10 cm in length. Heat transfer from the probe to dog brain was studied in vivo by placing thermocouple sensors around the probe tip before irradiating.
The radiobiology was characterized by in vivo irradiation of rat liver, dog liver, and dog brain. The animals were killed at varying intervals of time, and histological examinations were performed. Rats and dogs that were killed weeks to months after liver irradiation tended to have sharply demarcated lesions. Liver enzyme levels, measured serially in the dogs, did not give evidence of chronic inflammation.
Histological examination of the brains of dogs that were killed acutely after irradiation did not show evidence of inflammation, edema, or hemorrhage. The tissue temperature elevation 1 cm from the tip never exceeded 0.5 degree C, thereby excluding hyperthermia as a significant contributor to the formation of lesions.
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Hunter Killer (Blu-ray Review)
Reviewed by: Dennis Seuling
Review Date: Apr 05, 2019
Format: Blu-ray Disc
2018 (January 29, 2019)
Summit Premiere/Millenium Films/Lionsgate (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Film/Program Grade: C+
Video Grade: A
Audio Grade: A-
Extras Grade: B-
Hunter Killer is an action thriller that opens with a Russian submarine sinking an American sub because the Russian commander thinks the Americans fired first. This disaster sets in motion a whole series of events that have world-shaking ramifications.
Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is assigned to command the submarine USS Arkansas, a hunter killer – the term for subs that hunt down and attack other subs. Glass and crew head for the site of the submarine battle to discover what actually happened.
In Russia, Defense Minister Dmitri Durov (Michael For) has staged a coup and captured President Zakarin (Alexander Diachenko). Durov wants to trick the Americans into starting a war with Russia.
At the Pentagon, Admiral Donnegan (Gary Oldman) locks horns with Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common) and NSA senior analyst Jayne Norquist (Linda Cardellini) about how to handle the crisis.
In yet another sub-plot, Lt. Bill Beaman (Toby Stephens) and his Navy SEALs team parachute into Russia to free Zakarin and let him assure the world that traitors in his government are trying to manipulate Russia and the United States into shooting at each other.
There’s an awful lot of plot in Hunter Killer. It has some terrific special effects but is riddled with war movie clichés, cardboard characters, improbable scenarios, and unlikely coincidences. Yet for all of its nonsensical plotting, it moves along briskly and offers plenty of action, most of it from inside and outside the submarines. The exterior scenes, accomplished with CGI, are realistic and capture the stealth of these vessels as they monitor and serve as defenses against perceived aggression.
Butler’s Glass is right out of a World War II flick playbook. He’s brash and impulsive, refuses to heed advice, takes risks, and ignores warnings from his fellow officers. That he’s always right and his decisions always pay off makes the movie that much more preposterous.
Oldman, who has done exceptional work in other films, is dreadful as an admiral given to temper tantrums and losing his cool in a crisis. Loud, obnoxious, and often on the verge of hysteria, he is far from the kind of person you want to count on in an emergency. The role is far too broadly written and Oldman adds little nuance.
Director Donovan Marsh jumps around from one location to another in an attempt to connect all the sub-plots, not always successfully. There are at least three different movies in Hunter Killer squeezed into a single film. Overly ambitious, the movie never rises above a mediocre action flick with above-average special effects.
The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack contains a Digital Copy code found on a paper insert within the package. The Blu-ray disc features 1080p resolution. Aspect ratio is 2.39:1. Running time is 121 minutes. Visual quality overall is impressive. Underwater sequences stand out for their realism. The Arkansas is seen maneuvering through a murky, treacherous, mined channel. Underwater explosions are effectively staged with fiery bursts appearing like bright blotches on a grey canvas. Scenes within the sub have a bluish tone and contrast with the high key lighting of the Pentagon’s war room. The SEALs are dressed in dark outfits and their sequences are dark and deeply shadowed.
Language tracks include English Dolby Atmos and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Subtitles include Spanish and English SDH. The Dolby Atmos track is particularly effective during underwater explosions, with a split second delay between visual and audio. Clarity of dialogue is consistent throughout. A parachute jump by the SEALs team contains a nice balance of the sounds of the plane’s engines, dialogue, and rushing wind. A series of rockets being fired has an impressive “whoosh” sound, and bullets hitting the sides of a small rescue sub can be heard from both left and right.
Bonus features on this 2-Disc release include director’s audio commentary and the two-part featurette Surface Tension: Declassifying Hunter Killer.
Audio Commentary – Director Donovan Marsh explains that the term “hunter killer” refers to attack-and-search submarines. Subs navigate under icebergs primarily through sonar, which is a precise skill. Key crew and cast members spent three days aboard a nuclear submarine out of Pearl Harbor. Some scenes were shot on board the actual sub and then combined with studio sets. Submariners train together and serve together, which creates camaraderie among the crew. The coin that is featured in the movie is an actual part of military tradition. Every warship has one. The set was built on a gimbal to approximate the 30-degree angle when a submarine dives. A Bulgarian naval base complete with trucks and equipment stood in for a Russian naval base. Underwater SEALs action was filmed in a tank, with CGI bullets added in post-production. Several endings were considered. The director intentionally avoided backstories for the characters, preferring to show them in the “here and now.” Marsh prefers two-shots in which the characters can be seen reacting to one another in the same frame.
Surface Tension: Declassifying Hunter Killer
Part 1: The Crew – Gerard Butler discusses reinventing the submarine genre. The script lay dormant for a while because there was little tension between Russia and the United States. Over time, four or five directors were involved, changes were made, characters tweaked, but the basic story always remained the same. The script was updated to feel “of the moment.” Common states that “Hunter Killer does have a voice for this time.” Marsh notes that there was “a lot of story to be told” and the “essence of a great thriller is you don’t know what’s going to happen next.” Commander Glass thinks “out of the box” to resolve problems. The camera is always kept in motion, particularly on the sub and in the war room. Actors discuss their experiences working on the movie.
Part 2: Tactical Readiness – According to director Donovan Marsh, “a big part of my picture is authenticity.” The interior of the sub set had to look like the real thing. Technical advisor Russ Coons and producer John Thompson discuss going to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for an already planned 3-day journey aboard a real submarine by the cast and crew to experience life on a nuclear sub. Trained by the sub’s navy crew, the cast acted a few scenes on board. Later scenes, shot at the studio, were seamlessly combined.
– Dennis Seuling
2018, action, Alan Siegel, Alexander Diachenko, Arne Schmidt, Blu-ray, Blu-ray Disc, Caroline Goodall, Carter MacIntyre, Common, David Gyasi, Dennis Seuling, Don Keith, Donovan Marsh, Firing Point, G-BASE, Gabriel Chavarria, Gary Oldman, George Wallace, Gerard Butler, Hunter Killer, Igor Jijikine, Ilia Volok, Jamie Moss, John Thompson, Kieron Bimpson, Les Weldon, Linda Cardellini, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Mark Gill, Matt O'Toole, Michael J Duthie, Michael J_ Duthie, Michael Nyqvist, Michael Trucco, Mikhail Gorevoy, Millenium Films, Neal H Moritz, Neal H_ Moritz, Original Film, review, Richard Hills Jr, Ryan McPartlin, Summit Premiere, Taylor John Smith, The Digital Bits, thriller, Toby Jaffe, Toby Stephens, Tom Marais, Trevor Morris, Tucker Tooley, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Zane Holtz
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Review Date: Jul 17, 2019
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Heads-up: Batman Beyond: The Complete Series heading to #Bluray from @warnerbros - announced during the show's 20th Anniversary Comic-Con panel today (Note: a non-Funko Pop figure edition will be released as well). #SDCC19 #Batman #BatmanBeyond #BD
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KP government had been warned of Peshawar attack
December 22, 2014 The Pioneer News Top Stories
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government departments had been warned of an imminent attack on the Army Public School months before the carnage unfolded in Peshawar.
The written warning of the threat available with Geo News had been dispatched by the Federal Interior Ministry to the concerned authorities on August 28, 2014 along with instructions to take necessary precautionary measures to preempt the attack.
The copies of the warning were sent to the Chief Minister KP, Home Minister and the provincial law enforcing agencies.
Alert No.802 issued by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Ministry stated that the Taliban Orakzai Commander, Khaksar along with terrorists Bilal and Obaidullah had planned to carry out attacks at educational institutions under the army.
According to information, Bilal and Obaidullah with their accomplices had also conducted reconnaissance of the targets. The warning stated the intention of terrorists was revenge and they wanted to kill as many children of army officers as possible.
Farhat, Tahir slam Moulana Abdul Aziz in senate 13 terrorists killed in Karachi
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Herman August Thorup
Herman F. F. Thorup
Jensine
News/Etc.
A Brief History of Anna Christine Anderson Thorup
By Wilma Sevdin granddaughter
To read the diary of Anna Christine Anderson Thorup is to read one of the sweetest love stories that has been written, for she truly loved her husband, her family, her fellow man, and the Lord, as her story will confirm.
Read more: A Brief History of Anna Christine Anderson Thorup
A Brief History of Anna Christine Anderson Thorup II
Anna Christine wept for she had known the sting of death and tribulations.
Her love for her children carried her through, and she had no desire to lose another one of them. The children recall with delight their long winter evenings when they would sit around the old kitchen stove and in the light of the flickering flames listen intently to her wonderful stories
Read more: A Brief History of Anna Christine Anderson Thorup II
A Brief History of Anna Christine Anderson Thorup III
Herman and Anna had five children – Anne, Herman, Joseph, Eliza, and William. The little girl died in an epidemic that also took two of the remaining children of the first wife.
There were sad times from this. Also, the persecution because of the practice of polygamy was a trial hard to bear. Many children died directly or indirectly because of it, and the family had to be separated because of the prison terms that Herman was sentenced to. We shall not dwell on the problems that accompanied these prison sentences, though they were many. But Benjamin Harrison, then President of the United States of America, wrote out a commutation for the six-month sentence Herman was serving, due to his splendid record and his suffering family. Many pages could be written of the cruelty of the U.S. Marshals and the suffering heaped upon the Saints who were trying to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Read more: A Brief History of Anna Christine Anderson Thorup III
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Your Position: > About >> Company Profile >>> Company Profile
Wuhan Wellsee New Energy Industry Co., Ltd, inversted by Hubei Bluelight Science & Technology Development Co.,Ltd, is a big manufacturer of researching and producing solar controller, solar inverter, automotive inverter and other alternative energy products.
Wellsee has more than 40 kinds of photovoltaic products which have been exported to more than 50 countries for their high technology, perfect design, excellent quality and top service, and the markets is covering Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and so on. The company has many femous researchers and strong production capacity with 600000 units per year, which can satisfy the requirement of all customers. The technology has reached the peak of the national photovoltaic products.
Hubei Bluelight company is the earliest large-sized joint-stock high-tech enterprise in China that develops and manufactures home medical apparatus, electronic medical apparatus,solar series and security and safety products unified with scientific research, industry and trade as well as manufacturing, supply and sale. The company is now well-developed, owning modern official buildings and high-standard manufacturing factories with branches spreading all over the country and agents in both cities and towns. The company is the star enterprise in Wuhan supported by the Hubei provincial government.
The Bluelight Company specializes in developing and manufacturing a series of products of “Bluelight Eight-Diagram Therapeutic Apparatus” which have been mass-produced and owns many other high-tech achievements besides. By combing 13 therapeutic methods together with a two-ways diagnosis through hands and ears points, Bluelight Eight-Diagram Therapeutic Apparatus could cure disease without any injection, medicine or drug bag, and the medical effect can reach the root cause of illness in one minute.
Thanks to its wide treatment scope, good curative effect and reasonable price, Bluelight Eight-Diagram Therapeutic Apparatus are well sold in all the parts of our country and many countries and regions in Asia,Africa and America, such as Iran, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Canada, Germany, France, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, Hongkong, Indonesia, enjoying high popularity among chinese and overseas Chinese throughout the world.
Meanwhile, the company succeeds greatly in electron, biology, chemistry, estate etc., and it has also harvested quite a lot through its vigorous developments of foreign trade after achieving the export permission in recent years. In 2007, The Bluelight Company has passed the ISO9001:2000 and ISO13485:2003 certification, which indicates that The Bluelight Company has formed international advanced management platform, and its products are worth trusting to compete with international counterparts in quality and national ones in price.
Bluelight is Hubei famous trademark and has passed the ISO9001:2000 :13485 and CE certifications! There are two sets of compact disk about video teaching. We are a large scale R&D manufactory of Hospital multifunction therapeutic apparatus and global supplier of home health care equipment.
With an aim to further develop high and new technology career, The Bluelight Company make investments to establish Wuhan Wellsee Electronics CO.,Ltd dedicated to the research and development of solar charging controller, solar charging controller for lamps, solar charging inverter, automotive inverter, security and safety products and so on. Wellsee solar inverter and controller have successfully got the CE and RoHS certification, which means the products are safe,environment-friendly and reliable. Facing the ever changing science & technology world, The Bluelight Company has been making great efforts to meet the people’s increasing demand by paying great attention to them.
The Bluelight Company regards the quality and prestige as the supreme, which puts itself under the surveillance of clients and administrative departments. It has released the Guarantee on Quality and Credibility solemnly. Besides, it offers complete services (called Ten Reliable Services) in the whole procedure of sale and promises that it will try its best to be honest, efficient and speedy. The Bluelight's behavior principle is Honestly to be a man, while wisely a merchant.
Facing the great challenges and opportunities in the future, Bluelight always stands in the forefront of science and technology and takes the responsibility to prosper China and the people with well-developed medical industry, and Health Communication, Wealth Creation is the company's tenet. Luo Bang, the general manager of Bluelight Company, with all the staff, is looking forward to making continuous efforts as well as the well-developed management in the company to provide the first-class products and services as always, and cooperating with all domestic and international enterprises and companies manufacturing medical apparatus to develop side by side and contribute more to Chinese medical industry and all people's health!
Welcome to visit us and welcome to be our successful business partners.
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christian： give point ( 2013-10-31 00:16:19 )
I want to visit your factory, give me details
Anonymous user： give point ( 2013-08-31 00:36:57 )
Bluelight also your company?
We want to purchase ur product> to learn about us pls visit www.ingenbd.com
yes,we have received your mail,thank you!
Ava (trade@e-bluelight.com)
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Who’s Behind Right to Work
“Right to work” sounds like a good idea. But in reality, these laws have nothing to do with providing rights or work. Right-to-work laws make it optional for workers protected by a union contract to help pay for the expenses that the union incurs while guaranteeing the rights of all employees. Why is that a big deal? By limiting unions’ resources and weakening the ability of workers to have a say about their jobs, these laws drive down everyone’s wages, benefits, and overall living standards.
Ignoring the facts, corporate-backed politicians are embracing these deceptive policies. They want to make every state a right-to-work state to increase profits for CEOs and hurt efforts to restore balance to our economy. With millions of Americans still unemployed, right to work is an ill-timed distraction from the issues that matter to the middle class—and the wrong choice for our states.
Wrong for workers
These laws drive down wages by $1,500 per year for all workers, including non-union members. Learn More
Wrong for businesses
High-tech companies that provide good-paying, American jobs favor states where unions have a strong presence, because unions provide a stable, high-skilled workforce. Learn More
Wrong for the economy
Right to work does not improve the employment rate. In fact, these laws actually lead to a decrease in employment in certain industries. Learn More
Right to work is wrong for everyone. Get more facts on right to work.
Copyright © 2019 Jobs With Justice - All Rights Reserved
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You are in: Home » Culture and leisure » Cultural heritage » Museums » Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica - Galleria Corsini
Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica - Galleria Corsini
Last updates of Museums
MAXXI Museo nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo
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Musei in Comune - Tariffe
entered: 10 January 2019 13:47
MoRA, Museum of Recycled Art (Museo dell’Arte Riciclata)
Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi
entered: 27 November 2018 14:36
Typology: Art Museum, State Museum
Address: Via della Lungara, 10
Zone: Rione Trastevere (Gianicolo) (Roma centro)
Web site: www.barberinicorsini.org
Email: gan-aar@beniculturali.it - info@barberinicorsini.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BarberiniCorsini/
Hashtag: #BarberiniCorsini
Instagram: www.instagram.com/barberinicorsini/
Online purchase: https://www.gebart.it/musei/gallerie-nazionali-barberini-corsini-galleria-corsini/
Telephone booking: +39 06 32810
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BarberiniCorsin
On Monday; Wednesday- Sunday: 8.30pm - 7.00pm (last admission at 6.30pm)
Closed on Tuesday 25 December and 1st January
Full Ticket Palazzo Barberini + Corsini Galleries: € 12 valid for 10 days
Reduced Ticket Palazzo Barberini + Corsini Galleries: € 2 valid for 10 days
Concessions:
- UE members between 18 and 25 years old
- European and non-European people under 18
- tour guides from the European Union practising their professional activity;
- tour interpreters from the European Union practising their professional activity;
- employees of the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities ;
- members of ICOM (International Council of Museums);
- members of ICCROM (International organization for conservation of cultural heritage);
- reserved school groups from European Union schools, accompanied by one teacher every 10 students;
- teachers and students of faculties of Architecture, Conservation of the Cultural Heritage, Education Sciences, and degree courses in the Arts, or in literary subjects with a specialisation in archaeology or art history, in Humanities faculties of Universities from the European Union;
- students enrolled in these specialisations of faculties of Architecture, Conservation of the Cultural Heritage, Education Sciences, and of degree courses in the Arts, or in literary subjects with a - specialisation in archaeology or art history, in Humanities faculties of Universities and doctorate students in the aforementioned disciplines;
- Socrates and Erasmus students of the aforementioned disciplines;
- teachers and students of Fine Arts Academies from the European Union;
- teachers of Art History in Upper Secondary Schools;
- students of the following schools: Istituto Centrale del Restauro, Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Scuola per il Restauro del Mosaico;
- journalists in the italian national register or any other journalist from a foreign country, only for work porpouses and according to a valid document proving the given professionalism;
- disabled persons and a companion;
- members of volunteer work associations of the Cultural Heritage;
Booking: Tel. +39 0632810 - Fax +39 063251329
Booking Fee: € 1,00.
Agreement with
#IoVadoAlMuseo (Manifestations) from 2019-02-28
Robert Mapplethorpe. L’obiettivo sensibile (Exhibitions) from 2019-03-15 to 2019-10-06
After cardinal Lorenzo Corsini was elected pope with the name of Clement the Twelfth (1730-1740), his family moved from Florence to Rome, purchasing the sixteenth century Palazzo Riario, former residence of the Queen Christine of Sweden that housed the Accademia of the Arcadia at the foot of the Janiculum. The building was restructured and enlarged between 1732 and 1736 by the Florentine architect Ferdinando Fuga. By will of cardinal Neri, nephew of the Pope, the library was the most important of its time in Rome after the Vatican Library and part of the family’s works of art were transferred to the new wings of the Palace. When the Corsini family moved back to Florence in 1883, the Palace was sold to the State including the collections that were also donated. The Corsini collection that constitutes one of the funds of the National Gallery of Ancient Art, is the only Roman eighteenth century collection of marbles, statues, and paintings that was conserved intact. Its pieces testify the classic and anti-baroque trends of the first half of the eighteenth century. The collection consists of sculptures of the Roman Age, neoclassic statues, small eighteenth century bronzes and furniture, paintings by seventeenth-eighteenth century authors from the Roman, Neapolitan, and Bolognese schools with important groups of landscape painters. The best known authors include Frà Angelico (Last Judgement), P.P. Rubens (St. Sebastian cured by the Angels), Guido Reni (Salome with the head of the Baptist), Guercino (Ecce Homo), Caravaggio (St. John the Baptist), Annibale Carracci, Mattia Preti. In addition to the Gallery the Palace also houses the prestigious Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, institution founded in 1603.
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Palazzo Corsini
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Architectural and historical heritage
Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica - Palazzo Barberini
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Museums
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Nokia Lumia 2520: First Nokia tablet
Stephen Elop has taken Nokia World being held in Abu Dhabi to introduce new Nokia Lumia 2520, the commitment of the company to enter the tablet sector for the first time. With a unibody design clearly inspired the series of Lumia phones, the new device boasts excellent connectivity options, a camera above the average and unique apps.
The Nokia Lumia 2520 boasts LTE connectivity (in the words of Elop 80% of the tablets in the market are limited to offering WiFi) thanks a chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 8974. Its 10.1-inch screen has Gorilla glass 2 protection and a brightness level of 650 nits.
The new tablet will feature an exclusive version of Nokia Music, Video Director, a spectacular video editor, and StoryTeller, an app that combines photos and videos with geolocation system to create stunning interactive presentations. It will work with Windows RT 8.1 and have already confirmed that there will be version of Flipboard for the Microsoft operating system soon.
Nokia also unveiled the Power Keyboard, a must to get the most out of the new Nokia Lumia 2520 accessory. In addition to improving connectivity with two additional USB ports, incorporates a 5 hour battery to which we must add the tablet 11, getting a device capable of supporting two working days without using the charger.
SnapDragon Quad Core 800 Processor
RT Windows 8.1 operating system
GSM, WCDMA, LTE
WiFi, NFC, AGPS, microUSB 3.0, BT 4.0
32GB internal memory, expandable via micro SD
7 Gybtes free SkyDrive
10.1 inch display (1,920 x 1,080 pixels)
267 x 168 x 8.9 mm
800mAh battery
The new Nokia Lumia 2520 will be available in the U.S., UK and Finland in the fourth quarter of this year, ready for the Christmas season, for a price of $499. During the first months of 2014 will be available in other countries. The Nokia Power Keyboard will be available with a Lumia 2520 at an approximate price of $149.
Microsoft Nokia 216, a retro mobile for the nostalgic
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HTC 10 Evo: Features and price
Tags: introduce new Nokia Lumia 2520new Nokia Lumia 2520Nokia Lumia 2520
Next Nokia introduces new Asha 500
Previous Launch LG G Pad 8.3
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Black Money Issue – Congress Hits Back At BJP, Says Wrong To Blame UPA
December 14, 2011 24x7 News Online Breaking News, India, Latest News
New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slamming the Central Congress for black money stashed away in safe havens abroad, the Congress on Wednesday hit back at the opposition party saying that it was wrong to blame United Progressive Alliance (UPA) only for the issue.
“The UPA from past two years has been doing much to bring back the black money stashed away abroad, but what has the BJP done in its six-year rule?,” Tiwari asked
“UPA governments cannot be blamed for the black money problem,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari in the Lok Sabha.
Manish Tiwari – Congress Spokesperson
Tiwari further questioned the BJP’s stand on the issue during its six-year long rule at the Centre.
Earlier, senior BJP leader LK Advani, who moved an adjournment motion on black money in the Lok Sabha slammed the Congress-led UPA Government for not taking appropriate steps to bring back the black money stashed away in safe havens abroad.
On Opposition’s charge as to why the government is not revealing the names of illegal account holders, Tiwari said the UPA government cannot do the same as it is not permissible under the laws of Switzerland where most of such accounts are located.
Starting the debate on the issue in Lok Sabha, Advani demanded that the government should ensure that black money stashed abroad should be brought back and also explain what action was being taken against those who have opened such accounts.
Referring to the report that a list of Indians with Swiss accounts was recently given to India by the French government, Advani said: “Let the government reveal the names of 782 tax evaders,”
“High tax leads to black money being kept in foreign banks. Tax evasion is the reason,” he added.
As per reports, an estimated 500 billion dollars to 1.4 trillion dollars of unaccounted money has been deposited secretly in overseas banks by wealthy Indians and corporate bodies.
Earlier, in February 2011, legal notices were served to 17 persons in connection with foreign bank holdings, but international agreements and legal hurdles barred the government from revealing the identities of the persons named.
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Opening soon A restaurant at Mount Everest
December 7, 2016 24x7 News Online Latest News
Opening soon: A restaurant at Mount Everest
How about dining at the peak with some exotic dishes? Sounds unbelievable? Yes, this is no wild fragment of an imagination and is translating into reality soon when former Noma chef and Tom Aikens protege 25-year-old James Sharman will be hiking to the base camp of Mount Everest to build a unique restaurant there. The ambitious venture is the latest in Sharman’s ‘ One Star House Party ‘ series which will see him hosting dinners in 20 countries over 20 months.
According to the core concept every month he and his team of four friends spend three weeks planning and building a restaurant and one week serving food at a unique location. Everest base camp will be James’s fourth location in the series, after Beijing, Ho Chi Minh, and Bangkok.
In a free-wheeling conversation with us, James talked about the concept, its sustainability and how he will deal with the delicate environment of the Everest.
What made you think of opening a restaurant at Mount Everest base camp, of all places?
The enticing nature or the challenge itself or I would say the dream of establishing a restaurant at an untouched Himalayan landscape, probably were among the reasons. I, personally am excited about working with the Sherpas. I’ve been enchanted by them since I was a child.
We travel across the world, constantly on the hunt for new ideas for the food we create. We began with a more dogmatic view than we have now. When we created the menu for the first few countries, we were searching solely for new ingredients, flavours and textures. Rice and fish sauce becomes spectacular when you huddle into a galley, after a shift on a fishing boat at sea with Vietnamese crew.
If we ask ourselves why we spend copious amounts of money on extravagant restaurants, the answer ultimately is that we are buying an experience, a memory for ourselves or others that we hope to cherish. Not because we’re exhilarated by a 20 page wine menu, the silverware or the artwork on the wall. I believe, sitting down at the base of the Himalayas, with the team of Sherpas, in our make shift restaurant, is an experience that will last. Surrounded by camp chairs, fire and a meal that everyone has had some hand into making possible, will be the meal and memory not easily forgotten.
How will you manage the logistics? Will it be a profitable venture?
It’s certainly not profitable. We were fortunate enough to have had colleagues from restaurants in London who have relatives from Kathmandu who helped us work directly with local Sherpas and guides. This has obviously been invaluable to the logistical aspect of the concept, but they also made available for us a climbing package cheaper than most travel agencies offer.
What will be the main cuisine/dishes of your restaurant? What will be your signature dish here?
We never create a menu before we arrive. We’re waiting to board our flight to Nepal, we have of course researched all we can about Nepalese food, plus we are hoping to discover something new that we could not find on Wikipedia.
People’s relationship with food; the nuances in the cuisine that make people smile or the dishes that bring friends and families together, are the things that define a cuisine and its place within a community. These are the things we hope to discover and create our menu from.
Has the menu something to do with the weather? Will it be therapeutic or is it all about the palate and senses?
We haven’t set out to build a menu; although I have no doubt that a hearty lentil soup will taste better after a day’s hike at -15C.
How will you manage not to freeze there?
The major issue with the cold climate is at night, and to handle that we have booked a succession of guesthouses that line our route to the base camp. We have the traditional firewood etc as well as a few solar panels to keep us going.
What challenges you faced in bringing this dream to reality?
This restaurant at base camp is among 1 of the 20 restaurants we are creating around the world on our tour. Strangely enough, base camp has actually been one of the simplest restaurants in our journey.
How do you plan to publicize your restaurant?
(Smiles) Well, it is happening automatically, though, we weren’t expecting it. We have already received over 7000 applications from Intrepid (Travel Company).
Do you think it is a sustainable idea?
Financially, what we do is obviously challenging. We don’t make a profit from each restaurant, just enough to move on to the next country and build our next pop-up. Admittedly, it takes a certain kind of diner to enjoy what we do. What they get in return is an unpolished, honest experience. Where the cost of their meal goes into the ingredients they eat, the materials we use to make the crockery they eat from and the discovery that made that meal possible.
Hope it will not disturb the delicate Everest ecological balance?
We choose the places where we build our restaurants based on a desire to learn from and enjoy them, not to exploit them. One thing that has surprised me over the last few weeks is the amount of people who have asked the same question. We are climbing 17,000 feet to explore a unique experience with limited resources and not to litter.
Who will be your clientele?
Despite the nature of our travelling restaurants moving from country to country, we are fortunate enough to have a few regular guests, who travel out to dine with us in each country. The guests coming with us are mostly those who have supported us from the beginning, and of course, the Sherpas.
Title: Opening soon : A restaurant at Mount Everest
Description: Opening soon A restaurant at Mount Everest
Keywords: James Sharman, Restaurant, Mount Everest, Life Style
Credit: TOI
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1946: “We Should Have Had The Poisson” by Ernest Harston
This piece was written by E. S. Harston, Amokura’s first owner, and published in The Yachting Year 1946-47
I don’t think this story is altogether true, so that if any of the deleterious types who formed part of Amokura’s crew happen to read it, they shouldn’t be misled. It deals with some of the yacht’s wanderings during 1946, and to be logical should no doubt begin with a description of the yacht herself.
She was built in 1939 after a lot of thought. After all if we were going to have a war, there was no sense in building a yacht. On the other hand, if we were going to build a yacht there was no sense in having a war. So we built the boat: a 38-foot waterline bermuda yawl, designed by Fred Shepherd and built by Moodys; the requirements being a sea-kindly family cruiser that would be fun to sail at weekends. She certainly came up both to expectations and specifications. Arthur Ransome has said that there is nothing so painful as building a yacht—or words to that effect. How right he is only those who roll romantic eyes and say inane things about dream ships don’t know. But the pangs of parturition were worth it. She is a beauty, as a couple of races round the tins and a slashing cruise to the Scillies and Brest soon proved after her launching in 1939.
When 1946 came, we took the yacht out of her mud berth and our creaking joints out of their shore going clothes. Roger Pinckney, who is not only vice-commodore of the R.C.C., but also cruises, had said he was going to St. Peter Port for Easter; so, instead of following our own inclinations and going to Beaulieu, or even Y armouth, we shipped a crew consisting of Ruth as cookie, Joe, Tompy and Jim and slid down the Hamble, round the Wight with the east going tide, and out into a disturbed stretch of water called the English Channel, where we promptly began to feel somewhat odd owing to the quartering sea.
As Joe said to Tompy during the graveyard watch: “Beating back against this sea won’t be funny.”
And Tompy replied to Joe, about half an hour later: “No.”
That comprised the badinage of the watch, because I was listening in my little bunk below.
When I handed over at the end of my own watch some hours later, Tompy came on deck with the sweetest of smiles and said: ” Skipper, I have just had puppies.”
“What a happy thought,” said I, “so will I.” And did.
The joys of yachting!
However, we duly rounded the Casquets and slid down the Little Russel into St. Peter Port, tied up alongside a motor fishing vessel, and breathed more freely. Our first cruise, our first holiday, our first “foreign” port for six years. I had to pinch myself and say: ” Relax you ass, this is really a holiday, the ‘phone won’t go, you have no appointments, nothing but the clear blue sea, the friendly folk of Guernsey, and drab old England of no beer, no spirits, no service, no anything is miles and miles behind you.”
Roger arrived in Dyarchy and with his usual superb nonchalance blew in before the wind carrying everything, chose an anchorage, discarded it, chose another, dropped his hook and lowered away. A small 8-tonner piloted by a ruffian in a woollen hat turned out to be Humphrey Barton in Dalua. The Tews and Commander Graham were already there in Mary Helen. White Pearl owned by the Kendricks was there too. A Guernseyman told me that his son had rushed into his room exclaiming: “Daddy, daddy, they’re back!”
“Who are back?”
“The yachts—come and look!”
The yachts were there, but not on show, no gleaming brass, no glossy paint or varnish, just the barest “fit-out,” but they had broken the ice.
This is hardly the place to talk of the Channel Islands and the war. All one can say is that although much had changed, the old welcoming friendliness was there as before. Everyone was busy painting, cleaning, repairing and removing the traces of the occupation. The old abounding supplies no longer existed, but the hospitable friendliness always shown to yachtsmen by Bucktrouts and everyone else was there as before.
We slipped off quietly in a gentle breeze and made for Sark. We lay with Dyarchy in the Havre Gosselin where the blue of the sea was beyond belief. We climbed the cliffs, our lungs filled with the gorgeous air. Joe took us to see the Dame of Sark and her husband back from his internment in Germany. Their stories would make a book. We grubby Londoners felt ourselves slowly reviving in their beautiful home.
At dusk we passed through the narrow channel between Brechou and Sark, went up the Great Russell, through the race and home to the Solent, determined to do it again at Whitsun—which is where the poisson comes in.
Now when Whitsun arrived the owner was somewhat sore stricken with divers diseases and the cruise began to look dim. The same crew plus Jeremy were assembled full of expectations. A gale had just blown itself out. No one hoping to enjoy himself would set sail across the Channel. So we decided to motor to Cowes and stay the night, which of course meant that we soon substituted Yarmouth for Cowes and ended in the Channel, bucketing about in the dark with the idea of getting to St. Peter Port after all. But the wind decided otherwise, and after pitching up and down in the same hole in the water for a very long time, we put on the engine gently and wandered across, picking up La Hague in the early morning where it was expected.
Sailing is productive of many theories; the metacentric shelf, tacking to leeward, and so on, but the best of them all is Joe’s theory that it is all done by springs and mirrors. It has never failed us. When the land appeared where it ought to be, he assured us that that was how it had been done, and we believed him.
The tide, however, was busy going up Channel, so we did some gentle thinking. It was no use bucking it for six hours, so why not go to Cherbourg for lunch? Or better still what about Omondville? Omondville la Rogue; romance, vin blanc and big langouste? So Omondville it was, with magnifying glasses on the chart to distinguish the tiny harbour, and great expectations of lunch ashore in “furrin” parts.
We dropped the hook under the cumulative advice of the local fishermen. We hailed an ancient of days on the breakwater. Could we eat ashore? Or should we practise la cuisine Anglaise and open a tin? Assuredly we could eat ashore, en ville. So all those with beards stroked them, while the rest waxed their moustaches.
We boarded the dinghy and headed for the breakwater. The ancient of days told us that we could land by the buvette. Exquisite tact! We landed there, it was his. Could we lunch—no en ville. Un aperitif—why certainly. But which? With such exotic names it was hard to choose. But the remedy was simple. A row of glasses carried a sample of each. The skipper, ex-officio, drank them all and chose. The ancient approved. Would he join us and would Madame? Why yes—but he disappeared round to the back of the buvette, only to reappear with a posy of flowers for Ruth. Some fishermen came in. Would they join us? Much anxiety on the part of M’sieu and M’dame—they were only fishermen! But they did and a good time was had by all. And so to the restaurant en ville.
“I know what will happen,” said Jeremy, “no vin, no din, no nothing.” And he was nearly right; but, as the smiling owner assured us, Madame was on her way back from Cherbourg and all would be well. Madame arrived, chic, spotless. Lunch? Why certainly, and on went a huge apron and in she went among the copper pots at two in the afternoon. Langoustes arrived with salad and vin blanc and suffered a merited fate. Our English tummies were replete, but the waiter arrived:
“Should they cook the poisson now?”
We said we could not manage the poisson, but the waiter said there was steak to come after that! Steak? Yes, certainly. Well, we said we would have the steak, but couldn’t manage the poisson. And so it was—acres of steak. We divided it in two and struggled to eat a half, and nearly succeeded, and sat back for the coffee. But weren’t we going to eat the cheese? Sorry, no cheese. Camembert? Well—in that case, yes. And three Camemberts arrived. We ate one, and asked for the coffee. But there is a sweet; Madame has made a sweet. So of course our better judgment gave way to our good intentions and a huge bowl of whipped cream and liqueur with strawberries went most decidedly west, chased by the coffee and armagnac.
And then Rene Clair took charge, or rather matters looked like one of his films. The crew, the proprietor, his friends—all of us processed through the village. The harbour master told us about the tides. The village came with us to the buvette. A couple of car loads from Cherbourg joined the crowd. Someone produced a pannikin and a bottle of cognac. Others asked whether they might dare to offer a drink to any of the crew! If they had only known! “Le Philips” appeared—a loud speaker geared to a gramophone and would we dance on the beach? A cheerful soul struck up “God Save the King.” The ship’s company, not to be outdone la la-ed the “Marseillaise.” A neat blonde model was detached from the outfit by her husband who explained that she was the mother of eight and from Paris.
The dinghy went slowly out to the yacht full of folk breathing stertorously and wondering in their comatose way when, if ever, they had eaten so much. Their dumbfounded turns were wondering the same. The sails went up and the yacht sailed slowly out beyond the breakwater for the Alderney race. The crowd still waved. So did we.
Joe looked very grave and thoughtful. Something obviously was on his mind. And at last it came out.
” Ernest, ” he said, ” we should have had the poisson.”
← 1939: Launch day 1939: Pictures of original interior and deck detail →
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Quick background
Reasons for Opposing Faith-based Schools
Answers to arguments for faith-based schools
Numbers of schools, teachers and pupils
Quotations from experts and interested parties
Extracts from the Church of England's recent report
Numbers of schools, teachers, pupils
Numbers of primary schools by region
Numbers of secondary schools by region
Numbers of pupils in primary schools
Numbers of pupils in secondary schools
Numbers of teachers in primary schools
Numbers of teachers in secondary schools
Number of primary schools by type
Number of secondary schools by type
Where to find more detail
The figures here are from the DfES report for 2001, published in 2002. Since they were compiled more religious schools have been created. Though the overall pattern has not changed substantially and more new religious schools have been approved for the Church of England and the Roman Catholics than for the minority faiths, the proportionate increases for the latter are greater. The following answer to a Parliamentary Question on 16 January 2003 shows the pattern but cannot be used to update the main tables.
School Funding (Faith Organisations)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new schools have been funded by faith organisations since 1997, broken down by faith; and how many are planned. [90903]
Mr. Miliband: The following table gives numbers of new grant maintained and voluntary aided faith schools that have opened, or have been approved to open, since 1997. These include independent schools approved for establishment as new maintained schools; but do not include former community schools which closed and re-opened with a religious character. All these proposals, except one Jewish school, involved some capital building work and a financial contribution by the promoters.
RC CE CE/
Methodist Jewish Muslim
Adventist
1997 3 - - - - - - -
1998 - - - 1 2 - 1 -
1999 2 1 - 3 - 2 - -
2000 2 1 - 1 - - - 1
2001 1 2 - - 2 - - -
2002 - 3 - - - - - -
2003 1 3 1 - - - - -
2004 - 1 - 1 1 - - -
Total 9 11 1 6 5 2 1 1
Faith Schools & School Places as Proportion of Total
Number of Schools by Affiliation
C of E
Other Christian
TOTAL CHRISTIAN
Other religious
TOTAL RELIGIOUS
Statistics of Education: Schools In England 2001 (ISBN 0 11 271118-9) available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/VOL/v0288/index.html
Church Membership and Attendance
7.4% of adults in England and Wales go to church on an average Sunday.
Total church membership is 12.2%.
[Religious Trends, 2002-2003]
Numbers of Schools by region
The following tables show the number of primary and secondary schools in England by region and religious affiliation (if any).
The regions are:
NE north east
NW north west
Y/H Yorkshire and Humberside
EM east midlands
WM west midlands
EE east of England
IL inner London
OL outer London
SE south east
SW south west
PRIMARY SCHOOLS NE NW Y/H EM WM EE IL OL SE SW Total
Not religious 718 1,441 1,374 1,185 1,217 1,478 478 908 1,750 1,159 11,708
C of E 98 693 426 472 501 530 130 109 815 735 4,509
RC 162 543 152 80 207 101 109 136 166 91 1,747
Methodist 0 18 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 1 28
Other Christian 0 20 4 8 4 3 0 0 2 6 47
Jewish 0 7 1 0 1 2 2 13 0 0 26
Muslim 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
Sikh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Total 978 2,722 1,961 1,746 1,932 2,114 719 1,169 2,736 1,992 18,069
SECONDARY SCHOOLS NE NW Y/H EM WM EE IL OL SE SW Total
Not religious 191 353 290 298 350 379 89 212 448 289 2899
C of E 3 25 10 15 28 23 15 15 31 26 191
RC 31 103 27 19 39 24 27 43 32 12 357
Methodist 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Christian 0 1 1 3 4 5 1 1 5 6 27
Jewish 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 5
Total 225 484 328 335 421 431 134 274 516 333 3,481
Numbers of pupils
The following tables show the numbers of pupils in primary and secondary schools in England by the type and religious affiliation (if any) of the school:
PUPILS IN
PRIMARY SCHOOLS Community Voluntary Aided
Controlled
Foundation Total % of total
Not religious 2,940,520 2,901 6,976 98,292 3,048,689 71.7%
C of E 0 350,916 414,015 8,610 773,541 18.2%
RC 453 407,262 0 0 407,715 9.6%
Methodist 0 851 4,168 0 5,019 0.1%
Other Christian 0 3,675 4,669 262 8,606 0.2%
Jewish 0 7,766 0 0 7,766 0.2%
Muslim 0 333 0 0 333 0.0%
Sikh 0 207 0 0 207 0.0%
Other 0 83 0 0 83 0.0%
Total 2,940,973 773,990 429,827 107,164 4,251,953 100.0%
SECONDARY SCHOOLS Community Voluntary Aided
Voluntary Controlled
Not religious 2,115,931 40,450 66,997 513,513 2,736,891 84.7%
C of E 0 99,795 46,469 6,086 152,350 4.7%
RC 0 312,542 0 1,274 313,816 9.7%
Methodist 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Other Christian 0 16,774 5,994 731 23,499 0.7%
Muslim 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Other 0 305 0 0 0 0.0%
Numbers of teachers
The following tables show the numbers of teachers in primary and secondary schools in England by the type and religious affiliation (if any) of the school:
TEACHERS IN
Not religious 128,461 133 300 4,142 133,036 71.7%
C of E 0 15,458 18,419 361 34,238 18.5%
RC 18 17,290 0 0 17,308 9.3%
Methodist 0 36 183 0 219 0.1%
Other Christian 0 153 205 10 368 0.2%
Jewish 0 337 0 0 337 0.2%
Muslim 0 19 0 0 19 0.0%
Sikh 0 5 0 0 5 0.0%
Other 0 5 0 0 5 0.0%
Total 128,479 33,435 19,107 4,512 185,534 100.0%
TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS Community Voluntary Aided
Not religious 123,939 2,484 3,881 29,779 160,083 84.7%
C of E 0 5,794 2,619 366 8,779 4.6%
RC 0 18,389 0 67 18,456 9.8%
Other Christian 0 1,000 336 47 1,383 0.7%
Sikh 0 15 1 1 15 0.0%
Total 123,939 27,991 6,837 30,259 189,026 100.0%
Number of schools by type
The following tables show the numbers of primary and secondary schools in England by type and religious affiliation (if any):
Not religious 11,334 17 39 318 11,708 64.8%
C of E 0 1,913 2,558 38 4,509 25.0%
RC 1 1,746 0 0 1,747 9.7%
Methodist 0 3 25 0 28 0.2%
Other Christian 0 18 28 1 47 0.3%
Jewish 0 26 0 0 26 0.1%
Muslim 0 2 0 0 2 0.0%
Total 11,335 3,727 2,650 357 18,069 100.0%
Not religious 2,307 46 59 487 2,889 83.3%
C of E 0 118 65 8 191 5.5%
RC 0 356 0 1 357 10.3%
Other Christian 0 20 6 1 27 0.8%
Jewish 0 5 0 0 5 0.1%
Total 2,307 547 130 497 3,481 100.0%
All the statistics here are taken from the Department for Education and Skills' publication Statistics of Education: Schools in England 2001 which is available in full on their website - click here. Special schools, referral units, city technology colleges and independent schools are not included.
Pupil and teacher numbers are full-time equivalents and some totals are rounded.
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Favorite Samhain Books
By now you've all probably heard that Samhain Publishing will be closing, which is sad and shocking and a loss to the romance community. Some of the first m/m books I read were from Samhain, and I've always known I could find quality books from them. They're not closed yet so you can still support your favorite Samhain authors (and they're having a huge 40% off sale today so it's a great time to do it). Here are some of my favorites from Samhain in no particular order:
Absolutely anything by KJ Charles. Her Charm of Magpies series might be my favorite, but Think of England is wonderful too, and really anything.
The Enlightenment Trilogy by Joanna Chambers. Also Unnatural and The Dream Alchemist
Scrap Metal by Harper Fox. It was the first book of hers I read but it was definitely not the last. Cold Fusion is waiting for me on my Kindle.
The Plumber's Mate series by JL Merrow. Also Fall Hard and Slam! and her Shamwell Tales series.
The Love Lessons series by Heidi Cullinan. Also her Minnesota Christmas series and Carry the Ocean and Clockwork Heart.
The Sci-Regency series by JL Langley. Also the With or Without series.
The Cambridge Fellows mysteries by Charlie Cochrane
The Bend or Break series by Amy Jo Cousins
Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon. This was one of the first Lanyon books I read (and still a favorite!) but again not the last.
The Bohemian and the Banker by Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee. Also Mending Him.
The Hot Floor by Josephine Myles. Also her Bristol series
Collision Course by KA Mitchell. One of the first m/m books I read. Also Bad Boyfriend.
I am positive that I've missed some books I love, and just as positive that I'll be buying some books in the sale, despite my lack of money in the budget for books right now. So tell me, what are some of your favorite Samhain books?
Rainbow Snippet February 27-28
It's time again for snippets! I've chosen another snippet from The Artist's Masquerade for you this week, but a little different in tone from last week's snippet. As always, remember to visit the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group to read a bunch of six sentence snippets from some fantastic authors.
“Cathal.” He meant it as warning, protest, but he couldn’t make himself step away. Why was Cathal standing so close to him? A hand came to rest on Flavian’s back, warm and large, fingers drawing slow, caressing circles that Flavian felt all the way down to his toes.
He needed to move. He needed to step away from Cathal right this minute and go back to the party where there would be other people and he would be safe from himself. Yet he still couldn’t make his feet move.
Last Day of the DSP Sale!
Need weekend reading? Today is the last day of the sale at Dreamspinner Press. Just a little while longer to get the Chronicles of Tournai books (and tons of other great books) 25% off in ebook or paperback. Find them here.
Happy Friday, everyone!
Rainbow Snippet - February 20-21
Welcome to another weekend of Rainbow Snippets! Make sure you visit the Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook to read six sentence snippets of works from some fantastic authors. This week my snippet is from The Artist's Masquerade. We're in Flavian's point of view in this scene. His carefully crafted disguise is falling apart, and he's contemplating using the magic that he hates and fears...
His gaze fell on his sketchbook, discarded on a chair near the window earlier when he had thought sketching might help him settle down. It hadn’t worked, and the book sat there in a wash of moonlight. Mocking him.
He’d promised he wouldn’t do portraits ever again. Certainly would never think about using his Talent again. He shuddered. He dreaded seeing what was inside a person. But tonight, well, if he saw the worst, wasn’t it better to be prepared?
Climbing from the bed, he walked slowly to the sketchbook, as if it were a wild animal that might attack him. He laughed, a laugh he could hear the bitterness in. It wasn’t the sketchbook that might attack.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to return to my edits for The Scholar's Heart.
The Scholar's Heart blurb
The Scholar's Heart has a blurb! This is the third book in the Chronicles of Tournai series, but like the others, it does stand alone with its own plot and romance. If you have, you'll recognize Etan and Tristan, whose story this is, and you may have been a little annoyed with me for where I left Etan in The Artist's Masquerade. But if you know me at all, you know I can't leave someone sad for long. Here's the blurb:
Youngest son of a royal duke, Etan is a scholar at heart who juggles his work for the prince with his studies of the history and legends of Tournai, something of particular interest to him because he shares the magical Talent that runs in the royal bloodline. Etan’s peaceful world turns upside down when his best friend—the man he secretly loves—unexpectedly marries a woman. Though Tristan values his friendship with Etan and has always been attracted to him, he is a dutiful son, raised to shoulder responsibility for the family business one day. That day comes far sooner than anticipated, and he makes a deathbed promise to his father to marry the woman his father chose and become head of the company and family.
A year later, Tristan is a widower with an infant daughter and a mother who demands he marry again quickly—something Tristan resists. Circumstances throw Etan and Tristan together, and even as they succumb to the desires they’ve always harbored, Etan battles his feelings, wary of being cast aside again. When Tristan’s daughter is kidnapped, Etan and Tristan must come together to find her, find the person responsible, and support each other through the ordeal… and maybe beyond.
The Scholar's Heart is in edits now and will be out later this spring.
It's time to share another six sentence snippet for the fabulous Rainbow Snippets Facebook group. Don't forget to visit the group page and read the rest of this week's wonderful snippets (and add to your tbr list!). In honor of Valentine's this weekend, I chose a romantic little snippet from The Prince's Consort. Hope you enjoy!
For a while, they lay there, listening to the quiet sounds of the night around them. Amory finished his wine and set the glass to the side. Refilling his glass would have involved getting up, and he much preferred staying where he was. He nestled his head against Philip’s shoulder. Philip made a little sound of contentment and set his own glass aside, tightening his arms around Amory. He wasn’t surprised when Philip turned to him and pulled him into a gentle kiss, but he more than welcomed it. He surrendered to it gladly, letting the kisses turn slow and deep. Continuing and spinning out as they lay tangled together under a sky filled with stars.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend! And stay warm if you're in the area affected by this insane cold!
A bunch of random things
This Friday's post is a mix of a few random topics. First off, I promised I would update you on my JeRoWriMo progress this month, and I'm happy to say that the challenge is really keeping me motivated and making progress. As of yesterday I've added a little more than 19,000 words to my manuscript, putting me just over 80,000 words on the manuscript and nearly two thirds of the way to the challenge goal. I still have maybe another 20,000 words to finish Tournai 4 (which still needs a title!), but I'm making solid progress to get it finished and submitted. I'm hoping for some productive writing time today, which I will be doing wearing my new fingerless gloves since it's so cold. They were the best purchase, and I'm wondering why I didn't buy a pair sooner.
Random promo stuff next: Dreamspinner is having two sales right now! All paperbacks are 25% off right now, and all paranormal ebooks are also 25% off. The ebook of The Prince's Consort is included in the paranormal sale, and the paperbacks of both Tournai books are included in that sale, so it's a great time to buy if you're a paperback lover. Check out the sales here. Also, there are still a few days left to enter the Goodreads giveaway for a signed copy of The Artist's Masquerade. Enter here:
by Antonia Aquilante
Giveaway ends February 17, 2016.
Finally I realized it's been a long time since I talked about what I'm reading. Right now I'm reading and enjoying Betrothed: A Faery Tale by Therese Woodson. I'm also finally starting the new Lisa Kleypas historical. In between writing and edits, of course. Here are a few others I've read and enjoyed recently:
Radio Silence by Alyssa Cole - I don't usually read post-apocalyptic stories, but this one was highly recommended and I ended up really enjoying it. Then again it wasn't a disturbing post-apocalyptic book (no really scary stuff here). The hero and heroine had great chemistry. I'm going to have to read the second in the series to find out what caused the lights to go out, and because I liked John as a side character in this one and I want to read his story.
Cath a Tiger by the Tail by Charlie Cochet - I love Charlie Cochet's THIRDs series, and I'd been waiting for Calvin and Ethan's book. This one definitely works best when read in series order.
Malachite by Kirby Crow - This fantasy romance is on the darker side, and there were times I wondered if I liked any of the characters, but the world is really intriguing and I'm looking forward to more in this series.
Out! by JL Merrow - A fun and funny addition to her Shamwell series that works as a standalone. I love how British her books are, and I've enjoyed all the books in this series.
It's going to be a chilly weekend here, and I'm hoping to spend some of it curled up with a book and a blanket (and more of it curled up with my laptop and a blanket) and hot cocoa. What are you reading this weekend?
Guest Post: From History to Herstory to Our Story: “Our Story GLBTQ Historical Fiction” on Blogger with Christopher Hawthorne Moss
Today author Christopher Hawthorne Moss is visiting to tell us about his LGBT historical fiction blog.
How can we recover the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in history? We know of a few prominent figures, from Alexander the Great and Sappho to Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein, but for the most part the only thing we know about GLBTQ individuals is arrest records and diatribes by religious writers, an erasure only matched by women, aboriginal peoples, racial minorities, the very poor, and people with disabilities. But all is not lost. The oft unsung historical novelist has the power to recreate plausible, passionate, and positive stories of what life may have been like for men who love men, women who love women, and men and women who are identified as the other. There are several authors who have inspired me with the sensitivity of their efforts to give readers a peek into what loves and lives may have been for those for whom “love (is) that dare not speak its name.” As historical research persists and old notions of propriety are reconsidered, more and more historical fiction appears to be dead-on accurate.
It has been my passion and mission to collect information on this historical fiction with an eye to developing through fiction a plausibly accurate representation of what our lives may have been like in earlier eras, providing a blog at http://ourstoryglbtqhistoricalfiction.blogspot.com listing and assessing the stories that can stand in for the truth of GLBTQ people’s lives and loves. This way we can all invoke a heritage through reasonably accurate and plausible stories that reassure us and also grant us the same heritage that comforts, warns, and provides us with a map to lead our steps.
It was when I started sampling GLBTQ historical fiction that I discovered what precisely inspired my own flights of plausible fancy. One of the first I read was Brandy Emily Purdy’s CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, about the infamous lover of King Edward II of England and his tragic death. Gaveston is a historical figure who communicated his homosexual love to no less a figure than playwright Christopher Marlowe who shared his tastes, and only the most negative of historians can ignore all the clues and make him straight. That seems to be the pattern with such figures, where the assumptions about the individuals have to stretch far beyond rational interpretation to make them straight.
But Gaveston is a noble, a historical figure who is almost obvious in his place in history. As I read GLBTQ historical fiction I found more everyday characters who loved their own sex. Most notable are all the Age of Sail novels by such authors as M Kei, Alex Beecroft, and Elin Gregory, who took the combination of all-male environments and the likely attraction of such to gay men and made romances of their loves. A similar setting provided Charlie Cochrane with a place for her own two lovers, Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith, to find each other at a boys’ college, creating the Cambridge Fellows series that is dear to the heart of many. Cochrane’s heroes are very real, very credible, and provide both the conflict for a good story and the characteristics for a plausible love story that creeps into the painful as the years go by and the two young men must part, heartbreakingly, during World War I, a fate shared by other men but so much more poignant for those who could not speak of their loss.
This leads me to the very day-to-day personalities of Tamara Allen’s characters in such wonderful stories as THE ONLY GOLD and WHISTLING IN THE DARK. Allen’s portrayal of same-sex desiring men is so poignant and heart-lifting that whatever may seem unlikely about their loves come very much to life. They always resist the attraction – how could they not with society’s condemnation always present? But they finally realize that happiness and fulfillment can only be found in each other’s arms.
Finally as an old English major I enjoy scholarship concerning literature and was delighted to discover Norman Jones’s work GAY AND LESBIAN HISTORICAL FICTION: SEXUAL MYSTERY AND POST-SECULAR NARRATIVE, which examines the inclusion of structures and images in GLBTQ historical fiction that show up in more mainstream literature, such as self-identification, coming out stories, looking for a role model, and finding community. Jones discusses these themes in William Faulkner’s ABSALOM, ABSALOM, Mary Renault’s Alexander novels, Mark Merlis’s AN ARROW’S FLIGHT, and other GLBTQ novels. Realizing the heritage of GLBTQ literature made me aware of my place in a long and growing tradition.
Who knows what it is about historical novels that so satisfies its fans. Perhaps it is the isolation and desperation so charmingly fulfilled in other times, or perhaps it is the comfort of knowing we have, in fact, always been here and always been queer but found a way to make our lives and loves work. The longer our attention to the past continues, we discover just how prophetic historical novelists have been when one after another story of same-sex-desiring and gender-variant historical figures come to life. It is special to be part of this movement and find over and over that we are writing stories that prove to be true.
More recently I have taken on the challenge of listing all the ways gay and transgender people managed to create lives and find love and togetherness which I am calling “How and Why They Managed” and have included these on the blog. They run the gamut from isolation and loneliness, to surreptitious to blatantly open, in those times or communities where condemnation was or is not present, such as in American Indian or Ancient Greek societies among others. As much as ill-informed historians and historical novelists may protest the very existence of “gay people” in earlier times, the truth is that there are many places and times where same sex desire was not condemned or individuals in society who could find enclaves of acceptance. The all-or-nothing notions of these people mean more to those of us who are GLBTQ than simple oversight. They deny us our very existence and the tales that will provide us with a sense of belonging and our place in time.
Recent biological studies, carried out by those such as Dr. Joshua D. Safer, MD1, have demonstrated causal factors that prove that GLBTQ people are truly “born that way”, suggesting that no new environmental factors can be found to account for “unnatural” inclinations, that gay and transgender people have always been part of the human animal and not “unnatural” at all. This points to the fact that we do have history, that no amount of denial on the part of scholars, religious people, or others can change this fact. It is therefore incumbent on the part of historians and sociologists and, barring that, those storytellers so inclined to add us back to the Story of Mankind. Odds are that we found ways to be happy and fulfilled, and why not write stories that reflect this truth?
Come read Our Story GLBTQ Historical Fiction and discover the hundreds of authors who want to make these stories happen.
1 Safer, Joshua D., and Tangpricha, Vin, “Out Of The Shadows: It Is Time To Mainstream Treatment For Transgender Patients”, Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 14.2 (March 2008): 248–250, doi: 10.4158/EP.14.2.248
About Christopher:
Christopher Hawthorne Moss is the author of BELOVED PILGRIM, WHERE MY LOVE LIES DREAMING, “Le Beau Soleil”, “Truck Stop”, and other historical fiction. You can find Christopher Hawthorne Moss’s own historical novels and stories, such as the transgender Crusader knight in BELOVED PILGRIM, the adventurous army lieutenant who accompanies General Scott during the Mexican War of 1846-48, and the two lovers from different worlds who go through the same Civil War trauma only to find each other again in WHERE MY LOVE LIES DREAMING at his web site at http://authorchristophermoss.blogspot.com
Guest Post: Cover Reveal! Patience by Grace R. Duncan
Grace R. Duncan is visiting today unveiling the cover for her new novel Patience and sharing an excerpt. Welcome, Grace!
Forbes Mates, Book 2
Dreamspinner Press
Cover by Reese Dante
Jamie Ryan was almost ready to accept he’d never find his destined mate. They’re uncommon to begin with and same-sex versions downright rare. Since his gay best friend found a destined mate, Jamie figured he was out of luck. Until end of semester stress forces him to go through the full-moon shift early. Stuck in wolf form, he runs into none other than his destined mate. Who’s human.
Chad Sutton has always had good instincts. They served him well as a detective and continued on when he went private. Those instincts tell him there’s something about the dog that comes up to him while running away from animal control that isn’t quite right. He works to put the pieces together, but is unsuccessful until his dog turns into a human before his eyes.
Jamie has no idea what a shifter mate bite will do to a human. He’s terrified to try—and possibly kill his mate. They hunt together for answers while working together on a case for Chad. It’s easy to see they belong together, but Jamie fears the gods gave him someone he can’t keep.
Preorder Patience:
Dreamspinner Press ebook
Dreamspinner Press paperback
Jamie threw back another shot and set the glass on the bar. It was days like this that made him wish to hell his metabolism wasn’t so damned fast. Thanks to his wolf, there wasn’t much he could do. His body processed alcohol almost as fast as he could drink it.
It didn’t help that he’d been feeling out of sorts the whole day. After his last final, he’d loaded the rest of his things from his dorm room into his car. All through it, he’d felt just… off. He couldn’t wait until he got back out to pack lands and Tanner and Finley’s house. They both insisted he take one of the spare rooms when he wasn’t on campus.
He hadn’t wanted to at first. He wasn’t sure he wanted to sit around and watch Tanner and Finley be loving and physical. It wasn’t so much that he still had feelings for Finley. He didn’t, thank the gods. It was more of a different sort of jealousy. Now that he’d seen what it was to have a mate, he wanted one of his own—badly.
Tanner and Finley had tried to set him up with their friend the pack doctor, Miles. While Jamie could admit Miles was most definitely hot, with his long red hair and lean physique, Miles wasn’t his destined mate. And they got along well enough, but he didn’t even feel the interest with Miles he had with Finley. Luckily for both of them, Miles felt the same. They’d been able to occasionally fuck and be good friends, but that’s as far as it had gone.
Thankfully, Tanner and Finley weren’t as bad as he’d expected. They kept most of their physical stuff to their bedroom, with the occasional touch and kiss in front of him. So going back there for holidays and breaks wasn’t as bad as he’d been afraid it would be.
And now he wanted nothing more than to get on the road and make the hour-and-a-half-in-traffic trip back. His wolf had been prodding him for a while, and he needed to shift and run, let him loose.
Jamie tried to think of the last time he’d shifted outside of the full moon. When he realized he wasn’t sure, it made sense that he was so antsy. He was rather surprised he hadn’t started chasing the mailman down the street or chewing on his roommate’s slippers. Their kind had an unfortunate tendency to display horribly doglike behaviors—in human form—when they didn’t shift often enough. The worst of the side effects included full-blown attention deficit issues. Considering he was at the tail end of his junior year in college and squeaking through finals, Jamie counted himself lucky he’d managed to keep from any of that.
The prodding was undoubtedly the reason he was feeling out of sorts. His wolf prowled just under the surface, and he wondered if he shouldn’t just tell his friends good-bye and head home.
“Come on, man! You’re being a lightweight tonight,” his roommate, Dwayne, said, shoving another shot at him. “You usually drink all of us under the table.”
“I gotta drive home, dude,” Jamie said. He wasn’t about to explain that it didn’t matter how many shots he had, he could sober up in no time and still drive.
“You can crash on my couch,” Troy offered.
Jamie turned to his other friend and shook his head. “Naw, it’s okay. I guess I can do a couple more.” He picked up another glass and lifted it to his lips, then stopped when he realized the fine hairs on the back of his hand weren’t quite so fine. He blinked, confused, since his vision was still normal.
Right then, the colors faded to grays. Jamie downed the shot quickly and closed his eyes, pretending to struggle to swallow the liquor, trying to fight his wolf back into its place.
Not yet. Just a little longer.
When he opened his eyes, the color was back, but his wolf was even closer to the surface. He glanced at his watch—a digital with the moon phases on it, just in case—but the full moon was still more than two days away. The date didn’t seem to matter, though. Jamie was losing the fight against his wolf, and he needed to get out of there—fast.
“Dude, you okay?” Troy asked, peering at him.
Dwayne was grinning from the other side. “I think he finally had one too many.”
Jamie jumped on the excuse. “Uh, yeah. Something with that last shot. Need some air. Sorry.” With that, he hurried out to the street and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, Forbes Avenue in the heart of Oakland—Pittsburgh’s college district—wasn’t the best place for fresh air. All he got for his trouble was two lungs full of exhaust and a burning nose. He knew better—he’d been fighting the stench of city for most of the last two years—and he cursed himself for doing it anyway.
Shaking his head at himself, he darted past the Dunkin’ Donuts and the door to The O, then around the corner, looking for a quick place to hide. His vision turned gray again, and he struggled to hold his wolf back at least until he could get hidden. He ducked into the alley just beyond the building and let out a breath.
Before he could think of how to handle this, his wolf broke through, and Jamie found himself forced through the shift. His gums itched as his teeth dropped, his claws extended, and fur erupted over his skin. His bones and muscles realigned, and seconds later, he landed on four paws.
He shook himself hard and gave himself just a moment to savor being in his fur again. But this was not the place for him to be in wolf form. He was too far away from Schenley Park, or any other park, for that matter. Never mind the fact that wolves didn’t wander around in city parks. They weren’t even truly native to this region, much less would they be found in a park completely surrounded by city.
He prodded his wolf, trying to nudge him back so he could take his human form again. However, his wolf refused to relinquish control. Jamie struggled, trying to internally reason with his wolf—if he could go back to human, he could get home to the forest and shift for a while. His wolf wouldn’t listen. He was getting truly worried now, when his human side couldn’t pull the lupine side back.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to get control. Huffing, Jamie sat and considered his options, though there were very few. He could keep trying to shift, but he suspected that would be an exercise in futility. He could try to get to his car… except there was no way he could get the door open, even if he could get down the street and through the garage unseen.
He turned to his clothes and nosed through the pile of denim scraps that used to be his jeans. He managed to pull his phone out with his mouth, but the screen wouldn’t recognize the touch of his paw. Not that he knew what he’d do anyway. Call Finley, maybe. But that obviously wasn’t an option.
He looked toward the street but knew that was a bad idea, no matter how much he wanted to get away. Until he was human again, he didn’t dare risk venturing out of the alley. That left the other direction.
Jamie looked down at his clothes, then left them to explore the short distance to the back wall. He found milk crates, a huge trash compactor, the currently raised bottom of a fire escape, a couple of recycling bins, and not much else. A door that presumably led into the kitchen of The O sat in the wall to his right. At the end of the alley, it turned in an L-shape into a tiny parking lot Jamie hadn’t known was there.
It was dark enough no one should be able to see him, so he figured his best bet at this point was find a spot in the corner and wait. Hopefully, after some rest and time in his fur, his wolf would let go and he could get back into his human skin.
He nosed open one of the recycling bins first. It took a couple of trips, but he got his clothes, shoes, watch, phone, and wallet into the bin. Even if they ended up in a dump somewhere, he didn’t want them just lying out on the ground where someone could steal them. Once he was human again, he could fish them out, but until then at least they were out of sight.
He found a quiet spot under the fire escape and behind the door to settle in. With a sigh, he lay down and rested his head on his paws to wait.
If you haven’t read it yet, now would be a great time to check out Devotion, Forbes Mates #1 and where you get to meet Jamie first. Find out more about Devotion and see how you can get Tanner and Finley’s story here: http://www.grace-duncan.com/devotion
About Grace:
Grace Duncan grew up with a wild imagination. She told stories from an early age – many of which got her into trouble. Eventually, she learned to channel that imagination into less troublesome areas, including fanfiction, which is what has led her to writing male/male erotica.
A gypsy in her own right, Grace has lived all over the United States. She has currently set up camp in East Texas with her husband and children – both the human and furry kind.
As one of those rare creatures who loves research, Grace can get lost for hours on the internet, reading up on any number of strange and different topics. She can also be found writing fanfiction, reading fantasy, crime, suspense, romance and other erotica or even dabbling in art.
Find Grace here:
Website ◊ Facebook ◊ Twitter ◊ Youtube ◊ Goodreads
Rainbow Snippet February 6-7
It's time for Rainbow Snippets again! And it's the first snippet of February. This week's snippet comes from The Artist's Masquerade again. In this scene, we're in Cathal's point of view. Flavian is still disguised as a woman, and Cathal doesn't know the truth about him yet - he knows Flavian as Flavia, companion to the woman Cathal is meant to marry in an arranged marriage. And, well, things are about to get complicated...
Her eyes widened, awareness flooding them. And desire too, the same desire he felt for her reflected back to him, and something snapped inside him. Flavia wanted him, and he couldn’t in that moment, with her standing there staring at him with wide eyes, her breath coming more and more quickly, find a reason to stop himself.
“Lord Cathal, what are you doing?”
He took her arms and crowded her back into the room, kicking the door closed behind them and spinning to put her back to the door. Then he leaned into her and finally brought his lips down over hers.
And knew immediately that he was in trouble, because he wasn’t going to want to stop kissing her.
Head over to the Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook to read the rest of this week's snippets from some great authors. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
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Home / News / Philippines / PNP bats for modernization towards proper law enforcement
PNP bats for modernization towards proper law enforcement
By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) has vowed to push for modernization of its system and equipment towards proper law enforcement.
PNP spokesperson, Col. Bernard Banac made the remark following the arrest of Davao Today columnist Margarita Valle, which the police later called a case of mistaken identity.
“The PNP shall endeavor to push for modernization of its systems and equipment that will be capable of real-time validation of information to aid our operating units in performing the mission to enforce the law and serve court processes against wanted persons diligently, judiciously and effectively with utmost respect for human rights,” Banac told reporters.
Banac said that they understand what the veteran journalist felt over her ordeal from the time she was arrested at the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental up to the time when she was taken to a police office.
“The mistaken arrest of Ms. Margarita Valle is indeed too regrettable. In fact, the Regional Chief (of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) Colonel (Tom) Tuzon has already asked for understanding and expressed sincerest apology,” said Banac.
“We assure the public that a full-dress investigation is now in progress to determine culpability for the apparent lapses and oversight to prevent similar incidents in future police operations,” he added.
On Monday, PNP chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde, directed the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to conduct an inquiry into the matter.
He said part of the investigation is how deep the case buildup was made before the joint team of police and military personnel conducted the arrest.
Albayalde said the PNP IAS will look into possible lapses of the police personnel involved in the operation.
Valle was arrested on June 9 while waiting for a flight home to Davao City at the Laguindingan Airport in Cagayan de Oro.
According to the report, the subject of the operation was a certain Elsa Renton who has a standing arrest warrant over charges of multiple murders, frustrated murder, and damage to government properties. Renton is also using names such as Tina Maglaya or Fidelina Margarita Valle y Avellanosa.
Valle was brought to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) office in Zamboanga City and was immediately released after an informant confirmed that Valle was not the actual suspect although they have a “major resemblance”.
Albayalde said the PNP will assist Valle if she will file a complaint against the arresting cops. (PNA)
PNP bats for modernization towards proper law enforcement Reviewed by AsianPolicy.Press on 2:23:00 PM Rating: 5
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Hope Harbor
by: Irene Hannon
Come home to Hope Harbor--where hearts heal . . . and love blooms.
Tracy Campbell never wanted to leave Hope Harbor, Oregon, or the idyllic three-generation cranberry farm where she grew up. But life--and love--altered her plans. Now she's home again--with a floundering farm to run . . . a tragic secret . . . and a wounded heart. Romance is not on her agenda. Nor is it on Michael Hunter's. The visitor from Chicago has daunting secrets and devastating regrets of his own. But when Tracy recruits him to help with a project that is close to her heart, winds of change begin to sweep through Hope Harbor, bringing healing, hope, and love to countless lives--including their own.
Praise for Irene's Contemporary Romances
"Captures the reader from the very first pages. Irene Hannon knows the power of words and the miracle of faith."--New York Journal of Books on That Certain Summer
"Beautiful storytelling . . . a gem of a read."--RT Book Reviews on That Certain Summer
"Hannon's multithread plot is woven beautifully together to create a tapestry that will enchant romantics of all ages."--Publishers Weekly on One Perfect Spring
"Irene Hannon is one great storyteller."--#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber on One Perfect Spring
Irene Hannon is the bestselling author of more than forty-five romantic suspense and contemporary romance/women's fiction novels, including the Heroes of Quantico, Guardians of Justice, and Private Justice series, along with That Certain Summer and One Perfect Spring. Her books have garnered dozens of honors, including two coveted RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America. She is also a two-time Christy Award finalist.
IreneHannon.com
© DeWeesePhotography.com
Irene Hannon
Irene Hannon is the bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including Hope Harbor, Sea Rose Lane, Sandpiper Cove, Pelican Point, and Driftwood Bay, as well as the Code of Honor, Private Justice, and Men of Valor...
Continue reading about Irene Hannon
"Hannon's novel promises to be a bestseller and classic. It's easy to see why people are falling in love with the characters of Hope Harbor."
CBA Retailers + Resources
"Hannon steps away from her mystery writing to pen this gorgeously rendered romance. The relationship development between Tracy and Michael is natural and heartwarming. The secondary characters add to the story, and the spectacular setting will have readers excited to book their own trips to the Oregon coast."
RT Book Reviews, 4 stars
"Fan favorite Irene Hannon brings a whole new cast of characters to life in a charming Oregon seaside village. Emotional and heartwarming, this story invites reader to come home to Hope Harbor."
Christian Retailing
"Award-winning Hannon steps away from romantic suspense in this inspiring tale. As her characters come closer together despite their fears, they find that their lives are growing rich again in ways they thought were lost forever. Hope Harbor shows that trusting others is not what causes pain; it's the isolation after loss that does the damage. As Michael and Tracy begin to care more for each other, they heal, and they help Anna and all of Hope Harbor make a fresh start too."
Praise for Irene Hannon
Reading Group Guide Download PDF
Excerpt Download PDF
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School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences
Juergen Polle
Location: 425 Ingersoll Hall Extension
Phone: 718.951.5000 x2025
Juergen Polle is professor in the Department of Biology. He joined Brooklyn College in fall 2002. From 1997 to 2002 he was postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. A. Melis at the University of California, Berkeley.
Show Scholarly Activities and Professional Accomplishments
Doctor Rer. Nat., Georg-August University (Goettingen, Germany) - 1997 (Biology)
Juergen Polle is a leading expert in microalgae biotechnology. For the past 20 years he worked with various microalgae, including unicellular green algae, diatoms and cyanobacteria. Polle is internationally recognized for his work on algae of the genus Dunaliella. His research on stress biology in green algae focuses on secondary carotenoid biosynthesis and biofuels production from microalgae. His research was funded in the past by, for example, the U.S. DOE, NIH and AFOSR.
Co-Editor for the journal "Algal Research", Special Issue on The Chlorophyte Dunaliella: Biology and Biotechnology.
This special issue will combine a variety of special topics in research on Dunaliella, providing new information on the genus and its biotechnology. The alga has been intensively studied lately, with the genome of D. salina having been recently published, allowing for new multi-omics approaches in fundamental research of stress biology, and opening new venues for genetic manipulation. In addition, recent (biochemical) scientific studies revealed new features (and biochemical characteristics) of biochemistry, nutrition and medicine for D. salina and D. bardawil. We seek innovative manuscripts that excel in the topics listed above as applied to the understanding of the biology, biochemistry, and applications of Dunaliella microalgae. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2019
Laje, K., Seger, M., Dungan, B., (...), Polle, J., Omar Holguin, F. (2019) Phytoene accumulation in the novel microalga Chlorococcum sp. Using the pigment synthesis inhibitor fluridone. Marine Drugs
17(3),187
(Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2019
McKie-Krisberg, Z.M., Laurens, L.M.L., Huang, A., Polle, J.E.W. 2018
Comparative energetics of carbon storage molecules in green algae. Algal Research 31, pp. 326-333 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2018
Hovde, B.T., Hanschen, E.R., Steadman Tyler, C.R., (...), Polle, J., Starkenburg, S.R. (2018) Genomic characterization reveals significant divergence within Chlorella sorokiniana (Chlorellales, Trebouxiophyceae). Algal Research 35, pp. 449-461 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2018
Guest Editor for the Special Issue on "Algal Biology - Metabolic Regulation of Microalgae for Biofuels" (Algal Research) (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2017
Guest Editor for the Special Issue on "Algal Biology - Molecular Traits of Microalgae for Biofuels" (Algal Research) (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2017
Lammers, P.J., Huesemann, M., Boeing, W., (...Polle, J....), Yao, Y., Olivares, J.A. Review of the cultivation program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts. Algal Research
22, pp. 166-186 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2017
Polle J.E.W., Barry K., Cushman J., Schmutz J., Tran D., Hathwaik L.T., Yim W.C., (...), Magnuson J.
2017 Draft nuclear genome sequence of the halophilic and beta-carotene-accumulating green alga Dunaliella salina strain CCAP19/18. Genome Announcements, 5 (43) , art. no. e01105-17 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2017
Starkenburg S.R., Polle J.E.W., Hovde B., Daligault H.E., Davenport K.W., Huang A., Neofotis P., McKie-Krisberg Z. 2017 Draft nuclear genome, complete chloroplast genome, and complete mitochondrial genome for the biofuel/ bioproduct feedstock species Scenedesmus obliquus strain DOE0152z. Genome Announcements, 5 (32) , art. no. e00617-17 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2017
Unkefer, C.J., Sayre, R.T., Magnuson, J.K., (...Polle, J....), Yuan, J.S., Olivares, J.A. Review of the algal biology program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts. Algal Research 22, pp. 187-215 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2017
Jeon, H., Jeong, J., Baek, K., (...), Polle, J.E.W., Jin, E. Identification of the carbonic anhydrases from the unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina strain CCAP 19/18. Algal Research 19, pp. 12-20 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2016
Neofotis P., Huang A., Chang W., Joseph F., and J.E.W. Polle. Microalgae strain isolation, screening, and identification for biofuels and high value products. In: Micro-Algal Production for Biomass and High-Value Products. Eds. SP Slocombe & JR Benemann. ISBN: 978-1-4822-1970-8 (Taylor & Francis Catalog #:K22169) (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2016
Neofotis P., Huang A., Sury K., Chang W., Joseph F., Gabr A., Twary S., Qiu W., Holguin O., and J.E.W. Polle. Characterization and Classification of Highly Productive Microalgae Strains Discovered for Biofuel and Bioproduct Generation. Algal Research, Volume 15, April 2016, Pages 164-178 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2016
Polle, Jürgen E.W., Peter Neofotis, Andy Huang, William Chang, Kiran Sury and Eliza M. Wiech. "Carbon Partitioning in Green Algae (Chlorophyta) and the Enolase Enzyme." Metabolites 4.3: 612-28. DOI:10.3390/metabo4030612 (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2014
Hildebrand M., R.M., Abbriano, J.E.W. Polle, J.C. Traller, E.M. Trentacoste, S.R. Smith and A.K. Davis. "Metabolic and Cellular Organization in Evolutionarily Diverse Microalgae as Related to Biofuels Production." Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 17.3: 506-14. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2013
Lohr, M., J. Schwender and J.E.W. Polle. "Isoprenoid Biosynthesis in Eukaryotic Phototrophs: A Spotlight on Algae." Plant Science 185-186: 9-22. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2012
Ramos, A.A., J.E.W. Polle, D. Tran, J. Cushman, E.S. Jin and J.C. Varela. "The Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina as a Model for Abiotic Stress: Genetic Advances and Future Perspectives." Algae. In press. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2011
Zhang, F., J. Vierock, O. Yizhar, L.E. Fenno, S. Tsunoda, A. Kianianmomeni, M. Prigge, A. Berndt, J. Cushman, J. Polle, J. Magnuson, P. Hegemann, and K. Deisseroth. "The Microbial Opsin Family of Optogenetic Tools." Cell 147: 1446-57. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2011
Blanc, G., G. Duncan, I. Agarkova, M. Borodovsky, J. Gurnon, A. Kuo, E. Lindquist, J.E.W. Polle, A. Salamov,A. Terry, T. Yamada, D.D. Dunigan, I.V. Grigoriev, J.-M. Claverie and J.L. van Etten. "The Chlorella variabilis NC64A Genome Reveals Adaptation to Photosymbiosis, Coevolution With Viruses, and Cryptic Sex." Plant Cell 22.9: 2943-55. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Kim, M., S. Park, J.E.W. Polle and E.S. Jin. "cDNA Microarray Analysis of the Transcriptome of Dunaliella sp. (Chlorophyta) Grown Under Different Salinities." Phycological Research 58.1: 17-28. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Schubert, B.A., M.N. Timofeeff, T.K. Lowenstein and J.E.W. Polle. "Dunaliella Cells in Fluid Inclusions in Halite: Significance for Long-term Survival of Prokaryotes." Journal of Geomicrobiology 27.1: 61-75. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Smith, R., R.W. Lee, J.C. Cushman, J.K. Magnuson, D. Tran and J.E.W. Polle. "The Dunaliella salina organelle Genomes: Large Sequences, Inflated With Intronic and Intergenic DNA." BMC Plant Biology 83. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Ben-Amotz, Ami, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. The Alga Dunaliella. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2009
Gonzalez, M.A., P.I. Gomez and J.E.W. Polle. "Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Genus Dunaliella." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Jin, E.S. and J.E.W. Polle. "Carotenoids in the Alga Dunaliella." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Polle, J.E.W. and S. Qin. "Development of Genetics and Molecular Tool Kits for Species of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella (Chlorophyta)." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Polle, J.E.W., D. Tran and A. Ben-Amotz. "History, Distribution and Habitats of Algae of the Genus Dunaliella TEODORESCO (Chlorophyceae)." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Tran, D., J. Haven, W-G. Qiu and J.E.W. Polle. "An Update on Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Algae: Phylogenetic Evidence for the Existence of Two Classes of Phytoene Synthase." Planta 229: 723-29. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009
Polle, J.E.W., L. Struwe and E.S. Jin. "Identification and Characterization of a New Strain of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina (Teod.) From Korea." Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 18.5: 821-27. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2008
Gordon, J.M. and J.E.W. Polle. "Ultrahigh Bioproductivity From Algae." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 76: 969-75. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2007
Polle, J.E.W., L. Struwe and E.S. Jin. "Identification and Characterization of a New Strain of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina (Chlorophyta)." Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology. In press. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2007
Instructor's Manual With Test Items for the Textbook "Plant Biology." Chicago: Thomson Gale. (Books and Publications: Book) 2006
Park, S., J.E. Polle, A. Melis, T.K. Lee and E. Jin. "Up-regulation of Photoprotection and PSH-repair Gene Expression by Irradiance in the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina." Marine Biotechnology 8.2: 120-28. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005
Yokthongwattana, K., T. Savchenko, J.E. Polle and A. Melis. "Isolation and Characterization of a Xanthophyll-rich Fraction From the Thylakoid Membrane of Dunalella salina (green algae)." Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences 4.12: 1028-34. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005
Lectures for the summer course "Capturing the Sun?" Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston. 2009
Patent application, for "Regulating the Production of Isoprenoids in Algal Cells." 2009
Patent application, for "Regulating the Production of Long Chain Hydrocarbons." 2009
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) located in Richland, WA, USA. EMSL is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.
Project Proposal 50490: Proteogenomics to Discover Principles Regulating Metabolic Networks in Oleagenous Green Algae.
Principal Investigator Dr. Juergen Polle;
Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Zaid McKie-Krisberg;
Performance Period October 2018 to September 2019
(Grants and Fellowships) 2018
STTR Phase I, US Department of Energy;
MicroBio Engineering, Inc. with PI Dr. Aubrey Davis;
Brooklyn College of CUNY Research Institution Contact Dr. Juergen Polle;
Title: Domestication of the microalga Scenedesmus obliquus for biomass feedstock production.
Abstract: To advance a strong and economical biofuels and bioproducts industry, tools are needed for breeding microalgae to improve phenotypes of commercial interest, including biomass yield, culture stability, harvestability, and accumulation of valuable compounds. This project aims to increase biomass feedstock yields by the phototrophic green alga Scenedesmus obliquus by using classical breeding approaches combined with advanced genomics technologies. S. obliquus is an oleaginous alga that can be robustly cultivated in open raceway-type ponds and accumulates valuable carotenoid compounds that can feed directly into established commercial markets.
Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, for "A Systems Biology and Pond Culture-Based Understanding and Improvement of Metabolic Processes Related to Productivity in Diverse Microalgal Classes for Viable Biofuel Production." Principal investigator: Mark Hildebrand (University of California, San Diego); collaborators: Juergen Polle and Michael Huesemann (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory). (Grants and Fellowships) 2014
Grant, contract from PNNL. (Grants and Fellowships) 2014
Member, National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products. (Grants and Fellowships) 2013
Phase I contract. (Grants and Fellowships) 2013
Leonard and Claire Tow Professor, 2011-12. (Awards and Honors) 2011
Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, for "Development of Pollution Prevention Technologies."
J.E.W. Polle and R. Sanchez-Delgado, co-principal investigators. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, for "National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts - An Algal Biofuels Research Consortium." Co-principal investigator. Consortium under the lead of the Donald Danforth Center and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Utah DNR collaborative grant, for "Great Salt Lake Microalgae Populations as Indicator Species of Habitat Quality: Novel Methods for Monitoring." J.E. Polle and Dr. Baxter (Westminster College). (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
AFOSR, for creating a collection of microalgae for biofuels research. (Grants and Fellowships) 2007
Sabbatical Spring 2019: Affiliate with the Joint Genome Institute, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Joined the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels & Bioproducts. 2009
Attended the 7th European Workshop on Microalgal Biotechnology, Potsdam, Germany. 2007
Attended the Algae Biomass Summit, San Francisco. 2007
Attended the Eastern Regional Photosynthesis Conference, Woods Hole, Mass. 2007
Attended the Western Regional Photosynthesis Conference, Pacific Grove, Calif. 2007
Set up the Dunaliella Culture collection, Brooklyn College. 2003
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
6th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts
San Diego, United States
Polle and McKie-Krisberg
Oral Presentation:
Genome-based Analysis of Metabolism of the Green Alga Acutodesmus obliquus.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
Algae Biomass Summit
Glendale, Arizona 85305
Investigation of the Ploidy and Genome Organization of Potential Platform
Species of Green Algae (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2016
"Regulation of Metabolism in Green Algae." Queens College (CUNY). April 15. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
Algae Biomass Summit, 2015, Washington (DC), USA
Title: Metabolic Design Principles in Green Algae (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
The 5th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels & Bioproducts
June 2015, San Diego, USA
Plenary Session 6
J.E.W. Polle
Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, USA; The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA
Title: Carbon core metabolism in Green Algae (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
"Bioprospecting Microalgae for Biofuels & Bioproducts: Finding, Screening and Analysis of Strains." Canada-U.S. Algae Workshop. San Diego, Oct. 3. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Development of New Strains of Microalgae: Considering Carbon Partitioning for Algal Strain Improvement." 2014 Algae Biomass Summit. San Diego, Sept. 29 - Oct. 2. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Freshwater Algae." Scripps Institution of Oceanography. San Diego, Sept. 29. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Metabolism in Green Alga: Lessons learned from the model halophilic alga Dunaliella salina." Sandia National Laboratories. Livermore, Calif., July 23. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
Invited to give an oral presentation at the 3rd AOAIS (Asia-Oceania Algae Innovation Summit), Daejeon, South Korea, Nov. 17-20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Algal Biofuels." Sustainable Energy and Design Conference. Bronx Community College (CUNY). The Bronx, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
"Analysis of Metabolism of the Halo-Tolerant Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina." Halophiles - 10th International Conference on Halophilic Microorganisms. Storrs, Conn. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
"Bioprospecting Microalgae for Biofuels & Bioproducts: Finding, Screening, and Analysis of Strains." European Algal Biomass Conference. Vienna. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
"Discovery and Development of Strains of Microalgae for Phototrophic Biofuels Applications." 9th European Workshop Biotechnology of Microalgae. Nuthetal, Germany. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Isoprenoid Metabolism in Microalgae: Biosynthesis, Regulation, and Metabolic Sinks." 2nd International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Isoprenoid Metabolism in the Diverse Lineages of Micoalgae." 6th Algae Biomass Summit. Denver. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae Biofuels: From Bioprospecting to Cell Factories." Rutgers University. New Jersey. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae Biofuels: Strain Selection and Metabolism." University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae for Biofuels & Bioproducts: From Bioprospecting to Strain Analysis." V Convención de Energía Renovable y Eficiencia Energética. Galileo Univeridad. Guatemala City. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae Strain Development: From Cell Isolation to Cell Factories." Brooklyn College. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Strain Development of Microalgae: From Strain Isolation to Cell Factories." Conference on Genomics & Systems Biology. NYU Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Identification of Novel Strains of Microalgae for Biofuels Applications." 3rd Annual Algae World Summit. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Identification of Novel Strains of Microalgae for Biofuels Applications." Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts. St. Louis, July 17-20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Lipidomics of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina" poster. U.S. DOE Joint Genome Institute User Meeting. Walnut Creek, Calif. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Microalgae Strain Development for Biofuels Applications." 3rd Annual Algae World Summit. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Microalgae Strain Development for Biofuels Applications." Lehman College (CUNY). The Bronx, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Optimizing the Selection of Microalgae for Oil Production." Algae Biomass Summit. Minneapolis. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Overcoming Biological Challenges Through Strain Development." Brookhaven National Laboratory. Upton, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"The Potential of Microalgae for Biofuels Applications: Identification of Novel Strains of Algae." Hofstra University. Hempstead, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Microalgae for Biofuels Applications." Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos, N.M., August. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Photosynthetic Efficiencies in Microalgae Cultures." 8th European Workshop on Algae Biotechnology. Potsdam, Germany, June. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"A Model Halophyte -- The Green Alga Dunaliella Salina" poster. User Meeting of the U.S. DOE Joint Genome Institute. Walnut Creek, Calif. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Algae to Biofuels: From Strain Isolation to Strain Engineering." Institute of Bioengineering. Santa Clara, Calif. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"From Bio-Prospecting for New Microalgae Strains to Strain Engineering." Algal Biotechnology & Bioenergy Seminar. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"High Through-put Isolation and Screening of Novel Algal Strains for Biofuels Applications." Algae Biomass Summit. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
2nd Conference of the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization. New York. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
AIChE Annual Meeting. Nashville, Tenn. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
Westminster College. Salt Lake City. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"A Century With the Halophilic Alga Dunaliella: An Update." Binghamton University (SUNY). Binghamton, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Algae to Biofuels: From Strain Isolation to Strain Engineering." National Renewable Energy Laboratories. Golden, Colo. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Algae to Fuels." Summer Seminar Series on Governor's Island for CUNY Sustainable Cities. New York. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Bioprospecting for Microalgae." AFOSR-NREL Workshop. Arlington, Va. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Bioprospecting of Microalgae and the Alga Dunaliella." Utah State University. Logan, Utah. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Carotenoid Biosynthesis in the Halophilic Alga Dunaliella salina TEOD (Chlorophyta)." Conference of the International Society for Salt Lake Research. Salt Lake City. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Creating a Culture Collection of Microalgae for Biofuels Research." AFOSR review meeting. Arlington, Va., August. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Creating a Collection of Microalgae for Biofuels Research." AFOSR-NREL Workshop on Algae Biofuels. Golden, Colo. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Development of Molecular and Genetic Tools for the Unicellular Alga Dunaliella salina (Chlorophyta)" poster. International Marine Biotechnology Conference. Eilat, Israel. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
"Enhancing Productivity of Marine Microalgae for Greenhouse Gas Abatement." International Marine Biotechnology Conference. Eilat, Israel. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Enhancing Productivity of Microalgae." Ben-Gurion University. Sede Boker, Israel. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Enhancing Productivity of Microalgae." University of Nevada at Reno. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
Project Kaleidoskope Faculty of the 21st Century Meeting. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
Professional Leadership
Co-chair for the Biology Track for the 2019 Algae Biomass Summit. Algae Biomass Summit
September 16-19, Rosen Centre Orlando, Orlando, Florida, CA (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2019
Member, editorial board, Algal Research. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2019
Member, editorial board, Journal of Applied Phycology. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2019
Co-chair for the Biology Track for the 2018 Algae Biomass Summit.
October 14 - October 17, 2018
The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center
The Woodlands (Greater Houston), Texas, USA (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2018
Member of the Scientific Committee for the 6th AlgalBBB Conference, San Diego, June 26-29, 2016. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2016
Chairperson, Department of Biology, Spring Semester (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2016
Departmental Chairperson, Summer 2016 (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2016
The U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will host the Algal Biology Toolbox Workshop:
"Sharpening Our Tools: Algal Biology Toolbox Workshop"
The purpose of this workshop is to gather lead experts in the field of algal biology to discuss the following:
-The current state of algal biological tools, including our understanding of algal biology and biochemistry, available molecular toolboxes, ?omics databases, and other resources
- Challenges to developing and applying a full suite of biology tools to improve algae performance and system robustness
- Strategies to advance progress toward commercial algal biofuels.
Attendees will review the tools and resources available to grow, monitor, valorize, and genetically enhance algae for biofuel production and will help inform a strategy for leveraging these tools to realize a future where algae-based biofuels and bioproducts contribute significantly to the U.S. bioeconomy. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2016
Track 1: Progress in Algal Biology Research, Omics Analysis and Strain Improvement
Panel Chair: Juergen Polle, Brooklyn College (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2015
Member of the Scientific Committee for the 5th AlgalBBB Conference, San Diego, June 7-10, 2015. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2015
Session 1A -Algal Biology ? Biodiversity and Bioprospecting
Chair: Juergen Polle ,Brooklyn College of CUNY, United States
(Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2015
"Powering the Future: Will Algae Fuel Your Next Car?" By Chenda Ngak. CBS News. July 8. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2013
Editorial board member, Algal Research. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2013
Reviewer for USDA. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2013
Reviewer for various journals. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Session chairman, Biology Track, "Advances in Algal Research V: Microbial Ecology, Biological Threats and Crop Protection in Algal Mass Culture," Algae Biomass Summit. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
Member, editorial board, Journal of Applied Phycology. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2010
Session co-chair, Conference of the International Society for Salt Lake Research, Salt Lake City. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2008
Member, consortium responsible for the genome sequencing project of the unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina. Sequencing of the genome is in process by the Joint Genome Institute. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2007
Pedagogical Achievements
Created the graduate course Genomics & Beyond to introduce the concept of systems biology into the curriculum at Brooklyn College. 2010
Brooklyn College Science Retreat
Unraveling Diversity of Metabolism in Green Algae: A Systems Approach. 2016
Reviewer for manuscripts from various journals. 2014
Other Professional Activities
"BioEnergy I - Energy Through Photosynthesis" and "BioEnergy II - Algae to Fuels" guest lectures for the course Capturing the Sun. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston, August. 2010
Ad hoc reviewer for grants from the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy. 2010
Sabbatical with the algae biofuels company 'Sapphire Energy'. 2009
"Biofuels From Algae." Brooklyn College Sustainability Round Table. 2008
Invited participant, U.S. Department of Energy roadmap workshop, Maryland, December. 2008
[ BACK TO FACULTY PAGE ]
Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows
Departmental Seminars
Seeking Advisement?
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Disney On Ice Presents Frozen Ticket Giveaway
Posted by Cheshire Claire | Oct 31, 2016 | Family | 14 |
I am really excited to bring my lovely blog readers this ticket giveaway to the amazing Disney On Ice presents Frozen at the Echo Arena Liverpool. The prize is for a set of four tickets, perfect for a family night out, to the opening night on Wednesday 30th November 2016 at 6:30pm!
Enter a fantastical winter wonderland beyond imagination when Disney On Ice presents Frozen. The heartwarming Academy Award®-winning tale you love is now a full length production live on ice and skating into Echo Arena Liverpool from 30 November – 4 December. Be magically whisked away to wintry Arendelle by dazzling special effects and astonishing skating as you sing and dance along to inspiring songs including “Let It Go.” Join royal sisters Anna and Elsa, the hilarious snowman Olaf, Kristoff and Sven, as they journey to discover that true love is the most magical power of all! Hosted by Mickey and Minnie, with special appearances by beloved Disney Princesses and characters from all-time favourites like Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Disney’s The Lion King. Plus, warm up for the show and learn the snowman dance, during the Fit to Dance pre-show. This unforgettable celebration of love and friendship will leave your family with memories to last a lifetime. Experience the Full Story – Live on Ice!
To be in with a chance of winning this set of four tickets, simply answer the question and follow the instructions below for extra entries:
Competition ends midnight 17th November 2016, the winner will be notified by email within 48 hours. UK Only. T&C’s apply.
Follow Disney on Ice UK on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/DisneyOnIceUK and on Twitter @DisneyOnIce
TO BOOK TICKETS CALL THE ECHO ARENA BOX OFFICE ON 0844 8000 400 or visit
www.echoarena.com / www.disneyonice.co.uk
Group bookings are available from TicketQuarter Groups on 0844 561 7672
Personal callers can purchase their tickets from TicketQuarter, Queen Square Liverpool
PreviousARE YOU A TRUE FROZEN FAN – FUN QUIZ ANSWERS!
NextDISNEY ON ICE PRESENTS FROZEN SKATES INTO LIVERPOOL THIS MONTH!
Pox – the chicken variety!
How To Keep Cosy This Autumn 2015
ARE YOU A TRUE FROZEN FAN – FUN QUIZ ANSWERS!
REVIEW: Frozen’s Anna & Elsa Joined by Toy Story’s Woody and Buzz at Disney on Ice
Catherine McAlinden on November 1, 2016 at 8:35 am
I love Belle!
Sophie Spiby on November 1, 2016 at 9:41 am
I love Snow White. My children would love this prize.
Tracy Gibson on November 1, 2016 at 9:53 am
Ariel. Shes my ultimate favourite.
Leanne bell on November 1, 2016 at 9:55 am
I love Simba from the Lion King – fab to sing along to the movie! Thanks for the chance to win x
jax on November 1, 2016 at 10:40 am
Ariel the little mermaid
sophie on November 1, 2016 at 11:39 am
Sparky the dog from Frankenweenie!
RACHEL SMITH on November 1, 2016 at 12:56 pm
pamela hamby on November 1, 2016 at 2:35 pm
snow white – shes a fairy-tale princess and she gets to kiss her prince in the end 🙂
Sarah h on November 1, 2016 at 4:11 pm
I love chip from beauty and the beast
Margaret on November 1, 2016 at 7:43 pm
My granddaughters both love Elsa
francesca jones on November 1, 2016 at 8:19 pm
My favourite Disney character set Belle
Petra Hora on November 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm
I love Ariel.
Lisa Evans on November 2, 2016 at 2:48 pm
It’s got to be Anna for me!
Jordan on November 13, 2016 at 11:29 am
Oh – there are so many!
I’d have to say my favourite is a classic, and that’s Belle – from Beauty & The Beast ❤
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The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Comedy Central Australia & New Zealand
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning program that looked at politics, pop culture, sports and entertainment through a sharp, reality-based lens. Stewart and The Best F#@king News Team Ever covered the day's top stories like no one, using footage, field reports and guest interviews to deliver fake news that was even better than the real thing.
Clips & Bonus Videos
John Oliver on Gun Control in the US vs. Australia
A John Oliver Retrospective
The 2000's In Review
Jon's Final Episode
April 28, 2011: Royal Wedding Excitement
November 20, 2002: Lewis Black On Sexy Gaming
November 14, 2013: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Buzzkill of Science
Robin Williams' Last Appearance on The Daily Show
Throwbacks
The Daily Show: Pokemon & Bill Clinton's Live Internet Chat in 1999
The Daily Show: Louis C.K. Deconstructs Fart Jokes in 2011
The Daily Show: Election Speculation Back in 2013
September 26, 2012: The Daily Show Correspondent Strike
President Barack Obama's Inauguration
Daily Show Throwback: April 18, 2006
The Daily Show: Barack Obama's First Appearance in 2005
Donald Trump's First & Only Daily Show Appearance (So Far)
A Definitive Guide To All Of Obama's Daily Show Appearances
Two terms, two hosts and eight appearances on The Daily Show. Here's one for the hardcore Barry O fans...
Chappelle's Show
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Brattleboro eyes new site for skatepark
Selectboard approves BASIC top choice at Living Memorial Park
Donations to the skatepark project can be made to BASIC through the Recreation & Parks Department, attn.: Director Carol Lolatte, P.O. Box 513, 207 Main St., Brattleboro, VT 05302. BASIC will host a rally for the skatepark during Gallery Walk on Sept. 5 at Pliny Park.
BRATTLEBORO—Potholes, U-turns, and roadblocks have littered the road to finding a location for a town skateboard park.
But the road may have finally reached the destination on Tuesday night, as the Selectboard unanimously approved a site in the lower northeastern corner of Living Memorial Park.
The board also approved asking Representative Town Meeting for $20,000 toward the project.
Jeffrey Clark, chair of the Brattleboro Area Skatepark is Coming (BASIC) committee, said the Theresa Brungardt Senior Area was the committee’s top choice of five potential locations.
While some residents living near Living Memorial Park remained concerned about noise, Brookside condominium resident Jane Sonntag thanked the board for not approving a more secluded site in the park situated closer to the housing community.
Finding the right location for a town skatepark has proven contentious at best.
“It’s really been very troubling to me how this issue has unfolded in town, said Selectboard chair David Gartenstein. “It was very hard to find any common ground.”
Conversations around the skatepark siting often turned disrespectful, he said.
Two years ago, residents near the Crowell Lot, a potential site, took the town to environmental court.
“Whatever we do is not going to make everyone happy,” commented board Vice Chair Kate O’Connor.
Board member John Allen, who tackled the skatepark issue when he first served on the board a few years ago, said, “The horse is dead — we’ve beat this thing year after year.”
He added that he felt all the years of acrimony around siting the park put BASIC “through the wringer.”
Board member Donna Macomber also acknowledged that not everyone would like the board’s decision and that she hoped the location would not hamper anyone’s quality of life.
But Macomber added that “community living necessitates give and take.”
A new host of challenges
Approving a location is only step one now for BASIC, which has worked for many years on design and fundraising for the park, as preparing the Brungardt area for construction could carry a number of fees and unknown expenses.
The Brungardt area borders Whetstone Brook. According to members of BASIC and the Town Planning Office, the stream bank requires stabilization. The area will also require extensive permitting.
Clark anticipates conducting feasibility studies and asking landscape architect Adam Hubbard of Stevens & Associates to help evaluate the land and offer advice on the permitting process.
Brattleboro resident Andrew Davis said during public comment that he hoped all the people who had worked on the “Re-Site the Skatepark” movement when the Crowell Lot was under consideration would now turn their efforts toward fundraising for the new location.
By a 4-1 vote, with O’Connor against, the board also approved a motion to ask Representative Town Meeting Members to approve $20,000 in funding for the preliminary site work needed at the Theresa Brungardt area.
Allen made the motion, saying that after all that BASIC and those committed to building a skatepark had gone through, the money was a small gesture toward helping the committee finish the project.
Town Meeting Members will decide the $20,000 at Representative Town Meeting in March.
A polarizing issue
After the board meeting adjourned, the audience that had filled the meeting room clustered in multiple separate groups discussing the decision. Some discussed the board’s vote enthusiastically; others, with more trepidation.
Time will tell if the night’s discussions will move the project forward or if the skatepark project has more community roadblocks ahead.
Over the past few years, opponents and supporters of siting a skatepark at the Crowell Lot volleyed arguments, with many arguing strenuously that the decision to site the park there had not followed a proper public procedure.
The delays resulted in BASIC’s two-year zoning permit expiring in August 2013.
The group returned to the Selectboard for approval of reworked park designs, a necessary prelude to the Development Review Board considering a new permit.
But the Selectboard instead voted to reopen the site selection process.
The board appointed a site selection committee. The citizen committee, working with the Recreation & Parks Department, presented its top recommendations to the board July 1.
The Elm Lot, currently a metered parking area at the intersection of Elm, Flat, and Frost Streets, received the committee’s highest recommendation, followed by the Crowell Lot.
Rounding out the top sites were two at Living Memorial Park: the basketball area and the upper field above the skating rink.
The Selectboard visited the top five potential locations as part of a special board meeting on Aug. 4. The meeting, like many others devoted to the skatepark issue, devolved into fierce words and frustration.
At that meeting, a fifth site — and the site that was selected Tuesday night — was added to the list: the lower area near the main parking lot.
BASIC members outlined their evaluations in a letter submitted to the Selectboard Aug. 27.
BASIC started as a group of citizens who wanted a skatepark in Brattleboro. Later, it was adopted as a town committee and charged with fundraising for and designing a park at the Crowell Lot on Western Avenue.
Clark submitted the letter on behalf of the BASIC members.
In the letter, Clark wrote, “As you may know, each site has its pros and cons and we understand that when a final site is selected, not everyone will be happy.”
BASIC offered its own ranking of the top five sites, listing the Brungardt area as the best location for a skatepark.
“This area is located within a mixed-use park and seemed to have the least amount of complaints from the public during the site visits,” wrote Clark. “We’re hoping that you will allow the upfront evaluation to be done on this site to see if it’s a viable location for the skate-park. If it turns out not to be a viable location, then we ask you to allocate us another site.”
According to Clark, BASIC considered siting a park at the Crowell Lot and a middle area of Memorial Park, near the basketball area, as acceptable.
“They’re in locations already being taken care of by the town, so ground maintenance is not an issue,” he wrote. “We do, however, understand that both of these sites come with ‘neighboring community issues’ which might put a hurdle in front of our fundraising.”
Under the heading of “least suitable,” BASIC listed the Elm Street Lot and an area in the upper part of Living Memorial Park.
In his letter, Clark said that BASIC members felt that Elm Street “is located in a ‘sketchy’ part of town and will most likely be a park targeting a majority teen age and older population.”
“Younger skaters and/or family and mix use park users will likely not be regular users,” he wrote of Elm Street Lot.
The upper part of Living Memorial Park, wrote Clark, was too remote from other family activities.
“We acknowledge that your decision will be made for the better of the overall community and we respect the final outcome,” concluded Clark’s letter.
Originally published in The Commons issue #270 (Wednesday, September 3, 2014). This story appeared on page A1.
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2018-19 Top Times
NIC Fan Info
Team Picture
Heritage Website
Heritage Project Photos
Support CSU Swim & Dive
Extra Mile Campaign
Nike Swim Camp
CSU Leads HL in Being Named Scholar All-America Teams
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State University men's and women's swimming and diving teams were both named Scholar All-America Teams for the spring semester in an announcement Tuesday morning by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
The women's team finished with a 3.67 grade point average in the spring semester while the Viking men finished with a 3.07 grade point average. Both programs posted the highest such figure in the Horizon League.
Additionally, the CSU women tied for the 11th highest GPA nationally of the nearly 200 Division I programs.
It is the seventh consecutive semester in which both programs have claimed Scholar All-America honors and the second straight in which both led the league in team GPA.
Fourteen Vikings posted 4.0 GPA's during the most recent semester: sophomore Timothy Kubacki, seniors Curtis Roden and Jared Stergar and junior Spencer Tretter of the men's team and senior Michaela Bargardi, sophomores Shaw Barney and Erica Henrichsen, seniors Abbie Kaple, Morgan Massie, Molly McNamara and Cassandra Oltman, sophomores Libby Smith and Irena Weclawiak and senior Claudia Zido on the women's team.
Bargardi graduated with a 4.00 cumulative GPA as a speech and hearing major last month. Henrichsen also has a maintained a 4.00 cumulative GPA with two years of school completed at CSU.
To be selected as a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team, programs must have achieved a grade point average of 3.00 or higher over the previous semester.
Founded in 1922, the CSCAA—the oldest organization of college coaches in America—is a professional organization of college swimming and diving coaches dedicated to serving and providing leadership for the advancement of the sport of swimming & diving at the collegiate level.
Cleveland State will begin a new era in the upcoming 2019-2020 season as Hannah Burandt will be serving in her first year as head coach.
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By Daniel Benson September 23, 2012 1:43pm
Updated: September 23, 2012 6:10pm Race: UCI Road World Championships
Gilbert wins world championship in Valkenburg
Belgian rides away on the Cauberg
Elite Women team time trial
Elite Men team time trial
Junior Men time trial
U23 Men time trial
Junior Women time trial
Elite Women time trial
Elite Men time trial
Junior Women road race
U23 Men road race
177.1km
Elite Women road race
Junior Men road race
Elite Men road race
Race report / results
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) was all smiles in the rainbow jersey
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Great Britain) put in a solid Worlds performance.
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) has dropped the competition on the final ascent of the Cauberg.
Belgium's Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert in conversation.
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) makes his winning move on the Cauberg.
Alejandro Valverde (Spain) finished in third place.
2011 world champion Mark Cavendish worked hard early in the race for his Great Britain team and then withdrew from the race.
Belgium's Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert.
Philippe Gilbert found his form of old and rocketed away from his rivals on the Cauberg.
Alberto Contador (Spain) pushes the pace on the Cauberg.
The men's world championship peloton in action.
The peloton makes the left hand turn onto the Cauberg.
Silver medalist Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway)
2012 road Worlds podium (L-R): Edvald Boasson Hagen, Philippe Gilbert and Alejandro Valverde
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) proudly wears the rainbow jersey.
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) with his world championship gold medal.
Philippe Gilbert turned around his 2012 with a world championship gold medal.
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) attacked on the final ascent of the Cauberg and soloed to a world championship title.
Bronze medalist Alejandro Valverde (Spain)
Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) on the final ascent of the Cauberg with Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) ready to pounce.
Luca Paolini (Italy) buries himself at the head of the peloton to set up teammate Vincenzo Nibali in the finale.
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) en route to a road world championship.
John Degenkolb (Germany) would finish just out of the medals in fourth place.
Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) drives the pace early on the final ascent of the Cauberg while Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) and Alejandro Valverde (Spain) wait to pounce.
2012 world champion Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) bides his time in the peloton.
Huge crowds cheer on the leaders on the Cauberg.
Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy)
The peloton ascends the Cauberg.
The peloton makes its way up the Cauberg.
Marco Marcato (Italy)
Alberto Contador (Spain) leads Diego Ulissi (Italy)
The peloton begins its ascent of the Cauberg.
Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain)
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) manages to crack a smile while en route to a world championship.
Alberto Contador (Spain) gives it full gas on the Cauberg.
Great Britain set tempo early in the world championship race.
Rigoberto Uran (Colombia)
Edvald Boasson Hagen earned the silver medal.
Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands) at the head of the peloton.
A sea of humanity awaited the peloton each time up the Cauberg.
Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain) leads the peloton
(Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Gilbert on the attack on the Cauberg
Boasson Hagen and Valverde watched each other instead of chasing Gilbert
The windmill is a landmark on the circuit
Out in the Limburg countryside on the back of the course
The peloton climbs the Cauberg
The Cauberg was climbed 11 times during the race
There were huge crowds on the Cauberg
Alberto Contador (Spain) was very aggressive for his teammates
Thomas Voeckler (France) pulls a face on the Cauberg
Nicolas Roche (Ireland) goes deep on the Cauberg
Philippe Gilbert ceelbrates as Boasson Hagen acceleratesto secure second place
Philippe Gilbert celebrated in the shadow of the Belgian and Flemish flags
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) celebrates winning the world title
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway)
Gilbert was thrilled to pull on the rainbow jersey
Gilbert enjoys his moment on the podium
Philippe Gilbert signs on
UCI President Pat McQuiad joins Boasson Hagen, Gilbert and Valverde on the podium
Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)
Outgoing world champion Mark Cavendish (Great Britain)
Oscar Freire (Spain) was emotional before the race
Oscar Freire (Spain) waves to the crowd in what would be his last ever race
Valverde waves to the crowd
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) celebrates his victory at the 2012 road world chamionship in Valkenburg.
The elite men's world championship road race is underway.
The huge crowds celebrate with Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) celebrates as he crosses the line
Philippe Gilbert shows off his rainbow jersey
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) shows off his gold medal
Gilbert takes centre stage between Boasson Hagen and Valverde
The podium: Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway), Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) and Alejandro Valverde (Spain)
Gilbert celebrates as he prepares to pull on the rainbow jersey
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) is the 2012 world champion after he rode away from the peloton on the final ascent of the Cauberg.
Outgoing world champion Mark Cavendish and his Great Britain teammates line up on the front at the start line.
Alberto Contador has a chat with UCI president Pat McQuaid prior to the Elite men's world championship road race.
Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic)
Although Peter Sagan (Slovakia) has downplayed his fitness, he can't be counted out in the finale.
Alberto Contador (Spain)
Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) awaits the start of the world championship road race.
Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez and Alberto Contador on the start line.
The powerhouse Spanish team has plenty of options for the world championship road race.
Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) heads to the sign-in stage.
Big crowds see the Elite men's peloton off at the start of their world championship road race.
A calm and collected Tom Boonen (Belgium) on the start line.
Tom Boonen (Belgium) is on form and may add another world title to his palmares at the day's conclusion.
2011 world champion Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) heads to the start.
Alejandro Valverde (Spain) is expected to be a contender for the world championship today.
The Italian team is introduced.
Chris Froome (Great Britain)
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) pulled on cycling's rainbow jersey with a perfectly-timed attack to win the 2012 world championships in Valkenburg, Holland. The Belgian attacked on the final ascent of the Cauberg, distancing a select group of pre-race favourites. Edvald Boasson Hagan (Norway) and Alejandro Valverde (Spain) rounded out the medals, while defending champion Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) abandoned after working for his team in the first half of the race.
Gilbert emerges from gloom with Cauberg solo attack
Gilbert eyes Giro di Lombardia win
Preview: Gran Piemonte
"Nice crash" ends Gilbert's season
Gilbert optimistic about cycling's current generation
The most decisive move of the race predictably came on the Cauberg, where Italy, through Luca Paolini, had looked to set up Vincenzo Nibali. The Italians' effort, however, ran out of steam, with Gilbert attacking in the big ring as his rivals struggled on the climb's punishing slope.
Although Alexandr Kolobnev (Russian Federation), Boasson Hagen and Valverde attempted to organise a chase they were unable to reel in the unstoppable Gilbert, who in the space of a matter of weeks has transformed his below-par season into a triumph.
"It's hard to realize what happened. The Belgians did outstanding work. We deserved to win this title," the winner said at the finish. "I was placed excellently [on the climb]. I looked back quickly and then took off. I still don't realize that I am world champion."
While Belgium celebrated its first rainbow jersey since Tom Boonen's win in 2005, Valverde and Spain were left licking their wounds having proved the most aggressive team in the race. Their stellar line-up of stars initiated each major attack in the race but Valverde, who has now been on the podium four times, could only manage third.
Norway's Boasson Hagen, who clipped away from Valverde inside the final 500 meters, praised both his teammates and the eventual winner. "It was very good to get second place, but we were close to gold," said Boasson Hagen. "Gabba (Gabriel Rasch, ed.) and Lars Petter (Nordhaug) rode well and did a great job. I am very grateful. Gilbert was very strong and there was nothing I could do."
Early encounters
After a week of racing the 2012 world championship’s final event began almost as if the 2011 race had never ended: with Mark Cavendish and his Great Britain team controlling the peloton in the early stages. Wearing dossard number 1, Cavendish had ruled himself out of an ever-expanding list of favourites due to the climbing incorporated in this year’s race. The 267km course featured a 105km jaunt through southern Limburg before tackling ten laps of the now familiar circuit course with the infamous Cauberg's crest situated 1.7 kilometres from the finish.
Although early attacks rained down, it was Great Britain who marshalled the peloton. Cavendish, along with Alex Dowsett, eventually allowed a group of Pablo Lastras (Spain), Dario Cataldo (Italy), Timothy Duggan and Alex Howes (USA), Jerome Coppel (France), Winner Anacona (Colombia), Luka Mezgec (Slovenia), Vladimir Isaichev (Russia), Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine), Fabricio Ferrari (Uruguay) and Gatis Smukulis (Latvia) to escape but the defending nation continued their pace setting, despite the pressure being on the shoulders of the home nation.
By the time the race came to life and reached the Cauberg for the first time the gap was at a steady 3:28. It was there that the Spanish played their first of many cards. Despite an earlier crash for Oscar Freire, the Armada looked an impregnable team of guile and diversity. The only question appeared to be whether they had too many leaders. But it was one of their most reliable workhorses in Juan Antonio Flecha who lit the fuse, sparking a move that included Stephen Cummings (Great Britain) Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy), Gianni Meersman (Belgium), Michael Matthews (Australia), Maxime Bouet (France),Michael Schär (Switzerland), Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan), and Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark).
It sparked a reaction from Belgium – with their two leaders in Gilbert and Boonen – sheltered behind a line of blue jersey. The increase in pace saw Cavendish retire but just as one world champion pulled out, one candidate for today’s victory, Alberto Contador, attacked.
The Spaniard used the Cauberg to ignite panic in the bunch, with Robert Gesink and Thomas Voeckler among a handful of riders who were able to keep pace.
Merging powers
Eventually Flecha’s group caught the leaders, before Contador and his collaborators joined too. It created a group of nearly thirty riders with Pablo Lastras, Alberto Contador and Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain), Dario Cataldo, Rinaldo Nocentini, Marco Marcato and Diego Ulissi (Italy), Timothy Duggan and Alex Howes (USA), Jerome Coppel, Maxime Bouet and Thomas Voeckler (France), Winner Anacona (Colombia), Luka Mezgec (Slovenia), Vladimir Isaichev (Russia), Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine), Fabricio Ferrari (Uruguay), Gatis Smukulis (Latvia),Stephen Cummings and Jon Tiernan-Locke (Great Britain), Gianni Meersman and Bjorn Leukemans (Belgium), Michael Matthews (Australia), Michael Schär and Michael Albasini (Switzerland), Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan), Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) plus the host nation's Koen De Kort and Robert Gesink (Netherlands).
Despite each nation having two riders in the break, Belgium joined forces with the Dutch at the head of the peloton in limiting the danger to a minute. The Spanish, with Flecha and Lastras, and the French, berated into working by Voeckler, continued to push at the head of affairs but with so many stragglers and riders unwilling to work the move was always doomed.
Lastras and Bouet were used up on the 7th lap of the Cauberg but a crash in the peloton split the field. It ended a number of riders’ chances, saw Peter Sagan lose almost his entire team and reduced the bunch to 57 riders.
As the break neared two laps to go Flecha continued his work on the front but by now the escape was only 36 seconds clear. An attack from Fabian Wegmann (Germany) drew the leaders ever closer and saw a number of the early escapees even caught. By the time they crested the Cauberg and reached the finish line the escape had been neutralised.
But a definitive selection had yet to be made as unlike Valkenburg’s 1998 Worlds, when the skies opened up and made the race, this year’s light showers had no such effect with approximately 70 riders still in contention.
Andrew Talansky (USA) attempted to make sure his team’s earlier work wasn’t lost in vain and attacked on the Bemelerberg and when Ian Stannard (Great Britain) lurched across it looked as though the favourites could use the tandem as a spring board.
A combination of tired legs and a headwind scrapped any chance and on the penultimate ascent of the Cauberg tactics gave way to frustration. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) attacked but his accelerations were shut down almost immediately, the soon to be Astana rider gesticulating for others to help him make the race more aggressive.
With Talansky and then Stannard caught, the race headed for the final lap, with a firm realisation that if the final climb up the Cauberg could not split the field then a sprint finish would decide this year’s race.
Inside the final 10 kilometres positioning became paramount. Spain moved Valverde and Rodriguez near the head of the field, as Belgium, Italy, and the outgunned Norway did the same. Alberto Contador and Samuel Sanchez took two long pulls on the front before Luca Paolini took charge, leading the peloton on the lower slopes of the Cauberg.
Moments before it had been Nibali who set the pace on the approach, a tactic that cost the Italian as he ran out of gas on the climb. At one point, with four Belgians on the Italian’s rear wheel, it looked as though a clean sweep could occur but Gilbert’s aggression and turn of speed was too much.
1 Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) 6:10:41
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) 0:00:04
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) 0:00:05
4 John Degenkolb (Germany)
5 Lars Boom (Netherlands)
6 Allan Davis (Australia)
7 Thomas Voeckler (France)
8 Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania)
9 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Colombia)
10 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spain)
11 Rui Costa (Portugal)
12 Tom Boonen (Belgium)
13 Oscar Gatto (Italy)
14 Peter Sagan (Slovakia)
15 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Sweden)
16 Koen De Kort (Netherlands)
17 Michael Albasini (Switzerland)
18 Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan)
19 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Great Britain)
20 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Norway)
21 Simon Gerrans (Australia)
22 Stefan Denifl (Austria)
23 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Colombia)
24 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spain)
25 Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)
26 Bjorn Leukemans (Belgium)
27 Fabian Wegmann (Germany)
28 Alexandr Kolobnev (Russian Federation)
29 Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)
30 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Portugal) 0:00:17
31 Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)
32 Robert Gesink (Netherlands)
33 Daniel Martin (Ireland)
34 Nicolas Roche (Ireland)
35 Jurgen Roelandts (Belgium)
36 Ian Stannard (Great Britain) 0:00:53
37 Paul Martens (Germany)
38 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spain)
39 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spain)
40 Yury Trofimov (Russian Federation) 0:01:01
41 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spain) 0:01:37
42 David Tanner (Australia)
43 Andrew Talansky (United States of America) 0:01:54
44 Rene Mandri (Estonia) 0:02:21
45 Gustav Larsson (Sweden)
46 Marek Rutkiewicz (Poland)
47 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Colombia)
48 Bauke Mollema (Netherlands)
49 Rafael Andriato (Brazil)
50 Michael Schär (Switzerland)
51 Gatis Smukulis (Latvia)
52 Chris Anker Sorensen (Denmark)
53 Jaroslaw Marycz (Poland)
54 Takashi Miyazawa (Japan)
55 Karsten Kroon (Netherlands)
56 Tom Jelte Slagter (Netherlands)
57 Sylvain Chavanel (France)
58 Radoslav Rogina (Croatia)
59 Jan Barta (Czech Republic)
60 Ben Swift (Great Britain)
61 Michal Golas (Poland)
62 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Luxembourg)
63 Mathias Frank (Switzerland)
64 Alex Howes (United States of America)
65 Vladimir Gusev (Russian Federation)
66 Niki Terpstra (Netherlands)
67 Steve Morabito (Switzerland)
68 Winner Anacona Gomez (Colombia)
69 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Colombia)
70 Stephen Cummings (Great Britain)
71 Sergio Paulinho PRO
72 Simon Geschke (Germany)
73 Heinrich Haussler (Australia)
74 Moreno Moser (Italy) 0:02:34
75 Luca Paolini (Italy) 0:02:46
76 Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy)
77 Marco Marcato (Italy)
78 Simon Clarke (Australia) 0:02:53
79 Johannes Frohlinger (Germany)
80 Christian Knees (Germany)
81 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spain)
82 Borut Bozic (Slovenia)
83 David Veilleux (Canada)
84 Mickael Delage (France)
85 Diego Ulissi (Italy)
86 Eduard Vorganov (Russian Federation)
87 Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukraine) 0:03:11
88 Luke Rowe (Great Britain) 0:05:46
89 Vladimir Isaichev (Russian Federation)
90 Gianni Meersman (Belgium) 0:08:10
91 Matej Jurco (Slovakia) 0:08:55
92 Carlos Oyarzun (Chile)
93 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Belarus)
94 Siarhei Papok (Belarus)
95 Stefan Histrov (Bulgaria)
96 Evaldas Siskevicius (Lithuania)
97 Carlos Jose Ochoa (Venezuela)
98 Taylor Phinney (United States of America)
99 Peter Kusztor (Hungary)
100 Bertjan Lindeman (Netherlands)
101 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland)
102 Jacek Morajko (Poland)
103 Brent Bookwalter (United States of America)
104 Frantisek Rabon (Czech Republic)
105 Ronan Mc Laughlin (Ireland)
106 Matthias Brandle (Austria)
107 Milan Kadlec (Czech Republic)
108 Ryder Hesjedal (Canada)
109 Georgi Petrov Georgiev (Bulgaria)
110 Francois Parisien (Canada)
111 Marcus Burghardt (Germany)
112 Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden)
113 Leopold Konig (Czech Republic)
114 Tanel Kangert (Estonia)
115 Jure Kocjan (Slovenia)
116 Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)
117 Kristijan Durasek (Croatia)
118 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)
119 Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands)
120 Matteo Trentin (Italy) 0:09:44
121 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Costa Rica) 0:10:23
122 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spain)
DNF Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark)
DNF Kristijan Koren (Slovenia)
DNF Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)
DNF Grega Bole (Slovenia)
DNF Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)
DNF Sergey Firsanov (Russian Federation)
DNF Dmitriy Muravyev (Kazakhstan)
DNF Dario Cataldo (Italy)
DNF Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spain)
DNF Rein Taaramae (Estonia)
DNF Jay Robert Thomson (South Africa)
DNF Wesley Sulzberger (Australia)
DNF Adam Hansen (Australia)
DNF Jerome Coppel (France)
DNF Vincent Jerome (France)
DNF Yukiya Arashiro (Japan)
DNF Christopher Horner (United States of America)
DNF Tejay van Garderen (United States of America)
DNF Tony Gallopin (France)
DNF Kevin De Weert (Belgium)
DNF Ignatas Konovalovas (Lithuania)
DNF Gabriel Rasch (Norway)
DNF Jonathan Monsalve (Venezuela)
DNF Maxime Bouet (France)
DNF Martin Grashev (Bulgaria)
DNF Gregory Rast (Switzerland)
DNF Oliver Zaugg (Switzerland)
DNF Bruno Pires (Portugal)
DNF Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic)
DNF Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Colombia)
DNF Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Colombia)
DNF Arthur Vichot (France)
DNF Richie Porte (Australia)
DNF Timothy Duggan (United States of America)
DNF Michael Matthews (Australia)
DNF Ying Hon Yeung (Hong Kong, China)
DNF Johan Vansummeren (Belgium)
DNF Matthew Busche (United States of America)
DNF Vladimir Miholjevic (Croatia)
DNF Marko Kump (Slovenia)
DNF Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uruguay)
DNF Julian Dean (New Zealand)
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)
DNF Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)
DNF Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine)
DNF Denys Kostyuk (Ukraine)
DNF Daniel Schorn (Austria)
DNF Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kazakhstan)
DNF Luka Mezgec (Slovenia)
DNF Hayden Roulston (New Zealand)
DNF Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)
DNF Lucas Euser (United States of America)
DNF Jorge Martin Montenegro (Argentina)
DNF Dmytro Krivtsov (Ukraine)
DNF Juraj Sagan (Slovakia)
DNF Maros Kovac (Slovakia)
DNF Tomasz Marczynski (Poland)
DNF Alexandr Pliuschin (Republic of Moldova)
DNF Ben Gastauer (Luxembourg)
DNF Jeremy Roy (France)
DNF Peter Velits (Slovakia)
DNF Matti Breschel (Denmark)
DNF Christopher Froome (Great Britain)
DNF Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)
DNF Jesse Sergent (New Zealand)
DNF Tomas Aurelio Gil Martinez (Venezuela)
DNF Stanislav Kozubek (Czech Republic)
DNF Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Argentina)
DNF Dries Devenyns (Belgium)
DNF Laurent Didier (Luxembourg)
DNF Enzo Moyano (Argentina)
DNF Shinichi Fukushima (Japan)
DNF Yukihiro Doi (Japan)
DNF Alex Dowsett (Great Britain)
DNF Aleksejs Saramotins (Latvia)
DNF Mauricio Muller (Argentina)
DNF Hichem Chaabane (Algeria)
DNF Mark Cavendish (Great Britain)
DNF Yusuke Hatanaka (Japan)
DNF Amir Rusli (Malaysia)
DNF Svein Tuft (Canada)
DNF Sea Keong Loh (Malaysia)
DNF Martin Velits (Slovakia)
DNF Nebojsa Jovanovic (Serbia)
DNF Elchin Asadov (Azerbaijan)
Belgian claims world title after a difficult season
New world champion to skip Piemonte
The Cyclingnews HD team analyse the Italian race route
World champion not superstitious after Lombardy tumble
World champion says Verbruggen should resign if involved
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Destinations • Europe • UK • Flights To UK
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For most tourists traveling to the United Kingdom, flying will be the first leg of the journey. Flights to UK can be booked through just about every major airline, and cheap flights to UK are widely available for tourists with travel flexibility. International flights come with their own set of regulations, and it might be a good idea to become familiar with these before booking flights to UK.
One way to find cheap flights to UK is to book flights to UK during the winter or holiday season. Tours of the country's most popular attractions, such as Windsor Castle or the Canterbury Cathedral won't be closed for the winter, so you will still be able to enjoy all that the United Kingdom has to offer. Cheap flights to UK during the winter months are generally offered by all major airlines with flights into the United Kingdom.
Another way to find cheap flights to the UK is by booking a plane ticket that includes multiple destinations. The Europe Airpass is one example of just such a service, and provides cheap flights to the UK and within the country. For one flat rate, you'll be able to hop on a plane and skip between London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other major cities in the UK and throughout Europe. The Airpass is an excellent choice for travelers who are hoping to see many of the countries cities and would like to minimize travel time.
Cheap flights to the UK can also be obtained by booking a travel package of some kind. Many travel companies now offer travel packages that include a sundry of travel options. You can book a combination of airfare, cruise ship tickets, and hotel accommodation all in one place. Often times you can even include car rental or train passes and receive it all for a less then you would normally pay if you bought each travel modicum on its own. Cheap flights to London are probably the most accessible due to the popularity of London travel.
No matter how you end up organizing your flight plans, international travel by plane is becoming stricter and hopefully more secure. In any case you will need a valid passport to fly into the United Kingdom, although there are some separate rules governing residents of countries like Australia that are part of the British Commonwealth. It is also a good idea to pack your backs a few days in advance to your international travel. You won't feel so harried on the day before your flight, and you're likely to remember a few last minute items between packing and travel time.
The general rule for arriving at the airport prior to international flights is to get there about two hours early. Although it may seem excessive, for a costly international flight you'll want to take as little chance as possible that you miss your flight because you are stuck trying to check your bags or get through the security gate.
Plane travel can be the quickest way to get where you're going in the UK; whether it is cheap flights to London directly or a flight into some other popular British city. Wherever you choose to land, your flight is the first part of your fascinating UK vacation and the gateway to one of the most interesting countries in the world.
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By UnknownSunday, May 31, 2009Cities13 comments
It's exciting to be in a new city. To see twin lines of orange lights stretching ahead of you. To zip by glossy buildings that seem to have been transplanted from another world. To know that these very roads and corners, now so new and strange, will become dreary and familiar to you in a little while. It's exciting to know that there's a whole new culture waiting to be explored.
It rained just before I landed. At the innumerable traffic lights, the wet road reflects the red brake lights of the cars ahead. Half an hour into the journey from the airport to the city, I see a signboard saying, "Bangalore City - 9 KMs". I have to hand it to the foresight of whoever put the airport exactly where it should be forty years from now.
Unfortunately, the airport is just a sign of things to come. My aunt lives in the north of the city, in a place even Bangaloreans don't seem to have heard of. Travelling from here to anywhere else is torture. "Oh, that place?" the driver says of the hotel the alumni meet was held last night. "It's close by, just ten kilometers away." And it takes us forty minutes to get there. People at the party speak casually of travelling an hour or an hour and a half to work daily. I think nostalgically of Delhi, with its wide roads and flyovers, where you could literally zip from one place to the other - well, as long as they were the right places.
I keep getting taken aback by how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B in this city. Surely, Bangalore is deliberately trying to defeat its hapless commuters? It's an endless maze of one-ways and narrow roads and pretty police stations. Yes, that's one thing I have to give Bangalore - it has the prettiest police stations I've ever seen.
People seem to be trying to solve the problem, though. Radio stations and billboards urge people to try car-pooling. A bunch of flyovers seem to be under construction. A Metro is on the way, apparently. I don't know if all these ideas and things will materialize while I'm here, but I'm definitely going to live as close to my office as I possibly can. Ah well, at least my office offers transport.
By UnknownWednesday, May 27, 2009Kerala, Posts I Like, Serious Thoughts17 comments
Trivandrum Rising
The setting is a serene lagoon, on the far shore of which is a coconut grove. Line upon line of coconut trees rising up as far as the eye can see. A flashy new car draws up on this side of the lagoon. A couple gets out of it, the wife very heavily pregnant. "Why have you brought me here?" she asks the husband in confusion. "Because," the husband replies. "Because... I saw your drawings." The wife gasps in wonder and joy, and the beautiful coconut grove, green and innocent and defenceless, suddenly disappears into thin air. A block of tall buildings replaces it. The ad ends with the name of a popular builder, and a line about making your dreams come true.
I was sitting in the theater watching this, and I couldn't believe my eyes. Were they actually suggesting that it was alright to cut down those beautiful trees and build an apartment block instead? Did they actually expect that anybody would buy a flat there when they were told so explicitly that hundreds of trees would be cut down to build it? What sort of people could think of profiting from such a gross violation of nature?
But this ad is merely a sign of how Trivandrum is changing. The sleepy town that I knew seven years ago is slowly waking up. Stately old mansions all over the city are disappearing one by one. New buildings, multi-storeyed white monstrosities with room for several dozen families, are springing up in their place, changing the skyline of the city for ever. The city is expanding, and these builders are merely catering to the increasing demand for space and comfort.
I have no right to complain, of course. The apartment that my parents are renting is in one such building in the center of the city. My grandmother tells me that this land used to belong to an old Nair family. When the family elder passed away, his three daughters divided the land amongst themselves. The main plot was sold to a builder. The beautiful old house was razed to the ground, and this apartment was built.
It has its own underground car parking. There is a security guard night and day. He questions anybody who wants to enter, and will only let them in once it is confirmed that they are expected. Residents have to carry their own electronic cards in order to enter the building. This is a place for the affluent, and they need their privacy and security. Who would have ever thought that such a system could exist in Kerala? But standing on the roof of the building, I can see at least three such buildings within a radius of a kilometer, sticking their white bodies out of the greenery.
And more are being built. I visit a grand-aunt who lives nearby. Her house is part of a posh colony in Trivandrum. She has lived there for three or four decades at least. The land is right in the center of the city, and commands lakhs per cent. She must be a crorepati merely on account of owning a house in that area.
However, she has her own troubles. A builder has bought three plots of land behind her house, and is planning to erect an apartment block there. She says, "You know, this house has always been so nice to live in. It has always had excellent sunlight and wind throughout the day. Why, I never even switch on the fan most days! And I've never faced any water shortage - never! But once this building comes up, all those days are over."
I go up on the roof, and I can see what she's talking about. The land slopes down on this side of the house. A wide stretch of trees lies ahead of me; I can see their heads nodding in the wind. Since the other houses are on a lower level, ample sunlight and wind come in from this direction.
But peering over the railing, I realize that that is going to change soon. Construction work is going on in the plot bordering the house. The foundation of a building is being built, and workers are swarming over the site like so many ants. I imagine it rising up storey upon storey, a malevolent monster of concrete and glass, blocking out the sunlight and the wind, dwarfing the little houses around it. Families will come and live in it, and they'll suck up the water in the area, leaving nothing for anybody else. More trees will be cut down, because they'll need space to park their shiny cars.
My heart yearns for the traditional houses. The whitewashed ones with clay tiles covered with moss, and wooden windows lined with bars. An overgrown parambu with coconut trees and banana plants. Jackfruit trees with fat jackfruits hugging the trunk like so many little round babies. Mango trees for the kids to climb, with a swing tied to the fattest branch during Onam. A nalukettu, into which rain thunders with impotent force. Maybe a temple nearby, with a green mossy pond.
I suppose I'm being a traditionalist. Such houses belong to an era long-gone. Change is inevitable, after all. Sleepy little villages have to become busy little towns. Busy little towns have to become polluted big cities. But I'm afraid. I'm afraid that my Trivandrum, the beautiful green Trivandrum of my childhood, is about to lose its lushness, its very personality. I'm afraid that it's going to become just another city.
By UnknownTuesday, May 26, 2009Kerala, Serious Thoughts17 comments
The Great Mallu Wedding
It seems to be wedding season everywhere. On Facebook, there are endless wedding albums being uploaded. In my GMail inbox, there are at least half a dozen wedding invites from batchmates and seniors. At least four people I know got married last week. So I decided that, even though I wouldn't be able to attend any of these weddings, I would not get left behind. And since I couldn't find anybody to marry me at such short notice, I had to be content with just attending a relative's wedding.
Now, I haven't had a particularly close relationship with weddings in my life. The last one I attended was six years ago - my class teacher's. It was my first Punju wedding, and I was completely scandalized by the fact that they actually served alcohol! I was also surprised that the guests were off having fun dancing and gossiping, while the poor bride sat obediently and listened to the pundit muttering the 'last rites'.
So for various reasons, the one I attended last week was my first Malayali wedding in over seven years. I dug up an old silk salwar-kameez (last worn at the teacher's wedding!) and tried to pretend that I was an old hand at such things. Unfortunately, the wedding proved to me how much of a fraud mallu I am, so I'll describe it from a complete outsider's point of view.
The first discovery of the day was that dressing up for weddings takes much longer than normal dressing up. So, post the usual late-ness related bickerings ("Hurry up! You're making us late!" "Why did you hog the mirror for so long?" etc), we reached the hall just in time for the ceremony. Amma and I hurried into seats somewhere in the middle, while Achan hung back to talk to the relatives standing around outside. The hall was restless with the sound of voices, above which flowed the rather nasal wedding music. I looked around, and saw that the back of the hall was filled with men, while women occupied the seats in front. Wow - gender division even when a man and a woman were about to be united in holy matrimony!
Soon, the groom, clad in the traditional outfit of white shirt and mundu, climbed on the raised stage with his father. He greeted the audience with folded palms and did a couple of rounds of the pandal. He prayed to the Gods, represented by a tall lamp standing on the pandal, and sat down. Considering that it was the day of his wedding and that he was never going to enjoy the fruits of singledom ever again, he seemed remarkably jovial, talking and laughing with his family and friends. A buzzing crowd of videographers recorded his every move, with assistants shining bright golden light whenever required.
This was when I noticed that something was wrong. "Amme!" I hissed to my mother. "He's not facing the audience!"
"I know," she whispered back. "Must be some design flaw. The bride and groom are supposed to face East - I guess the builders forgot that when they put the audience on this side."
After a while, the bride came onto the stage, her father leading her by the hand. She was wearing a red sari and about a hundred kilos of gold. Bangles to her elbow and necklaces to her waist, a belt of gold around her hips and more around her wrist. It seemed to me that she could barely move; her father had to drag her around the stage. First, she had to take the blessings of every family elder on the stage. Then she had to do a couple of rounds of the pandal. Finally, somehow, she landed up beside the groom.
And now the real wedding began. The music rose to a cresendo as the groom put the gold taali around the bride's neck. They exchanged flower garlands, even as I suppressed an insane urge to clap loudly. Then she stood up so that he could give her the kalyanapudava - the sari that the groom's family gives the bride at the wedding. And that was that - I do love how short the great mallu wedding is!
Of course, we couldn't see any of this. First of all, the pandal was sideways. Secondly, the view was blocked by the bevy of videographers. Apparently, these days you can't really see any wedding. You can just sit blindly in the audience while the bride and groom tie the knot under the lights of the camera.
Suddenly, I heard a tremendous roar from the back of the hall. I looked back, afraid that the ceiling of the hall was caving in. Indeed, I saw that all the men who had been seated at the back were now fleeing. But when I looked up, the ceiling seemed perfectly fine. Confused, I looked at the stage again. But no, the wedding wasn't over yet; the groom and the bride were performing some complicated maneuver around the pandal. So where were these people fleeing?
I craned my neck, and saw that an untidy queue had formed outside a smaller hall to the side of the building. Of course - the lunch! The main event of the day, even though it was barely eleven. They were running to eat at the first sitting without even waiting for the wedding to get over. Nice! Though the women seemed to be better behaved; only a few were leaving.
Next, it was time for me to meet all my long-forgotten relatives. They were all agog to see the girl they had last laid eyes on some ten-twelve years ago. "Ayyo, ente moley! You've become so short and thin!" seemed to be the universal cry. Eh, I wondered. How fat had I been as a child, if they were saying I was thin now? And how dare they call me short! I was a healthy five-five and a half, thank you very much! Anyway, all these women seemed to be at least one foot shorter than me, so I decided not to accept their opinions. It was probably the angle they were looking from.
After a while, their focus shifted from me to the bride and how much gold she had been wearing. So I quietly escaped in search of my father. I found him having a heated discussion about the recent elections with my grandfather and granduncle, both of whom had been grassroot soldiers of the Red Party in their days. "It serves them right," my grandfather was saying. "They needed it. The core believers, they've been turned away by the party. And without them, the party is nothing." To have a loyal worker like my grandfather say that - that shows you how low the party has fallen.
After a while, it was our turn to have lunch. I went in with some trepidation. I'd had a healthy breakfast in the morning, and it was barely eleven now. So the thought of eating so much food almost turned my stomach. But the sight of the green banana leaf, with the multi-coloured accompaniments already laid out, enervated me. A sadya is a sadya, no matter how full you are.
The rice came, thumbapoo choru, as the poetically inclined put it. First round was parippu - that's dal for all you Hindi-speakers. Second round was sambar; it arrived even before I'd finished the first round. And I'd barely finished that when the payasams came. As far as I'm concerned, payasams are the best part of a sadya. Adapradhaman, paalpayasam, and some sort of sharkara-and-dal combination. There were two more after these, but I had to feebly wave the man away.
And so ended my first mallu wedding in seven years. Probably my last proper mallu wedding too, come to think of it. I've heard that the high society weddings in Kerala have become 'modern' - the groom wears a sherwani and the bride wears a lehenga. And the women wear shiny saris with thousands of gold sequins on them, instead of proper Kancheepuram silk saris. Other people ape the West. We are different - we ape the North.
And may I also use this opportunity to humbly congratulate Shr1k 'n' Sumana, XL seniors who got married last week. These two make me jealous, but also give me hope. :)
By UnknownMonday, May 25, 2009Fiction11 comments
Belhaven - I
"This is insane!" Rohan said suddenly, "I won't do this!"
The three of us turned around from inspecting the ladder and looked at him without speaking. Somehow, it didn't surprise any of us that he was the first to back out. He had been iffy about the plan from the beginning.
"I can't believe you guys are actually thinking of doing this!" he said. "No matter what we think of her, this is trespassing! We can't break into somebody else's house!"
"But think of what she did to Viju." That was the tiny voice of Kanishk. Small and slender, he was the pacifying force in our group.
Neither Shiju nor I would have bothered to reason with short porky Rohan with his glasses and his perpetual sweatiness. After all, his family had moved into the colony just last month. Our mothers had forced us into including him in our group.
"She didn't do anything to Viju. He had a bike accident, that's all," Rohan replied.
"Which she caused! I'm telling you! I spoke to Viju!" Shiju burst out. "She ran after him with a stick when he stole mangoes from her mango tree. She was really angry! She said she would teach him a lesson."
"Shiju, I'm very sorry about what happened to your brother, but there's a limit. We can't break into her house and snoop around just because you guys think she's a witch!"
"She is a witch! And we'll find the proof tonight. If you're scared, you can stay at home!" I said.
"It's not that I'm scared..." Rohan's voice trailed off. "Anyway, my grandparents are here, so I can't come."
"Fine. Sit at home on your granny's lap," I said, turning back to the ladder. "You're missing out on the biggest adventure ever!"
Kanishk, Shiju and I dragged the ladder out of the shed and towards the eastern wall of the compound. Rohan stuck around for a while watching us. But when he realized that none of us would speak to him or even look at him, he went back home.
"Good riddance," I said, the moment he had left. "Imagine having to haul his fat bum up the wall." Shiju snorted. Kanishk didn't say a word.
Both of them were to spend the night at my house, since mine was the only one that bordered the witch's. So they left to pack and get ready for the stay-over. We decided that we would meet at six.
It was around six-fifteen when the doorbell rang. I was in the living room, on my PS3. Mum had already opened the door before I could reach it.
"Hello, Kanishk bete!" Mum said, opening the door. "My, somebody's looking dashing in a black t-shirt!"
"Mum!" I said. Why do mothers have to be so embarassing?
"Come on," I said to Kanishk, and took him upstairs to my room. He was carrying a small knapsack.
"Sorry I'm late," he said. "I was halfway here before I realized that I'd forgotten my flashlight."
"Good thinking with the black t-shirt too," I said. "But I wonder where Shiju is."
We deposited the knapsack in my room and came back downstairs. Mum was on the phone. "Bopu, it's for you," she said. As I took the receiver, I glared at her for using my nickname in front of my friends. I could hear Kanishk's smothered snicker behind me.
"Surya, it's me," Shiju's gloomy voice said. "I can't come."
"What! Why?"
"Mum's saying that with Viju in hospital and everything, I should stay at home."
"But we asked her days ago!"
"I know. But she says she's changed her mind."
"Oh no!" I said, looking at Kanishk. What would we do now?
By UnknownMonday, May 25, 2009FictionNo comments
The Red Flag
He sat on the long verandah in his ancient grandfather chair. The chair's arms were scabbed with age and heavy use. Its seat and back were made of cane, carefully plaited years ago by some poor artisan. The threads were sticking out here and there. They needed replacing, but who could find skilled people these days? Those arts were dead and gone. Chairs were made of plastic these days. They lasted longer, he had heard. But nothing could be as comfortable as these old cane chairs.
He opened the morning paper and scanned the headlines. But even Desabhimani wasn't good these days - no news, just the latest doings of some party group or the other. Though he would never subscribe to those capitalist newspapers. And even if he wanted to, how could he look the news agent in the face and ask him for any other newspaper! Not that he, a young boy with barely any hair on his upper lip, would know anything. Even his parents would have been toddlers in the heydays of Communism in Kerala, when he, Cheparambil Balakrishnan, had raised the red flag in this village and led a grand procession against the landowners! Ah, the glory of those days!
Ever since Sathyabhama had died, a girl had been coming in every day to do the housework. His sons had engaged her, perhaps to assuage their guilt about living far away in the city and leaving their father to rot in this old house. They had asked him to come and live with them, of course. But he had said no. He would live out his days in this village, where he was known. Even now, when he went to collect his monthly pension, wearing his starched white shirt and his pale cream Karalkada mundu and carrying his black umbrella, the villagers always greeted him with respect. He was given preference at the lines at the pension office, too.
Of course, a lot of things had changed. The party candidate no longer came to seek his support and blessings before elections. But that was to be expected. After all, what use was the support of a lonely old man who spent his days dreaming of the glory of his youth? These days, it was all about which group you were part of and how much power and money you had.
He remembered the days when he would leave Sathyabhama in the house alone and go to the city to attend party meetings and demonstrations. God alone knew how they had survived those times! But all of them, the party workers, knew that what they were doing mattered. That they were part of a movement which would bring power to the masses, so that they could rise up against those who had tormented and oppressed them for centuries!
But those days were over now. All that was left was the scrabble for power. Nothing to work for, nothing to believe in. Nothing to experience but the twilight of decline, nothing to wait for but the certainty of death.
By UnknownSaturday, May 23, 2009Kerala, Nature3 comments
Rainy Morning
It's one of those wet rainy mornings in Trivandrum. Where you wake up knowing that it has rained all night. All of nature is wet and subdued, there's barely any wind. The only sound is the drip-drip of water from the leaves. The very sky is colourless and dim.
The rain started at around three in the morning. I woke up suddenly at a quarter to, and discovered that the fan had died on me. So I opened the windows to let the breeze in. Lightning flashed sporadically, though without any thunderclaps or rain. I lay on my bed under the motionless fan and stared out at the lightning. Hypnotized by the flashes, I soon fell asleep. The rain must have started soon after.
I remember such mornings from back when I was in school in Trivandrum. The way to school would be peppered with puddles full of muddy water. The poorer kids would come to school wearing bathroom chappals so that their shiny school shoes would not get ruined. If it was a Monday, even the rich kids would wear black shoes - though Mondays meant white canvas shoes. And the back of the class would be crowded with black umbrellas set out to dry.
The morning assembly would be held inside the classroom or on the verandahs rather than in the open quandrangle. And only the people in the front bench would sing. All of us taller people at the back would just move our lips studiously, heads bent, eyes closed and palms together. The braver ones would even whisper and giggle together.
Of course, the joy of classroom assemblies would die down as the morning wore towards the PT class in the afternoon. If the rain continued non-stop, there would be deep sorrow and anger amongst us, especially the boys. But if it thinned to a drizzle, the entire class would form a line - tidier than usual, to show how good we were - and go to the PT room. Mr. Vincent would come out and look at us. We would form puppy dog expressions and say, "Sir, please sir, please sir!" And he would judge how heavy the rain was and whether it was likely to get any stronger.
If he let us go to the ground, then - ah, no other such joy in the world! The basketball court would be wet with puddles, but the weather would be just right for playing. Splash, splash, the ball would go, but who cared?
By UnknownSunday, May 17, 2009Movies2 comments
Bhoomi Malayalam
T. V. Chandran's latest movie Bhoomi Malayalam is a mixture of stories, told from the viewpoints of seven women. The stories span sixty years of Kerala history, and show the difficulties that women undergo because of society and its restrictions. The seven women are from all strata of society: the sportswoman who has to shelve her dreams because of marriage; the factory worker whose brother gets killed in a political clash; the Muslim journalist whose husband doesn't like her profession; the girl whose brother gets stoned to death by the police; the housewife whose husband's first love is Communism; the rich kid whose mind is turned by books; the poor woman who is raped and killed by a rich landlord. The threads of their stories are woven together in this movie.
An excellent concept, yes. Probably a sign of hope in these times when the standards of the Malayalam film industry are said to be dipping. However, having watched the movie, I have to admit that the idea has not been translated to the screen particularly well.
The first problem with the movie is terrible acting. Except for a couple of the actors (I liked the woman who plays the Muslim journalist) most them over-act and ham and generally make the viewer wince. Nedumudi Venu and Indrans, accomplished actors both of them, were on screen for about two minutes each. Secondly, while the women are all linked to each other somehow or the other, the Director decided that he needed another, more obvious link. So he put each of the women in a red stone quarry and made them scream their hearts out, poor things. The pure contrivedness of the gimmick reminded me of a street play I did when I was fifteen. Thirdly, there isn't enough meat to any of the stories. I guess it's tough to give any characterization given that there are seven stories and only ninety minutes, but who asked him to bring in seven stories anyway?
The stories I liked were the sportswoman's and the journalist's - perhaps because of the relatively better acting. I also liked the story set in 1948. Suresh Gopi plays a man who comes to Kannur ostensibly to teach at the local primary school. In reality, he is a 'Commoonist' who has come to give red ideas to the farmers. He soon marries a local woman, and starts leading processions against the local landlord. The story is about the sacrifices that brave and idealistic people made back then in order to bring about social change. Somehow, the story struck a cord within me - perhaps because of the obvious comparison with the sad state of Communism in Kerala today.
I hope that good concepts like these come up more often. And that they are better implemented from now on. Considering the amount of talent we have, it's a shame that the Malayalam film industry has not made its mark anywhere outside.
By UnknownSaturday, May 16, 2009Lists, Serious Thoughts3 comments
I thought I would write a post on the dozen or so Firefox add-ons I use. I have absolutely no claims to being a techie of course, but most people in my circle don't seem to know the amazing things that can be done with Firefox add-ons. Whenever I think of some idea that would make any website more convenient to use, I immediately go to Tools > Add-ons in my browser and search for it. Purely because I'm sure that, if I've thought of it, then somebody more technically able than me would have definitely done so before me and, more importantly, created an add-on!
The only problem with add-ons is that they add to Firefox's memory usage. And since my laptop isn't the best-performing laptop in the world, I've had to restrict myself to the few that I absolutely can't do without. So here they are, in no particular order.
Scribefire: Scribefire is where I'm currently typing this blog post. It's a little button at the bottom of my browser that, when clicked, opens up a window from which I can directly post to my blog. So no more do I have to sign into Blogger to post. It offers every feature that the Blogger 'Create Post' page does - in fact, possibly more. I can do pretty much any sort of text formatting; I can embed YouTube videos directly or add images from Flickr. It even has a live preview function, which is pretty neat. And the best part is that, after posting, I can just open Scribefire and edit the entry directly if I need to, without having to go to another page. This add-on has been a favourite of mine for a very long time. The only hassle is that I can't find the spellcheck.
Personas for Firefox: Not particulary functional, but I like it. I used to download themes for my Firefox routinely. Except that I would get tired of them pretty fast and then I would have to browse themes all over again to find something nice. But now I can scroll through dozens of skins for Firefox in a matter of seconds. Awesome!
Kwiclick: A recent find. I click the button on my browser and a window pops up that lets me search several sites at once. No more of having to open several different tabs to search Google, YouTube, Twitter, etc. My favourite function is that I can open a YouTube video and pin it to a corner of the browser while I go through my other tabs. My only crib is that it doesn't offer Google Images or IMDb search. Also, it doesn't seem to recognize operators like 'define:' that make Google easier to use. However, since the developer is available on twitter and is very open to suggestions, I guess future versions will be better.
Google Notebook Extension: Pretty staightforward. Opens a mini Google Notebook at the bottom of the browser, where you can add anything interesting that you come across on your daily browsing.
GMail Manager:I'm sure most of you have multiple GMail accounts. I have four. Two for blogging purposes and two for real-world purposes. And it's always a pain to have to sign out of one account and go to another just to check for new mail that might not even be there. So what I use is GMail Manager. It lets me check multiple accounts from the bottom of my browser.
TwitterBar: A pretty common add-on, I believe. It lets me post to Twitter from my Firefox address bar. I'm not into Twitter enough to use TweetDeck or Twhirl or any other desktop application. So this works fine for me. If a tweet strikes me while I'm surfing, I just type it out into the Firefox address bar and post!
Better GMail 2: A compilation of a lot of useful Greasemonkey scripts. It shows any attachments by type, and unread counts in the Favicon. There's also a filter assistant, Folders4GMail, etc. Only for people REALLY addicted to GMail.
Download Statusbar: Pretty basic. Downloads show on a bar at the bottom of your browser rather than in annoying pop-up windows.
Greasemonkey: Ah, Greasemonkey! What would I do without it? It lets me play around with websites. I can add things and remove things - well, as long as people have written scripts for them, since I definitely can't! I use only three Greasemonkey scripts, and all three are amazing!
Facebook Purity: The reason I installed Greasemonkey in the first place. You know how the Facebook Homepage currently has all the annoying quizzes that your idiotic friends ever took? Well, you can remove all of them by just installing this script! Brilliant, eh? Well, unless you're one of those people who take great pleasure in clicking 'Hide' for each of these things, like Naween!
Integrated GMail: I've blogged about this awesome script before. It integrates Google Reader, Calendar and Notebook into your GMail page. You can minimize and maximize these as you wish. Very useful for those who are addicted to these!
Troy's Twitter Script: For people who use Twitter from Firefox. It adds several functions to your Twitter page - an RT button, automatic URL expansion, autopagination (pulling in the next page when you reach the bottom of the current one), shrinking of URLs in your tweets. My favourite function is that it shows tweets as conversations. You can see what people are replying to when they tweet something, which enables easy people stalking. :D Also, images and videos get automatically embedded if the tweet contains any such links.
There are also a couple of briliant add-ons that I had to uninstall for various reasons.
StumbleUpon: No need to elaborate on this one. Takes you to random websites depending on your interests.
CoolIris: I started using this add-on back when it was called PicLens. The very first time I used it, I was completely blown away by the 3D display. Try it - you will be, too. Back then, I was using it to browse images, mostly - on Google, Facebook, etc. Then it became CoolIris and added a lot of functions like video search and what not. I uninstalled it soon after that because my Firefox kept getting stuck and I blamed this addon, for no reason in particular. I'd recommend that you try it at least once - just for the awesome display.
So tada! There you go. An Absolute Amateur's Favourite Firefox Functionalities. (Ha! Double alliteration! I like!) Currently, these add-ons are the only things stopping me from switching to Chrome. So I hope I've managed to inspire the non-techies who read this blog into trying add-ons. And the techies, please let me know of any nice ones that you use.
By UnknownFriday, May 15, 2009Kerala2 comments
I'm lying on my bed, half-leaning against a pillow. A book lies by my side, face down, flaps open like a wounded bird. The fan zooms round and round in the air above me. I'm staring out of the window through the parted curtains.
The wind is heavy today. It rushes in through the hapless windows, it bangs shut the open doors. It shoves the newspapers to the floor, it plays with clothes and hair. It sings its way through the entire house, its rhythm echoed by the trees outside, and finally exits through the western windows.
My door is bolted, my windows face west. Still, the wind decides to peek into my room. It wakes me from my half-doze, and it beckons me towards the window. I go to it obediently.
Coconut trees waving their tentacles about in an elaborate dance. Roofs of terracotta brown and mouldy green. The acidic white of a tall building far away. Behind these and framing them, a sky of washed-out blue. The whole scene bathed in sunlight so golden that the eyes want to squeeze themselves tight for safety.
Have you ever heard the rushing noise that wind makes in a forest? It's a scary sound. The air riffling through millions of leaves, passing through them like an army of ghosts through a graveyard. One's eyes start up in fear, wondering what unearthly being could make such a noise. And the only sight all around is that of the leaves screaming in the wind, trying to cling on to their branches.
The noise I can hear now is similar. The rushing wind and the screaming leaves and the creaking trees. A metal sheet covering one of the roofs has gotten loose. Every so often, it lifts up and goes crack-crack at the wind, like a timid dog barking in vain at a stranger.
I'm standing in the safety of my house behind a grilled window. Yet, watching this fierce struggle of nature, I have pleasant goosebumps to my arms. It's a life-and-death battle out there.
By UnknownThursday, May 07, 2009Kerala, TravelNo comments
The Thirunelly Temple
The Thirunelly Bhagavathy's abode is on top of a hill in the middle of a thick jungle. Tall stone steps lead up to the temple. Surrounding it on all sides are high mountains covered in green. The devout have to undertake a pilgrimage deep into the unspoilt jungle and up the hill in order to get a glimpse of the goddess.
Of course, the blue metallic road and the spanking new rest-house right in front of the temple makes everything that much easier. The Bhagavathy has become quite popular, apparently. Tourist buses and shiny white SUVs line the route up the hill. Our driver, having confidently started up the road, is forced to give up half-way because of the traffic jam in the middle of the jungle.
When my parents last came here ten years ago, the road was full of potholes, and the rest-house was some poor architecture student's third-year project. Nor was the goddess so sought after. They parked right in front of the temple - hard to imagine now. Of course, there were very few SUVs in India back then.
The number of visitors might have multiplied in the last decade, but when we climb up the stone steps, we discover that the temple itself is much as it has always been. Facing us is a low white washed building with a moss-covered tiled roof. Inside it resides the Bhagavathy in all her silk-clad splendour. The rolling green slopes of the surrounding mountains draw the eye upwards in awe. The stone floor is cool and comforting underfoot. A new gopuram is under construction, but that is almost the only change.
Apart from the people, of course. Somehow, we have managed to get there early enough to escape the rush hour. When we come out of the inner building, there is a huge queue outside, waiting to go in. Having paid for our archanas and pushpabhishekams and Bhagavathy-alone-knows-what-else, we leave the Bhagavathy to her masses.
My parents now want to visit the Papanasham, where my grandfather bali ceremony was done. The path to it leads off the main temple complex through thick jungle, down another bunch of stone steps. Green trees line the path, and birds call constantly in the gloom of the woods. Unfortunately, the poor traveller, having devoutly left her footwear at the temple entrance, has only rocks to step on most of the time.
And when the Papanasham is reached - oh, what a sight! The once-gushing stream has been reduced to a few pools of dirty water. Groups of recently bereaved people sit amidst the rocks on the stream bed and try to rescue the souls of their beloveds . A Brahmin priest with a big potbelly presides over each group. Depressing. Apparently, the water shortage is only partly because of the summer - people higher up the slopes draw water from the stream for domestic use.
We return along the same metallic road down the hill and towards our guest house. Signboards by the roadside speak of many 'resorts' on either side - for the spoilt city-people to experience the unspoilt jungle, perhaps. All along the way, tall bamboo groves sigh in the wind like lonely giants. I look out at the greenery with unseeing eyes and think about how nice places always get lost to modernity.
Tirunelli Temple, Wayanad, Northern Kerala. About 5 hours from Bangalore.
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J K Rowling was rejected 12 times before her debut novel was published. Today, the Harry Potter franchise has grossed more than $25 billion, and 12 people have presumably never stopped kicking themselves.
Richard Hemming MW: The only certainty is uncertainty
Life’s only certainties are supposed to be death and taxes – but maybe not for much longer. These days, tax evasion has become increasingly normalised, while “amortality” is apparently coming within our lifetime. So to speak.
Nielsen insight: Provence points to a rosé future
Wine makes up just over a third of all off-trade alcohol sales, contributing more value than any other sector. In a fragmented category, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc have stood out in recent years and remain the fastest growing varieties in a declining category overall.
The millennial bug
In any list of the challenges facing the wine world today – once you get past Brexit – you will find mention of millennials.
Thinking Drinkers: on board with Irish whiskey
We recently received a lovely drop of Jameson 18 Year Old Bow Street. It came in a huge box, accompanied with hefty rocks glasses and the added fanfare of a massive bag of cheese. The dairy delights inspired a cheese joke session, which ended with an explosion at a French cheese factory – and all that was left was de brie. Even our dignity had evaporated.
Majestic Wine situation provides opportunity for retailers to fill the void
This coming Saturday is annual Record Store Day. It’s an event when independent record shops get access to (almost exclusively vinyl) special editions of classic and not-so-classic albums that are, initially at least, sold only over the counter. The whole thing is pepped up by in-store performances and signings.
Richard Hemming MW: fond Majestic memories
My first day as a trainee manager in Majestic Wine was in June 2001. I had applied for the job because it offered a graduate training scheme that promised quick promotion through the ranks, although the 25% staff discount was a factor too.
Majestic Wine: a sad state of affairs
Recently, we were in our local Majestic. It was just a few days after the news that the historic wine hawker was winding up its warehouses and focusing its efforts online. Morale among staff was, unsurprisingly, very low. Their usual upbeat, friendly and welcoming demeanour had been replaced by anger, frustration and bewilderment at the decision to rebrand as Naked Wines, the company bought by Majestic for £70 million in 2015.
How retailers can capitalise on the online wine sales opportunity
Online wine sales are reportedly growing steadily across Europe, and the UK is leading the way with eCommerce currently accounting for 10% of total off-trade wine sales. This growing interest from consumers in purchasing alcohol online reflects the wider retail climate, which has seen internet sales increase from 5.8% to 20% of total retail sales in the UK in the last 10 years.
Lost in cartography
Among my most sentimentally valued possessions are a couple of old Denoyer-Geppert maps given to me by a history teacher making way for the technology of the overhead projector.
Nielsen insight: wine boxes and cans come of age
A few years ago, while living in the US, I was introduced to rosé wine in a can at a summer picnic. Being British, I set aside my preconceived notions, politely accepted the drink and sipped away. I had always believed that a great wine could only ever come in a bottle, but I was pleasantly surprised by the canned offering – it had a great taste and stayed cooler for longer, particularly during a hot summer.
Richard Hemming MW: the sequel to the sequel
As sequels are to Hollywood, so vintages are to wine. The same franchises get churned out every year, and every year people faithfully buy into them. The only difference is, with the possible exception of heavily oaked Chardonnay, wine doesn’t go with popcorn.
Oddbins got caught in No Man’s Land
Even as the ice caps melt, the world is becoming an increasingly polarised place. Nuance and rationale get bested by bombast and dogma; every disagreement seems irreconcilable. The middle ground has become No Man’s Land. Such polarisation was all too evident in recent discussions about Oddbins going into administration. While the response was almost universally sympathetic within the wine trade, the debate on social media became rapidly antithetical when Brexit was mooted as a determining factor.
Thinking Drinkers: balancing act
January proved another success for committed abstainers. Granted, it’s the grimmest month to endure without the occasional glass of whisky, but the brave few suffered for our sins, seeing it tee-totally through to February while simultaneously inflicting a short, sharp kidney punch to the industry. Well done them.
The art of tastings
All of us who engage with the wine tasting circuit will be familiar with its general format – comfortable, predictable and generally pretty successful. Whether it’s held in a private members’ club on Pall Mall, a basement in Shoreditch or a private room in a restaurant, the basic form of the trade tasting is timeless: wines normally ordered by producer, a spacious room, good light, tasting booklets (with free pencils), spittoons and endless plates of Carr’s Table Water Biscuits.
Nielsen insight: how minimum unit pricing has affected Scottish shoppers
When the notion of MUP was first introduced in Scotland, I remember thinking “this is big” and I wondered how the industry would react. I also wondered how I would react if the same were to be implemented in England. Would it make a difference to how or what alcohol I buy? Would I even notice the price rises?
Proposed Fuller’s sale has made emotions run high
Beer writing legend Roger Protz wasn’t the only one “dumbfounded” by the decision by the Fuller’s board to sell its brewing business to Asahi of Japan in a £250 million deal.
Nielsen insight: all drinks shoppers are not the same
Christmas now feels like a distant memory. The tree is down, the leftover turkey is gone and the phrase “new year, new me” has been bandied about one time too many. But we’re going to revisit the festive period just once more as it is such an important period for off-trade drinks sales. In the 11 weeks to December 29 shoppers spent £129 million more on alcohol than they did during the same period in 2017, a rise of 2%, and £245 million more than they did in Christmas 2016.
Richard Hemming MW: the challenge of niche interests
According to most observers, veganism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world of food and drink. As such, there are plenty of producers, brands and retailers across the board lining up to take advantage, because where new trends emerge, there is money to be made.
Super Bowl LIII: the off-trade needs to be all over it like a blood-thirsty tight-end on a procrastinating quarter-back
At the beginning of each year, industry observers like nothing more than blowing the dust off their crystal balls, peering into the spirit world (and beer and wine), and proudly predicting the next “big thing” we’ll all be selling over the following 12 months.
Anyone for Dry Tueday?
It’s a cruel world that rewards the wine merchant who has crossed the finish line of December’s festive mania with Dry January. Of course, giving up is the new giving in.
How can drinks retailers make the most of Dry January?
You wouldn’t be surprised if I told you in recent years that there has been a trend of laying off alcohol throughout January.
The festive beer opportunity and the infamous Christmas shop
Christmas is arguably the biggest trading period of the year for the off-trade, loaded with significant opportunities for retailers. After all, it is a time of indulgence, hosting, parties and many cosy nights in – people want to make Christmas special and this is reflected in their shopping habits. In fact, last year saw the biggest spend on premium products ever, with £470m spent over the four weeks to Christmas (Kantar).
Engaging consumers and getting results with email marketing
Another year; another holly, jolly Christmastime. Cue the office parties, the endless playlists of Slade, Chris Rhea, and Shakin’ Stevens, and the desperate search for an appropriate Secret Santa present. And, of course, the mild panic of brands – both big and small – as they contemplate just how they are going to stand out from the crowd during the year’s busiest sales period.
Nielsen insight: all I want for Christmas is off-trade growth
Christmas is my favourite season – I have been known to put my tree up in mid-November. Yes, I am one of those people.
Richard Hemming MW: Impossible problem
How is cheap wine possible? This is perhaps the strangest and most perpolexing question in wine, alongside such conundrums as “is terroir real?” and “pink port: why, god, why?”
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Iran says EU has 'differing values' but dialogue should continue
By AFP Apr 16, 2018 in Politics
Iran said Monday that EU sanctions over its human rights record were due to "differing values" but that they should not derail dialogue with Europe.
"We have certain differences of opinion with European countries and the European Union," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said at a press conference.
"That is due in part to differing values between our region and the Islamic republic of Iran and the European Union, notably as concerns human rights," he said.
The EU on Thursday extended by a year sanctions against 82 individuals and an entity accused of "serious human rights violations in Iran".
Ghasemi said long-running dialogue with the EU should continue, focusing on areas of agreement and in "a constructive atmosphere of good will".
"In the coming months, there will be several delegations to discuss different subjects and not just human rights," he said.
"I hope that this can happen in a more positive atmosphere."
The EU sanctions -- first imposed in the wake of the crackdown on the 2009 protest movement in Iran -- block exports of equipment "which might be used for internal repression and of equipment for monitoring telecommunications".
They are not linked to the 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted many other sanctions linked to Iran's nuclear programme.
Britain, France and Germany, the three European parties to the deal, are working to head off US President Donald Trump's threat to tear it up and reimpose nuclear-related sanctions by May 12.
More about Iran, Sanctions, Rights
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Can probiotics help stop honeybee colony collapse? Special
By Tim Sandle Feb 4, 2019 in Science
SeedLabs is focused on solving ecological problems, like honeybee colony collapse. The company has developed a BioPatty,TM a blend of probiotics for honeybees, that has demonstrated success in prevention and treatment of a fatal bacterial disease.
The probiotic has been developed to help honeybees tackle American Foulbrood (caused by the spore-forming bacteria Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae), a disease decimating the population of the world's most important pollinators. The development required an understanding of the microbiome of the honeybee.
The probiotic comes from the company Seed, which works on both human and planetary health. The product has been developed by the environmental R+D arm of the company called SeedLabs. Chief Scientist, Dr. Gregor Reid, who led the panel of experts commissioned by the UN/World Health Organization set up to define 'probiotics', explains more.
Digital Journal: How would you define the microbiome?
Dr. Gregor Reid: The microbiome is the collective genetic material of all the microorganisms (mostly bacteria, but also fungi, protozoa, and viruses) that live in and on your body. The majority reside in your gastrointestinal tract, primarily in your colon or ‘gut’, but many live in other ecosystems of your body like your mouth, skin, vagina, and armpits. They constitute approximately 50 percent of you by cell count—an invisible, but powerful half.
DJ: Why has microbiome research accelerated in recent years?
Reid: For over a century, we feared bacteria. But our obsession with hygiene combined with modern living and our daily choices—think, antibiotics, sugar, diet and stress... disrupted sleep, city-living, NSAIDs, and more—have all had unintended consequences, impacting our ecosystems within.
We now know that 99 percent of these bacteria are harmless. In fact, many of the ones that make up our microbiome are essential, performing critical roles in and on our bodies—from aiding in digestion, to modulating immune responses, to the synthesis of key vitamins, metabolites, and neurotransmitters.
More recently, the decreasing cost of whole genome sequencing and significant increases in funding with initiatives like the Human Microbiome Project, have accelerated microbiome research at a speed almost unheard of in science, with new discoveries unveiling new associations between our microbiome and our health almost every day.
Scientists can now characterize distinct species and strains and start to understand how microbes play a functional role in our health, our environment, our soil, nutrition, and in the prevention and treatment of disease and even how they may be key to our survival in space and the discovery of new life.
In the coming years, microbiome science will impact almost every aspect of our lives and the choices we make for our health. As research continues, we’re committed to stewarding how that research is both advanced and translated (through both products and education) to set a new standard in consumer health.
DJ: What makes for a probiotic?
Reid: Probiotics are ‘live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host’—this globally-accepted definition was authored by a joint United Nations - World Health Organization Expert Panel, which I chaired in 2001. In other words, strains of beneficial microbes that have demonstrated efficacy in human clinical study.
As transient microbes, probiotics travel through your colon, interacting with your immune cells, gut cells, dietary nutrients, and existing bacteria to directly and indirectly deliver benefits. Some enhance the gene expressions involved in tight junction signaling, which help protect against intestinal permeability (this means tightening your gut barrier). Others trigger neurotransmitters that stimulate muscle contractions for increased motility (think: better, more regular bowel movements). And other bacteria produce byproducts or metabolites like short-chain fatty acids, which have substantial evidence demonstrating their benefits for both metabolic and immune health.
DJ: What benefits can probiotics deliver for human health?
Reid: 78 percent of Americans live with gastrointestinal issues. 68 million suffer from chronic constipation. And with 66% of consumers associating probiotics with digestive health, it’s unsurprising that probiotics are the fastest growing category of consumer health.
However, the idea that probiotics are exclusively relegated to supporting digestive health is a common misconception. Many of these organisms can provide benefits beyond digestive issues. Your body is complex and interconnected, and the gastrointestinal system sits at the core of it all. It’s connected to and influences everything from immunity and metabolic function to cardiovascular, skin, and urogenital health. So, while improvements in gut health are often the most immediate, localized, and evident (with digestion often improved in as little as 24-48 hours), our Daily Synbiotic can actually have powerful effects across the entire body. Both our female and male formulations address cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune health and the female formulation offers additional benefits in dermatological health and the production of folate in the body.
As our mindset shifts from sick care to self care, we’ve become more intentional about our diet, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle. But we now also know that probiotics and prebiotics are powerful new tools to preventively and proactively care for our whole selves (not just our human parts).
DJ: What are the risks around bee colony collapse?
Reid: As pollinators, honey bees are critical to approximately a third of our global food crops. But widespread pesticide use, along with climate change, disease, and habitat loss, has contributed to colony collapse disorder, reducing honey bee populations at an alarming rate. Until a pesticide-free world is possible, we must find ways to spare them (and our environment) from the side effects.
DJ: What are the implications from the decline in bees?
Reid: A world without bees would be a world without honey (obviously). We’d also see harvests decline and farms falter. We’d lose many fruits and vegetables we take for granted today—think: broccoli, apples, grapes, avocados, and more. Staples like coffee, cheese, yogurt, and even cotton would be hard to come by. Our livestock—cows, sheep, and goats (their primary food source, alfalfa, requires bees for pollination)—would suffer. Grocery stores would empty out, food prices would skyrocket, and global malnutrition and famine levels would reach even new heights. Bees are at the heart of our planet's ecological processes. Without them, entire ecosystems, including ours, will flounder.
DJ: What is a BioPattyTM?
Reid: My lab, led by SeedFellow Brendan Daisley, has identified probiotic strains that increase immune resilience through a pathway that insects use to adapt to infection, heat, and other stresses. Delivery via our probiotic BioPatties™ shows immense potential in tempering the effects of neonicotinoid insecticides, improving survival rates, and restoring honey bee populations around the world. These probiotic BioPatties™ have also shown success in the prevention and treatment of a fatal bacterial disease called American foulbrood, caused by a spore forming bacterium called P. larvae.
DJ: How have you tested out BioPattyTM? Has the research been peer reviewed?
Reid: Ongoing research led by myself and SeedFellow Brendan Daisley, has shown the BioPattyTM can reduce P. larvae abundance in honey bees under both laboratory-controlled and field realistic conditions. The three lactobacilli strains have demonstrated significant reduction in growth of the pathogen in vitro and can also stimulate honey bees’ innate immune pathways known to be important to fighting this infectious disease. We are now in the process of testing the BioPatty™ to reduce the prevalence of other disease causing organisms and its ability to mitigate pesticide toxicity in bees foraging near agriculture.
A peer-reviewed paper is expected to publish in Spring of 2019.
DJ: How has BioPattyTM performed in the ‘real world’?
Reid: A pilot study has been completed and more experiments are underway. After analyzing and interpreting microbiota data of honey bees supplemented with the BioPatty, standard pollen patty, or nothing, it appears the BioPatty shifts the microbiota of honey bees to a composition that is associated with lower abundances of potential pathogens, especially P. larvae. Additional field tests are underway in Canada and California.
More about microbiome, Honeybees, Probiotic, Bees
microbiome Honeybees Probiotic Bees
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Columbia TriStar Home Video presents
Punchline (1988)
"Nothing is a joke to me. That's why I do standup comedy."
- Steven Gold (Tom Hanks)
Review By: Brian Calhoun
Stars: Tom Hanks, Sally Field, John Goodman
Other Stars: Mark Rydell, Damon Wayans
Director: David Seltzer
MPAA Rating: R for language, adult humor
Run Time: 02h:02m:30s
B+ B+ B B D-
DVD Review
Part time comedian Lilah Krytsick (Sally Field) nervously enters a diner to meet a man she has never met before. She tells him a simple password and moments later she is handing the stranger five hundred dollars for note cards containing jokes she has never heard nor seen. This opening sequence from Punchline is a veritable irony, as any good comedian knows that it is not necessarily the jokes, but how they are told that makes them funny. The tone of Punchline plays with a similar irony. The film is about the world of standup comedy, yet never meant to be outrageously funny. Its success relies on a quiet subtlety rather than nonstop belly laughs, and for some reason, this method works like a charm. While Punchline contains more than a few laughs, the filmmakers also slyly sneak into the harrowing side of the entertainment industry without becoming too heavy handed.
Tom Hanks' breakthrough performance contributed greatly to the effective delivery of Punchline. Hanks plays the obnoxious Steven Gold, a struggling medical student who is more concerned with the pursuit of laughter than the pursuit of medical science. However fantastic his performance was in Big, Punchline marks the first time that Hanks spread his wings and let his true versatility as an actor shine. It was an admirable choice and a refreshing departure for him to play a self-centered egotist, transcending the barriers of the silly, loveable characters that were his early claim to fame. Here the audience witnesses him experience the gamut of emotions, masterfully combining his slapstick persona with a significantly more dramatic touch; he exudes comedy at one moment and tear-jerking drama the next. A considerable moment that displays his acting chops is a severe mental breakdown on stage. As Steven continually becomes more and more tormented due to an unusual bout with stage fright, we begin to not only see but also feel his harrowing ordeal. Hanks makes it all look incredibly realistic, almost as if he is actually experiencing these emotions. Through Hanks' tour-de-force performance, Punchline proves to be a testament for his talent as an actor, and a foreshadowing of his future success.
Sally Field also turns in a genuine performance as Lilah, a typical housewife and mother who desperately wishes to pursue her dream of becoming a standup comedian. The beauty of Field's performance is her restraint. Field could have easily depicted Lilah as a carefree comedian one moment and a loving mother the next. Instead, she grounds her character realistically, never allowing the audience to forget her roots as a caring mother and housewife while performing on stage.
Unfortunately, many flaws prevent Punchline from achieving masterpiece status. Aside from Steven and Lilah, every other comedian is given so little screen time, they are barely noticed by the audience. This is especially disappointing during the last talent show, which proves to be the film's biggest fault. Steven's final standup act is not only offensive and acrimonious, it is simply not very funny. Several of these problems can be attributed to the way in which many of the standup performances have been edited. It as if director David Seltzer wanted to hurry through to the next scene without focusing on the important moment at hand. This quick editing does not allow the jokes to breathe, and as a result, few of the jokes truly connect with the audience. I would have certainly welcomed a longer film if it had meant I would have been given more insight into each comedian's personality.
Even though Punchline is deeply flawed, it successfully drives its message home and provides compelling entertainment. The filmmakers have admirably captured the grit and sorrow of the entertainment world without hitting the audience over the head with overt melodrama. Punchline emphasizes the depressing rather than comedic side of standup comedy, yet the film still manages to deliver plenty of hearty laughs. Thanks to honest performances and an intelligent screenplay, Punchline is a gripping look at the serious side of comedy.
Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B+
Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 - Widescreen 1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio yes no
Anamorphic yes no
Image Transfer Review: 1988 seems like it was just yesterday, which is perhaps why I was expecting a bit more from the 1.85:1 anamorphic image transfer. Overall, the print is very dusky and grainy. Colors often appear muted and off balance in the interior shots, while outdoor scenes appear more natural. Black level is solid, but uneven contrast plagues dimly lit scenes, resulting in muddy shadow delineation. Several scenes carry an abundance of film artifacts, but distracting video noise is fortunately kept to a minimum. Even though the picture looks dated, I must take into consideration that 1988 was in fact 14 years ago. For a film of this age, the image transfer is quite good.
Also available is a 1:33.1 full frame version.
Image Transfer Grade: B
DS 2.0 English, French yes
Audio Transfer Review: Though sonically dull, the original 2.0 Dolby soundtrack is generally pleasing. Fidelity is clean and clear throughout with minimal hints of distortion. Dialogue is consistently intelligible and remarkably natural. The majority of the soundtrack remains locked in the front soundstage, while the surrounds gently open up when necessary. The biggest letdown is a noticeable lack of bass. Otherwise, this is a solid mix that effectively drives the narrative of the film.
Audio Transfer Grade: B
Disc Extras
Static menu
Scene Access with 28 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai with remote access
Packaging: Amaray
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual
Extras Review: Punchline is yet another bare bones release from Columbia TriStar. The only special feature is a bevy of subtitle options. With Tom Hanks in the height of his super stardom, I would think that the studio would have gone at least to minimal lengths to include a few special features. There must be deleted scenes, or perhaps an interview segment still in existence. While the feature film delivers a great routine, the lack of special features feels like a comedian who leaves the stage before delivering the punchline.
Extras Grade: D-
Final Comments
A different kind of comedy, Punchline has its shaky moments, but the big picture delivers. Fans of the film should be pleased with the anamorphic widescreen presentation and the original Dolby surround mix. It is the lack of special features that cause me to give a mixed review. Without so much as a theatrical trailer, this release feels like somebody's bad idea of a joke.
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Burning chumps with sickitude
May 24, 2019 in essay
"Belong to your place by knowledge of the others who are Your neighbors in it: the old man, sick and poor, Who comes like a heron to fish in the creek, And the fish in the creek, and the heron who manlike Fishes for the fish in the creek, and the birds who sing In the trees in the silence of the fisherman And the heron, and the trees that keep the land They stand upon as we too must keep it, or die." – Wendell Berry
Perhaps the most damning mark against Millennials—especially younger Millennials—is our reputation for flaking out on commitments. Multiple factors contribute to the general truth that when you’re making plans with a Millennial, there’s a good chance that they’ll fail to show up whether they’ve made a commitment or not. Included in these factors are FOMO (fear of missing out), economic anxiety, overwork and difficult to anticipate work schedules, and the ephemeral nature of plans made via text message or a Facebook invite, among others. Whatever the case may be, Millennials have a problem with showing up.
Christians are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ, who we call 'Lord.' If that's true then the question is, how do we expect to be formed as Disciples?
This is the first rule of Christian Discipleship: show up.
It is probably obvious that the words disciple and discipline are related. In order to become disciples we have to have discipline. More than that, we have to be disciplined.
Progressive Evangelical forms of Christianity in America, seeking to avoid the gravity of the word "discipline" have invented the neologism "discipled," as in, "I was discipled at The Radical Non-denominational Satellite Church of the New Covenant." But this cute trick of language misses the true relationship that must be developed in community if we are to be formed as Disciples of Christ.
Referring to discipline here, I'm not talking about harsh treatment or some kind of overly strict regimen which coerces someone into behavior they otherwise wouldn't engage in. Like grace, discipleship isn't the outcome of a formula. I'm talking about showing up: in community, in relationship, in service.
In community, showing up means acting like you belong to the place you meet your neighbors. Belonging means recognizing that a place may not be set up to give you anything, but it will form something new in you if you show up. Showing up means that being a mere spectator falls short of the demand of your place. Showing up means acknowledging that your place belongs to you as much as you belong to it.
In relationship, showing up means recognizing people who have traveled down the road a bit further than you and asking them to tell you what lies ahead. Showing up means looking over your shoulder and beckoning toward people on the path behind. Showing up means walking arm-in-arm, supporting people on the path with you. Showing up in relationship means living into the truth that two people have a claim on one another—they belong to one another.
In Christian mission showing up means arriving for service not just when it's convenient, not just once in awhile, but over and over again. Showing up means coming together with those who serve and those who are served to make a place together. Showing up regularly and sharing space with others is what transforms a space into a place and forms people as friends. A place, once made, forms the community that shows up there.
Discipleship flows naturally out of the disciplined practice of regularly sharing space, breaking bread, and giving ourselves to place. But first we have to show up.
Tags: bylogan, berry, place, wendell berry, discipleship, discipline, friendship
The DISEMBODIED BEARD
Disembodied Beard takes on theology, politics, and culture with essays, comics, and podcasts.
You can support the Beard by becoming a patron at our Patreon page or visiting our store.
Help us grow the Beard.
Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, disembodiedbeard at gmail dot com
Books: Read/Reading 2019
Martyreo Aletheia
Discomfort and Enclosure
Half-Mast
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1926: The Lowman lynchings
3 comments October 8th, 2016 Headsman
Aiken, South Carolina disgraced October 8, 1926 with the lynching of three members of the Lowman family.
American lynch law come 1926 was into its decline phase; the 30 lynchings in that year across the country have never been equalled in the nine decades since, but were also 50% below the rates at the beginning of the 1920s, and very far from the peak 1890s where triple-digit counts of mob murder were the perennial norm.
One might say that both the phenomenon and its pracitioners had matured. If exhortations to better refer justice to the law were the authorities’ running strategy for quelling lynch mobs, then the mobs themselves became complicit with the barristers — and could reserve recourse to extrajudicial means for occasions when the courts failed to work Judge Lynch’s will. Leo Frank’s case a decade prior to this is an excellent example: though there was a virtual lynch atmosphere at his trial, it was only after the man’s death sentence had been commuted by the governor that a lynch gang systematically extracted the man from prison to slay him.
Something like this pattern appears to distinguish the Lowman lynchings.
This dreadful case began with an exercise in that other grand tradition of racialized justice, the drug war — Prohibition-style. On April 25, 1925, the Lowmans’ tenant farm near Monetta was raided by police on a bootlegging tip.* The Lowmans resisted and a firefight broke out, leaving two dead: Annie Lowman, and Sheriff Henry Hampton “Bud” Howard.
Annie’s killing would of course never be punished. But inside of three weeks, fourteen-year-old Clarence Lowman was death-sentenced as Sheriff Howard’s killer, along with his cousin and “conspirator” 21-year-old Demmon Lowman. Bertha Lowman, Demmon’s older sister, received a life sentence.
And so Judge Lynch might rest easy.
Except that one year later, the South Carolina Supreme Court surprisingly threw out the Lowmans’ sentences as prejudicially obtained. The second trial began in October and right away the state suffered a setback when Judge Samuel Lanham threw out the murder case against Demmon Lowman.
Judge Lynch was wide awake now.
That very night — October 7 — white vigilantes organized a new verdict. According to the NAACP’s investigation, “within one hour of [Lanham’s] decision, news had been sent to as distant a point as Columbia that the three Lowmans were to be lynched that night.”
At 3 o’clock in the morning of October 8, and aided by the local constabulary, the mob stormed the jail and dragged Clarence, Demmon and Bertha Lowman away to a pine thicket outside of town where they were gunned down.
“On the way Clarence Lowman jumped from the car in which he was held,” the NAACP investigator would later report in the summation of his interviews.
He was shot down and recaptured, in order to prevent telltale blood marks, a rope was tied to the back of the car and the other end of it around Clarence’s body. In this manner he was dragged about a mile to the place of execution. The members of the mob sated that Bertha was the hardest one to kill. She was shot but not killed instantly. She dragged herself over the ground and as one member of the mob put it, ‘bleated like a goat.’ Another member of the mob, slightly more decent, said that she begged so piteously for her life and squirmed about so that a number of shots had to be fired before one found a vital spot and ended her agony.
Although the NAACP supplied South Carolina’s governor with the identities of 22 alleged members of the lynch mobs (including the sheriff himself) and 11 other witnesses to its actions, no man was ever sanctioned for this event, and an all-white grand jury declined to forward any indictments.
A distant Lowman relative was quoted in the Augusta Chronicle recollecting the stories his grandmother told about that horrible night, and the impression those stories had in his own life.
“She [grandma] talked about it all the time,” William Cue said. “Took them out of jail — drug them out like dead mules. When I drive past, I think about it — it happened in that house. … I learned something from that. … There was a lot of times where a man mistreated me and it kept me from doing anything.”
* It’s been argued by latter-day researchers that the tip itself was bogus, and supplied to police further to a personal vendetta — which, if true, would make the Lowmans victims of the 1920s version of SWATting.
1852: Adam Wimple, his executioner's lodger - 2018
1586: John Lowe, John Adams, and Robert Dibdale, English Catholics - 2017
1946: The Neuengamme camp war criminals - 2015
1760: John Bruleman, weary of life - 2014
1295: Thomas Turbeville, undercover knight - 2013
1982: Khosrow Khan Qashqai - 2012
1354: Cola di Rienzi, last of the Roman Tribunes - 2011
1927: Martyrdom of Five Christeros - 2010
1789: Rachel Wall, female pirate - 2009
Themed Set: Women Who Kill - 2009
1997: Ricky Lee Green - 2008
1909: Will James, “the Froggie”, lynched in Cairo
1930: Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, strange fruit
1893: Two women lynched in Quincy, Mississippi
1911: Daniel “Nealy” Duncan, posthumous pardon candidate
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Borderline "Executions",Capital Punishment,Children,Death Penalty,Disfavored Minorities,Execution,History,Lynching,Murder,No Formal Charge,Racial and Ethnic Minorities,Shot,South Carolina,USA
Tags: 1920s, 1926, aiken, bertha lowman, clarence lowman, demmon lowman, drug war, jim crow, october 8, racism
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1747: Thomas Fuller, Hawkhurst Gang smuggler
Add comment November 16th, 2016 Headsman
On this date in 1747, a Tyburn hanging dispatched (along with three other, unconnected criminals) Thomas Fuller, member of one of 18th century England’s most notorious gangs.
Named for their home village, the Hawkhurst Gang dominated the trade in contraband in England’s south from Doset to Kent in the 1730s and 1740s, with the arms and ill-temper to trade blow for blow with crown agents who rightly learned to fear the syndicate. In the process that gang contributed several members to Blighty’s gibbets for various deeds of spectacular violence — gentlemen whom this site will revisit in future posts.
Our Mr. Fuller, however, was by the evidence laid at his trial a mere grunt, and his prosecution targeted the gang’s more routine forms of outlawry.
Despite the smuggler’s romantic knight-errant literary profile — Rhett Butler, Han Solo — it was for 18th century England a vast economic sector organized on a nearly industrial scale. Excise duties imposed on in-demand imports, notably tea but also spirits, tobacco, sugar, and other indulgences, made these articles so profitable to move illegally that it’s a fair bet that they were predominantly consumed as contraband. We have seen in these pages, from a post laid 30 years to the future, that tea smuggling was so commonplace that respectable country parsons made no pretense about securing their refreshments on the black market.
It was enterprises like the Hawkhurst Gang that delivered the leaf to its market.
Exploiting the long coastline, from which skiffs could scuttle to rendezvous with channel shipping, the gang built a storage infrastructure, supply chains, distribution networks. We have a taste of how this worked from the words of the attorney general at Fuller’s trial:
About the Beginning of August last the Prisoner at the Bar, with a great Number of other Persons, all of them on Horseback, arm’d with Fire-Arms, the Prisoner particularly, among the rest, with a Carbine or a Blunderbuss, together with the rest, was on Horseback; and they were then accompanied with several drove Horses, and upon the Horses they rode, as upon those they drove, they carried great Quantities of Tea in Oil-skin Bags, and Half-Anchors, peculiar to those Sort of People; a Peculiarity it is which no Goods besides is carried, in order to elude Justice.
Multiple witnesses in this case described how widespread the practice is; they were needed because the crown case had an evidentiary weakness: everyone knew that posses toting oilskin bags were tea smugglers, but the witnesses had not literally seen the defendant reveal the contents of his oilskin bags. Here is a customs agent named Walker explaining the situation:
Sollicitor-General. What is the Practice of Smugglers in carrying off their Goods?
Walker. Such time as I have been an Officer, which has been ten Years, I never took no Tea in my Life upon Horses, but what was in Oil-skin Bags. Wherever I had a Suspicion, and found Oil-skin Bags, I always found Tea.
Q. How many may you have found?
Walker. Thousands of Bags; when they are in a Hurry, and taken from the Sea, they are in Oil-skin Bags; but when they carry them up into the Country, they carry them in Sacks; there is never a Gang that comes from the Sea-side, but rides with something upon their Horses.
Later, a different officer made an equally important observation about the well-known Hawkhurst Gang: “we never attack’d them, because we were over-power’d.” The Hawkhurst Gang was hardly alone in this. As readily as Britons embraced their untaxed smuggled tea and brandy, the underworld firms that delivered them were growing frighteningly in size and propensity to violence during the 1740s.
Accordingly, they were met by a concerted crackdown by authorities. (And, perhaps more helpfully, a reduction in the tea tax.) In 1745, Parliament had stacked upon the century’s vast allotment of property crimes fresh capital offenses for armed smuggling — no matter whether those arms were actually used. For the case at hand, there was no need to link Fuller to a homicide or the like: only to show that he participated in the normal activities of the Hawkhurst Gang.
As was often the case, it was left to the likes of the Ordinary of Newgate to express in words the ideological message of smugglers’ execution. He did so with great vehemence (but less persuasive effect) when Fuller went to hang:
The common People of England in general, fancy there is nothing in the Crime of Smuggling, but cheating the King of a small Part of his Revenue; and that there is no Harm done to the Community in general, or to the Properties of particular Persons: They think they have a Right to shun, as much as possible, paying any Duty for their Goods, and what they get by their Dexterity in that Manner is honest Gain, to be enjoyed as the Fruits of their Industry and Labour; but a little Consideration will teach them to think otherways, and convince them, that Smuggling is in itself a Crime of worse Consequence to Society, and more hurtful to particular Persons, than many other Crimes which Custom has taught them to look upon with great Abhorrence.
The Prejudice done the Society, and the Damage received by Individuals, next to the express Declaration of the divine Will, are the best Marks by which we can judge of the Degree of Immorality in any Action whatever; and if we judge of their Crime of Smuggling by this Criterion, we shall find it a Sin of deep Dye, and to deserve the Resentment of every Man, who pretends to any Share of moral Honesty.
In the first Place, the fair Trader is injured in his Property by their kind of illicit Trade: He pays honestly the Duties and Taxes charged upon his Commodity at his Entry, which in some Cases amounts to near as much as the prime Cost of his Goods at the first Market; this he must charge upon the Consumer, with a living Profit for his Riske, Trouble and Out-lay of his Money; but the Smuggler, who buys his Goods at the same Market, and perhaps at a lower Price, as he chuses the worst Sort upon running them, is able to undersell the fair Dealer at least one Third, and for that Reason is, by the greedy Retailer, preferred, though the Commodity he deals in is worse in Quality. Is not this robbing the honest Merchant of his real Profit, and forcing him either to sell below what his Goods cost, or leave off a Branch of Trade, to which perhaps, he has served an Apprenticeship, and built extraordinary Hopes upon, of being a Support to him or his Family? I appeal to every thinking Man, if there is any material Difference betwixt ruining a Man by robbing him on the Highway, and this Method of beggaring him and his Family by Smuggling? If there is any Difference in Point of Immorality, it must lie on the Side of Smuggling, as the Evil attending it is more universal, and reaches farther. Few Men carry their All in their Pocket; and not one Man in a Thousand is ruined, by what is taken from him by the Highwayman: But there is not a Ship of Goods run upon our Coast but injures Hundreds; perhaps not immediately, but in Process of Time it certainly has that Effect. Not only the Parts adjacent, and the Dealers near the Smuggling Port suffer by this Means, but the most distant Corners of the Kingdom are affected by it in a few Weeks, in Proportion as it lowers the Price of the Commodity, and diminishes the publick Revenue. But it is this lowering the Price which is the great Temptation; the Cheapness of the Smugglers Goods tempts the Retailer to prefer him to the fair Trader, from a mistaken Notion that it is his peculiar Interest to buy as cheap as he can, and consequently he encourages, conceals, and connives at all the Villainies of this Set of People. But if such a Retailer should give himself Time to think, I believe he might easily persuade himself, that he is robbing Peter to pay Paul; that what he gets upon one Article, he loses on another.
It is evident, Taxes must be paid to support the Expences of the Government; and that every Subject, as he enjoys the Benefit of Government, is obliged to contribute his Proportion to that Expence. It is likewise evident, that if the Duties laid upon one Commodity does not answer the Sum charged upon it, that the Deficiency must be charged upon some other. Thus: Suppose the Duties charged upon Teas, Brandy, &c. falls short 100,000 l. of the Sum allotted to be raised upon these Commodities, is it not evident that this 100,000 l. must be charged upon Soap, Candles, Leather, Sand, or some other Branch? Suppose then a Dealer, by dealing with the Smuggler, saves about half the Duty payable to the King, or, which is the same thing, buys it so much cheaper from him than he would from the fair Trader, and that his Gains upon this Article amounts to ten or twenty Pounds a Year, I mean his illicit Gains, or the Difference between the trading Price and smuggling Price; now, as it is evident, that every twenty Pounds gained this Way lessens the Revenue forty Pounds, he or somebody else must re-place this Sum in the Treasury, by a Tax upon another Commodity; from whence it is as clear as the Sum; that instead of gaining twenty Pounds by his smuggling Dealer, he really loses twenty Pounds upon the Ballance. I own, he may not chuse to deal so largely in these other Articles, as to bring it to this Ballance, but some of his Neighbours may. And as much Money as they pay towards making up this Deficiency, occasioned by the Smuggler; just so much does the Person, who deals with such People, rob out of the Pocket of his Neighbour.
If I was to charge several People, who make no scruple for the Lucre of Profit, to buy Goods which they know to be run, with as foul a Crime as Robbery, or even that of cheating their Neighbour, they would be apt to treat me with some Severity, and think I much injured their Reputation: Yet, upon serious considering the Circumstance attending this Practice, they must at last own, they deserve no better Character than that of a Highwayman and Cheat.
Thus it is plain that Smuggling is a Crime of the most dangerous Nature, both against the Community and private Persons, and as such subject to the Divine Displeasure, as much as any other Felony. It is not only a Sin destructive to Society, and contrary to human Laws enacted for the Peace, Protection, and Subsistence of the State, but is a Sin against the literal Precepts, as well as the Meaning and Intent of Christianity: We are commanded Obedience to Government for Conscience sake; we are commanded to pay Tribute to whom Tribute is due. Our Saviour gave that Answer to the Jews, though that People had as much Reason as any People on Earth, to look upon the Romans as Tyrants, and having no Right to that Tribute, but what they founded upon the superior Force of their Arms; but how much stronger is the Christian Obligation, to pay towards the Support of a Government established? Not by Force or Fraud, butby the Consent of a free People, and conducted by all the Arts of prudent Policy conducing to their Happiness, both in their Religious and Civil Capacities.
If we consider ourselves as several Members united in one Society for our mutual Peace and Protection, we must conclude it the highest Piece of Injustice in us to refuse or evade by Force or Fraud to pay our Contingent of the Expence incurred for such valuable Purposes, as the securing our Religion and Liberties.
If the Government was to make any Infringement upon the Properties of Individuals, or aim at lessening the Freedom of the Constitution, how would the Smuggler and his Friends rail and exaggerate the mighty Grievance? Yet at the same Time grudge to pay their Quota, and take all Means in their Power by Deceit or Violence to cheat the Government of what enables them to preserve Order and Peace in the Community.
These Considerations alone are sufficient to awaken the Conscience of the Guilty in this Way, and to hinder us from affording them an unseasonable Compassion; but there yet remains some other Circumstances to blacken the Blackness of their Crime. These are the Manner in which they go about to execute their Smuggling Purposes.
They go in Companies together, armed with all Manner of offensive Weapons, and escorted by the most profligate Wretches they can pick up: They employ none in their Service but Fellows who have given Instances that their Consciences are Proof against all Checks of Morality, Religion or Law, and whose Courage is equal to the most daring Attempts upon the Peace of the Society. By these Men Perjury amongst others, is looked upon as a venial Transgression, beneath the Conscience of a Gentleman Smuggler to be troubled with. Murder, Rapes, and Robberies are with them but as frequent, as they conduce to their Interest. Their Character, their Cruelty, and Numbers has given them another Source of Encouragement, and a new set of Allies. For Numbers of the Country People who perhaps abhor their Practice, from the Dread they have justly conceived of their Power, find themselves obliged, tho’ against their Wills, to connive at or conceal, and even to assist them, and when they are not willing, they are compelled to lend their Aid. For when a Smuggling Vessel touches on the Coast, those concerned or their Associates meet at a Place of Rendezvous, and press all the Horses they meet with for their Service, which they sometimes return, and sometimes not, just as their Business requires, and the Owners dare not complain for fear of having their Throats cut, or their Houses set on Fire: Not only single Houses, but whole Villages and trading Boroughs are kept in this slavish Dependence upon them, out of real Apprehension of Danger, without any Regard to Profit in dealing with them.
1888: Not Sarah J. Robinson - 2018
1880: Alexander Kvyatkovsky and Andrei Presnyakov, Narodnaya Volya terrorists - 2017
1915: The Ghadar Mutineers - 2015
1700: Jamie Macpherson, Highlander - 2014
1688: Goodwife Ann Glover, Salem trial run - 2013
1724: Willem Mons, head grafter - 2012
1724: Jack Sheppard, celebrity escape artist - 2011
1999: Zarmeena - 2010
1885: Louis Riel, Metis leader - 2009
1869: Hamiora Pere, Maori "traitor" to the Queen - 2008
1491: Eight current and converted Jews at an auto de fe - 2007
1725: Jonathan Wild, Thief-Taker General and Receiver of Stolen Goods
1770: King David Hartley, Yorkshire coiner
1777: William Dodd, mind wonderfully concentrated
1736: Both John Vernham and Joshua Harding survive a hanging
1768: Isaac Frasier, three strikes offender
1724: Jack Sheppard, celebrity escape artist
1752: Mary Blandy, “forgiveness powder”
Entry Filed under: 18th Century,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,England,Execution,Hanged,History,Organized Crime,Pelf,Public Executions
Tags: 1740s, 1747, economic crimes, economics, hawkhurst gang, london, november 16, tea, thomas fuller, trade, Tyburn
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TARIFF NO.: 3916.20.0090; 5607.50.4000
Ms. Janifer Lo
Sources International
1901 E. Lambert Road, Suite 207
La Habra, CA 90631
RE: The tariff classification of decoy cord from Taiwan.
Dear Ms. Lo:
In your letter dated April 5, 2000, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Two samples were provided with your letter. The “Knot-Proof Decoy Cord” is a monofilament composed of polyvinyl chloride plastic. The sample cord is on a roll of 100 feet. The diameter of the cord is 2.3 millimeters. The “Braided Nylon Decoy Cord” is composed of 100 percent nylon textile material braided to form a cord with a diameter of 1 millimeter. The sample cord is on a roll of 100 feet.
The applicable subheading for the Knot-Proof Decoy Cord will be 3916.20.0090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for monofilament of which any cross-sectional dimension exceeds 1 mm, rods, sticks and profile shapes, whether or not surface-worked, but not otherwise worked, of plastics: of polymers of vinyl chloride, other. The rate of duty will be 5.8 percent ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the Braided Nylon Cord will be 5607.50.4000, HTS, which provides for twine, cordage, ropes and cables, whether or not plaited or braided and whether or not impregnated, coated, covered or sheathed with rubber or plastics: of other synthetic fibers, other. The rate of duty will be 5 percent ad valorem.
Tariff No.: 3916.20.00 - Monofilament with cross-section dimension over 1 mm, rods, sticks, profile shapes, at most surface-worked, of polymers of vinyl chloride
Tariff No.: 5607.50.40 - Twine, cordage, rope and cables of synthetic fibers, other than of polyethylene or polypropylene, nesoi
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faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 2004 NY Rulings > NY K87153 - NY K87205 > NY K87169
NY K87169
CLA-2-39:RR:NC:SP:221 K87169
TARIFF NO.: 3923.90.0080; 3923.30.0090; 3923.50.0000; 8424.89.7090
Ms. Maurine Cecil
American Shipping Company Inc.
400 Oceangate, Suite 1106
RE: The tariff classification of plastic jars, bottles and dispensers from Korea and China.
Dear Ms. Cecil:
In your letter dated June 10, 2004, on behalf of SeaCliff Packaging, Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Samples were provided with your letter. The first group of samples is made in Korea. The two articles in the group are described as a 15 ml airless package and a 30 ml airless package. The samples are 15 and 30-milliliter plastic dispensing containers with spray tops for liquid gels. They will be imported empty.
The second group of samples includes plastic jars, bottles and tubes made in China. These items will be imported empty for use in packaging products. The plastic lids and plastic caps for this second group of items will sometimes be imported separately from the jars, bottles and tubes.
The samples are being returned as you requested.
The applicable subheading for the airless liquid gel dispensers will be 8424.89.7090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other mechanical appliances for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids. The rate of duty will be 1.8 percent ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the plastic jars and tubes, whether or not imported with lids and caps, will be 3923.90.0080, HTS, which provides for articles for the conveyance or packing of goods, of plastics: other. The rate of duty will be 3 percent ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the plastic bottles, whether or not imported with lids or caps, will be 3923.30.0090, HTS, which provides for articles for the conveyance or packing of goods, of plastics: carboys, bottles, flasks and similar articles, other. The rate of duty will be 3 percent ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the plastic lids and caps, when imported separately from tubes, jars and bottles, will be 3923.50.0000, HTS, which provides for stoppers, lids, caps and other closures, of plastics. The rate of duty will be 5.3 percent ad valorem.
Tariff No.: 3923.50.00 - Stoppers, lids, caps and other closures, of plastics
Tariff No.: 3923.90.00 - Articles nesoi, for the conveyance or packing of goods, of plastics
Tariff No.: 8424.89.70 - Mechanical appliances (whether or not hand operated) for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids or powder, nesoi
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NavigationHomeFeaturesColumnsAdrenalinTeam FSE
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Delta wing launched
Posted on March 14, 2012 by Filip Cleeren in Features No Comments
The Delta Wing is designed to turn sports car racing on its head.
This item’s title is rather reminiscent of a generic sci-fi movie, but the much-discussed Delta Wing will appear at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The eyebrow-raising project received a shot in the arm with the support of Japanese giant Nissan, which will supply the engine for the concept that intends to turn motor racing on its head.
A GAME OF HALVES
‘Plan Delta Wing’ sounds as simple as it is ambitious. The team behind the Delta Wing want to create a car that achieves the performance of a Le Mans prototype, with half the weight, drag, power and fuel consumption. High-end performance and straight line speeds through maximum aerodynamic efficiency and a ‘mere’ 300 bhp 1.6 litre turbocharged engine featuring direct injection.
To achieve its goal it obviously takes a dramatically different design than we are used to see on track. The car has a jet fighter-like appearance and features an extremely narrow front track and skinny front tyres with a view of eliminating as much drag as possible to do away with high horsepower requirements. From a frontal point of view the Delta Wing looks very ‘slippery’ and with a weight of only 475 kg, acceleration and cornering characteristics should be quite spectacular.
MUSIC TO THE INDUSTRY’S EARS
The man behind the Delta Wing is British engineer Ben Bowlby, who designed plenty of Champ Cars and other single seaters and prototypes during his time at Lola, after which he spent a few years as technical director of IndyCar powerhouse Target Chip Ganassi. For the last three years, Bowlby worked on a concept that requires a completely different approach to motor racing. One that sounds as music to the ears of the automotive world, where fuel efficiency has increasingly become a key element in car design.
The Delta Wing was considered as the new IndyCar chassis, but the series decided to stick with a known quantity and go for a traditional Dallara design. Time will tell whether that is a missed opportunity or not, but the radical Delta Wing definitely seems to attract the kind of media and fan attention that IndyCar desperately needs.
For Le Mans the Delta Wing has been granted ‘Garage 56’, an exceptional 56th entry granted to support innovative concepts and technologies. The triangular Delta Wing certainly is exactly that. The car will be run by American Le Mans Series squad Highcroft Racing and feature the team’s Marino Franchitti and Nissan works driver Michael Krumm in its line-up. The car will run with number zero and will not be considered in the results, but it will be interesting to see how it performs at one of the most demanding races in the world. If the design works it will likely change the future of the entire industry.
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Harmony, Raines,
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Rosabella Raines
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177 books of Harmony Raines
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Curvy Ellie Carter lied on her job application in an attempt to make a better life for her and her brother. She has sacrificed her personal life to keep the two of them together. When her billionaire boss discovers the truth he tries to offer her an arrangement, one that will suit them both. Yet Ellie is having none of it, and leaves as fast as she can.
However there's no escaping Nat, because Ellie is his true mate and he will do anything to get her to realise it. Can he succeed in winning Ellie over? Will he be able to convince her to stay when he reveals his werewolf secret? Warning: This 14,000 word short story contains scenes of graphic sex and is for adults only.
Curves for Her Cowboy
Tammy has been away for three years, however her feelings for Sam have not changed. This curvy girl is used to people making fun of her, so she knows Sam will never want her as more than a friend.
Can she keep her feelings for the billionaire cowboy next door hidden?
Or will she be shocked to discover he has plans for her, that will result in her ultimate pleasure? Warning: This 12,000 word short story contains scenes of explicit sex and is for adults only. Excerpt: “Please, Sam, I need more.” “How much more?” he asked. Tammy had never begged a man to take her in her life, but right now she would have got down on her hands and knees and begged him to take her. “Come on, Tammy, say it.” “Please, Sam, take me. I need to feel you inside me.” Tammy said so quietly she wondered if he had heard her. Then he straightened before sliding his finger under the lace of her panties and tugging them down past her knees and letting them fall to her ankles. “Step out of them,” he said. She did . . .
Curves in the Family- Rachel
Growing up with six older sisters put Rachel off dating. All those dramas and hormones made her want a quieter life. Now a successful owner of her own cake shop, she is tempted to change her mind when Mr Handsome Hunk visits her shop. Torn between living her mundane life with no heart ache, or taking a risk on love, can Rachel give her heart and body to a man for the first time? James is renovating a house for his sister. He longs to take Rachel out, but after a misunderstanding finds her avoiding him. When Rachel needs his help he is more than willing, and takes the chance to let Rachel know he wants more than her cup cakes! Can they find love and happiness in each other's arms? This 22,000 word short story contains scenes only suitable for adults.
Sold to the Wolf
Adam cannot believe it when he finds his mate. He finds it hard to contain his anger when she is recklessly auctioning her virginity to the highest bidder. The fact that he has to ask his brother, and pack alpha, Nat for the money does noting to ease his temper. His mate is also having second thoughts, but is sold off to Adam before she can leave. Scared by the angry man that has bought her innocence, she is also inexplicably attracted to him. However his cruelty towards her threatens to make her resist her strong desire for him. When Adam finds out the true reason she sold herself will he be able to win her over, or will he be forced to live without his mate forever? Warning: This 11,000 word short story contains scenes of an adult nature and is meant for adults only.
Snowbound Curves
Phil has always made Christina's life hell. His remarks about her curvy body have always hurt. The worst thing is he is her brother's best friend. However when the two of them end up stranded together in a cabin high in the mountains, they realise their animosity is based on a lie. When the air is cleared Christina is forced to acknowledge her crush on Phil. Soon the heat rises between them as they learn they are made for each other. Will their relationship last though once they leave the sanctuary of the cabin? This 15,000 word short story is for adults only.
Marcus has been taught never to share his feelings with anyone, it made you weak. Yet over the last few months he had managed to open up to Christie, and now he has a written a letter asking her to meet him when he returns. Just one problem it gets "Returned To Sender". Christie cannot believe the man she has corresponded with for the last few months would suddenly stop writing. It's bad enough that men don't fall for her curvaceous body when they meet her, but to be let down by someone who has never even set eyes on her voluptuous body, well, that's just too much! After an argument with her friend, Christie settles down for an evening in with a movie, and chocolate. But a knock at her door brings her face to face with her soldier, can their relationship blossom, or will it die? Warning: This 10,000 word short story contains scenes of an adult nature between a curvy insecure woman and a fit, handsome soldier who has been serving abroad for months, and needs to release some pent . . .
Curves For Her Bears
Curvy Maggie is scared. Found in the woods by two hunky men, she finds it hard to resist, either of them. The only problem is, she can't remember a thing. Despite her fears she finds herself uncontrollably attracted to these two men. Aiden, gentle and sensitive. Cyrus, angry and distant. Yet the other side of these two men is something she would never have guessed. Will she be strong enough to become their mate, and keep their secret? Or will her memory return and send her back to the life she once lived? This 23,000 word novella contains scenes suitable for adults only.
The Rock Star and the Virgin
Her First Time With A Bear (BBW Shifter Romance)
Curvy girl, Paris has been abandoned by her mom, left to look after herself and make ends meet. Already struggling with college, and a part time job, she is forced to take on her mom's shifts at the local bar in order to survive. Things would be bad enough, but her handsome, rugged new boss looks at her in ways no man ever has before.
A Virgin For The Billionaire
Beth has spent the last ten years being a parent to her younger brother. She has put her emotional life on hold while struggling with the financial difficulty. So when she meets a mysterious man at a party she decides to lose her virginity to him. One night, one time to last her a lifetime. But this mystery man is not the kind to take no for an answer when she tries to walk away. This 13,800 word story contains first time sex with an innocent twenty seven year old. Hot oral sex to ease her nerves. And a billionaire who knows what he wants and intends to get it.
For example, Bite Me, Your Grace
Books of Harmony Raines
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Five inducted into GDC Hall of Fame
Blessed Trinity coach Andy Harlin, left, is congratulated by assistant coach Jamie Wagner
Friday during the Georgia Dugout Club's Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Marietta
Hilton Hotel & Conference Center. Harlin was one of five new members inducted.
GDC inducts five new members
By Tim Morse
MARIETTA -- The stories were humorous.
Some were serious, then some made the audience shed a few tears.
Five new members were inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame Friday afternoon at the Marietta Hilton Hotel & Conference Center during the organization's annual coaches clinic.
East Paulding's Tony Boyd, Kennesaw Mountain's George Hansen, Colquitt County's Tony Kirkland, former Metter coach Monty Nagel and Blessed Trinity's Andy Harlin were inducted during the annual awards ceremony.
Denmark High School coach David Smart was awarded the Ethics in Coaching Award, the organization's highest honor.
Smart, who took over at Forsyth County's newest high school this year after leading LaGrange High to the state semifinals in 2017, said he was humbled.
"This may sound kind of cliche'-ish, and some eyes may roll, but it starts off with a Saviour who loves me," he said. "He's taught me to love. I wouldn't be much of a coach without that."
Boyd was the first inductee to take the podium after getting introduced by Tim Carruth. Boyd said he was honored, and he broke the ice by taking a shot at himself.
"These guys up here, I'm thinking, 'That guy beat me,' " Boyd said. "Then that guy kicked my butt. Everybody who came up here kicked my butt."
Boyd’s career record is 458-365 at Wills High School, Pebblebrook and Holy Innocents'. He has won three region titles, all at East Paulding, and guided the Raiders to 10 postseason appearances. His postseason resume includes three trips to the quarterfinals and one trip to the semifinals.
Hansen's younger brother Keith, who is the head baseball coach at Allatoona, and Kennesaw Mountain assistant Rich Oria introduced the only varsity baseball coach Kennesaw Mountain High School has ever known.
"I was so nervous about my brother being up here," George Hansen said. "Keith, you did good. You didn't tell any of my embarrassing stories."
Hansen has been a varsity coach for 23 seasons at Pebblebrook and Kennesaw Mountain High Schools. He served as an assistant at North Cobb under Harvey Cochran, also a member of the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame. He has a career coaching mark of 383-228
He has won four region titles and has guided 10 teams to state playoff appearances. His Kennesaw Mountain team finished as the Class 5A state runner-up in 2005. Hansen has made three trips to the state semifinals and three quarterfinal appearances. His 2007 team was ranked fourth nationally by USA Today.
Smart, who has worked alongside Kirkland for many seasons while coaching Team Georgia in the Sunbelt Classic in Oklahoma, introduced his friend on Friday.
Kirkland, who has been head coach at South Effingham and Colquitt County, spent time thanking many for his induction.
"We don't get a chance to say thank you whole lot unless you are in a banquet-type setting," Kirkland said. "We don't get a chance to say thank you a whole lot. Today, I'm going to take time to do that."
He got his first head baseball job in 2003 when he took over at South Effingham. He took the Mustangs to the Class 4A state semifinals in 2005. During his tenure in Guyton, Ga., he helped develop current Houston Astros standout Josh Reddick.
In 2009, Kirkland returned to Colquitt County where he was an assistant earlier in his career and helped the Packers to state titles in 1997 and 2003. He has helped more than 45 players sign scholarships to play college baseball and five players have been drafted professionally.
His teams have won six region championships, and he has been named Region Coach of the Year seven times, four times since returning to Colquitt County. He has made five trips to the state semifinals, and he has guided his teams to the state playoffs in 15 of his 16 seasons as head coach. He has recorded 290 victories.
Nagel retired from Metter after the 2018 season. He compiled a career baseball record of 204-120 in 14 seasons at Metter and nearby Pinewood Christian Academy.
His two children -- Pete and Amy -- introduced their father.
For a coach known for helping develop players into productive young men, Nagel had a hard time holding back tears after his son spoke about him being a better man than a baseball coach.
"It's a humbling experience," said Nagel, who had a seizure in Dec., 2017 and in early 2018, battled for his life with a brain tumor that doctors later found to be benign.
"Other than the birth of those two kids, (getting inducted into the Hall of Fame) is the most-humbling experience I've ever been associated with."
Harlin was the final inductee. After getting introduced by assistant Jamie Wagner, the legendary coach spoke of his family's love for baseball and how much he enjoyed the game. His mother, who passed away in 1999, was an avid Atlanta Braves fan who listened to nearly every game on the radio in the late 1970s. His father, who was from New York, was a die-hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan who often rode the train to watch his favorite team play.
Harlin and his wife, Jamie, spent their honeymoon in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame.
"We took 500 pictures and only two of them were of us," Harlin joked. "We took one in front of the Hall of Fame and the other in front of our bed and breakfast. The rest were of Babe Ruth's bat and stuff like that."
Harlin has coached at St. Pius X and spent the last 16 seasons at Blessed Trinity. He has a career mark of 568-186 and is one of 26 prep coaches in Georgia to top the magical 500-win plateau.
He has guided Blessed Trinity to three state titles (2006, 2014-15) and finished as state runner-up in 2016 and 2017. Harlin has won 10 region titles, named state Coach of the Year five times and is a two-time Regional Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Tony Dimitri, Jordan
Todd Harrelson, Northgate
Chad Gillespie, Madison County
Brian Brown, West Laurens
Allen Franklin, Union Grove
Brett Griffin, Effingham County
Mike Pruitt, West Forsyth
Joey Ray, Flowery Branch
Jeff Timothy, South Georgia State
Steve Westmoreland, Harris County
Greg Williams, Cook
Ricky Beale, Evans
Casey Kane, Athens Academy
Jeremy Smith, Appling County
Chan Brown, Parkview
Todd Eubanks, South Effingham
Lance Oubs, Lovett
Joey Hiller, Tattnall Square
Tommy Knight, Jefferson
Players and Coaches of the Year awards
Players - Logan Cerny, Parkview and Davis Sharpe, Mill Creek
Coaches - Chan Brown, Parkview and Doug Jones, Mill Creek
Players - Buddy Floyd, Pope and Payton Eeles, Allatoona
Coaches - Jeff Rowland, Pope and Keith Hansen, Allatoona
Players - Seth Clark, Loganville and Ramsey David, Buford
Coaches - Jeff Segars, Loganville and Stuart Chester, Buford
Players - Patrick Hickox, Jefferson and Anthony Seigler, Cartersville
Coaches - Tommy Knight, Jefferson and Kyle Tucker, Cartersville
Players - Ben O'Meara, Lovett and Parks Harber, Westminster
Coaches - Lance Oubs, Lovett and Chad Laney, Westminster
Players - Carter Holton, Benedictine and Rhett Thomason, Berrien
Coaches - Kevin Farmer, Benedictine and Doug Nix, Berrien
Class 1A Public
Player - Dylan Minghini, Gordon Lee
Coach - Mike Dunfee, Gordon Lee
Class 1A Private
Player - Luke Laskey, Tattnall Square
Coach - Joey Hiller, Tattnall Square
Fields of the Year
Columbus State
Assistant Coaches of the Year
Jamie Wagner, Blessed Trinity
Dustin Kline, Parkview
Jonathan Oliver, Valdosta
Evan Bryant, Whitewater
Hunter McAllister, Tift County
Chris Adair, South Paulding
Al Otte, Frederica Academy
Brandon Anglin, Loganville
Dusty Black, Flowery Branch
Will McCranie, Dodge County
Top left, David Smart, right, accepts the Ethics in Coaching plaque from David McDonald, Top right, East Paulding coach Tony Boyd addresses the audience during the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Middle left, Kennesaw Mountain coach George Hansen speaks to the audience during the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Middle right, Blessed Trinity coach Andy Harlin during the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Bottom left, Colquitt County coach Tony Kirkland during the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Bottom right, Former Metter High coach Monty Nagel, left, accepts a plaque from David McDonald at the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
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That bizarre-looking star just got a lot weirder — and yes, it could be aliens
Three months ago, news broke that a giant "alien megastructure" could exist around a bizarre-looking star 1,500 light-years away. Read more here: Alien Mega 'Dyson Sphere' Structure Found Surrounding A Star claims Astronomers
What makes this star, KIC8462852, so bizarre is the drastic changes in light we see from it over time.
An alien megastructure, called a Dyson swarm, was suggested as one explanation for what scientists have observed, but the most likely reason astronomers came up with was comets — a giant family of them.
Surprise: It's probably not comets
"The comet-family idea was reasonably put forth as the best of the proposals, even while acknowledging that they all were a poor lot," Schaefer told New Scientist. "But now we have a refutation of the idea, and indeed, of all published ideas."
To make his discovery, Schaefer had to dig deep down into the astronomy archives at Harvard. It turns out, astronomers have data on KIC8462852 dating back as far as 1890.
By analyzing over 1,200 measurements of this star's brightness taken from 1890 through 1989, Schaefer found that the irregular dimming of KIC8462852 has been going on for over 100 years. Schaefer published his findings in the online preprint server arXiv.org.
What's more, he explains in his paper that this "century-long dimming trend requires an estimated 648,000 giant comets (each with 200 km diameter) all orchestrated to pass in front of the star within the last century," which he said is "completely implausible."
So what is it?
At the same time, he's also reignited the possibility that the source could be an alien megastructure that an advanced alien civilization has been slowly building over time. One thing's certain for Schaefer: The bizarre dimmings are probably caused by a single, physical mechanism that's undergoing some type of ongoing change.
"The century-long dimming and the day-long dips are both just extreme ends of a spectrum of timescales for unique dimming events, so by Ockham's Razor, all this is produced by one physical mechanism," Shaefer said in his paper. "This one mechanism does not appear as any isolated catastrophic event in the last century, but rather must be some ongoing process with continuous effects."
NOW WATCH: Here's why aliens might actually exist
Source: businessinsider.com
Astrophysicist Naralikar doesn’t rule out presence of aliens in outer space
Supercritical Fluids: A New Direction To The Search For Extra-Terrestrials?
The Search For Methane-Breathing Martians
A Tree That Eats Metal Was Just Discovered In The Philippines
Why Are UFO's & Alien Life Suddenly Being Discussed In The Mainstream
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by Chris Parry
"This movie will depress the hell out of you. But that's a good thing."
Here we go again, Parry is about to roll off another politically charged review of a documentary that you just have to see, and half the audience will note it down for future reference and the other half will call it 'liberal propaganda'. Look people, I've been to more film festivals this past year than I could count without going into the records, and at those festivals I've seen, again, more documentaries railing against the Bush government than I could be bothered to tally. Why is this? Were there so many documentaries against Clinton, or Bush Sr? Did Reagan have an onslaught of documentarians bringing harsh facts to light every other week? Not as I recall, which leads me to think of two possible reasons. One, that documentarians are all left-wing commies with an intense need to make anti-Bush films, or two, documentarians are researchers, readers and thinkers, who look past the flag-waving and intense desire to fill up the SUV and have found that this Bush government has the worst record of any government in US history. When it comes to the way the Bush government has hijacked the media, or rather, how the media has allowed itself to be acquiesced, nothing I have read, seen or heard of tells the story, the whole story and nothing but the straight hard story as well as Orwell Rolls in his Grave.
This stuff is fairly complex, but let me put it to you really simple. The Bush family, both daddy and junior, used to be on a board of directors of a Texas company with the guy who runs ClearChannel Communications. ClearChannel once owned almost 200 radio stations. When the radio industry was deregulated, ClearChannel bought up radio station after radio station, until now it owns over 1200. It owns over 60% of all rock stations in the USA. In some towns, it owns as many as eight stations, most of which have no local on-air talent. Musical artists have regularly complained that if they refuse to go on ClearChannel sponsored concert tours, their music won't be heard on American radio. When local disasters have happened in some parts of the country, calls to ClearChannel's local radio stations to ask them to report on the incidents have remained unanswered, because the stations are unmanned, being 'DJed from headquarters'. In the meantime, advertising rates have skyrocketed, because ClearChannel owns a near monopoly in many cities and advertisers are allegedly told that if they don't want to advertise on multiple ClearChannel's stations, they're flat out of luck.
Why this matters is the first thing I mentioned about ClearChannel - that they have business contacts with the Bush family. When nobody thought Bush Jr had a chance in hell of getting the Republican nomination for President over the much more popular John McCain, ClearChannel commentators pounded the hell out of McCain and raised Bush to golden boy status, with syndicated ClearChannel voices like Rush Limbaugh adding to the scrum. Next thing you know, Bush gets the nomination.
Later, as Bush was telling us all that we should go to war and search for weapons of mass destruction, ClearChannel was holding 'patriotism rallies' around the country, telling their on-air talent that they 'had' to be there, and even going so far as to burn Dixie Chicks CDs after one of the band had said she was ashamed of being from the same state as Bush. More recently, when Howard Stern started saying Bush was owned by religious lobbyists, ClearChannel kicked his show from it's network.
Clearly, ClearChannel likes George Bush Jr. And if George Bush's government has its way, ClearChannel will soon be able to buy into the TV business. That's right, owning Fox News and telling CBS what it can and can not show isn't enough - now Bush and the FCC (run by Colin Powell's son) wants to deregulate TV and create the same monopoly there that ClearChannel enjoys on the airwaves of radio.
Which is where Orwell Rolls in his Grave slams any thinking viewer. This is not by any stretch a well-funded documentary. It's poorly shot, the editing choices leave something to be desired, and the relation to George Orwell's 1984 gets old real fast. But that doesn't mean it's a weak outing. It's not slick like Michael Moore's efforts, it isn't introspective like Errol Morris' work, and it sure isn't comedy at the expense of history like Nick Broomfield's features. No, this is a new beast, and perhaps the most effective of all of them; this is the facts put forth in a manner that will make your blood run cold.
You don't need to be a Bush-hater to see this documentary. In fact, though the filmmaker certainly has his own feelings on the matter (and narrates those feelings throughout), what really tells the story here is the disturbing footage of FCC hearings into whether or not the rules will be changed to let fewer companies own more of the media. To anyone with a grade school education, this is something that CAN NOT be good for the nation, yet Powell's boy and his well-lobbied cohorts are doing everything they can to make that change take place.
And as filmmaker Robert Kane Pappas documents consistently and matter of factly, the current situation with the mass corporate media deciding what news we're allowed to see is already way out of control, even without such rule alterations.
The cornerstone of a free nation is a free press. When the press no longer reports on the government because it's in the press' corporate interests to not rock the boat, we, the people, have no means of protecting ourselves from corruption, no means of knowing who we can safely vote for, and no means of properly taking part in a democratic society. Orwell Rolls in his Grave shows that the sell-out of democracy has begun in earnest, from the top down, and that those whose job it once was to report on that sell-out have now become duplicitous with the destruction of all that took centuries to build.
And lest you think that this is all about Democrats beating on Republicans, guess again. There are people interviewed in this documentary that were not only deep in the Republican movement for many years, but now claim they regret their actions while being a part of that machine. Their accounts are not just amazing, they're devastating.
So often a documentary tells a few stories that make the audience go 'ooh', but fails to package it all in a way that will make anyone actually take action. Orwell Rolls in his Grave is a different beast; it retells everything that I've heard over the last four years about how this government has pulled the rug out from under the civil freedoms that countless thousands have died for in one sweeping parade of malfeasance that is guaranteed to make your head hurt and teeth gnash. It isn't a partisan spray for the converted, it's an incredible collection of documentation and first hand testimony as to what is happening to us behind our backs - and under our noses. It depressed me for two days straight, and it is essential viewing for anyone who gives a damn about their country.
link directly to this review at http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=8976&reviewer=1
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Slamdance Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Slamdance Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Philadelphia Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Philadelphia Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Seattle Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Seattle Film Festival series, click here.
This film is listed in our political documentary series. For more in the Political Documentary series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Leeds Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Leeds Film Festival series, click here.
6/26/06 datsgor Thought provoking..inspires one to question what they "thought" they knew. Or were "told".
9/14/04 Victor I. Scherb Entertaining, scary, and very informative.
8/06/04 Isa Should be shown in educational institutions and on Prime Time TV
7/17/04 Barry Gommersall a must see for everyone
7/17/04 von From a filmmaking standard, it lacks. As a precautionary tale, it should be seen.
7/05/04 Nathan Babb Aewsome, you must see this film, it is a revelation
6/15/04 Yver everyone should see this. history in the making.
5/24/04 Miguel Josua decent film
5/11/04 Robert Schiller An important, thought provoking film. The entire country should see it.
4/27/04 James John Required viewing for citizens prior to voter registratio; from republican finance executive
4/23/04 Mark W. Raises valid questions- worth seeing
4/19/04 jesse m goldman magnificent !!!
3/27/04 buddy garrett a very disappointing film
DVD: 07-Jun-2005
Robert Kane Pappas
Tom Blackburn
Vincent Bugliosi
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Sender: o-imap@webmap.missouri.edu
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 96 17:40:27 CST
From: Arm The Spirit <ats@locust.cic.net>
Subject: South Korea Vows To Crush Student Resistance
Article: 1375
To: BROWNH@CCSUA.CTSTATEU.EDU
North Korea’s Workers Party Is Behind Hanchongnyon: Prosecution
KPS, 18 September 1996
Seoul, September 18 (KPS)—The Korean Federation of University Student Councils (Hanchongnyon) which staged violent demonstrations inside the Yonsei campus last month was found to have been virtually manipulated by North Korea’s ruling Workers Party, the Seoul prosecution authorities reported yesterday.
The prosecution announcement pointed out that Hanchongnyon was manipulated from behind by the Southern Headquarters of Pomchonghangnyon (Pan-National Alliance of Youth and Students for Unification) which is under the control of the North Korean Workers Party’s unification front department.
First deputy director of the Seoul District Prosecutors Office Kim Won-chi told the press that most of the leading members of Hanchongnyon were found to concurrently hold key positions in the Southern Headquarters of Pomchonghangnyon which is an organization benefitting the enemy. He also said that Hanchongnyon’s subsidiary organization, Chotongwi (The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland) has been indicted as an organization that benefits the enemy, as it was found to have inherited exactly the same political line of Chondaehyop’s Chotongwi which was ruled as an enemy-benefiting organization by the Supreme Court in 1992.
Chondaehyop (National Council of Student Representatives) is the predecessor of Hanchongnyon.
An organization which benefits the enemy is liable to be punished under the National Security Law.
On the other hand, the Northern Headquarters of Pomchonghangnyon in Pyongyang was found to be directing the Southern Headquarters in Seoul to make such political demands as the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the South and national unification through confederation.
The chairman of the Northern Headquarters of Pomchonghangnyon, Ho Chang-jo, 40, belongs to the Choson Student Council, and the Choson Student Council Chief, Li Kum-chol, is a member of the North Korean Workers Party’s unification front department.
Meanwhile, the prosecution authorities said that a total of 438 students were indicted on charges of staging illegal demonstrations or for using fire bombs during demonstrations, while 38 of them were additionally charged with violations of the National Security Law.
Hanchongnyon Chairman Chung Myung-ki, 24, and 33 other key leaders are still in hiding.
(For more information on Korea’s draconian National Security Law, see http://www.kimsoft.com)
Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact:
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
M5W 1P7 Canada
E-mail: ats@etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
ATS-L Archives: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~archive/ats-l
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Artist: Tiziano Tononi & Daniele Cavallanti Nexus Album: Experience Nexus! Label: Rudi Code: RRJ1035
Experience Nexus!
Tiziano Tononi & Daniele Cavallanti Nexus
RRJ1035
Created on : 17 September 2017
Total songs : 6
From: Rudi
Nexus is a variable setting project that during his long history - 37 years up to now - has been able to change according to the times, neverthless keeping being faithful to its founding principles, the same ones that the two leaders, Tiziano Tononi and Daniele Cavallanti, set back at the beginning of their adventure in 1980. On behalf of their tenth album with Nexus, Tononi and Cavallanti have riunited a line-up of excellence in the field of avant-music in Italy, setting up a confrontation between their own musical experiences and concepts, and the ones of the newer generations, without loosing tracks of their signature treats...among these, a fertile relationship with the best tradition in Afro-American music, a deep Blues feeling, the integration of different musical languages in the production of original material, the collective idea of music making through the revitalization of an ancient jazz tradition, now dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, a group sound that was intended to have a preminent role in affirming a stylistic identity, both solid in its principles and at the same time everchanging in the way these same ones keep being reproposed. In this regard, the choice of these Nexus version's "actors" has been quite interesting, all of them gave a deep contribution to the realization of this new musical painting, everchanging, multi-faced, in which all of them found their own personal balance between individual identity and the necessity to underpone this aspect to the greater picture and to collective project. Some of them were more "trained" in working with us, the likes of Emanuele Parrini, Francesco Chiapperini and Silvia Bolognesi, while others were totally newcomers, Gabriele Mitelli, who's played with us here for the first time, and Pasquale Mirra. The new compositions, as always by Tiziano Tononi and Daniele Cavallanti, mirror what's been said above, a caleidoscope of situations, atmospheres, orchestrations, timbric solutions and structuring of the materials, and they move from more "formal" pieces towards only "suggested" steps and to the informal, to flow into an unpredictable final, to surprise the listener, and to make him reflect...on this music today, on its developements in the present time and in the near future, on the presence of "sideways" or "escape" ways, the essence itself of the artistic expression, in a world that clones and often doesn't imagine, that produces the highest peaks of instrumental skills and professionalism but forgets that music should be essentially emotions, and poetry, and the truthful result of what we are..
Soundship (for Sergio U.) * (12:52)
Waves Priestess ** (Sea Song for Jemayà) (13:55)
Nexus Falls * (10:31)
Piece for John Carter ** (18:55)
a ) The rhythm of our awareness (0:00)
b ) The struggle (9:12)
c) Free at last, Free at last, Free at last! (pas, de bas de l'eau...) (14:05)
John Gilmore & the Pyramids ** (7:32)
Morocco '73, a Berber blues * (8:45)
Daniele Cavallanti *, tenor sax, ney flute, composition
Francesco Chiapperini, alto sax, bass clarinet, flute
Gabriele Mitelli, cornet, pocket trumpet
Emanuele Parrini, violin
Pasquale Mirra, vibes
Silvia Bolognesi, double bass
Tiziano Tononi **, drums, percussion, gongs, composition
Recorded & Mixed at Il Guscio, Milano, March/April 2017. Sound Engineers: Lorenzo Farolfi and Griffin Rodriguez
Mastered at Real Sound Recording Studio, May 2017, Milano. Engineer: Roberto Gramegna
Photo by Muriel Michel Peretti
Art by Ale Sordi
More Albums From Rudi
La Società delle Maschere
Black Novel
When We Forgot The Melody
Live in Ventotene
Porta Palace Collective
Viaggio al Centro del Violino
Looking Back, Playing Forward
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Blackwater Valley Opera Festival 2019
Songs of Erin and Gems of Irish Opera
Salterbridge House - Monday June 3rd - 12 Noon
The Great Houses of the Blackwater Valley Recitals Series 2019
Recollections of Ireland
Curated by Una Hunt
This year’s festival proudly presents a series of recitals exclusively devoted to Irish music – Recollections of Ireland – curated by Una Hunt. As one of Ireland’s leading concert pianists, Una Hunt has spent a lifetime in researching and promoting the music of historic Irish composers to new audiences around the world. She has curated numerous concerts and events and continues to present unknown Irish repertoire at prominent international festivals such as Wexford Festival Opera and in many of the world’s leading concert venues, including Carnegie Hall. Una set up the first-ever digital archive of historic Irish composers and has compiled an extensive discography of world-premiere CD recordings and award-winning documentary features on Ireland’s neglected musical heritage. So, it’s time to explore and rediscover lost and forgotten works in a uniquely informative and entertaining way. This series of three recitals takes place in three of the Great Houses of the Blackwater Valley; Cappoquin House, Salterbridge House and Tourin House.
Rachel Kelly and Gavan Ring sing accompanied by Una Hunt on piano
A classic collection of songs from Ireland by Charles Villiers Stanford, Herbert Hughes, James Lynam Molloy, Hamilton Harty, Ina Boyle, T.C. Kelly and Bernadette Marmion is partnered with Moore’s evergreen Irish Melodies.
The programme concludes with operatic excerpts from Ireland’s pioneering composer, William Vincent Wallace (Maritana, Lurline and Matilda of Hungary) along with excerpts from Robert O’Dwyer’s Irish language opera, Eithne and music from the King of Broadway, Victor Herbert, famous for his Naughty Marietta and Babes in Toyland. To conclude, solo arias and duets from the operas of Michael William Balfe including The Bohemian Girl and Falstaff.
VENUE: Salterbridge House
ARTISTS: Rachel Kelly / Mezzo-soprano – Gavan Ring / Tenor acompanied by Una Hunt on piano.
Ticket Prices Front Row €30 / Unallocated Seating €20 excl €3.50 sales commission per order.
-Blackwater Valley Opera Festival Website
Newer PostRediscovering Ina Boyle at the National Concert Hall
Older PostParis Choral Society's French premiere performance of Ina Boyle's Gaelic Hymns
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After SC, now BJP wants EC to act against Rahul
The BJP on Monday asked the Election Commission (EC) to take "serious cognisance" of Rahul Gandhi's "chowkidar chor hai" statement after the Supreme Court demanded an explanation from the Congress President for wrongly attributing the said comment in the context of Rafale fighter jets issue to the apex court.
Addressing a press conference here, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Gandhi of lying and said while the Indian Constitution gives every citizen the freedom to speak, it does not give freedom to "lie and abuse".
"Please explain to the country why you lied and why you attributed that lie to the Supreme Court. When will Rahul Gandhi stop shameless showering of abuses on our leaders?" he said.
His remarks came after the Supreme Court earlier observed that the "chowkidar chor hai" comment made by Gandhi in the context of Rafale fighter jets issue had been wrongly attributed to it and demanded an explanation from the Congress President by April 22.
The Supreme Court's directive came on a contempt plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Meenakshi Lekhi against Gandhi, who had said over a week back that the top court had "accepted" that there was some form of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal and that "chowkidar chor hai", a veiled reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Gandhi had made the comments after the Supreme Court agreed to hear afresh a case related to the Rafale deal, rejecting the government's contention that the secret documents concerning the agreement had been stolen and published in some newspapers without authorisation.
The BJP leader said that while on one hand, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi accuse the BJP of being a threat to the Constitution, on the other, the Congress President has "made a habit of repeatedly degrade the sanctity of our constitutional bodies" -- be it the Election Commission, or now the Supreme Court.
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Best cheese curds in 215
By Orly Margulis | November 6, 2018 | 0
I believe fried cheese is the best thing since sliced bread. It is crunchy and gooey and filled with happiness. I can assure you that no one you know likes fried cheese more than I do, and because of that, I decided to create a list of my favorite places that serve cheese curds. Without…
Ashkenazi Food in Philly
Abe Fisher 1623 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Pa 19103 Rating: 5/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Celebration. Price: High-Price. There are certain names any Philadelphian knows well, like Nick Foles, Gritty, Steven Cook and Mike Solomonov. The last two are known chefs that own some of the most prominent restaurants in the area like Zahav and Abe…
Vegetarian Chinese at Su Xing!
By Orly Margulis | May 22, 2018 | 0
Su Xing 1508 Sansom St, Philadelphia, PA 19102 Rating: 4.5/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Outing with Friends. Price: Mid-Price. Somehow, Su Xing became my go-to for family gatherings or outing with my friends who are strictly kosher. Su Xing is one of the only vegetarian and vegan Chinese restaurants in the Philadelphia area, and it’s location…
Craftsman Row: The Hidden Jewel on Jewelr’s Row
By Orly Margulis | May 8, 2018 | 0
Craftsman Row Saloon 112 S 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Rating: 4/5. Ideal for: Outing with friends Price: Mid-Price. I have walked past Jeweler’s Row at least 100 times. It is near my brother’s house, it has great food (see Fat Salmon, Sweet Charlies, and Le Pain Quotidian) and it is on the way to…
You’ll LAVO the Food Here
By Orly Margulis | February 27, 2018 | 0
Lavo 39 E 58th Street, New York, NY 10022 Rating: 4.5/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Outing with Friends, Celebration. Price: High-Price. Lavo is one of the hottest places to go to on a Friday night, and luckily I had the chance to see what the hype is all about. Even with reservations, we had to wait…
Contemporary Japanese food at Morimoto
By Orly Margulis | January 29, 2018 | 0
Morimoto 723 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa 19106 Rating: 5/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Celebration. Price: High-Price. Morimoto has been on my bucket list from the moment I tried and liked sushi –it was when I was 20 years old. I finally crossed this item off my list on January of 2018. It was my brother’s…
Había una vez at El Vez
El Vez 121 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Rating: 4.5/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Date Night. Price: Mid-Price. We all know how Midtown Village is one of the destinations for those who enjoy dining out, and 13th street is THE place for that. From bars to restaurants to small stores, this street has it…
Tapas and Dessert at Amada
Amada 217-219 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 Rating: 3.5/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Date Night. Price: High-Price. I grew up eating typical Spanish food without really knowing it. A close family friend would come often to my house and prepare Tortilla Española (Spanish omelette with potato chunks) , and we would eat that for dinner.…
Bud and Marilyn’s retro food.
Bud and Marilyn’s 1234 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19107 Rating: 4/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Outing with Friends. Price: Mid-Price. I always liked fried cheese. I like it more than I should. But can you blame me? It is crispy, gooey, and delicious. I made it a goal of mine to find the best fried…
Grand time at Gran Café L’Aquila
Gran Café L’Aquila 1716 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Rating: 4.5/5. Ideal for: Family Gathering, Date, Outing with Friends. Price: Mid-Price. When my parents came to visit me this past summer, we decided to try places neither of us have been to before, and Grand Café L’Aquila was on top of my personal list. We…
Born and raised in a Jewish household in Venezuela, Orly learned about the importance of food from an early age. From an extremely picky eater to a food enthusiast, Orly is always trying to find a new hub to try different styles of food while keeping kosher of course. When not eating or writing, you can find Orly reading a book, binge-watching One Tree Hill for the fifth (or 10th) time, or simply enjoying some down time with friends and family. Oy, that always includes food, doesn’t it?
Latest Noms
Vegan heaven at PS & Co
Pizza, pizza, and more pizza at Pizzeria Stella
Brunch at Mixto
Hokka Hokka is a sushi heaven
All The Noms
Latin Cuisine
Low-Price
Mid-Price
Venezuelan Cusine
© Jewtina Eats
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Stealing is Stealing.
Lots of people have their wages stolen -- not just undocumented immigrants (whom the wage laws also protect), but also fully-documented, legal-to-work immigrants and native US-born workers of every kind and color.
One of the most common ways unscrupulous employers try to steal wages is by pretending that someone is an "independent contractor" and using that fiction as they seek to evade the minimum wage laws.
If your boss is stealing your wages, get help. Contact an attorney.
Don't Reverse Any Mortgages Until You Read This Free Guide Front-to-Back
(hat tip to "The Housekeeping Report")
NCOA Issues Updated Guide for Seniors Considering a Reverse Mortgage
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) today issued the 2013 version of Use Your Home to Stay at Home™, the official reverse mortgage consumer booklet approved by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). The guide is designed to help seniors understand the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners who are 62 or older to convert home equity into cash while remaining in the home.
Amy Ford, director of NCOA’s Reverse Mortgage Counseling Services Network, called the guide “an older homeowner’s best resource when it comes to examining whether a reverse mortgage is right for them.”
A free copy of the guide is available (download the pdf by clicking here).
Thinking of Starting a Nonprofit? Try "Looking Before Leaping" to find your way safely
Tomorrow is the first edition of my new attempt to consolidate conversations with people thinking about starting a nonprofit. If you want me to notify you when I schedule the second edition, shoot me an email at nonprofits@johngearlaw.com.
Here was the original announcement for the January session:
I am getting so many inquiries and having so many talks with people who are thinking of starting nonprofits that I am going to shift to a group format for meeting with people who are thinking about it, so I can help them know what they're getting into -- before they do.
"Looking Before Leaping: The Pre-Startup Checklist for People Thinking About Starting a Nonprofit in Oregon"
The first presentation will be [changed to my conference room]. Bring your whole team if you're working with others on your idea (note, if too many folks sign up, I may ask to reschedule your group if it's large).
HOW TO RESERVE A SEAT:
Seating is limited, so if you want to assure your seat, send me an email (nonprofits@johngearlaw.com) letting me know you want to attend. Include the following information:
Name of each person to attend
Best phone number to reach each person
A brief description of the nonprofit you are thinking of starting:
its mission
kind of nonprofit (if you know)
where you are in your planning
whether you have a business plan
and the existing nonprofits you would use as examples.
Deadline Coming Up Fast! If you were foreclosed 2008 - 2011, take note!
From The Oregonian:
The settlement, announced in February, sets aside $1.5 billion for direct payments to about 2 million borrowers nationwide whose homes were foreclosed between 2008 and 2011 by one of five participating mortgage servicers: Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
But nearly 10,000 Oregon residents haven't filed claims since notices were sent out in September. The deadline for claims is Jan. 18.
In Oregon, payments would be at least $840, though it depends on the number of claims. Claims can be filed by returning the forms mailed in September, or at nationalmortgagesettlement.com.
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Interview! THE DEAD OF HAGGARD HALL
by Marie Treanor
Posted on July 26, 2016 by Miranda Grissom • 1 Comment
Spirit possession is easy to remedy. Possession of the heart is another matter.
Darke of Night, Book 1
After vicar’s widow and natural medium Barbara Darke loses her respectable teaching position, she reluctantly agrees to become companion to her former pupil Emily, now the bride of young Sir Arthur Haggard.
Once settled at Haggard Hall, Barbara finds her friend is beset by ghostly voices and unexplained deaths. In a maelstrom of dark spirits and wicked emotions, Barbara battles to lay Emily’s ghosts to rest-both hampered and helped by Arthur’s skeptical cousin Patrick, who provokes and attracts her in equal measure.
It would be a mistake to trust a secretive, guilt-ridden man suspected of driving his wife to suicide, if not outright murdering her. And it could well be lethal to give in to her own desires, confused as they often are with the lusts of the dead.
But Arthur and Emily are in genuine physical danger, and suspicion is falling closer and closer to Patrick-the man who haunts Barbara’s sensual dreams. The man who stands to inherit Haggard Hall.
Warning: Contains a medium whose body is open season for spirit possession, and a scandal-ridden journalist who only believes what he can see-and touch.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29970987-the-dead-of-haggard-hall
Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/29r64ML
B&N Nook: http://bit.ly/29pGagr
Kobo: http://bit.ly/29zQmmf
iBooks: http://apple.co/29rMwdJ
Google Play: http://bit.ly/29pGax4
Please tell us about your novel.
The Dead of Haggard Hall is a sensual historical Gothic paranormal romance J. It’s the first in a Gothic series called Darke of Night, surrounding the medium Barbara Darke, who’s the heroine of the first book. When Barbara goes to Haggard Hall – an ancient, Gothic pile in the wilds of Yorkshire – to help her former pupil Emily, now the lady of the Hall, she has to deal with physical threats to Emily’s life, malevolent spirits, and the temptations presented by the skeptical, deeply troubled and dangerously attractive Patrick Haggard.
How did you research your novel, if applicable?
Well, it’s set in a period I’d already researched for an earlier project, so mostly it was just quick look ups – such as words that may not have been in use at the time. But my book concentrates on more on the romance, the Gothic atmosphere and the paranormal, rather than the history, and those things are my own imagination.
Where can readers find you online?
On my website: www.MarieTreanor.com.
You can also subscribe to my New Release Mailing List: http://www.marietreanor.com/marie-treanor-newsletter. (You get a free read!)
Find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Treanor-Paranormal-Romance/105866982782360.
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarieTreanor
And on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marietreanor/
Also, I love to hear from readers, so you can email me at Marie@MarieTreanor.com
When you are stuck on something, what is your go to cure?
Sometimes, if I write the problem down in detail, it all becomes clear. Other times that doesn’t work, so I leave it alone for a while and do something else, then try again. Some kind of solution always turns up in the end!
Do you have a real life hero? If so, can you tell us who and why?
My husband :). For many reasons! Because he always stands by me and the kids, because he’s my best friend and makes me laugh. Because lots of things!
Who is your favorite literary hero and heroine?
Together in the same book? Hmm, I find new ones all the time! Maybe Eve Dallas and Roarke from JD Robb’s In Death series.
Are you character or plot driven? Why?
Largely character driven. The plot grows out of the characters. Either the hero or heroine come to me first and then I imagine who they might fall in love with, and the story generally grows from that in some way. But every story is different!
How do you feel about social media? Is it a help or hindrance to you?
Both J. It’s a wonderful way to meet and keep up with readers and fellow authors, and to spread the word about books. But it’s also a distraction, even a drain on writing time.
What are the first five titles on your kindle?
Murder in Grosvenor Square by Ashley Gardner
The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier
The Detective’s Dilemma by Kate Rothwell
The Girl in the Spider’s Web (the sequel to the Millennium trilogy)
Cold in the Shadows by Toni Anderson
Where do you see yourself and your writing in the next five years?
Hopefully on the bestseller lists! :). But whatever, I’ll still be writing! I have new series planned, and additions to make to existing ones. I might even try a completely new genre, rather than mixing them up in paranormal romance!
How many books do you own and what does your bookshelf look like?
More than I can count, and crowded :). We have bookshelves in every room, some with beautiful looking books, others with tatty, well-thumbed volumes.
If you are published traditionally and independently, which do you prefer and why?
I like that there are no up front costs to traditional publishing; and I definitely like the New York advance! But I also like the freedom of indie publishing to choose what book I want to write, when I want to publish it and with what cover.
What advice do you have for people that are trying indie publishing right out of the gate?
I’d say make sure you listen to the advice of people you trust, and don’t scimp on editing etc. Although authors no longer need publishers in the traditional sense, we still need to learn our craft, listen to opinions and make our books as good as they can be.
What do you find inspiring?
As a writer? Just about anything! Ideas come to me from a face in a crowd, from a glimpsed headline, from books or tv programmes that get me thinking. As a human being? People who just quietly help other people from kindness.
Do you have a favorite charity?
Not really. There are so many deserving causes, so much vital work being done in so many important areas – I prefer to spread my favour 🙂
Your family is safe and sound. You have 24 hours to live and have been given the ability to do anything in the world, what do you do?
Finish the book! And the tv box set :). (Actually, I don’t know and hope I never do!)
Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband, three much-too-smart children and a small puppy who rules them all. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and urban fantasy – with a bit of science fiction and time travel thrown in.
Marie is the award winning author of over forty sexy paranormal romances – Indie, New York and E-published. Since childhood, she has always written stories, at first secretly and for her own amusement, later with more serious intention to earn a living by writing. After working as a researcher and a librarian, she was lucky enough to have her first romances, GHOST UNLAID and QUEEN’S GAMBIT, immediately accepted by an e-publisher in 2004. Since then, she has published continuously, most notably with NAL, Samhain, Changeling Press, Ellora’s Cave and The Wild Rose Press. She now writes full time.
In 2010, she made her New York publishing debut with BLOOD ON SILK, first of the award winning Awakened by Blood vampire romance trilogy. Reviewers have described her undead anti-hero Saloman as the best vampire in the genre. Most recently, she has been trying her hand at self-publishing, with three new paranormal romance series, Serafina’s, The Gifted, and Blood Hunters (a sequel series to Awakened by Blood).
When not writing, Marie can generally be found among the chaos of her family, or walking the dog on the beach in all weathers. She loves to travel and meet new people. – See more at: http://www.marietreanor.com/about-the-author-marie-treanor/#sthash.ahFX5oNK.dpuf
Website: http://www.marietreanor.com/
Newsletter: http://www.marietreanor.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marietreanor
Facebook: http://bit.ly/29r6oLA
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1722834.Marie_Treanor
Amazon: http://amzn.to/29wCmpY
Filed Under: Blog, Interviews
← Giveaway! NO FALLING ALLOWED by Melissa West
Interview! UNBREAKABLE HOPE by Sami Lee →
One Response to Interview! THE DEAD OF HAGGARD HALL
Marie Treanor says:
Many thanks for the fun interview! Lovely to be here 🙂
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A Special Honour
By GOffice Education 20/12/2016
On 15 December 2016 Julia Gillard joined Deakin University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane Den Hollander at Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus where she was conferred with an Honourary Doctorate.
Ms Gillard was delighted to receive the Honourary Doctorate from such a distinguished university.
In her speech to Deakin University graduates, Ms Gillard spoke about the challenges and opportunities that come with technological change and wished the students well for their futures.
Photo courtesy of Donna Squire, Deakin University: Mr John Stanhope AM, the Hon Julia Gillard and Professor Jane den Hollander.
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By irishboxing | on July 4, 2019 |
David Oliver Joyce [10(8)-0] believes he is ready to turn pedigree into prizes and claims victory on the road this weekend will take him a step closer to bringing home world honours.
The St Michael’s BC graduate fights out in Kazakhstan on a #MTKFightNight this Saturday.
The Nur-Sultan hosted clash is being billed as a ‘historic’ event and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The featherweight is excited to showcase his skills to a new audience, but is more concerned with career progression – and is confident a victory can move him one step closer towards a shot at a world title.
“I’m always ready for the challenge. I’m knocking on that door for a world title, and this fight in Kazakhstan gets me one step closer.
“I need to thank my team MTK Global for putting me on the right path and getting me the right fights that have lead me to this point so far in my career.
“Kazakhstan as a boxing nation is one of the best in the world if not the best nation. They have a lot of top class boxers as amateurs and professionals, so it is an honour to fight here this weekend.”
Brailor Teran [27(20)-17(4)-1] provides the opposition at Bary’s Arena for ‘DOJ’ and although he will be a sizable underdog against the former Olympian his record suggests he brings equalizing power to the table.
It has to be noted that ‘Zulianito de Oro’ has lost 17 times and has fought the majority of his career at super bantamweight, but seven of those defeats came during a slow career start between 2003-2009 and of his 27 wins, 20 have come inside the distance.
Considering the 34-year-old South American has a better puncher’s chance than most it’s not a bad fight for the Mullingar featherweight, particularly as it comes just three months after he secured the WBO European ranking title with Stephen Tiffeney in Dubai.
Teran should provide the 32-year-old with the chance to impress on an ESPN+-broadcast undercard of a WBC world title fight between Nordine Oubaali and Arthur Villanueva.
Tags: David Oliver JoyceDOJ
Integral part of the Irish boxing community for over 13 years
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Report on the ISCM World Music Days 2012 in Belgium - John McLachlan
WMD Reports Archive
World Music Days:
ISCM WMD 2012 Belgium
Report on the ISCM World Music Days 2012 in Belgium by John McLachlan
I attended the World Music Days 2012 in Flanders and Wallonia—known as Belgium to everyone except the Belgians—between the dates 26th and 31st October inclusive. This means that it is just an account of one person’s visit, and leaves out 5 days from before and after. My comments will surely therefore fail to cover some wonderful work or other, and I hope other reports catch those. This report takes the form of a chronicle alternating ‘subjective’ and ‘objective’ memories...
It was evident from the first concert that the performers were very much behind the music, and that they were of a very high standard. Typically what happens in ISCM festivals is that an international Jury goes through submissions from the composers of the ISCM member sections, and then gives the scores selected out to the ensembles that have a matching line- up. The great brainwave this year was to simply sort the scores by instrumental forces and let the ensembles themselves select from the resulting piles. This simplification might sound lazy or incoherent, but it was neither, in terms of result. It directly led to the higher than usual quality of performance, as each group felt some ‘ownership’ and artistic sympathy for the pieces they were playing; this translated into strong and clear communication of the composers’ ideas—a whole dimension of the ISCM festival that usually gets caught in the systemic mire. Indeed I heard that some ensembles were saying that they would play some of the scores in future concerts. We, in contemporary music circles, term this ‘a result’. The organisers stated early on that since each member section already sets up a national jury to find six scores that represent the quality and diversity of practise in their area of the globe, then, if the member sections do their job well, quality has already been screened for. I hope this method is remembered for future ISCM festivals, as we have not generally taken account of the artistic input of our performers, increasingly relevant in the contemporary music world.
Thursday Oct 25th
My first taste of Brussels was arriving at my hotel late on the 25th to discover that I had been robbed of my e-reader by smooth criminals at Brussels Central Station. This put me in such a cross mood with myself that I couldn’t think straight, or bear to go to the last part of the 10pm Acousmatic Music concert. Instead I ate a quick meal and went late to the concert venue, the Marni Theatre, to connect with old ISCM friends. Thus began a balmy parallel festival of beer discovery which I recommend to all visitors to the country.
Friday Oct 26th
So it was that the first concert that I successfully entered was the Het Collectief in Brussels Conservatory. But before we got to that pleasure we delegates had to pay in advance with the first session of the ISCM General Assembly.
I won’t bore the casual reader with any details from this except to say that it is alarming to me that I seem to enjoy these more every year—I used to really hate grinding through an agenda over five mornings, full of society procedure and statutes! The exercise and stretching of my attention and patience over 14 ISCM festivals and Assemblies can’t all be a good thing, can it? I suppose I am increasingly engaged by the society’s aims because I have been actively pursuing them for years. (If you actually yearn for Assembly coverage you can slake your thirst at the ISCM website where all the minutes can be enjoyed in extra-dry, distilled form.)
The hall in this venue was rather large for chamber music and in bad need of renovation, and I felt the Het Collectief had to push through an ambience barrier that they certainly don’t deserve. They started with a cello solo that was so strongly idiomatic for the instrument that I was sure the composer, Tomas Garrido (SP), was a cellist. He isn’t, but he plays viola da gamba and double bass. His piece, Sonata “De Lamentatione”, had a strong sense of line and a passionate sense of drama, with subtle hints of flamenco guitar along the way. Dan Dediu’s Furia (RO) was for four players and explored their musical availability to the full. This was a piece of extremes throughout that sometimes probed the border of kitsch, but was contained by linear and harmonic compositional discipline holding down a very broad range of dramatic explorations. These were the pieces that spoke best to me but the other two from Mauricio Sotelo (SP) and Petra Bachrata (SK) had many colourful and expressive moments.
I then skipped lunch to run to the police station in Brussels to report my theft for insurance purposes, queued, got a nice report in Flemish that will perhaps require €200 worth of translation, ran back to the conservatory, was advised to run forth to the Palais de Justice where our bus for Leuven was parked, waiting for me—phew—I got on, in a lather of sweat...to commence a stately procession of 3 hours in holiday traffic...a thirsty trip.
Later that day the Burghers of Leuven provided a routine investigation into the beers of Belgium, with a ‘walking meal’ of little crackers and toppings. After our extended bus trip this was dived upon; though many—including me—hoovered up only a sample before zooming away in order to fit in a full restaurant meal before the next concert.
At 8.30pm at the wonderful venue Stuk we heard the group Champ-dAction. This was one of many highlights in the festival: a programme of wide expressive range with something good in every piece. Tatjana Kozlova’s Horizontals (EST) was a finely filigreed homage to Ligeti that gave us a variety of pace and texture, while Hikari Kiyama’s Kabuki (JP) was a monolithic and very loud tour-de-force, but its variety of texture and drama within this made a very convincing case for itself, notable features including long decelerandos and accelerandos which are tricky for most composers, here they were vivacious and fun; one of the outstanding pieces of the entire festival for me. I also enjoyed Mihaela Vosganian’s Il gioco degli centi, a heterogeneous and theatrical piece with a fine countertenor part, and Serge Verstockt’s Fingerfertigkeit (BE), which was an unexpectedly diverting piece based
upon finger exercises such as Hanon and his equivalents for clarinet etc. This had much humour and drama but also a satisfying shape overall, none of which the programme notes would lead you to expect.
...I avoided programme notes as much as I could for the rest of the festival.
Stuk is a Flemish word for three things: a piece, broken, or stuck. The institution is strict about late entries to concerts: in fact it is off the scale on this and on presentation of tickets etc, even to well-labelled delegates. While this reflects a hearteningly high public demand, one cannot help but feel the place is well named. On the plus side it has a student hang-out upstairs with excellent wi-fi, coffee and beers. The wi-fi is free, once you give your identity card over to them! Startlingly communistic, as noted by one eastern European visitor.
Saturday Oct 27th
I had great hopes for Ian Pace’s concert the next day, as I have heard him often before. However, I can’t say that I enjoyed the first two pieces in his programme, from Heather Hindman (CA) and Santa Bušs (LV). They were both mostly dry and short on interest, in rather different ways, as the first played around with sostenuto pedal effects and the second with static and bland effects inside the piano. Then there was the hyper-complex Schönes Klavierstück from Harald Muenz (DE), which was more colourful, with stretches of texture varying greatly in harmonic colour and pacing. Despite its textural busyness it had moments that reminded one of Scriabin, plus some swerves towards calm eddies that seemed a little out of context. I would normally relish such a piece, but here it seemed too long. My favourite in this programme was Herman Vogt’s Concordia Discors Etudes 4-6 (NO), which explored the implications of strict process in pianistic terms, while letting its rules break pleasingly from time to time. André Laporte’s Graffiti on a Royal Ground (BE) was the only one to use piano sonority to the full, and had a piano-derived tape part, but the piano part sounded like a collage of Ravel-type effects; perhaps a contextual jump too far?
I had not heard of cellist Arne Deforce before, but I was glad to correct such a gap in knowledge, since here was someone really stretching the boundaries of cellism. The outstanding piece here was from Raphael Cendo (FR). His FORIS, for cello and electronics, was a huge noise-piece in which much spectral colour variety could be heard—a coup de théâtre. Daniele Venturi’s Riflessi di luna (IT) was also very effective, using live electronics to process the work of the cellist, with interesting spatial effects, though with an over-reliance on reverb. Wieland Hoban’s staring (MisLogue I) (UK) was hard to listen to in one go purely because it had his voice speaking in two languages through the speakers which made the attention wander away from the cello, or when it was on the cello, wander from the text. I really think it is fair to say that this one needs to be heard three times to be heard once.
One night in Leuven I met Wieland Hoban with Ian Pace and Ian’s wife Lindsay. I was immediately struck by WH’s voice, which would be radio gold in BBC terms. An interesting background, I presumed, and which he confirmed.
I very much wanted to attend the next concert, the ‘interactive online concert’, which would undoubtedly point the way for some future directions in contemporary music, but I had to prepare myself for the following Sunday morning, where I would run for election to the Executive Committee of the ISCM. I retired to my hotel to marshal all my thoughts on the recent past and best future direction for the society. The following day, I was rewarded with coming a narrow fourth in a field of thirteen candidates. There were only three places, but I was happy for the new ExCom members: Nina Calopec from Croatia, Riin Eensalu from Estonia, and Alper Maral from Turkey.
Sunday Oct 28th
At 14:00 on Sunday the Danel Quartet played, with electronics from the Centre Henri Pousseur. There were four pieces in the programme of varying styles but all somehow unified by the quartet’s consistent and phenomenal artistry. I was very struck by how Sergei Newski’s Quartet no. 3 (RU) built up a long compositional line out of initially disparate and marginal musical elements; also by how Richard Whalley’s Interlocking Melodies (UK), began with uncluttered melodiousness that was startlingly freshly achieved, and rolled on to be a neatly distilled piece that built up the layers and came to a witty ending. I did not take to the enigmatic and mainly inaudible combination of electronics and quartet that was Maarten Buyl’s Tilted Pyramids (BE). It bore no relation to its programme notes, which didn’t even tell us about its movements. The instruments appeared to be playing/miming, entirely without pitch, a full quartet by a classical master, this you could tell by the hand movements. Afterwards I learned they were playing normally but with no resin. The audience speculated: was it meant to convey how Beethoven heard his late works? It could have made its point in half the time. Jean-Juc Fafchamps’ Lettre Soufie: Kh[a’] [Esquif] was a more rewarding piece, beginning with wonderful attention to sound spectrum richness while weaving extended string techniques expertly into its texture. However, it aimed to unite another style which entailed a painful lurch into populist Philip Glass-like areas, before reconciliation to its old self.
Thanks to the ever-totalitarian Stuk approach to tickets, I only got in to the Danel concert due to a stern intervention from Marie-Paule Wouters, who is known as the dictionary of Flemish music. We pretended I was security, I think. Several others remained excluded, as we had left tickets at the hotel, having assumed there would be time to get back there. Even our Flemish Vice-President and chair of the organising committee of the entire festival was shut out. Obviously I am a slow Stuk-learner, as I was to miss entirely the next event by dint of a short delay in the wi-fi-land of Stuk’s bar. I heard that this, a concert of new music by young students, was of great interest. Instead I had a very energising chat with a German publisher
about the one-sided media rhetoric of the EU neo-liberal bank-saving programme...very soon, it seemed, it was time to walk on to the fine Theatre Schouwburg for the next concert.
I was especially looking forward to the Ensemble Intercontemporain. The piece I most wanted to hear, in a programme of just three, was Luc Brewaeys Fêtes à tensions: (les) eaux marchent (BE). His piece from the previous ISCM festival (in Zagreb) had stayed in my mind. It turned out I enjoyed everything in the programme, but even more than the Brewaeys I loved Unsuk Chin’s Gougalon (KR). This was endlessly inventive in terms of ways to invoke the music of street theatre. It struck a very delicate balance between giving hints of street music (an endangered species, like our own?) and being constantly novel, achieving success through extraordinary timbre invention and unexpected dramaturgy. It is hard to explain exactly why this was among the best pieces of the festival—a skilled navigation of heritage, perhaps. The Brewaeys was next and this divided its audience purely because it used quotes from Debussy, Stravinsky etc. It is up to the artist to be free to subvert, and I enjoyed the piece, but I had the same nagging, disturbing prejudices that we all have with quotes, however brief. Enno Poppe (DE) was next with his 30’ Speicher II, III, IV. It occurred to me that the composer might have been taking Rihm’s Jagden und Formen as a model, by writing a lengthy, energetic and sectional work-in-progress that promises to continue to 80’ in future versions. Open-endedness is always a provocation to a composer audience but I am of the opinion that we have too many outside-time ‘rules’, which are merely unquestioned presumptions, and that an attempt to be free of them should be judged on its own sonic merits. It worked.
...It probably helped that I only really strongly tuned in one-third through the piece. This was the end of the Transit in Leuven part of the festival, which was marked with another beer reception joyfully received, with giant and amusing boards of cubed cheese. This was followed by a late bus transit to Mons, on which I had a good chat with Emilio Mendoza about the relationship of folk music to the calendar of religious festivities, how this exists in Latin America but not in Ireland.
Mon(s)day October 29th
The General Assembly in Mons was exciting—a healthy airing and letting off of tension regarding financial priorities of the Society. An extra meeting in Ghent was requested to sort out a loosening of the purse strings in the direction of music activities that combine society members. Now a little bleary in Wallonia, we dusted down our French...
Ensemble On played in a ground level ‘underground’ venue. Some of the audience were disturbed by the casualness of their staging, but to me it was a no more than a change of social atmosphere. Not every piece was as short as its material seemed to justify, so I will just pick out three. Helena Tulve’s Silences/Larmes (EST) feature the composer herself playing wine glasses expertly. It was a poetic blend of voice and glasses with an oboe part that stood apart, showing personality and conviction. Piece for 7 instruments from Pierre
Slinkx (BE) was a calm, nicely blending piece where almost twitchy elements combined insouciantly with longer spectral elements, while through speakers we heard something like a tape part, though apparently it was only amplification (presumably with live manipulation) that was subtle in its relation with the ensemble. I found this well-judged and attractive. Claude Ledoux’s Un ciel fait d’herbes (BE) was from 1992–and this may have helped it sound fresh! Everything seemed to be in the right proportion in a fairly pointillist and poetic whole.
The next concert was violin soloist Izumi Okubo. All of the pieces had live electronics and so the Centre Henri Pousseur received equal billing to the soloist. As a programme, it seemed to blend well, with satisfying, but not problematic, contrasts between the styles of pieces. Izumi Okubo played with utter conviction throughout, and we heard many entertaining transformations of her sound that ranged from sci-fi film quality to micro-canonic hysteria. The pieces I found most striking here were Douglas Geers’ Inana’s Descent (US) and Peter Swinnen’s Hen’az (BE), both were pleasingly idiosyncratic.
I was reaching the end of my tether by now, simply drowning in music. I had a restorative and inexpensive meal with delegates and composers from Slovakia, Estonia and Australia in the centre of Mons...I proceeded to the Théâtre Le Manège thinking I was ready for more, but during this concert I made notes in the dark which turned out to be non-existent, the pen having run out. I left the final concert a piece early to make new notes and to allow some of the music to pour back out of my ears.
Musique Nouvelles is a large ensemble that provided the next concert. The conductor, cellist and composer Jean-Paul Dessy spoke eloquently in three languages to introduce the group, mention its 50th celebration and praise its co-founder Pierre Bartholomée (Pousseur being the other), who was present and celebrating his 75th birthday. The first piece, Subsonic, was by Dessy (BE) and was a cello duo with amplification. It combined a striking virtuosity and incredible timbres and colours with some rather kitschy motifs: a crowd- pleasing opening not afraid to make the composers and musicologists feel a little ill. Fausto Romitelli’s Domeniche alla periferie del impero (IT) was the highlight of the programme for me, but next to that was surely Hrim from Anna Thorvaldsdottir (IS), a strongly atmospheric piece with a sense of harmonic line. Philippe Boesmans’ Ornamental Zone (BE) also made a strong individual statement. Of interest for its unusual orchestration was Analemma from Veronika Krausas (US), though she mentioned later that the amplification did not suit the piece at all.
Despite enjoying the considerable beauty and expertise from this group I had to go out at this point, missing other pieces in the programme. To mark the end of the Mons leg delegates had a nice impromptu party in the hotel, including useful networking. I introduced Hikari Kiyama to a Swedish performer who I felt would be interested in his music.
Tuesday October 30th
Initial bus journey to Ghent, pleasant conversation with Texan Steve Lias about whether high artistic achievement and eccentric or wild lifestyles are in any way related, among other things...before that, a less cheering breakfast chat with Turkish delegates about the US Presidential election which drifted on to Armageddon territory. Oh dear.
At the Logos foundation we heard 6 pieces for robot orchestra, one of which required a naked viola player to dance, in order to trigger motion sensors which in turn organise the robots’ thoughts, as it were. I told everyone I would entitle my entire report ‘World Nude Music Days’...
A most interesting field trip to the Logos Foundation, where we heard six pieces. They did not all make the most of the sonic potential there, but I was very impressed with the place and the organisation that Godfried-Willem Raes has created. I would recommend it to any composer to try to write for these forces. Fred Momotenko’s Dust Against the Wind (NL) and Willem-Raes’ Namuda Study #27.3: Specs’ were the most engaging. The Momotenko piece would make excellent film music, while there was a great sense of flexibility and assuredness in the Raes, which you would expect.
There was of course debate going around on whether the nudity can possibly be other than a clever marketing ploy...and/or a 60s hangover...despite Raes’ assertion that it is a necessity from the infra-red-based motion sensors. I thought: surely skimpy covering would work, but I was not sufficiently troubled to ask Raes, in any case...
The historic Handelsbeurs concert hall is housed in what used to be the Stock Exchange. Major renovations in 2000 provided it with a very comfortable and acoustically flexible space, and this gave Het Collectief’s second appearance a superior air. Again their performance was pretty gripping, and it allowed the audience to bridge the style gulf between George Benjamin and Reich, for example. Evis Sammoutis’s Metioron (CYP) had for a while a novel way of bringing the listener along: organising itself into ready-parsed time- packets. I thought it then veered off to rather basic gestures, but I would watch out for future pieces by this composer. Go Hua from Oleg Paiberdin (RU) and [how does the silver cloud s]ou[nd?] from Vykintas Baltakas both made positive impressions. Thomas Dieltjens (pf), Toon Fret (fl) and Benjamin Dieltjens (cl) each shone in a solo piece.
Wednesday October 31st
Although one had heard some aesthetic differences between all the groups and soloists thus far in the festival, Nadar (an ensemble of ten) swerved us off the road into a more youthful field of glitch, noise and collage aesthetics. They also played in civilian clothes, on school chairs, which made it seem likely that they would be a bit amateur, but they definitely weren’t. Malin Bång’s Turbid Motion (SE), was frenetic, enjoyable and had a high proportion of non-pitched material. The next piece was a welcome gear-change, to a study in
inharmonicity: Daan Janssens’ [...en paysage de nuit...], where harmony and timbre were blended expertly. Stefan Prins’s Fremdkörper 1 (BE) was more noise-centric than even the first piece, more in the ‘glitch’ style. Plenty of fine work went into the piece, though I had issues with the cymbal part which was not well balanced. I quite liked how in the thickets of the piece one note was often the binding element. Johannes Kreidler (DE) provided a big talking point for the festival with his Outsourcing. He verbally moderated four movements in his piece to explain (or claim) that he had written the first one, but outsourced the remaining composing and algorithmic coding to very cheap experts in China and India. He explained the tiny proportion of the commission fee that was thus required for three- quarters of the piece. It was a wonderful political provocation that angered some of the audience. I thought it excellent as agit-prop art—as a starting point for endless recursive discussion; but nearly everyone agreed that his collage piece that seeded the process was not very good. Maybe that is necessary for the piece to go downhill sufficiently, to better illuminate the audience’s discomfort.
Spectra (a medium-sized ensemble) played at the Kraakhuis, or mortuary, of de Bijlok, a converted ancient hospital. After the concerts so far, I was underwhelmed by the entire repertoire here. The best thing in the concert was the first movement of Raminta Šerkšnyte’s Almond Blossom (LT), which twisted by glissando some pretty chords. In the other two movements it rested in a tonal language, getting more and more like music for a TV nature documentary. Pedro Álvarez’s Interalia (CL) was the most convincing whole piece, where scordatura harp reflected amidst a stubborn musical argument. The long rectangle shape of the venue went against properly hearing the vocalist in the last piece, the richly- tapestried Memories of an Index, by Annelies Van Parys (BE).
Later, after a hurried meal, we heard the Brussels Philharmonic, who had programmed some Mozart and Franck to go with Texan and Croatian living composers. They made sure it was a tonal programme throughout. Karim Al-Zand was the former, with Visions from Another World. It was not as otherworldly or proto-surreal as its inspiration, the illustrations of J. J. Grandville. The middle movement had an air of personal introspection but the last one was rather cartoonish. Srdan Dedic’s Symphonic movement came across as someone re- creating patches of Debussy and Schoenberg (hyper-romantic period) using only theory textbooks.
My final after-concert socialising was at Vooruit, a theatre with an artsy bar—a chance to mingle with performers and composers and catch up with Ghent-based friends. Vooruit (and definitely not voorhuid, which is how I was saying it) means ‘forward’!
Readers who may not be familiar with the ISCM festival structure(s) should know that this festival appears in a different country every year and has to adapt quite widely from year to year. The two most typical models are (i) where it backs its juggernaut into the parking space of an existing week-long festival, as in Zagreb Biennale 2011, or (ii) where it stitches together the existing contemporary music activities in a country to create a one-off degree
of co-operation. This festival falls squarely into the latter category, so it was a convergence of festivals, series, and one-off concerts in Brussels, Leuven, Mons, Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp. For everyone concerned this means much packing and moving, patience and co- operation, logistic brilliance and grace, and, when the unexpected intervenes, forbearance and understanding. The payoff should be lasting new relationships within and across the musical circles in the country, and a far greater interest from mass media. It is too early to say exactly how positive the legacy will be in those terms, but it is possible to say that even in the present it succeeded with both the media and the large audiences. The organisers executed everything very well, and the only thing that went even slightly wrong, from the delegates’ point of view, were extra hours spent on buses...the bus approaches to both Leuven and Ghent involved entering the city centre, passing the street parallel to the hotel, leaving again for 30 minutes on the ring road, and re-entering at a slightly different angle. The festival theme could be ‘navigating heritage’.
I congratulate and thank very warmly Peter Swinnen, head of ISCM Flanders who made it possible, and the festival team: Evelyne Lauwers, Bruno de Cat, Ken Hendriks and Karolien Polenus, and also the other board members of ISCM Flanders and others who helped the festival team.
ISCM - International Society for Contemporary Music
A very nice 2019 World Music Days report by Anni Heino from the Australian Music Centre...
The Call for Works for the 2020 ISCM World New Music Days has officially been announced. Submissions received by 31 July 2019 will be considered in 15 different instrumentation categories, ranging from works for string quartet, piano trio, orchestra, or a capella chorus to works for improvising ensemble, composer-performers, electroacoustic, or audiovisual/installation as well as music for Maori traditional instruments (taonga pūoro). More information can be found here: https://www.iscm.org/articles/call-works-2020-iscm-world-new-music-days-new-zealand-has-been-announced as well as on the just launched ISCM2020 website: https://www.iscm2020.nz/
E tempo di scrivere l ode al fratello lontano per ottavini e elettronica...
In case you missed the Latvian Radio Choir's performance of Jug K. Marković's Nirvana, winner of the 2019 ISCM Young Composer Award (co-sponsored by Music on Main), during the 2019 World Music Days in Estonia, you can listen to it and read further details about it here: https://www.iscm.org/articles/jug-k-markovi%C4%87-wins-2019-iscm-young-composer-award
My congratulation!
ISCM - International Society for Contemporary Music shared a Link
https://www.rogershapirofund.org/news/standout-work-at-iscm-tallin-estonia/
Standout work at ISCM Tallin, Estonia | News | The Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music
rogershapirofund.org
YULAN QIU composer; Kadri-Ann Sumera, pianist; ISCM World Music Days, Tallin, Estonia
Katherine Bergman Makes a Splash at ISCM WMD in Talllin, Estonia | News | The Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music
Katherine Bergman ISCM World Music Days Tallin, Estonia Frank Brickle
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Al Moses' 'Taxidermy' is a blistering rock 'n' roll anthem
Posted by Susan Hansen on July 02, 2019
The increasingly hectic schedule of festival appearances and live commitments across the UK shows that the Welsh guitar wonders Al Moses are entering a new, exciting phase in their career.
This Saturday (6 July), they are playing at London's Macbeth of Hoxton to mark the release of their explosive new single 'Taxidermy'.
The success of their debut single 'I Want More' saw the band reach a wide UK audience, and the raucous 'Taxidermy' looks set to solidify the quartet's position as one of the best rising guitar bands.
"Hey pigeon what's your wager? do you play like the others? Vanity of our nature makes your cheap sex ugly", snarls co-frontman Daf Thomas.
The clever combination of stomping, aggressive beats and irresistible hooks makes 'Taxidermy' the most rollicking guitar-led anthem of 2019 yet.
Speaking of the track, co-frontman Jack Vill told it's All Indie, "It's a wild and ferocious take on the insecurity of being in a band. It's always a favourite in our set and the chorus is the easiest thing to pick up for crowds."
Jack and Daf met at a house party in 2015, and after seeing The Jesus and Mary Chain play Cardiff Students Union, the band committed to their name a few days after.
Upcoming live dates:
6 July - The Macbeth of Hoxton, London
13 July - Sin City, Swansea
19 July - Record Junkee, Sheffield
17 August - Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, Pontypridd
5 Sep - Cafe Totem, Sheffield
6 Sep - The Joiners, Southampton
7 Sep - The Hope & Ruin, Brighton
9 Sep - The Globe, Cardiff
Al Moses Cardiff guitar music Wales
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Land Value Taxation Campaign
What is LVT?
Practical Politics
Home Blog UK Pound tumbles against Zimbabwe Dollar
UK Pound tumbles against Zimbabwe Dollar
The UK pound has not done well against most currencies, even including the shaky Euro, but who realises that for the past two months it has been tumbling down against the Zimbabwe Dollar? Should Osborne and Mervyn King be asking for advice from Harare?
But confidence in Britain's economic policies is neatly summarised in this diagram showing the exchange rate of the UK pound against the Swedish Krona over the past 12 months.
The SEK is a good measure because the Swedish government has practised little of the fiscal jiggery-pokery known as Quantitative Easing and the currency has not been affected by the troubles with the Euro. After a peak of SEK 11.8 to the £ in March, the £ fell on the run-up to the general election, and then recovered most of its value, to a second peak of around 11.75 in May and June. Since then it has fallen most of the way, to 10.4 at the end of 2010, a drop of 12%. The true extent of this inflation is more, as it should not be forgotten that Sweden itself has suffered from some inflation.
It is worth bearing in mind that Sweden suffers badly from a raft of geographical disadvantages including an inhospitable climate, a small and sparsely distributed population and distance from the great centres of Europe where the markets are. The drop in value has obviously done nothing for British exports to Sweden; they are not much in evidence in the shops, with the exception of Fisherman's Friends! If the UK cannot sustain the value of its currency against a country like Sweden, the people responsible ought to fall on their swords.
The story with the troubled Euro is much the same, again with a strong downward trend for the past month.
Or even the Latvian Lat, for heaven's sake
As for the Swiss franc, this diagram tells its own story
and here is how much silver the pound in your pocket will buy
Are the foreign exchange markets trying to tell us something?
Tables from xe.com
The LVTC blog
Dodgy Dossier
Website design by Channel Digital.
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With over 25,000 species of flowering plants, Australia is only matched by South Africa in the abundance and diversity of its native flowers. There are so many flowering plants in Australia that they haven’t even named them all yet – some botanists estimate there are over 30,000 species. Many of these are endemic, which means they are found nowhere else. Native flowers have been used to decorate Australian homes since settlement, but became more popular during Federation (1901) and the Bicentennial celebrations (1988). Now many forms are used as cut flowers, both locally and internationally.
All states throughout Australia are home to distinctive native flowers, but Western Australia is the centre for this amazing diversity. There are over 12,000 species listed as endemic to WA, and many more are yet to be described. Many of the native flower species commonly used as cut flowers originated in WA, such as kangaroo paw, most Banksias, Dryandra, Geleznowia, and Geraldton waxflower. The wildflower season in WA occurs each year from July to October, and is considered one of the top botanical wonders of the world. Flowers start blooming north of Geraldton in July and slowly progress south. There are many reserves and bush areas along the coast and east into the drier areas, and in some places there are fields of everlastings and other wildflowers as far as you can see. The Wildflower Society of Western Australia website is full of information and has a great map of viewing locations around Perth for those who are interested.
Main Varieties and Uses
There are about 30 species of Australian native flowers and foliages commonly used in floristry (see Table 1). Many more are used occasionally as supplies are seasonal or can only be found in certain regions, but the most common are: Geraldton waxflower, Banksia, Kangaroo Paw, Thryptomene, Boronia and Waratah.
Large single flowers (sometimes called standards) or flower spikes are rarely found in the Australian flora, and most native cut flowers are branches with many small flowers that are used as fillers. The Geraldton waxflower is probably the most popular branched filler, and is used in bud or when flowers are open. Other common native fillers are Thryptomene, from Victoria, Crowea, Eriostemon, Hypocalymma, Ixodia, Riceflower and Verticordia. Many Australian species are also used as foliages, particularly Eucalyptus, Acacia, Grevillea, Persoonia (Snottygobble) and Xanthorrhea (Steel grass).
There are also a few natives used as focal flowers – large colourful flowers that form the centrepiece in arrangements in the same way as roses or tulips. Commonly used native focal flowers include Banksias, Waratahs, the huge Gymea lily, Christmas Bells, and to a lesser extent, Kangaroo Paw.
Some South African flowers are often mistaken for Australian natives, which is not surprising as these two countries have very similar climates and the flowers of each country are similar in structure. Proteas, Leucadendron, Leucospermum and Erica are all South African natives that are sometimes mistaken for Australian locals. The tea-tree (Leptospermum) is also often thought of as Australian, which many garden tea-tree varieties are. But the most common cut flower tea-trees are bred from Leptospermum scoparium, which is a New Zealand species.
Beaufortia
Callistemon
Christmas Bells
Christmas Bush
Dryandra
Eriostemon
Eucalyptus – Australian Foliage
Everlasting Daisy
Flannel Flower
Geleznowia
Gymea Lily
Hypocalymma
Isopogon
Ixodia
Lamb’s Tail
Rice Flower
Stirlingia
Thryptomene
Verticordia
Waxflower
Most native flowers have woody stems and these will need to be re-cut with sharp secateurs, and immediately placed in water. Never bash or split the woody stem ends. As a general rule, keep cool whenever possible – there are no tropical Australian natives used regularly as cut flowers. Strip all the leaves from the lower half of each stem, then recut at least 2 cm off each stem and place in cold water immediately. A preservative is recommended, but not essential. It is important to replace vase water with fresh preservative every day as all natives are thirsty flowers.
Most native flowers are not sensitive to ethylene gas, but there are two notable exceptions. Waxflower and Waratah are both sensitive, so keep them away from fruit, car exhausts and cigarette smoke.
For more specific flower care instructions, see All Flowers.
State Floral Emblems
Each state and territory in Australia, and the nation, has selected an endemic Australian native flower as its emblem:
Australia Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
ACT Royal Bluebell (Wahlenbergia gloriosa)
New South Wales Waratah (Telopea speciosissima)
Northern Territory Sturt’s Desert Rose (Gossipium sturtianum)
Queensland Cooktown Orchid (Dendrobium phalaenopsis)
South Australia Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsonia formosa)
Tasmania Tasmanian Bluegum (Eucalyptus globulus)
Victoria Common Heath (Epacris impressa)
Western Australia Red & Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii)
Only two state emblems can be easily found as cut flowers: the Waratah (NSW) and the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw from WA. The national floral emblem Acacia pycnantha can sometimes be found as a ‘flowering foliage’ crop in spring.
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Sonic Unleashed - http://www.mmcafe.com/ Forums
Iron D
"Sonic Unleashed" , posted Wed 26 Mar 13:50
Yep. Another new Sonic game. This one's 2.5-d, and looks absolutely gorgeous. Of course, so did that lost Sonic the Hedgehog game, and we all know how that turned out.
As far as I have been able to find out, no system has been actually announced yet, but those graphics scream 360, Wii and PS3 to me.
Here's a small news blurb with a vid:
http://www.planetxbox360.com/index.php/articledetails/show/3663
Er.....
sfried
"Re(1):Sonic Unleashed" , posted Wed 26 Mar 13:54:
I've seen those. Since I'm not a hardcore Sonic fan, so my perception with the franchise can be quite blurry. If somebody could give me a rundown on the "good" elements of a Sonic game...
(Yes, I've played the MegaDrive ones, just not as extensively i.e. never finished since I've never owned a Sega system during that era...was too poor to get Mega Collections when it came out)
Based on what people have said, it's the balance between hardcore platforming elements and exploration coupled with speed. Most fans seem to think Sega has been focusing merely on the speed aspect during its latter years.
[this message was edited by sfried on Wed 26 Mar 14:01]
"Re(2):Sonic Unleashed" , posted Wed 26 Mar 14:16
(Yes, I've played the MegaDrive ones, just not as extensively i.e. finished since I've never owned a Sega system during that era...was too poor to get Mega Collections when it came out)
Some people say it's the balance between hardcore platforming elements and exploration coupled with speed. Most fans seem to think Sega has been focusing merely on the speed aspect during its latter years.
Well, I'll admit right now that there is a deeply nostalgic link that I have to the Sonic series. Few things remind me of the finer points of my childhood than Sonic games (only the TMNT could be bigger childhood nostalgia elements for me...and that's a maybe).
But that's not to say that the Sonic series isn't good anyway. The games were good, simple fun. Pick up and play, not complex.
The graphics were great for their time (and still pretty now, if you ask me), and then there's the music. Sonic music is right up there with Streets of Rage music in it's popularity. This makes sense, since Yuzo Koshiro did some of the music for the Sonic games.
To sum it up, it was always good, simple fun with a great soundtrack. Timeless, they can still be played and enjoyed to this day.
badoor
Looks fun from the video, the levels and music are fantastic, a world away from the usual rock & roll stuff from the other 3D sonic games.
btw sfried here is a good blog post about how to save sonic the headgehog. It basically list what's great about sonic in the old days and what went wrong.
http://www.destructoid.com/how-to-save-sonic-the-hedgehog-77069.phtml
The guy has some good points, but he's a dumbass. "Everything should be exactly how it was before and exactly NOT how it is now, and everything should be exactly the same forever except Sonic, who should be more like Dante."
A number of recent Sonic games have had very bad level design. 2D/3D doesn't matter. If the new game has tons of "surprise deaths" then it won't be any good.
Also, either make an interesting plot or get rid of the plot. I say get rid of the plot, but Klonoa showed me that you CAN have a good plot in a platformer.
Did no one play Sonic Rush Adventure? It was actually pretty good! You had to skip the cinemas, (which were numerous, lengthy and completely pointless), but otherwise it was pretty fun! Excluding the soundtrack, it was definitely a step up from Sonic Rush.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
IkariDC
Yuzo did the music for the first Game Gear/Master System game.
I played it a bit (like 2 or 3 stages and try the boat thing) and I though it was a step down in almost every way from Sonic Rush. Don't ask me to point out why, I only had the feeling that it was not good enough, but maybe not having Hideki Naganuma in charge of the music pissed me off. You always mention that Sonic Rush had bad level design but for me it was ok.
GAZEROCK IS NOT DEAD
You always mention that Sonic Rush had bad level design but for me it was ok.
You mean you didn't frequently fall to your death without knowing why? You didn't have to do the levels over and over again to learn where the pitfalls were? And you were a fan of the extended running straight in a line to make you feel like you were going fast?
I can blame myself (and all my friends who played the game) and say the random pitfalls were my problem and not the game's, but without the frequent, unpredictable deaths, the new complaint is that the game is too short and too easy.
The levels in Sonic Rush Adventure all had multiple paths and situations that you could react to beforehand. I thought the "extended straight direction running" was better managed with the obstacles as well.
I can very easily see someone disliking the game, though. Its production values were kind of shoddy, the music was mediocre, the boss fights took too long, the cinemas were completely unbearable, the minigames were mildly amusing at best, the new characters stunk and the island you screw around on was tacky. I wouldn't blame anyone for picking the game up saying "this is ugly and where did the awesome music go?"
However, I can't accept someone (not necessarily you) saying that the level designs were better in Sonic Rush and I can't imagine anything being more important than level design in a game where all you do is dash and jump. Sonic Rush Adventure was an ugly package, but it was an improvement where Sonic games needed it the most.
Also, and this is a question to anyone who didn't have a problem with the level design in Sonic Rush...what made it inferior to the earlier, more liked Sonic games? Or was it better?
And the first Genesis/Mega Drive game. Actually, I thought I hear he did some music for Sonic 2 as well, but I'm not completely sure on that.
I haven't played Adventure yet, but I played and thoroughly enjoyed Rush. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Game Boy Advance Sonics as well.
Sonic Rush had more of the "mostly just running" thing going for it. One of the main reasons that the level designs were better in the Genesis/Mega Drive games was because there WAS exploration to be done. The guy in the article posted up there mentioned this, and he's right.
So many times I've seen reviews on recent Sonic games and the reviewer says something like "this game is less about speed than the older Sonic games" and I think to myself, was it really?
There were tons of hidden nooks and crannies where rings, power-ups, extra lives and bonus levels were. Running trhough a wall that appeared to be solid would reveal a hidden room. Basically, exploration was a HUGE part of the 16-bit Sonic games, and anyone who says otherwise...I have to wonder how much they really played them.
In the 2d Sonic games from the GBA era on, there was alot less of this (almost to the point of non-existence).
[this message was edited by Iron D on Wed 26 Mar 20:51]
Sensenic
Red Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Member
"Re(7):Sonic Unleashed" , posted Thu 27 Mar 01:26
Completely agree on this point both with you and the "Make Sonic to be like the days of old again! (And like Dante!)" article.
Ever since Advance 2 and the more I read or heard about games like Sonic Rush or Secret Rings trying to capture "ye olde Sonic spiritte", the more I kept thinking... "but wait, the original successful games were not THAT much about speed." There were lots of points where you had to stop and wait for your chance to jump, or to explore... There were points where you had to reach a minimum speed enough to break a wall but in a limited space...
I think too that plot-wise they're going too far and taking themselves too seriously. The simpler plots of 1 and 2 (I really loved how the last levels from this one connected into each other) were enough.
And I'm not saying to just go back the old formula, just like the first Advance (for that, we do have the old ones and Advance). No, I think that a good enough 3D one for Sonic has already been found and used... in the first Sonic Adventure. There the levels had their share of speed but also, their share of platforming and exploration (in that game, generally divided in their own halves of each level), instead of the straight running obstacle courses that the levels from the 2nd where (at least, as far as I've seen, haven't played it fully).
To me the best example of 3D Sonic level design coing now to my mind would be the second half of the highway level. There, not only you had a great deal of exploration possible, but there were some points that precised not only speed but good control from the user in order to reach them (some items in walls, for example). And being a closed scenario there was no room for cheap pitfalls.
Personally, I think that improving on that formula they would hit my weak spot, so to speak, instead of, as they're apparently doing, taking a full step back and making the game (at least partially) 2,5D.
At least it seems Jim Sterling got his second point granted. :p
おやおやぁ~
"Farpaitement!"
-Obelix-
Sonic Rush had more of the "mostly just running" thing going for it. One of the main reasons that the level designs were better in the Genesis/Mega Drive games was because there WAS exploration to be done.
I wholeheartedly agree with this and everything you said after it, but I don't think I would say it had "mostly just running" going FOR it. While running like crazy has its joys, it has to be balanced with good gameplay.
I'm also with Sensenic in thinking that Sonic doesn't have to be 2D to be good. Sonic Adventure 2 was a mess because of all the different characters you had to use, but it and SA1 both had some good points. They just weren't quite "there."
It's disappointing, because the new Sonic (the 360/PS3 one) has a lot of exploration aspects in it with big levels and such, but it also suffers from the sloppy design/what am I doing/senseless running/pitfalls issue.
Still, the game had some good ideas. Running on walls and water and such was lots of fun. I like really using the environments in a 3D game like that. I remember how excited I was when I saw the opening to Sonic CD where Sonic is flipping and jumping and vaulting off things. To me, if you can make a game that recreates that...a game with big WELL-DESIGNED environments to explore and fun ways to get around them (swinging, running, spinning, flying), you'll have all you need. You don't need an elaborate story, but you do need impressive SCENES. A picture is worth a thousand words after all.
Ah, but...I mean...the 3D Sonic games all did this on some level, I just don't think any of them came together quite right.
I didn't give a lot of time to the 360/PS3 one. Was it really that bad?
Nope, Masato Nakamura did the soundtrack for the first 2 Mega Drive games.
I didn't say that Sonic Rush Adventure's level design was worse than in Rush, I didn't play it enough. But although what you say about Rush might be true, I don't recall the game being frustrating for nor anticipating death pits, except for 1 Zone. I guess I was having fun with the game anyways and didn't stop and think if the level design was good or bad.
But of course it suck compared to the good old Mega Drive Sonic games. I agree with everything stated about what made them great.
See, I'm having this strange sense of deja vu here, because I was having this discussion with a couple of members of this board a few years ago (can't even remember who they were), except that I was the one who swore that Koshiro had never worked on a Sonic game. In the end I conceded that those guys must be right. Now here I am later, and I'm on the other side: claiming that Koshiro did work on some of the 16-bit Sonics and having someone tell me otherwise.
Well...in any case, on the subject of the 2-d Sonics, I will admit that I have not played the more recent Sonic the Hedgehog, but I have played Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes and Shadow. The quality dropped with each title. I actually really like both Adventure and Adventure 2, but Heroes was some of the laziest game design I've ever seen. And Shadow was just a friggin' joke.
So I also believe that Sonic can be done right in 3-d. There just needs to be competent developers.
"Re(9):Sonic Unleashed" , posted Fri 28 Mar 21:14
You can trust me in anything relating to Yuzo Koshiro, I'm a big fan of his work and I did my research. Anyways, see for yourself:
Sonic The Hedgehog (Mega Drive)
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive)
Sonic The Hedgehog (Master System)
Sonic The Hedgehog for Game Gear/Master System was the first game Ancient developed. Ancient is a family-based company founded by Yuzo's mother, so it makes sense that he made that soundtrack and not the others, plus Sonic The Hedgehog for Mega Drive came first!
"Re(10):Sonic Unleashed" , posted Sat 29 Mar 00:36
Well...alright. I concede...again.
Nekros
"About the "WereHog"" , posted Wed 2 Apr 19:08
Any hint on that? I hope it isn't some crappy Sonic cursed form. Maybe a slow, very snailish Sonic that barks at the moon isn't the way to bring back the Hedgehog to his roots...it'd be better a new character.
I recall the first video of Adventure 2 that I saw: it showed Shadow at the very end of it and only for a few instants, so I tought about a black Super Sonic or a Super Sonic 2 form.^^'
BTW I found nice the super form in The Secret Rings but it doesn't fit Sonic very much.
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Oppo N3 Leaked Ahead of Launch
Written by Luke Hatfield on 13th October 2014
Ahead of its impending release later this month the Oppo N3 has been the subject of yet another batch of leaks, this time with three different colours taking stage.
Having been the subject of multiple leaks already, plenty is already known about the N3 smartphone, with its most notable feature being its swivelling camera.
Boasting a 13 megapixel lens and a dual LED flash, the intuitive piece of kit is an exciting prospect for photo addicts and selfie lovers who would prefer not to contend with a lower megapixel lens on the front side of their smartphones.
Also adorning the long awaited N3 is a 5.9” 1080p display which pushes the handset into phablet territory, whilst a Snapdragon 805 chipset accompanies 3GB RAM.
These sorts of specs make the N3 one of the most powerful smartphones on paper, meaning its currently unknown price tag is likely to be a big one.
Oppo N3 Design
Previous information has also stated that the N3 will come in two different design models, one sporting an aluminium lithium alloy build and the other a stainless steel style.
This means that consumers should have the option of either a lighter N3 device made with aluminium, or a much stronger but heavier steel handset, depending on preference and availability.
The internal kit will be identical on both models, so you won’t need to worry about sacrificing power if you prefer a certain style chassis over another.
These latest leaks show off the N3 is a new light though, with a series of new colours rumoured to be launched by Oppo which are displayed in the leaked image.
Featuring pink, white and blue, the N3 will be making a splash on the fashion front now as well, with colours similar to that shown on the iPhone 5c drawing interest from younger crowds.
It’s not yet known whether all three colours will be available in both build versions, but it would come as a surprise if for some reason they didn’t.
There’s still a rather large question mark hanging over the N3’s international availability, with Oppo a relatively unknown brand here in the UK and other western markets.
But with its high powered specs and inventive camera, it would be a shame to see the N3 stick to Asian markets, so here’s to hoping it does reach UK shores.
Oppo N3 Release
One thing we know for sure is that the Oppo N3 will be getting launched in Singapore on October 29th, so it shouldn’t be too long until we find out the rest of the details about the phablet phone.
Pricing details are yet to be revealed, with information likely to top off the event in Singapore later on this month, but prices are expected to be reasonable, despite the powerful components.
What are your thoughts on the Oppo N3 phablet? Do you think it will make its way to the UK? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
Written by Luke Hatfield
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Home/ DI Women's Basketball/ Westmont (Calif.) Gains Upper Hand in Second Round Over Loyola (La.)
Westmont (Calif.) Gains Upper Hand in Second Round Over Loyola (La.)
Westmont (Calif.) defeated Loyola (La.) 77-65
BILLINGS, Mont. – [BOX SCORE] Freshman point guard Lauren Tsuneishi scored 20 points to lead one-seed Westmont (Calif.) over five-seed Loyola (La.) (77-65) and advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2018 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Wells Fargo.
During the first two minutes of the game, both teams forced turnovers but neither could convert those into points until Tsuneishi connected on a 3-point field goal.
The Warriors opened the period with an 8-3 run to take an 18-17 lead. Loyola continued to struggle but found enough offense to keep the game close. The Warriors led 33-27 at the intermission.
Westmont opened the second half with an 11-0 run, holding a 44-27 lead at the 5:57 mark of the third quarter and extended their lead to 18 at the end of the third quarter.
The Wolfpack made dents in the Westmont lead but could only trim the lead down to nine as the Warriors answered every Loyola run with one of their own.
The loss to Westmont was the Wolfpack’s first loss in the second round. In 2015-16, Loyola lost in the opening round and in 2014 lost in the quarterfinals.
Loyola ends their season at 26-6. Four players scored in double figures for Loyola led by Kaila Anthony with 20 and 12 from Paige Franckiewicz.
With the win, Westmont improves to 24-6 and advances to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last seven years. The Warriors won the national championship in 2013.
For Westmont, Tsuneishi was perfect from the field going seven-for-seven including six-for-six from the three-point line. Also scoring in double figures for Westmont were Maud Ranger with 15 and Lauren McCoy with 12.
Westmont will now play Saturday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the University of Providence and MidAmerica Nazarene second-round game.
40th ANNUAL DIVISION I
Billings, Mont.
2020 Bracket
2020 Championship Statistics
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WHY THIS WORK?
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Ideas, Examples to Reduce Sugary Drinks Among Native American Children at First Healthy Beverage Summit (February 8, 2017) - The Notah Begay III Foundation
nb3_admin
Ideas, Examples to Reduce Sugary Drinks Among Native American Children at First Healthy Beverage Summit (February 8, 2017)
Ideas, Examples to Reduce Sugary Drinks Among Native American Children at First Healthy Beverage Summit
From a junk food tax, to traditional teas, to changing shopping habits, participants in the first summit discussed ideas, challenges and current local and national progress in reducing consumption of sugary drinks by Native American children.
“Water is sacred. Sodas have become part of our tradition. It’s time to decolonize your drink,” said Andrea Pepin, Zuni Youth Enrichment Project nutrition education coordinator, quoting a fellow colleague.
Pepin was among 125 people who attended Notah Begay III Foundation’s Healthy Beverage Summit to find ways to reduce the consumption of soda, sports, fruit drinks and other sugared beverages among Native youth. The sold out February 8th gathering at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, N.M., was the first of three for grant recipients, health advocates and others interested in promoting water and breastfeeding as a first choice in Native communities.
The event was part of the Water First! project, a 2 ½ year NB3 Foundation initiative partnering with nine Native communities across New Mexico and the Navajo Nation to combat sugared drinks. Click here for a full listing of the grantees and a summary of their projects.
The work becomes more eminent as sweetened drinks now represent the biggest source of added sugar in American diets. The beverages have been linked to obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, and liver and heart disease.
“We are having a serious epidemic of both obesity and diabetes,” said Keynote Speaker Dr. Jim Krieger, Executive Director of Health Food America, a national nonprofit that uses science to drive change in policy and industry practice.
He said obesity in America has been growing since the 1980s, with an increase in diabetes in the 90s. “We’re seeing it level off a bit but we’ve never seen anything like this grow so big so fast,” Krieger said.
Native Americans have been disproportionately affected. In New Mexico alone, 50 percent or one out of two Native American third-graders are either overweight or obese, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.
What’s causing the epidemic is that Americans simply are consuming too much sugar, according to Krieger. Forty-six percent of sugars and added calories in American diets come from sweetened beverages, which have no nutritional benefit. In one study of Navajo students, 86 percent of girls and 93 percent of boys were drinking at least one soda daily.
Read about how one of our grant recipients is reducing sugary drinks
One way to reduce consumption is through education, such as the warning labels put on tobacco products, or decreasing the availability of sugary drinks through policy, such as requiring supermarkets to put healthier beverages near the cashier isles.
Another way to diminish sugary drinks, Krieger said, is an added tax on the beverages, something Berkeley and Mexico have done. Berkeley, Calif., the first U.S. city to implement such a tax, saw a 21 percent decrease in consumption in low-income communities only after five months. Mexico, the first country in the world to pass a tax, saw overall consumption decline 12 percent and a 17 percent reduction in low-income communities.
The Navajo Nation, the first tribe in the country to pass a 2 percent tax on “junk food,” food with no nutritional value, projects $2 million annually from its tax, which will go to each of the 34 chapter houses, local governing districts, for community wellness projects, such as farming and community trails.
Closing Keynote Navajo Vice President Jonathan Nez, a leading example of how Native people can live a healthy lifestyle after dropping 300 pounds and becoming an avid runner, said the Diné and others need to remind themselves about the traditional ways of overcoming adversity, fighting what he called the “monsters” of the 21st century—diabetes and heart disease.
The Diné used to get up early, heard sheep or farm in the scorching desert sun, and survived the Long Walk, a 300-mile trek Navajos made from their homelands to an internment camp. These traditions or events provide a great teaching of overcoming and resilience, Nez said.
“You have the ability to change your life for good,” Nez said, sharing his story as an obese Shonto Chapter community leader who would try to encourage young people to live healthier lives until a teenager’s words tore into him, “Every time we see you, you get bigger and bigger.” The comment was the impetus for Nez to start walking, which turned into a love of running. He recently started training for an ultra marathon at 100k.
“When you change and when your family changes, you have the ability to change your community. You cannot help somebody if you cannot take care of yourself,” he said.
One big step in taking care of ourselves and our children is to look at how often and how much we consume sugary drinks, said Justin Kii Huenemann, NB3 President and CEO.
“It is our hope that this summit and the ongoing work of the nine grantees are not only building education and awareness across a broad mix of stakeholders, but will in fact inspire individual, family and community-led changes,” he said.
Thanks to funding from the WK Kellogg Foundation, the NB3 Foundation plans to host the 2nd Healthy Beverage Summit in 2018 building on participant and grantee discussions and ideas, and will continue to provide knowledge, resources and strengthen relationships needed to drive innovative ways to reduce the consumption of sweetened beverages among our Native American children.
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The Notah Begay III Foundation
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Difference between revisions of "NYSE Euronext"
JeffBergstrom (Talk | contribs)
m (Text replace - "IntercontinentalExchange" to "Intercontinental Exchange")
SarahRudolph (Talk | contribs)
m (Text replace - "Deutsche Börse" to "Deutsche Boerse")
NYSE Euronext (NYSE/New York and Euronext/Paris: NYX) was the holding company created by the combination of [[NYSE Group, Inc.]] (parent of the [[New York Stock Exchange]]) and [[Euronext N.V.]] It was launched on April 4, 2007. The [[merger]] created the first transatlantic [[stock]] and [[derivatives]] exchange - following a fierce [[takeover]] battle for control of [[Euronext]] between the NYSE Group and [[Deutsche Börse]] - and incorporates the world's largest cash equities [[exchange]] and the third-ranked [[futures trading|futures]] platform.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/12/129145/NYSE%20Euronext%20Analyst%20Day.pdf|org=NYSE Euronext|name=Analysts' Presentation|date=January 8, 2008}}</ref>
NYSE Euronext (NYSE/New York and Euronext/Paris: NYX) was the holding company created by the combination of [[NYSE Group, Inc.]] (parent of the [[New York Stock Exchange]]) and [[Euronext N.V.]] It was launched on April 4, 2007. The [[merger]] created the first transatlantic [[stock]] and [[derivatives]] exchange - following a fierce [[takeover]] battle for control of [[Euronext]] between the NYSE Group and [[Deutsche Boerse]] - and incorporates the world's largest cash equities [[exchange]] and the third-ranked [[futures trading|futures]] platform.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/12/129145/NYSE%20Euronext%20Analyst%20Day.pdf|org=NYSE Euronext|name=Analysts' Presentation|date=January 8, 2008}}</ref>
The [[InterContinentalExchange]] acquired NYSE Euronext on November 4, 2013 in a stock-and-cash transaction. The deal created the world's second-largest exchange operator by valuation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323854904578637932279065220.html?mod=dist_smartbrief|name=NYSE Sees ICE Deal Closing in the Fall|org=The Wall Street Journal|date=July 31, 2013}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323469804578523132069546530.html|name=Investors Approve NYSE Sale to ICE|org=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 4, 2013}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/nyse-euronext-update-on-acquisition-by-intercontinentalexchange/#86749|name=NYSE Euronext Update On Acquisition by Intercontinental Exchange|org=NYSE Euronext|date=October 9, 2013}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://ir.theice.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=728039|name=Intercontinental Exchange to Acquire NYSE Euronext For $33.12 Per Share in Stock and Cash, Creating Premier Global Market Operator|org=InterContinentalExchange|date=May 9, 2013}}</ref>
* On April 1, 2011, Nasdaq OMX and ICE made a counter-offer to acquire NYSE Euronext for $11.3 billion, a 19 percent premium over the price proposed by Deutsche Boerse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.securitiestechnologymonitor.com/news/nasdaq-nyse-counterbid-deutsche-borse-27443-1.html?ET=securitiesindustry:e2405:73055a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=STM_BNA_08302010_040111|name=Nasdaq OMX, ICE Raise Stakes for NYSE Euronext in Counterbid|org=Securities Technology Monitor|date=April 1, 2011}}</ref> As part of the proposal, ICE would purchase NYSE Euronext’s derivatives businesses, and NASDAQ OMX would retain NYSE Euronext’s remaining businesses, including the NYSE Euronext stock exchanges in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon, as well as the U.S. options business. ICE and NASDAQ OMX would continue to operate as separate businesses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasdaq.com/includes/Final_Press_Release_for_705am_post.pdf|name=Press Release|org=Nasdaq|date=April 1, 2011}}</ref> NYSE Euronext continued to rebuff repeated takeover attempts from Nasdaq OMX and ICE, maintaining that their counter-offer did not "provide compelling value" and had "unacceptable execution risk." <ref>{{cite web|url=http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2011-04/nyse-again-rejects-nasdaqice-bid.aspx?storyid=72499|name=NYSE Again Rejects Nasdaq-ICE Bid|org=Nasdaq|date=April 28, 2011}}</ref>
* In July 2011, Deutsche Börse won shareholder support for its $9 billion merger with NYSE Euronext, clearing one of the biggest hurdles to the merger. More than 80 percent of the outstanding shares of Deutsche Börse approved the tender offer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/deutsche-borse-wins-shareholder-approval-of-nyse-euronext-deal/?ref=nyseeuronext|name=Deutsche Borse Wins Shareholder Approval of NYSE Euronext Deal|org=The New York Times|date=July 26, 2011}}</ref>
* In July 2011, Deutsche Boerse won shareholder support for its $9 billion merger with NYSE Euronext, clearing one of the biggest hurdles to the merger. More than 80 percent of the outstanding shares of Deutsche Boerse approved the tender offer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/deutsche-borse-wins-shareholder-approval-of-nyse-euronext-deal/?ref=nyseeuronext|name=Deutsche Borse Wins Shareholder Approval of NYSE Euronext Deal|org=The New York Times|date=July 26, 2011}}</ref>
*On Aug. 1, 2011, NYSE Euronext made a strategic acquisition of provider of market access products Metabit in an effort to accelerate growth in Asia. It was announced that Metabit would operate as a product line within the NYSE Technologies [[portfolio]]. The transaction was expected to close in third quarter of 2011. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyse.com/press/1312206536074.html|name=Press Release|org=NYSE|date=August 2, 2011}}</ref>
MarketsWiki Page
New York and Paris
Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO; Duncan Niederauer, President; Jan-Michiel Hessels, Chairman; Marshall Carter, Deputy Chairman
Cash equities, futures and options on interest rates, equity indexes, bonds and commodities, and market data
@NYSEEuronext
nyx.com
Executive Compensation Regulation - Comment Letter - NYSE Euronext - April 29, 2011
Foreign Boards of Trade Regulation - Comment Letter - NYSE Euronext - January 18, 2011
Designated Contract Market Regulation
Derivatives Clearing Organizations Regulation - Comment Letter - NYSE Liffe US - November 16, 2010
Swap Entities Regulation
Swaps Regulation - Hearings & Testimony
NYSE Euronext (NYSE/New York and Euronext/Paris: NYX) was the holding company created by the combination of NYSE Group, Inc. (parent of the New York Stock Exchange) and Euronext N.V. It was launched on April 4, 2007. The merger created the first transatlantic stock and derivatives exchange - following a fierce takeover battle for control of Euronext between the NYSE Group and Deutsche Boerse - and incorporates the world's largest cash equities exchange and the third-ranked futures platform.[1]
The InterContinentalExchange acquired NYSE Euronext on November 4, 2013 in a stock-and-cash transaction. The deal created the world's second-largest exchange operator by valuation.[2] [3] [4] [5]
In June 2014, Euronext detached itself from ICE and from NYSE through an IPO. ICE sold the last of its shares in Euronext, completing its exit from the business, in December 2014. NYSE and Euronext are now separate businesses.
NYSE Euronext's equities markets—the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, NYSE MKT, NYSE Alternext and NYSE Arca—represented one-third of the world's equities trading. Together they offered trading, clearing and settlement in approximately 8,000 listed issues (excluding European Structured Products) from more than 55 countries. NYSE Euronext also operated the derivatives exchanges NYSE Liffe in Europe, and NYSE Liffe U.S. Those two exchanges were separated from NYSE Euronext and their products transitioned to ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Clear U.S. beginning June 9, 2014.
New York Portfolio Clearing, LLC was a joint venture between DTCC and NYSE Euronext.[6]
NYSE Euronext was ranked as the world's fouth-largest derivatives exchange by contract volume in 2012, putting it below the National Stock Exchange of India and above the Korea Exchange, according to the annual Futures Industry Association's survey of the world's leading derivatives exchanges, released in March 2013.
1 Acquisitions and Partnerships
4 Contract Volume
6 NYSE Group Companies
7 Euronext Companies
8 NYSE Euronext Retail Liquidity Program
9 NYSE Euronext Business Breakdown by Revenue
10 Governance
11 Regulation
12 Flash Crash Response
Acquisitions and Partnerships
In June of 2009 NYSE Euronext closed a deal with the State of Qatar to turn the Doha Securities Market (DSM) into an international cash and derivatives exchange. NYSE Euronext invested $200 million for a 20 percent stake in DSM. NYSE Euronext and Qatar Holding rebranded the Doha Securities Market as "The Qatar Exchange".[7] [8] The exchange uses NYSE Euronext technology for its cash and derivatives markets.[9]
NYSE Euronext acquired the American Stock Exchange (Amex) in October of 2008. It briefly changed the name of Amex to NYSE Alternext in December 2008, but then rebranded it as NYSE Amex in March of 2009.[10] The total cost of the deal was $260 million in NYSE Euronext common stock, plus additional shares for Amex members of NYSE Euronext common stock based on the net proceeds from the expected sale of Amex’s lower Manhattan headquarters.[11][12] On June 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext and Amex announced that members of The Amex Membership Corporation (AMC) had approved the adoption of the merger agreement between AMC and NYSE Euronext and some subsidiaries.[13]
Through its affiliate Euronext NV, NYSE Euronext acquired a 5 percent equity position in the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), India’s largest commodity derivatives exchange, in July of 2008. The 5 percent equity investment was the maximum equity interest permitted by a single foreign investor in exchanges under current Indian law.[14] NYSE Euronext held a 4.73 percent stake in September 2013 but sold almost all of it off in the fourth quarter of 2013 after MCX fell into regulatory troubles.[15]
On Nov. 6, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it had signed a development partnership with the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange as part of the exchange’s “major expansion in Asia.”[16]
NYSE Euronext developed its Universal Trading Platform, an electronic trading platform, and began trading NYSE Euronext's European bond markets in December 2008. The platform rolled out across its cash equities, options and futures markets in the US and Europe during 2009.
In January 2009, NYSE Euronext received approval for a joint venture with BIDS Trading to launch a new block trading venue to allow dark orders on BIDS to interact with displayed and reserve orders on NYSE. The venue is set to launch on Jan. 29, 2009, and to be called The New York Block Exchange (NYBX). It will operate as a facility of NYSE and be accessible via BIDS Trading and open to all NYSE members.[17]
NYSE Euronext partnered with BNP Paribas SA, HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to create SmartPool, which began trading European stocks on Feb. 2, 2009. As of July of 2009, 17 brokerages, including Knight Capital Group Inc., Exane SA, Instinet Europe Ltd., Investment Technology Group Inc., Credit Suisse, UBS and Nomura were sending orders to SmartPool.[18]
On June 18, 2009, NYSE Euronext and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) agreed to create a joint venture for clearing U.S. fixed income derivatives called New York Portfolio Clearing. NYPC offers risk management, clearing and settlement for U.S. fixed income securities and derivatives.[19]
In July of 2009, it was revealed that NYSE Euronext, along with the White House and Pentagon, had been the subject of "denial of service" cyber attacks. The exchange issued a statement saying that such an attack had not and could not impact the trading and data systems of NYSE Euronext markets, which operate on private networks. The exchange said it would continue to work with authorities on the situation.[20]
On Aug. 27, 2009, NYSE Euronext said it would buy NYFIX Inc. in a $144 million all-cash transaction to bolster its trading technology. NYSE Technologies, Inc. (a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext), will acquire the New York-based company at $1.675 per share, roughly a 95 percent premium over NYFIX's most recent 86 cents-per-share closing price.[21]
On May 12, 2010, NYSE Euronext said that it would terminate its contract with LCH.Clearnet and start clearing its trades in-house.[22]
In June 2010, NYSE Euronext sold a trading platform to the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). Polish Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad said earlier in June that the WSE was in talks with a strategic partner that may, after the company's initial public offering planned for November, buy a minority stake in the exchange from the Treasury.[23]
In July 2010, the exchange doubled the number of electronic market makers, so called e-specialists, in 650 options classes. Interactive Brokers Group unit Timber Hill, Integral Derivatives, Wolverine Trading, Susquehanna Securities and Morgan Stanley joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS AG, Citigroup Inc., Barclays PLC, and Citadel, which had served as e-specialists since February.[24]
In July 2010, the exchange launched a new London-based securities market, NYSE Euronext London.[25] Similar to its existing Continental Europe venue, the new launch aims to attract international issuers looking to list in London. NYSE Euronext London offers international issuers the opportunity to list shares and depositary receipts on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority. In addition, issuers will benefit from access to a broad investor base and having their securities trade on NYSE Euronext’s Universal Trading Platform that connects all its European securities markets. This provides international issuers access to the largest equity market in Europe with a combined market capitalization of 3.3 trillion euro and over 6 billion euro of equity securities traded daily.[26]
Also in July of 2010, NYSE Euronext announced it would develop Europe's first electronic platform for trading corporate bonds. The pan-Europen Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) was to be done in response to specifications issued by the Cassiopeia Committee on Apr. 26, 2010.[27]
In early August 2010, CEO Duncan Niederauer said expansion of the exchange group's U.S. derivatives business would likely be delayed until 2011 due to a regulatory logjam in response to the May 6 flash crash and the financial reform bill signed into law in July. Niederauer said it may be January before its U.S. futures arm can launch new interest-rate products because regulators have to first approve its plans for a new clearinghouse.[28]
In early February 2011, Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext announced that they were in "advanced talks" to merge.[29] The proposed deal would give Deutsche Boerse's shareholders 60 percent control and create a global exchange "behemoth" with more than $20 trillion in annual trading volume.[30]
On April 1, 2011, Nasdaq OMX and ICE made a counter-offer to acquire NYSE Euronext for $11.3 billion, a 19 percent premium over the price proposed by Deutsche Boerse.[31] As part of the proposal, ICE would purchase NYSE Euronext’s derivatives businesses, and NASDAQ OMX would retain NYSE Euronext’s remaining businesses, including the NYSE Euronext stock exchanges in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon, as well as the U.S. options business. ICE and NASDAQ OMX would continue to operate as separate businesses.[32] NYSE Euronext continued to rebuff repeated takeover attempts from Nasdaq OMX and ICE, maintaining that their counter-offer did not "provide compelling value" and had "unacceptable execution risk." [33]
In July 2011, Deutsche Boerse won shareholder support for its $9 billion merger with NYSE Euronext, clearing one of the biggest hurdles to the merger. More than 80 percent of the outstanding shares of Deutsche Boerse approved the tender offer.[34]
On Aug. 1, 2011, NYSE Euronext made a strategic acquisition of provider of market access products Metabit in an effort to accelerate growth in Asia. It was announced that Metabit would operate as a product line within the NYSE Technologies portfolio. The transaction was expected to close in third quarter of 2011. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.[35]
In January of 2013, Russell Indexes and NYSE Euronex announced a global alliance that would span three distinct NYSE Euronext business lines and multiple geographies, as well as several facets of Russell’s global index business. The agreement included the transition of RussellTick, an index feed for real-time, intra-day values for the Russell family of indexes in the U.S. and globally, to NYSE Technologies’ Global Index Feed (GIF) protocol and extensive global distribution. Approximately $3.9 trillion in assets are currently benchmarked to the Russell Indexes globally. The alliance also included a commitment to develop additional joint global services and products, such as new index-based options.[36]
On August 27, 2010, NYSE Euronext's U.S. data center in Mahwah, N.J. completed the migration of more than 4,500 equities issues listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Amex. NYSE Euronext completed the transition to Mahwah of NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex options, as well as NYSE Arca equities, in April of 2011.[37]
Jeffrey Sprecher became the CEO of NYSE Euronext when the Intercontinental Exchange bought NYSE Euronext in December of 2013. He took over that position from Duncan Niederauer, who became NYSE Euronext's president.
Dominique Cerutti had been with NYSE Euronext since December 2009. He became president, deputy CEO and head of Global Technology in January 2010, replacing former deputy CEO Jean-Francois Théodore.
Other former senior executives included:
Mary L. Brienza, Executive Vice President & General Auditor
Vincent Van Dessel, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Euronext Brussels
John K. Halvey, Group Executive Vice President & General Counsel
Luis Laginha de Sousa, Chairman & CEO of Euronext Lisbon
Catherine Langlais, Executive Legal Director & General Counsel
Roland Bellegarde, Group Executive Vice President & Head of European Execution
Jan-Michiel Hessels, chairman of Euronext’s supervisory board, was appointed as chairman of NYSE Euronext following the merger, with NYSE Group chairman Marshall Carter becoming deputy chairman.
Contract Volume
NYSE Euronext was ranked as the world's fourth-largest derivatives exchange by contract volume in 2012, maintaining their position from 2010, according to the Futures Industry Association's annual survey of the world's leading derivatives exchanges.[38]
According to the 2012 FIA report, the number of contracts traded on NYSE Euronext fell by 14.5 percent in 2012 to 1.95 billion contracts, ranking it between the National Stock Exchange of India and the Korea Exchange.[39]
Year Total Annual Volume* Percent Change
2012 1,951,376,420 (-) 14.5%
2011 2,283,472,810 (+) 6.0%
2010 2,154,742,282 (+) 24.6%
2009 1,729,965,293 --
Exchange Volume Percent Change
NYSE Liffe Europe 955,802,220 (-) 16.8%
NYSE Amex Options 564,814,869 (-) 8.7%
NYSE Arca Options 411,936,938 (-) 16.8%
NYSE Liffe U.S. 18,822,393 (-) 9.9%
NYSE Euronext 1,951,376,420 (-) 14.5%
NYSE Group Companies
NYSE Group, formed in connection with the March 2006 merger of the NYSE and Archipelago is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and related information products and services.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the world's largest and most liquid cash equities exchange. For 215 years, the NYSE has facilitated capital formation, serving individual and institutional investors, the trading community and listed companies. As of Dec. May 2013, 2,949 issuers, which include operating companies, closed-end funds and exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), were listed on the NYSE.[40] The NYSE operates a hybrid market in which orders are electronically transmitted for execution. Specialists on the trading floor are charged with maintaining fair, orderly and continuous trading markets in specific stocks. Floor brokers act as agents on the trading floor to facilitate primarily large or complicated orders.
NYSE Arca was the first open, all-electronic stock exchange in the United States, with one of the leading market positions in the trading of exchange-listed securities and ETFs. NYSE Arca is also an exchange for trading equity options. Through NYSE Arca, customers can trade approximately 8,875 equity securities and more than 152,000 option contracts. NYSE Arca's trading platforms link traders to multiple U.S. market centers. The technological capabilities of NYSE Arca's trading systems, combined with its trading rules, have allowed NYSE Arca to create a large pool of liquidity. During 2006, on an average trading day, over 822 million shares, valued at over $28.6 billion, were traded through NYSE Arca's trading platforms.
NYSE Arca Options
NYSE Arca options exchange is a hybrid options market that combines the Arca trading platform with the trading floors of the former Pacific Exchange in San Francisco and the former American Stock Exchange (Amex).
NYSE MKT
NYSE AMEX Options
NYSE Amex Options was formed when NYSE acquired the American Stock Exchange (Amex) in January 2008. It trades options on domestic stocks, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), broad-based, industry sector and international indexes, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and HOLDRS. In addition to conventional options, it also trades LEAPS and equity and index FLEX options.
NYSE Liffe U.S.
NYSE Liffe U.S., launched in 2008, is NYSE Euronext's U.S.-based futures market. NYSE Liffe's initial products are futures on gold and silver, a franchise bought from CME early in 2008 (the contracts were part of the CBOT's precious metals complex).[41] NYSE Liffe U.S. initially cleared the precious metals complex trades at the CME Groupthrough the end of the first quarter of 2009 and then switched clearing over to the Options Clearing Corporation on March 30 , 2009.[42]
On March 10, 2010, NYSE Euronext announced that it sold a significant minority ownership stake in NYSE Liffe U.S. to six trading firms and liquidity providers: Citadel Securities, DRW Ventures LLC (an affiliate of DRW Trading Group), GETCO, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. NYSE Euronext remained the largest shareholder in NYSE Liffe U.S., managing the exchange’s daily operations. NYSE Liffe U.S. will continue to operate under the supervision of a separate Board of Directors, chaired by James J. McNulty, former CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.[43]
NYSE Liffe US introduced equity indexes in September 8, 2009. The exchange launched futures on the MSCI benchmark indices such as: MSCI EAFE, MSCI Emerging Markets and MSCI USA.[44]
In April 7, 2010, the NYSE Euronext announced plans to launch a suite of interest rate futures contracts in the third quarter 2010 to directly compete for market share with CME Group and ELX on NYSE Liffe U.S. The short- and long-term interest contracts include Eurodollar futures, as well as 2-year, 5-year, 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury futures. Options on these futures are expected to be launched in fourth-quarter 2010.[45] Trades will be cleared at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. [46]
Launching Eurodollar futures is not new to NYSE Euronext, which offered a version of Eurodollars in 2003. That product failed, however, when Euronext could not force regulatory action that would have allowed firms to shift open interest positions from CME Group to Euronext.
Euronext Companies
Euronext, a relatively new financial entity when compared to some of the stalwarts in the industry, was formed on Sept. 22, 2000. Euronext was the first genuinely cross-border exchange organization. Following the merger of the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels exchanges in 2000, Euronext acquired the London-based derivatives market, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, and merged with the Portuguese exchange, BVLP, in 2002. As a result, Euronext now operates regulated cash and derivatives markets in Belgium, France, the UK (derivatives only), the Netherlands and Portugal. NYSE Euronext now refers to all of its European derivatives markets as Liffe.
Euronext has integrated its constituent markets based on a horizontal market model designed to incorporate the individual strengths and assets of each local market. This business model covers technological integration, the reorganization of activities into cross-border, strategic business units and the harmonization of market rules and the regulatory framework.
Euronext’s IT integration was completed in 2004, when a four-year migration plan resulted in harmonized IT platforms for cash trading (NSC) and derivatives trading (LIFFE CONNECT), providing market participants a single point of access to trading. Euronext’s IT structure was rationalized in 2005 with the creation of Atos Euronext Market Solutions (AEMS), an IT services-related vehicle between Euronext and Atos Origin.
The company formed Alternext in 2005 to help small and mid-class companies in the Eurozone seek financing. In April 2014 NYSE Euronext announced that it would wind down Alternext Amsterdam by the end of the year, or as soon as possible thereafter. The exchangae said that market participants in Amsterdam clearly preferred the regulated Euronext market over Alternext. [47]
Liffe is one of the largest futures and options exchanges in the world. It operates a globally distributed central order book for its products through the LIFFE CONNECT electronic trading platform and, since October 2005, Bclear, which is a service that allows transactions that are executed off-exchange to be brought to Liffe for trade confirmation administration and clearing subject to the rules of the exchange.
During the first 10 months of 2007, Liffe volume totaled 799 million contracts, up 29 percent from a comparable period in 2006. Aggregate open interest across all products as of the end of October was 83.8 million contracts.
NYSE Euronext Retail Liquidity Program
On July 3, 2012, NYSE Euronext received approval form the SEC to establish a Retail Liquidity Program, a market solution for improving retail equities trading order flow by increasing cost savings and improving prices for individual investors. The execution alternative differentiates itself from other platforms by publicly indicating when price improving liquidity is available in the markets.The program, expected to begin later this summer, will direct trades from retail investors onto a special platform where trading firms will bid to offer them the best price. The result will create two new classes of market participants:
Retail Liquidity Providers (RLPs), services that would be required to price improvements for certain retail orderflow in a form of interest that is better than the best protected bid/offer. RLPs would receive certain economic benefits in exchange for meeting obligations.
Retail Member Organizations (RMOs), organizations that would be eligible to submit retail orders to the Exchange.
NYSE will disseminate an indication whenever there is liquidity available at a price better that the PBBO to the Consolidated Quote System and its proprietary feeds. The exchange plans to send out semi-blind messages called “retail liquidity identifiers,” or liquidity flags, to participants. The messages divulge symbol and side, but not size or price. Market Makers will be allowed to post hidden quotes in sub-penny increments that may only be traded against by qualified retail brokers.[49]
See More: NYSE Retail Liquidity Program
NYSE Euronext Business Breakdown by Revenue
Based on third-quarter 2007 non-GAAP net revenues (excluding activity assessment fees, and liquidity payments, routing and clearing fees) NYSE Euronext revenues from its primary business activities are represented below as a percentage of total net revenues[50]:
Derivatives trading accounts for 25 percent
European cash trading accounts for 18 percent
U.S. cash trading accounts for 12 percent
Market data accounts for 13 percent
Listing accounts for 12 percent
The NYSE Euronext board of directors is elected annually and made up of a majority of independent directors, an independent non-executive chairman and deputy chairman, plus a CEO and deputy CEO. Current members include:[51]
Duncan Niederauer, Chief Executive Officer
Dominique Cerutti, President & Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Jan-Michiel Hessels, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Marshall Carter, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors
André Bergen
Ellyn L. Brown
Patricia M. Cloherty
Sir George Cox
Sylvain Hefes
Duncan M. McFarland
James J. McNulty
Luís Palha da Silva
Robert G. Scott
Jackson Tai
Rijnhard van Tets
Sir Brian Williamson
Each of NYSE Euronext’s markets is regulated in accordance with local requirements. The merger was negotiated in such a way that no additional requirements were necessary for listed companies, in particular for European issuers who had been guaranteed the maintenance of their own regulatory framework and protection against the application of American law, in particular the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.[52][53]
In July 2007, the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration operations of the New York Stock Exchange combined with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) to form the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).[54] FINRA, the securities industry's largest non-governmental regulatory organization, is responsible for conducting the regulatory oversight of the more than 5,000 securities firms and 666,000 registered representatives in the United States.
Flash Crash Response
On July 15, 2010, NYSE Arca filed with the SEC to introduce a new price collar designed to safeguard the execution of market orders. The new collar will prevent market orders to buy stock from executing or routing to another trading venue at a price above the collar.[55] Conversely, market orders to sell will not execute or route at a price below the trading collar. The collar for issues priced at $25 or less will be 10 percent above or below the last trade price; for issues priced above $25 up to and including $50, the collar will be 5 percent; and for issues above $50, the collar will be 3 percent. These limits also will help prevent erroneous trades from inadvertently triggering the individual-stock circuit breakers introduced last month, and are consistent with those in the newly implemented rules concerning the cancellation of erroneous trades.
The collar was the latest in a series of steps[56] by the exchange aimed at protecting investors against a repeat of the May 6, 2010, record decline in the stock market, which came to be known as the "flash crash."
Other actions:
A pilot program of circuit breakers for individual issues was first rolled out on June 11 for stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500.
An expansion of the above pilot program to cover 344 exchange traded products plus all stocks in the Russell 1000 index is planned for later this month, pending SEC approval.
All markets have proposed amendments to existing rules concerning clearly erroneous trades, to make the cancellation of such trades -- when they occur in connection with an individual stock circuit breaker -- transparent and predictable for market participants.
NYSE Arca has revised its market order routing to further enhance its interaction with the New York Stock Exchange when a Liquidity Replenishment Point has been reached and other individual-stock safeguards imposed by primary markets.
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↑ Nasdaq OMX, ICE Raise Stakes for NYSE Euronext in Counterbid. Securities Technology Monitor.
↑ Press Release. Nasdaq.
↑ NYSE Again Rejects Nasdaq-ICE Bid. Nasdaq.
↑ Deutsche Borse Wins Shareholder Approval of NYSE Euronext Deal. The New York Times.
↑ Press Release. NYSE.
↑ Press Release. Bloomberg.
↑ NYSE Euronext finishes move to Mahwah data center. Reuters.
↑ Jan-Jun 2012 Volume Trends. Futures Industry Association.
↑ FI 2012 Volume survey. Futures Industry Association.
↑ Listings Directory. NYSE Euronext.
↑ NYSE Moving to Boost Competition with CME. Chicago Business.
↑ OCC News Summer 2009. OCC.
↑ Press Release:NYSE Liffe U.S. Completes Sale of Ownership Stake to Leading Market Participants. NYSE Euronext.
↑ NYSE Liffe US. NYSE Euronext.
↑ NYSE To Launch Interest-Rate Futures in Third Quarter. WSJ.com.
↑ NYSE plans to launch interest rate futures. Financial Times.
↑ Euronext to wind down Alternext Amsterdam. NYSE Euronext.
↑ NYSE Euronext to Launch Retail Liquidity Program. NYSE.
↑ SEC Approves NYSE Retail Liquidity Program. Traders Magazine.
↑ "Record Year for NYSE Euronext in 2007”. NYSE Euronext.
↑ Euronext Board of Directors. Euronext.
↑ "AlterNews, July 2007”. Euronext.
↑ "NYSE Group and Euronext N.V. Agree to a Merger of Equals". NYSE Euronext.
↑ News Release. FINRA.
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Illegal Russian Torrent Site Reviews Our New Album
You guys familiar with rutracker.org? We weren’t either, but apparently they’re familiar with our album. In fact, if you wanted to, you can download a Russian bit torrent of our album right now, right here . Which, you know, cool—I don’t think our album was going to be doing gangbusters on the Putin Top 200 anytime soon anyway. But, just think, there’s some Russian guy (or gal) out there, jamming out to Kayfabe or Narcan Atomizer, head-banging their fur hats right off and right into a pot of some steamy fresh borscht.
It probably isn’t fair that I think everyone in Russia looks and sounds just like Zangief or Ivan Drago, but that’s what American popular culture from my childhood told me. So, I imagine a growly voice from a bearded, ‘roided out man half in the bag from some wodka and a little light-headed from wrestling mutated Chernobyl werewolves narrating the following review which we’ve pushed through the google translator:
“Still in the establishment of full-fledged rock band has original, intelligent design. 4-5 people playing together, creating a microcosm, a little universe, where there is space, a collision of polar opinions, development. Van-man-bands and the-man-bands (as in this case), so the potential is most often do not have their grandiose plans sooner or later (and here - right) run into a deficit of ideas. And so it happened at Maxxout. Well, pokorpeli, ponazapisyvali, thought it was steep - on his website even called themselves "the best hard-rock band of the last decade." And that, really? Amateur about kuhonnnogo-level.
The PS Many thanks for the introduction. The enemies need to know in person.”
I think it’s saying it’s a good album but too ambitious maybe? They definitely didn’t like the tagline joke we have on this here website: “the debut Album from MaxXouT the greatest hard rock band in ten years!” I swear, it’s a joke! We know we’re the fourth greatest hard rock band in ten years! And I don’t know what a van-man-band is, but holy shit, I hope I get to be in a van-man-band someday--that sounds bad ass.
I do have to say that last line is a little chilling: “The enemies need to know in person”. What the hell does that mean? Who is the enemy? Is it us? Should I stop typing now? Is that a knock I hear at the door?
I play all of the instruments.
Russians Love to Maxx Out!
Virgil, Pro Wrestling Superstar
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Home » eCommerce, IRCTC, Yebhi
Yebhi.com To Manage IRCTC's E-Commerce Platform
Apurva Chaudhary
By Apurva Chaudhary apurva@medianama.com July 18, 2013
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has partnered with Yebhi.com for managing E-commerce platform. Yebhi will be responsible for managing everything from customer experience from the website user interface to the final delivery of the product to the customer. The platform will be deployed by Yebhi in next 60 days, as per the tender.
With this partnership IRCTC will be just lending out their brand name to Yebhi. Essentially, Yebhi will benefit from the brand name for customer reach as it will get access to tier 2, tier 3, tier 4, and tier 5 cities in the country, which have so far stayed aloof from the E-commerce platforms. In return, IRCTC gets to diversify its business to E-Commerce.
IRCTC claims that it has more than 2 crore registered users and gets close to 1.2 million daily visits generating 180 million transactions every year. Essentially, IRCTC is the largest E-Commerce platform, however, that could be attributed to its monopoly in the railway ticketing business. What IRCTC has smartly done, is create wallets, which allow users to put in money. The idea behind expanding to other segments is probably to encourage people to use that wallet base.
In March 2013, IRCTC had released had floated a tender to shortlist a white label solution provider for its E-Commerce platform. The tender seemed to a bit rigid with a lot of restrictions. It appeared that IRCTC wanted to partner with companies who could handle a large scale operation.
Since Yebhi has been the choice of E-Commerce company to handle IRCTC’s platform,Yebhi has minimum annual turnover of Rs 40 crore from B2C e-commerce business in the last financial year, as required by the tender. Another thing to wonder is how is Yebhi going to handle delivery of product within 7 days to tier 4 and tier 5 cities, which is a requirement by IRCTC, failing which a penalty of 4% of the product value will be levied. However, it appears that since last 2 years, Yebhi handles its own logistics, giving them greater access to control the delivery time. Yebhi also has logistic partners such as Aramex, DTDC, FedEx, among others. It needs to be seen how Yebhi handles its own logistics and its partners to manage product delivery within seven days.
In 2011, E-commerce company Infibeam, had partnered with the Government of Gujarat and sign an MoU to setup Vishwagram Bazaar, a connected retail platform for fair price shops and village entrepreneurs under their own brand name.
– Why Is IRCTC Venturing Into E-Commerce?
– The Lowdown on IRCTC’s E-Commerce Tender: Commission Structure, Responsibilities, Selection Criteria & More
Mahindra Comviva Inks Africa Content Deal With Gondwana-City Productions; Launches Infotainment Portal
BoxTV Adds Bhojpuri Content To Its Catalogue
rohit July 24, 2013
Hello yebhi , You can migrate your platform to hybris frame work for better customisation and feature and you can increase online sale as well , I will help you to do that . I am available on skype - rohiet.shanyal or mail me - rohit.sanyal@ushacomm.com
Observer July 19, 2013
Oops.. Yebhi has pathetic customer service track record (& they are amongst the top spammers!). Hope IRCTC's service doesnt deteriorate further!
Regarding Yebhi fulfilling delivery clause - I assume not all products would be available for tier 4 and 5 cities.
Sundar Lakshmanan July 18, 2013
Seriously, IRCTC? It makes sense ONLY if their "sibling rival" inside the Indian Railways' family wants to grab the massive ticket booking pie edging IRCTC out to look for other markets. (IRCTC has already been edged out of a number of catering contracts and hence it has started catering to corporates.) Else, it's a totally misplaced priority, I guess.
Delhi HC restrains e-commerce platforms from selling products of ‘Direct Selling Entities’
GoQii and Flipkart settle dispute, but questions remain
Govt to finalise rules governing online pharmacies on June 10
Walmart had told US govt that India’s FDI in e-commerce rules were ‘regressive’: report
In its first investment in India, Facebook puts an undisclosed amount into Meesho
The E-Commerce Council of India inducts 9 new members, including IndiaMart and 1mg
CCI formally announces market survey on e-commerce; hotels, retailers, payment and e-commerce cos to be part of survey
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GOQii Founder Vishal Gondal on the problem with deep discounting and why they’ve sued Flipkart
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Scattered thunderstorms. High 86F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..
A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds light and variable.
Williamson applies for grant to remove river hazard
By Terry L. May Staff Writer
The Williamson City Council took another step during its meeting last week toward correcting a water hazard that exists along the Tug Fork River.
John Burchett, president of the Williamson Planning and Zoning Board, presented the council with preliminary plans to minimize the dangerous hydraulic conditions created by the low-water dam that ensures water levels in the Tug Fork remain high enough to supply the city’s water plant. Along with the study concept, he requested the council to allow the submission of a grant application, which, if approved, would fund the entire project.
Plans are underway to have the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River designated as a water trail from its headwaters in Welch to it confluence with the Levisa Fork near Fort Gay. According to Councilman Randall Price, the dam at the Williamson Water Plant is the only obstacle in that path. Over the past few years, river floats and races have become very popular in Mingo County.
“Things are coming together,” Burchett said in regards to the dam project for which an environment study and preliminary design phase began last year. “The Big Sandy Crayfish study was completed and they found no crayfish we had to worry about. We do have a preliminary design that has been prepared and we do have the availability to apply for a large pool of grant money that has become available to the state of West Virginian through the Office of Surface Mining and Abandoned Mine Lands.”
He said the state will receive $25 million for economic development initiatives. Burchett said the grant the board has prepared asks for the full funding for the construction of the project, which comes in at $687,945. If approved, the grant will not require any local matching funds.
“This is a worst-case number and that is what we asked for,” Burchett said. “That is assuming we have to go out and buy all of the rock for this project. We hope and expect there will be a highway project or a surface mine operating nearby were we can pull this rock from. That number comes way down if we don’t have to buy the rock.”
The design by Summit Engineering calls for the project to be 200 feet long running from the dam towards the Second Street Bridge.
“It is quite a bit larger in scale than what we had originally anticipated,” Burchett said. “It is on a 5 percent grade, that’s why it runs so long. The reason they had to do that was to bring the velocity of the water to an interesting section of ripples instead of something that is going to be really challenging for people.”
The structure will be a series of rock ribs coming off a 25-feet-wide water flume created in the center of the river. This flume will allow for recreational watercraft such as kayaks, canoes, johnboats and floats to pass through Williamson unhindered.
“Between each of these ribs will be a fishing opportunity and we hope to build a really nice fishery into this because we are going to change the good fishery that is there now and we want to leave something better,” he said.
The base of the flume will be a slight grade and the rock ribs will be placed 25 feet apart. They will step down along the flume to create gentler currents eliminating the current dangers imposed by the dam.
“It will be really attractive,” Mayor Charlie Hatfield said. “As it comes down the slope, the water will be terraced and will look like it is coming down steps. It will be attractive on its own as well as functional.”
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The project is based on the Frankenmuth (Michigan) Dam Fish Passage project which was designed to slow the current of the Cass River in order to allow walleye and other species of non-jumping fish to swim upstream passing over a low water dam. In addition to slowing the river, the passage has created fishing points and has also created natural breeding areas.
While the Tug Fork project is still in the preliminary stages and has not passed regulatory approval, the Fish Passage was designed to comply with standards set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We may have to do some tweaking based on requirements or recommendations from the Corps or other agencies such as the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection or the Department of Natural Resources,” Burchett said.
He was set to meet with biologists from the state DNR on Wednesday afternoon, however, as of presstime results of that meeting were not available.
Depending on the closing of the grant period, if the funding is approved and finding a low water flow period through the river, Burchett said it may be as long as next summer before actual construction could commence.
John Burchett
Low Water
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Wildfire hitting Canada’s oil sands heart gets closer to major plants
Cecilia Jamasmie | May 18, 2016 | 3:25 am Energy Canada Europe
Screenshot from BBC News video via YouTube
A massive wildfire raging through the northern part of Canada’s Alberta has swelled in size and surged north of Fort McMurray, destroying an evacuated oil sands camp on Tuesday and it is projected to encroach on major facilities shortly.
The flames consumed a 665-room oil-sands work camp north of the city, the Blacksands Executive Lodge, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said Tuesday. The lodge is owned by Horizon North Logistics Inc. of Calgary.
Image courtesy of Nairaland.com
Officials said Wednesday they expected the fire to move east towards plants owned by Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) and its Syncrude subsidiary, CBC News reports. They added the operations themselves are unlikely to be damaged by the flames as they are well isolated by wide barriers of cleared firebreak and gravel, and are employing their own firefighting crews.
By 6:00 am local time Wednesday, the fire had grown to approximately 422,898 hectares in size.
“It’s pretty significant growth,” provincial wildfire official Travis Fairweather said in a televised interview with CBC. “We’ve just been seeing really extreme fire conditions over the last couple of days. It’s been really burning intensely and the winds have been carrying it.”
The wildfire, which destroyed whole sections of Fort McMurray earlier this month, is also expected to reach the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan.
Image © Cameron Strandberg | Flickr CC by 2.0
So far, it has forced more than 88,000 people to leave the area, with about 8,000 of them evacuating Monday night as the resurgent fire shifted directions, posing fresh threats to oil sands complexes and worker camps.
About a million barrels per day of oil sands crude production has been shut down as a precaution and because of disruptions to regional pipelines. Much of that production remains offline.
But according to the Conference Board of Canada, such outages will have a “minimal” impact on the country’s economic growth. In a report released Tuesday, the Ottawa-based think tank said the while May production will be hit, the industry will likely make up that lost output next month, assuming operations resume.
Read all official updates on the wildfire.
In recent days, oil sands workers had begun returning to the camps north of Fort McMurray, as companies wanted to resume normal production. But this week’s evacuations and the volatile nature of the blaze have raised concerns that the region may suffer a prolonged production outage, which has helped to disrupt global oil supplies and prices.
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Bristol Blues left trying to fill holes in starting rotation after losing key pitchers
Published on Monday, 8 July 2019 19:28
Written by ZACK CARPENTER
@ZACKCARPENTERBP
BRISTOL - Two of the top three established starting pitchers on the Bristol Blues’ roster, and another exciting arm just getting going with the team, went down with injuries last week and were lost for the summer, forcing the club to scramble to find replacements.
Jack Moore (shoulder tightness) and Arjun Thakar (back tightness) had been dealing well consistently, Moore as the team’s No. 1 starter and Thakar one of the FCBL leaders in strikeouts, and MLB Draft pick Ken Turner (back) pitched three solid innings in his lone start. Losing all three starters - plus losing reliever Ben DeLaubell (Army) due to his military service duties - has already been a difficult challenge to navigate.
The Blues slid lefty reliever Matt Shane of CCSU into a spot start last week, and as of now, the rotation projects to be Ryan Lauk, Mark Faello, James Judenis, Cam Van Hoorebeke and Shane. A sixth starter is to be determined, and Wes Lahey got his first shot to earn his way into that role permanently with a start Monday night.
“We’ve gotta find the sixth guy in the rotation,” Blues manager Ronnie Palmer said. “We like to give guys about a week’s rest because that’s what they get in college. Sometimes if we can extend it a little bit more, we will because they’re still out here every day. But we’ll get that figured out.”
As far as the starting rotation is concerned, losing Moore and Thakar is tough, as they had been two mainstays.
“Certainly losing those two hurts, but it’s not something that’s gonna decimate our season,” Palmer said. “Any time you lose guys who have been rotation guys since the beginning, that’s always tough to rebound from. Myself and the coaching staff are working hard to figure out who we should slide into some spots.”
The Blues got a terrific start from Shane last Monday, but over the weekend he surrendered seven runs (three earned) in his second start, a 13-10 loss to North Shore on Sunday for the club’s third consecutive loss. The club is hopeful reliever Lahey’s first start will see similar success to Shane’s first outing.
“Wes was a good addition for us,” Lauk said. “He fit right in no questions asked. He accepted his role and just went out there and did him.”
At the end of last week, the Blues brought in three new relief pitchers to attempt to certify the bullpen with the loss of DeLaubell and the insertion of Shane and Lahey into the mix of starters.
Right-hander Tyler Boisvert (Post University) and righty Anthony Marrero and lefty Garrett Coe (both UConn signees) each got their opportunities in their first Blues action Thursday and Sunday.
Boisvert and Marrero struggled, as Boisvert allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout in just two innings, and Marrero gave up five earned runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in two innings.
Coe pitched two innings of relief on Sunday, giving up one earned run on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts.
The Blues will be hopeful all three will settle into their new confines and get comfortable as the rest of the summer wears on, similar to how many of the relievers who have been with the team since day one eventually gained more confidence as bullpen arms. Boisvert, Marrero and Coe are also all candidates to be slid into the starting rotation.
“I think those guys will give us some good stuff out of the pen,” Palmer said. “You’ve got those two guys going to UConn, and that’s obviously a fantastic college baseball program. Those two will give it to us, and Boisvert comes from a quality D-II program that has won back to back division titles. We’re fortunate to get those three guys this late in the summer, especially coming from competitive programs.”
Zack Carpenter can be reached at (860) 973-1811 or zcarpenter@bristolpress.com
Posted in New Britain Herald, Bristol Blues on Monday, 8 July 2019 19:28. Updated: Monday, 8 July 2019 19:31.
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Diet Plans for Diarrhoea in Rajendra Place
Diet Plans for Diarrhoea in Rajendra Place, Diet Chart for Diarrhoea in Rajendra Place, Diarrhoea Diet Counseling in Rajendra Place, Dietitian for Diarrhoea in Rajendra Place
Occasional diarrhea is nothing to worry about. The causes of diarrhea can range from a stomach flu to a specific meal or ingredient you ate that didn't sit well. Because certain foods can worsen symptoms, it's good to know the foods you should eat when you have diarrhea — and what you should avoid.
You want to eat plain, simple foods, especially in the first 24 hours, says Peter Higgins, MD, PhD, the director of the inflammatory bowel disease program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "It is best to eat thicker, bland foods, including oatmeal, bananas, plain rice, and applesauce," he says.
Other bland foods that are easy to stomach include:
• Boiled potatoes
• Toast
• Plain crackers, such as saltines
• Pretzels
• Baked chicken without any skin or fat
The foods with probiotics — often called "good" bacteria — may shorten the duration of a bout of diarrhea.
Probiotics have become very popular and are found in a number of foods, including:
• Yogurt
• Kombucha
• Kefir
• Sauerkraut
• Kimchi
Avoid These Foods When You Have Diarrhea
As important as it is to know what to eat when you have diarrhea, you should also know which foods to avoid. Certain foods can travel through your intestines very quickly and aggravate your digestion, or worsen diarrhea in other ways.
Avoid the following for diarrhea relief:
Fatty foods : These include foods that are fried, greasy, or covered in gravy, which can make diarrhea worse.
Milk, butter, ice cream, and cheese : Even if the diarrhea isn't caused by lactose intolerance — a difficulty processing lactose, a sugar found in dairy products — stay away from these foods when you have diarrhea. You may be temporarily sensitive to dairy products, even if you usually have no problem with them. Probiotic-rich yogurt may be the one exception to this rule, as some studies have shown probiotics help rebalance intestinal flora and could shorten the duration of a bout of diarrhea.
Alcohol and sodas : When you have diarrhea, you want to steer clear of foods and beverages that cause you to lose fluids. Alcohol can act as a diuretic, meaning it's dehydrating, and should be avoided, Dr. Higgins says. Sodas with high-fructose corn syrup can also pose a problem if you have diarrhea. According to a study published in the June 2017 issue of Healthcare, large quantities of fructose can overwhelm your digestive system and lead to gas, bloating, or diarrhea.
Sorbitol and other artificial sweeteners Some people find that artificial sweeteners have a laxative effect on their digestive system. If you have diarrhea, it's best to pass on sugarless candy and gum, diet soft drinks, and sugar substitutes. According to Harvard Medical School's Harvard Health newsletter, consuming sugars, including artificial ones, causes your intestines to produce more water and electrolytes, which can then loosen bowel movements and lead to diarrhea.
Foods that cause excess gas : It's important to eat generous amounts of fruits and vegetables every day. But when diarrhea strikes, you want to avoid choices that are likely to increase intestinal gas, such as cabbage, beans, broccoli, and cauliflower, until you're feeling better.
Foods that may be spoiled : Stay away from foods that may have been mishandled, including foods that have been out of the refrigerator for too long or improperly stored. Raw meat or fish can be problematic, too. Follow the old maxim, "When in doubt, throw it out," and you may save yourself some stomach upset.
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Commercial Fishing - Shark & Ray Fishing Photos, Pictures & Images
Image: 1 to 48 of 49 - Page: 1 2 NEXT>>
Tiger Sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) caught on set drum lines. Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia
Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) caught on set drum line. Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia
Dusky Shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), also known as Black Whaler and Bronze Whaler, which has been attacked by Tiger Sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier). Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia
Fisherman with dead caught Sharks. South Africa
Cape Fur Seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) and Kelp Gulls feeding on netted Fish behind a Hake Stern Trawler commercial fishing boat, whilst it is being pulled in. Cape Point, South Africa
Pelagic shark caught in a longline. Photo taken at Cape Point, South Africa
© Chris and Monique Fallows / OceanwideImages.com
Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias), with a stainless steel fishing hook in its mouth. Photo taken in False Bay, South Africa
Shark jaw products for sale. Photo taken in Madagascar, near Africa
Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias), with a damaged dorsel fin. Photo taken in False Bay, South Africa
Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias), showing satelite tag damage to the dorsal fin. Photo taken in False Bay, South Africa
Local fisherman releasing a Ragged-tooth Shark (Carcharias taurus), also known as Sand Tiger Shark and Grey Nurse Shark, caught in a beach seine net. False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
Local fisherman releasing a Ragged-tooth Shark (Carcharias taurus), also known as Sand Tiger Shark and Grey Nurse Shark, from a beach seine net. Photo taken in False Bay, South Africa
Bronze Whaler Sharks (Carcharhinus brachyurus), also known as Copper Shark and Cocktail Shark, Rays and various Fish caught in beach seine net. Cape Town, South Africa
Bronze Whaler Shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) caught in beach seine net, being measured, tagged and released. Also known as Copper Shark and Cocktail Shark. Cape Town, South Africa
Bronze Whaler Shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) caught in beach seine net, being tagged and released. Also known as Copper Shark and Cocktail Shark. Cape Town, South Africa
Bronze Whaler Shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) caught in beach seine net. Also known as Copper Shark and Cocktail Shark. Cape Town, South Africa
Bronze Whaler Shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) dorsal fin in beach shallows. Also known as Copper Shark and Cocktail Shark. Cape Town, South Africa
White-spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari) caught in gill net. Also known as Bonnet Skate, Duckbill ray and Spotted Eagle Ray. St Marie Island, Madagascar. Also found in Northern Australian waters.
Bronze Whaler Shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus), caught in a traditional seine net and released by fisherman. Muizenberg beach, Cape Town, South Africa.
Stock Photo ID: 38T5255-09
Cape Gannets (Morus capensis) feeding behind fishing trawler. Cape Point, South Africa. These Gannets have also been sighted in Victoria, Australia.
Dead Pacific Sharpnose Sharks (Rhizoprionodon longurio) on the deck of a longlining shark fishing panga. Sea of Cortez, Mulege, Baja, Mexico.
Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) in beach shallows. Caught by Shark fishermen on a long-line. Holbox Island, Mexico.
Spotted Eagle Ray wings (Aetobatus narinari) drying in the sun after being caught by fishermen. Holbox Island, Mexico.
Discarded heads of Pacific Sharpnose Sharks (Rhizoprionodon longurio), Smooth Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna zygaena), numerous Guitarfishes and a filleted Butterfly Ray. Mulege, Sea of Cortez, Mexico.
Mako and other shark and ray heads discarded by shark fishermen and gill netters in Guerero Negro, Baja, Mexico.
Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna zygaena), killed by fisherman at the Port Hughes Jetty, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.
© Michael Patrick O'Neill / OceanwideImages.com
Packaged shark fins for shark fin soup, for sale in a Wal-Mart in the city of Nanning, Guangxi, South Western China.
Gray Reef Shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) with a fishing hook in mouth. Also known as Grey Reef Shark, Black-vee Whaler and Longnose Blacktail Shark. Found throughout the tropical Indo-West and Central Pacific.
Gray Reef Shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) with two fishing hooks in mouth. Also known as Grey Reef Shark, Black-vee Whaler and Longnose Blacktail Shark. Found throughout the tropical Indo-West and Central Pacific.
Two pelagic Thresher Shark (Alopias pelagicus) heads and small fish for sale at a market in the Philippines.
Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) with a fishing hook protruding through lower jaw. Also known as Blue Whaler and Great Blue Shark. This oceanic Shark is found in tropical and temperate seas worldwide.
Whitetip Reef Shark (Triaenodon obesus) with fishing hooks in it's mouth. Photo taken in Hawaii, USA
Shark & Ray Fishing
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Home > Vol 9, No 58 > Fry
Published in Oncotarget V9N58, Jul 27, 2018
N6-methyladenosine contributes to cellular phenotype in a genetically-defined model of breast cancer progression
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Nate J. Fry, Brittany A. Law, Olga R. Ilkayeva, Kristen R. Carraway, Christopher L. Holley and Kyle D. Mansfield _
Nate J. Fry1, Brittany A. Law2, Olga R. Ilkayeva3, Kristen R. Carraway1, Christopher L. Holley2 and Kyle D. Mansfield1
1Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA
2Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
3Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27701, USA
Kyle D. Mansfield, email: mansfieldk@ecu.edu
Keywords: N6-methyladenosine; hypoxia; breast cancer; transformation; RNA modification
Received: May 22, 2018 Accepted: July 05, 2018 Published: July 27, 2018
The mRNA modification N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is involved in many post-transcriptional regulatory processes including mRNA stability and translational efficiency. However, it is also imperative to correlate these processes with phenotypic outputs during cancer progression. Here we report that m6A levels are significantly decreased in genetically-defined immortalized and oncogenically-transformed human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs), as compared with their primary cell predecessor. Furthermore, the m6A methyltransferase (METTL3) is decreased and the demethylase (ALKBH5) is increased in the immortalized and transformed cell lines, providing a possible mechanism for this basal change in m6A levels. Although the immortalized and transformed cells showed lower m6A levels than their primary parental cell line, overexpression of METTL3 and METTL14, or ALKBH5 knockdown to increase m6A levels in transformed cells increased proliferation and migration. Remarkably, these treatments had little effect on the immortalized cells. Together, these results suggest that m6A modification may be downregulated in immortalized cells as a brake against malignant progression. Finally, we found that m6A levels in the immortalized and transformed cells increased in response to hypoxia without corresponding changes in METTL3, METTL14 or ALKBH5 expression, suggesting a novel pathway for regulation of m6A levels under stress.
N6-methyladenosine contributes to cellular phenotype in a genetically-defined model of breast cancer progression | Fry | Oncotarget
For the United States in 2018, it is estimated that there will be over 250,000 new cases of breast cancer, resulting in 40,000 deaths [1]. Although the 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with localized breast cancer is nearly 99%, patients who present with stage IV metastatic breast cancer have a less than 30% survival rate [2, 3]. Gene expression profiles of breast cancer have been extensively studied, but they provide an incomplete picture of the biology driving this progression from localized, low-risk disease to aggressive metastatic phenotypes. New investigations of post-transcriptional and translational pathways that regulate gene expression in breast cancer cells are therefore needed to identify novel therapeutic targets for suppressing growth and metastasis of tumor cells.
Recently, the mRNA modification N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has been shown to be involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation and cancer progression. Decreases in m6A levels have been directly correlated to metastasis and poor patient prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma [4] and disease progression in cervical cancer [5]. However, experimental models focused on manipulating m6A levels have given conflicting results regarding the role of m6A in malignant progression. On one hand, loss of m6A through an increase in ALKBH5, an m6A demethylase, led to enhanced breast and glioblastoma cancer stem cell self-renewal and growth [6–8]. On the other hand, an increase in m6A driven by overexpression of the methyltransferase, METTL3, led to increased invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells [9], but inhibited growth of renal cell carcinoma cells [10]. Additionally, METTL3 has also been shown to promote translation in human lung cancer cells independent of its m6A methylation activity [9]. As the roles for m6A modifications in cancer begin to emerge, it will be important to understand the specific role that the m6A modification plays in different cancer types and at different stages in the development of tumors.
The m6A modification is the most abundant modification in mRNA [11]. This modification has been shown to be important for the stability and translational efficiency of mRNA [12–17], and is involved in the pluripotency of stem cells in embryonic development [18–20]. Methyltransferase-like (METTL)-3 and -14, as well as Wilms’ tumor associating protein (WTAP) form the m6A methyltransferase complex which modifies nascent pre-mRNA within the nucleus [21–25]. The enzymatically active component of the methyltransferase, METTL3, contains an S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) binding domain, and utilizes SAM as a substrate to methylate target mRNAs that contain a DRACH m6A consensus sequence, often found in 3′ UTR’s and around both start and stop codons [21, 26–29]. METTL14 lacks catalytic activity but participates in mRNA binding/targeting [30–32]. WTAP is responsible for the localization of the METTL3/14 complex to the nuclear speckle, and greatly enhances methyltransferase activity by bringing the methyltransferase to the pre-mRNA [21, 22]. m6A methylation of mRNA can be reportedly removed by alkylation repair homolog 5 (ALKBH5) and fat mass and obesity related protein (FTO). Interestingly, a recent study suggests that FTO can also demethylate N6,2′-O-dimethyladenosine (m6Am) raising questions about its preferred in vivo substrate [33].
Once an mRNA is methylated, it can be bound by the YTH family of RNA binding proteins, including YTHDF1, YTHDF2, and YTHDC1 [15, 34, 35]. The broader consequences of RNA methylation through the actions of these and other m6A RNA binding proteins are still being investigated. However, YTHDF2 has been shown to facilitate degradation of methylated mRNAs by transporting them to P bodies [15, 36–38]. Alternatively, binding of YTHDF1 increases translational efficiency of m6A methylated mRNA [16]. Lastly, YTHDC1 recruits splicing factors to regulate splicing of m6A methylated mRNA [39]. The interactions between these RNA binding proteins is not fully understood, and competition between them may yield different fates for the methylated mRNA and ultimately for the protein output.
As mentioned previously, m6A methylation of RNA has recently been correlated with a number of phenotypic changes in a variety of cancers including breast cancer [4–10]. Many of these phenotypic changes are the result of changing protein expression of either the m6A methyltransferases, demethylases or RNA binding proteins. These studies have shown that m6A has a functional significance in cancer, but there remain incomplete connections between m6A modifications and cancer cell phenotypes. For example, tumors can quickly outgrow their blood supply during cancer progression and they therefore must adapt to hypoxic conditions. Hypoxic breast cancer cells adapt to these conditions through Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF)-mediated angiogenesis [40]. Not only does HIF increase vascularization of the tumor to increase blood and oxygen supply, but it is also known to promote metastasis of the cells [41–43]. Interestingly, ALKBH5, an m6A demethylase, is also regulated by HIF [44]. Recently, it was reported that a HIF-regulated decrease in m6A through an increase in ALKBH5 and/or ZNF217 expression maintains pluripotency of breast cancer stem cells in several established breast cancer cell lines [7, 45]. Furthermore, we recently reported that hypoxia led to an increase in m6A mRNA levels in HEK-293T cells, leading to increased stability and recovery of translational efficiency after re-oxygenation [17]. Because hypoxia both regulates m6A levels and promotes metastasis in breast cancer cells, it is important to understand if m6A might have a role in hypoxia- induced breast cancer metastasis.
Our current study aimed to define the landscape of m6A modification during breast cancer development and progression. Because cancers have many diverse mutations and alterations to gene regulation, it has been difficult to pinpoint exactly which changes introduce aggressive phenotypic behavior. For this reason, we chose to use a genetically-defined breast cancer progression model for these studies. In this model, three cell types are utilized: primary Human Mammary Epithelial cells (HMECs), HMECs immortalized through the stable expression of hTERT, p53DD, cyclin D1, CDK4R24C, and C-MYCT58A, and a further transformed line expressing with H-RASG12V in addition to the above alterations (Supplementary Figure 1) [46, 47].
Using this model of breast cancer development, we found that immortalization resulted in reduced m6A levels as well as significant down-regulation of the m6A methylation complex (METTL3/14) and up-regulation of the primary demethylase (ALKBH5). These modifications were maintained, but not enhanced, during malignant transformation. Experimentally increasing the level of m6A modification led to a more malignant phenotype in transformed cells, but not their immortalized precursors. Finally, we found that stress from hypoxia stimulated an increase in m6A levels in both immortalized and transformed cells through a pathway that is independent of METTL3/14 and ALKBH5 expression levels, but reliant on HIF. Surprisingly, increasing m6A levels led to a more malignant phenotype in transformed cells, but not their immortalized precursors.
We first investigated whether m6A levels were altered in our breast cancer progression model, and what effect hypoxia had on mRNA m6A content in the HMEC cell lines. HMEC cells (primary, immortalized, and transformed) were incubated for 24 hours under normoxic or hypoxic (1% O2) conditions. PolyA+ mRNA was isolated by oligo-dT selection followed by ribosomal RNA (rRNA) depletion, and after digestion to individual nucleotides, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) were used to quantify various RNA modifications in the mRNA enriched samples. As shown in Figure 1, normoxic m6A levels were decreased in both the immortalized and transformed cell lines in comparison to the primary HMECs. While hypoxia had no effect on the m6A level in the primary cells, it significantly increased m6A levels in immortalized and transformed cells (Figure 1). This is consistent with our prior report that hypoxia raises m6A levels in the transformed HEK293T cell line [17]. Other mRNA modifications, including 5-methylcytidine, remained unchanged in this model of breast cancer progression or were not influenced by hypoxia, (Supplementary Figure 2), suggesting that m6A levels are particularly important in the progression to oncogenic transformation and the hypoxia response.
Figure 1: mRNA m6A levels are decreased in immortalized and transformed HMECs but increased by hypoxia. LC-MS/MS of mRNA nucleosides isolated from primary, immortalized, and transformed HMECs grown in normoxia or hypoxia (1% O2) for 24 hours. Values represent the amount of m6A relative to total Adenosine content. *P ≤ 0.05, @P ≤ 0.1 by paired Student’s t-test. Error bars represent standard error of the mean (SEM) of 3 experiments.
Protein levels of m6A methyltransferases and demethylases
To investigate the dynamic response of m6A to cellular transformation as well as hypoxia, we measured RNA and protein levels of the m6A-associated enzymes and effector proteins involved with m6A, including methyltransferases, demethylases, and RNA binding proteins, many of which exhibited notable changes upon immortalization and oncogenic transformation of the HMEC cells (Figure 2). Protein and RNA expression for the enzymatically active subunit of the methyltransferase, METTL3, was decreased in immortalized and transformed cells, but METTL14 was increased (Figure 2, Supplementary Figure 3). In addition, ZNF217 protein, which is known to sequester METTL3 and prevent its methyltransferase activity [48], is also increased in the immortalized and transformed cells. RNA and protein expression for demethylases ALKBH5 and FTO were also increased in the immortalized and transformed cells, which is concordant with the decreased m6A levels in these cells. This data suggests that the loss of m6A observed in the transformed cells may be due to an increase in ZNF217, a loss of the methyltransferase, METTL3, and an increase of the demethylases, ALKBH5 and FTO. Hypoxia, however, had very little effect on the protein levels. Therefore, the increase in m6A levels in response to hypoxia is not explained by the observed protein levels of the methyltransferases or demethylases, suggesting that it must be due to some other process.
Figure 2: Protein expression of m6A methyltransferases, demethylases and RNA binding proteins changes during HMEC immortalization/transformation. Western blots of 50 μg of protein lysates from normoxic (N) or hypoxic (H) primary, immortalized, and transformed HMECs. (Representative of 3 experiments).
The m6A binding proteins YTHDF1, YTHDF2 and YTHDC1 were also altered in the immortalized and transformed cells lines. YTHDF1 levels were increased, but YTHDF2 levels were decreased in the immortalized and transformed cells. The blots for YTHDC1 interestingly contained a shift from a lower molecular weight (the correct expected molecular weight) to a much higher molecular weight (the observed molecular weight given in the details of the antibody). Given the known roles of YTHDF1 and 2 [12, 16], the switch from high YTHDF2 and low YTHDF1 expression to high YTHDF1 and low YTHDF2 suggests that m6A modifications in the immortalized and transformed cells are no longer primarily directing degradation of mRNA, but rather increasing translational efficiency. Notably, RNA expression of YTHDF2 was strongly increased in immortal and transformed cells, despite the decreased protein levels (Supplementary Figure 3).
Differential methylation of specific mRNAs in response to hypoxia
Although protein expression levels of the m6A methyltransferases and demethylases could not explain why m6A is increased in hypoxia for the immortalized and transformed HMECs, we have previously shown that m6A itself can stabilize certain mRNAs under hypoxic conditions, including Glut1, Jun, Myc, and DUSP1 [17]. Therefore, it is possible that the hypoxic increase in m6A levels is simply due to a relative accumulation of mRNAs that have been stabilized by m6A modifications. In order to test this possibility, we used m6A RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) to assay previously-identified mRNA targets for increased m6A levels after 24 hours of hypoxic conditions [17]. This approach allows for quantification of changes in m6A content by normalizing the amount of MeRIP-captured RNA to the amount of input RNA for each sample, determining a percentage of m6A methylated mRNA for each species. These percentages can then be compared between different conditions (normoxia and hypoxia) to determine the effect of those conditions on m6A levels in specific mRNAs. In the transformed HMEC line, upon exposure to 24 hours of hypoxia, m6A content was significantly increased in transcripts for Glut1, Jun, VHL, and Dusp1, but not eEF1A1 (Figure 3A, blue bars). These results extend our previous findings in 293T cells, which also showed that these transcripts have increased m6A content in response to hypoxia [17]. MeRIP from immortalized cells showed a similar trend, but primary HMEC cells showed minimal differences in m6A levels for these transcripts (Supplementary Figure 4). These data demonstrate a specific increase in the m6A of these mRNAs from transformed HMECs in response to 24 hours hypoxic exposure.
Figure 3: m6A methylation of specific mRNAs increases in transformed HMECs exposed to hypoxia in a HIF dependent manner. (A) MeRIP of 100 ng of total mRNA (Blue Bars) or newly transcribed mRNA (Orange Bars) from transformed HMECs. Cells were grown in normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 24 hours and mRNA was quantified by qRT-PCR. Fold enrichments calculated from immunoprecipitated RNA levels normalized to input RNA and expressed as a ratio of hypoxia/normoxia. *P ≤ 0.05 by unpaired Student’s t-test represents increased m6A levels in hypoxia compared to normoxia. #P ≤ 0.05 represents a decrease in m6A in newly transcribed RNAs in hypoxia as compared to total RNAs in hypoxia. Error bars represent SEM of 3 experiments. (B) MeRIP of 100 ng of mRNA from transformed HMECs. Cells were transfected with control (Neg KD) or HIF-1α and HIF-2α siRNA (HIF KD) and grown for 48 hours before being exposed to either normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 24 hours. RNA was quantified by qRT-PCR. Fold enrichments calculated from immunoprecipitated mRNA levels normalized to input RNA and expressed as a ratio of hypoxia/normoxia. *P ≤ 0.05 by unpaired Student’s t-test represents increased m6A levels in hypoxia compared to normoxia. #P ≤ 0.05 between control and HIF KD by unpaired Student’s t-test. Error bars represent SEM of 4 experiments.
We next tested whether 24 hours of hypoxic exposure resulted in increased methylation of newly transcribed RNA in the transformed HMECs. A uridine analog, 4-thiouridine (4sU), was added to the culture media for the final hour of exposure, to be incorporated into all newly transcribed RNA. After isolation, this newly transcribed RNA was biotinylated and separated from old (unlabeled) mRNA using streptavidin beads. After elution of the newly transcribed RNA from the streptavidin beads, MeRIP was then used to pull down m6A methylated RNA from this population of new RNA. In contrast to the total mRNA, newly transcribed mRNA had less m6A methylation in hypoxia than normoxia (Figure 3A, orange bars), suggesting that methylation of these newly transcribed RNAs was not increased at 24 hours of hypoxic exposure. This data then also suggests that the increase in m6A seen after 24 hours of hypoxic exposure was not due to a sustained increase in the methylation of newly transcribed mRNA, but more likely an accumulation of pre-existing, methylated mRNAs.
HIF controls hypoxic m6A levels in specific targets
To further investigate how m6A was increased under hypoxia, we wanted to determine if the HIF transcriptional response was involved. HIF-1α and HIF-2α were simultaneously knocked down via siRNA in transformed cells which were then exposed to 24 hours of hypoxia. Knockdown of HIF-1α and HIF-2α was confirmed via western blot analysis (Supplementary Figure 5). m6A content in individual mRNAs were measured once again by MeRIP followed by RT-qPCR. Knockdown of HIF-1α and HIF-2α prevented the hypoxic increase in m6A levels in many of our targets including Glut1, VHL, and Dusp1 (Figure 3B). This suggests that the increase in m6A in hypoxia is at least partially due to the hypoxic induction of HIF.
Phenotypic effect of m6A modulation
We then sought to determine the differences in m6A levels between progressive stages of a genetically-defined breast cancer model, but also to understand if changes in m6A levels during pre-malignant immortalization of primary cells has a functional role in regulating the response to hypoxia. Because hypoxia has been reported to induce cell migration, we measured changes in migratory potential in immortalized and transformed cells in response to hypoxia. Exposure of the transformed HMECs to 24 hours of hypoxia led to increased cell migration when compared to normoxia (Figure 4A), but surprisingly had little effect on migration of the immortalized cells (Figure 4B). Simultaneous knockdown of METTL3 and METTL14 via siRNA in the transformed cells significantly reduced the hypoxic increase (Figure 4A), suggesting that m6A is directly involved in this phenotypic change. Furthermore, increasing m6A levels by simultaneous overexpression of the m6A methyltransferases METTL3 and 14 or by knockdown of the demethylase ALKBH5 (Figure 4A) in normoxic conditions also led to an increase in migration of the transformed cells, further supporting a role for increased m6A in this phenotypic change. In contrast to the transformed cells, no significant differences were seen in the migration of the immortalized cells in any of these conditions when compared to controls (Figure 4B). Confirmation of METTL3/14 overexpression and ALKBH5 knockdown is shown in Supplementary Figure 5 and representative scratch assay images can be found in Supplementary Figure 6.
Figure 4: m6A levels impact cellular migration in transformed, but not immortalized HMECs. Wound healing scratch assay of transformed (A) and immortalized (B) HMECs. HMECs were transfected with siRNA targeting METTL3 and METTL14 (M3/14 KD), plasmids overexpressing METTL3 and METTL14 (METTL3/14 OE), plasmid expressing ALKBH5 shRNA (ALK KD), or control siRNAs/plasmids and allowed to grow to confluency. After 8 hours of serum starvation, a scratch was made with a p200 tip, cells were washed and initial pictures (0 Hr) taken. Cells were then incubated in serum free media in either normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 24 hours before a second set of pictures was taken (24 Hr). Migration was quantified by measuring the area of cell coverage of three representative fields at 0 and 24 hours. *P ≤ 0.05 by Unpaired Student’s t-test. Error bars represent SEM of 3–4 experiments.
Interestingly, overexpression of METTL3 and 14 increased proliferation in both the transformed (Figure 5A) and immortalized (Figure 5B) cells. Although the effect was not robust and only significant at specific time points for each cell line, it again suggests that increases in cellular m6A levels can alter the phenotypes of the breast cancer cells.
Figure 5: METTL3 and 14 overexpression leads to increased proliferation of transformed and immortal HMECs. Transformed (A) and immortalized (B) HMECs were transfected with either a control GFP expressing plasmid or plasmids overexpressing METTL3 and METTL14 (M3/14). 48 hours after transfection, cells were re-plated at 0.5 × 106 cells/well of a 6 well plate and allowed to recover for 16 hours. Cells were then detached by trypsin at each time point (0, 24, or 48 hours), and counted in a hemocytometer to determine cell number. *P ≤ 0.05 by paired Student’s t-test. Error bars represent SEM of 3 experiments.
Our findings indicate that mRNA m6A methylation levels decrease during immortalization of primary HMECs. Consistent with our previous findings, hypoxia increases mRNA m6A levels in both immortalized transformed cells [17]. These increases in m6A in hypoxia are regulated by HIF, and are not due to increased protein levels of the methyltransferase or methylation rates. Increasing m6A methylation by overexpressing methyltransferases and/or hypoxic exposure in the transformed cells, increased proliferation and migration, while only affecting proliferation in the immortalized cells, indicating that pre-malignant and malignant cells may utilize m6A to in different ways.
Although gene expression in breast cancer has been extensively studied, the contribution of mRNA modifications to breast cancer progression is not known. An advantage to using a genetically-defined breast cancer model is that it limits the heterogeneity that is inherent to patient-derived samples which may aid in uncovering the mechanisms underlying the phenotypic changes driven by increased m6A. Studies involving RNA modifications, including the m6A modification, may lead to a better understanding of gene regulation in cancers.
In this study, we show that the m6A modification of mRNA decreases after immortalization and subsequent oncogenic transformation of primary HMECs maintained under normoxia. These results provide a more detailed view of cancer progression, and support prior findings that low levels of m6A modification correlate with a more oncogenic or aggressive cellular phenotype. However, our results also show that hypoxia drives m6A modification of mRNA back to primary cell levels. Our findings differ from previous reports that have shown total RNA m6A levels in breast cancer cell lines decrease in hypoxia conditions through HIF mediated induction of the demethylase ALKBH5 and/or METTL3 sequestration by ZNF217 [7, 45]. These reports indicated that hypoxia induces a breast cancer stem cell phenotype through the decrease in m6A. The results seen here differ from these previous reports possibly due to differences in model systems, and hence expressed genes. For example, the previous reports show that m6A levels in specific mRNAs, including Nanog, is decreased in hypoxia. However, Nanog mRNA is not highly expressed in our cell lines and no differences in its m6A levels were observed (data not shown). In addition, the previous studies also used total RNA rather than mRNA to measure differences in global m6A levels, so changes in noncoding RNA species including ribosomal RNA may explain the differences in those studies.
To understand the mechanism by which m6A levels are regulated in our model system, protein expression of the methyltransferase, demethylases, and m6A RNA binding proteins were measured. Interestingly, the enzymatically active subunit of the methyltransferase complex, METTL3, is decreased in the immortalized and transformed cells, and ZNF217 which sequesters METTL3 is increased. Additionally, the two known m6A demethylases, ALKBH5 and FTO, increase in the immortalized and transformed cells. Therefore, it is possible that the decrease in m6A methylation in the immortalized and transformed cells may be due to a loss in methylation potential and an increase in demethylation potential. In future experiments, it would be interesting to investigate which of these expression changes are necessary and/or sufficient for the m6A changes observed.
In addition to effects on the m6A enzymes, protein expression of m6A specific RNA binding proteins also change in the immortalized and transformed cells. YTHDF2, an m6A RNA binding protein which leads to degradation of the methylated RNA [15, 36], decreased in the immortalized and transformed cells. In contrast, YTHDF1, another m6A specific RNA binding protein involved in methylated mRNA translational efficiency increases in the immortalized and transformed cells [16]. These contrasting changes in RNA binding proteins suggest that the remaining methylated RNA have increased translational efficiency through increased YTHDF1 levels and an increase in stability due to a decrease in YTHDF2 levels. The RNA binding protein YTHDC1 interestingly appears expressed at a higher molecular weight in the immortalized and transformed cells. This may possibly be due to dimerization of YTHDC1, however this has not been confirmed.
We also observed that hypoxia did not lead to changes in any of the aforementioned proteins. Because the increase of m6A in hypoxia cannot be explained by protein levels of methyltransferases, demethylases, or ZNF217, we sought an alternative mechanism for this change. Our group has previously reported that increased m6A methylation in hypoxia leads to stabilization of mRNAs [17]. Therefore, it is possible that the increase in m6A methylation is due to stabilization and accumulation of methylated mRNAs. It is also possible that upon hypoxic exposure methylation rates of newly transcribed RNA are increased or that increased methylation (or decreased demethylation) of mature mRNA is occurring within the cytoplasm, as has recently been shown in neuronal cells [49]. However, a recent study has shown that m6A methylation is not dynamic within the cytoplasm, which would suggest that neither methylation nor demethylation levels are altered on mature mRNA [25].
We investigated whether prolonged hypoxic exposure increased the methylation of newly transcribed RNA. These experiments showed that after 24 hours of hypoxia, methylation of newly transcribed RNA was not increased, and in fact trended towards a decrease of m6A in newly transcribed RNA. Given this observation and our previous findings that m6A containing mRNA are stabilized under hypoxia, it seems more likely that the increase in m6A levels is due to the accumulation of the stabilized mRNA. This scenario still leaves open the possibility of an increase in newly transcribed RNA methylation earlier in the hypoxic exposure that then returns to baseline or below by 24 hours. However, even in this scenario, the increased m6A levels in those RNAs are likely maintained through the stabilization of those mRNAs, a possibility that we are currently exploring.
Because the hypoxic response through HIF is crucial for survival and tumorigenesis of cancer cells under hypoxic conditions, the effect of HIF on m6A levels in hypoxia was measured. Previous reports using breast cancer stem cells have shown that hypoxic activation of HIF led to decreased RNA methylation through HIF-mediated induction of the demethylase ALKBH5 and METTL3 suppressor ZNF217 [7, 45]. However, in our model system of differentiated human mammary epithelial cells there is an increase in m6A in hypoxia, rather than a decrease, and no change in either ALKBH5 or ZNF217 expression levels. Furthermore, knockdown of HIF decreased hypoxic m6A levels in many of our specific targets including Glut1, Dusp1, and VHL, suggesting that HIF transcriptional activity is involved in the increase of m6A in these targets. The conflicting data with the previous report may be explained through a difference in model system. However, it would also be informative to investigate the role of ZNF217 in our HMEC-based system to see if it interacts with METTL3 and the m6A system and whether that interaction is regulated during breast cancer progression. Indeed, these results, along with contrasting effects of m6A in other cancer types highlights the importance of understanding the m6A modification in all cancer systems at various stages of disease.
Understanding mechanisms behind m6A methylation is important in breast cancer, as it may lead to a better understanding of the cancer itself. However, it is also important to observe the phenotypic effects that m6A modulation has on breast cancer. As stated previously, immortalization and oncogenic transformation of HMEC cells led to a decrease in m6A methylation. It therefore seemed likely that an increase of m6A in these transformed cells would drive cells back toward a more primary-cell phenotype. However, increasing m6A levels either through hypoxia or METTL3/14 overexpression in the transformed cells increased proliferation and migration of those cells. Thus, it appears likely that an increase in m6A either through methyltransferase overexpression or an as of yet unidentified HIF-mediated mechanism promotes a more malignant phenotype. It is also possible that METTL3 could be acting in an m6A-independent manner as has been shown in lung cancer cells [9]. However, because ALKBH5 knockdown and hypoxia both recapitulated the METLL3/14 overexpression results, it would suggest that it is the increase in m6A itself that was underlying the phenotypic changes. Interestingly, the immortalized cells did not show the same response as transformed cells, suggesting that the increased m6A was working in tandem with expression of oncogenic HRasG12V (the only transgene to differ between the two cell lines) in order to alter these phenotypes. Future studies will investigate this relationship between Ras transformation and the role of m6A in promoting tumor phenotypes.
Overall, this study demonstrates that m6A methylation is important for the phenotypic progression of breast cancer in a genetically-defined model. Hypoxia appears to play a role in this progression through increases in mRNA m6A levels in breast cancer through HIF activation. This hypoxic response can be mimicked in normal cells by experimentally raising m6A levels. While it is clear m6A plays a role in these processes, it is imperative that we now identify the mRNA that are being affected and determine the impact on gene expression in order to understand the underlying biological causes for these phenotypic changes.
HMEC Primary cell lines cells were obtained directly from Lonza (Walkersville, MD) and maintained in Mammary Epithelial Basal Medium (MEBM) (Lonza) and supplemented with Mammary Epithelial Cell Growth Medium (MEGM) BulletKit (Lonza) along with 2 mM Glutamine (Corning/Mediatech), and 1× Pen/Strep (Corning/Mediatech) and passaged when approximately 85–90% confluent. Immortalized and transformed cells were gifts from Jack Keene’s lab [46]. Immortalized and transformed cells were maintained in MEGM+10% FBS. Cells were tested for mycoplasma upon receipt. For experiments, cells were plated on 10 cm dishes (CytoOne, USA Scientific, Orlando, FL) allowed to attach/recover for 18–24 hours. The next day, the media was removed and replaced with fresh media. Hypoxic treatments were carried out in a Ruskin In Vivo 400 Hypoxia Hood (The Baker Company, Sanford, ME) maintained at 37° C, 5% CO2, 70% humidity and 1% oxygen. All other chemical reagents were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO) unless otherwise specified.
RNA extraction
Trizol (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA) was used for all RNA extractions according to the manufacturer’s protocol. RNA was further purified and treated with RNase-Free DNase I (Life Technologies) using PureLink RNA Mini Kit (Life Technologies). For RNA extraction from ribonucleoprotein immunoprecipitations (RNP-IP) and sucrose gradients, GlycoBlue (Life Technologies) was added as a carrier during the precipitation step. RNA purity and quantity was determined via NanoDrop 1000 (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA).
LC-MS/MS of PolyA+ RNA
PolyA+ RNA was first purified from total RNA through oligo-dT selection using a Poly(A)Purist-MAG magnetic mRNA Purification Kit (Life Technologies) followed by ribosomal RNA depletion using RiboMinus Eukaryote Kit (Life Technologies) according to the manufacturer’s protocols. Purified PolyA+ RNA was digested to individual nucleosides and modified nucleosides were quantified as previously described [50]. Briefly, digestion was performed with nuclease P1 (Sigma, 2 U) in buffer containing 25 mM NaCl and 2.5 mM ZnCl2 for 2 h at 37° C, followed by incubation with Antarctic Phosphatase (NEB, 5 U) for an additional 2 h at 37° C. Nucleosides were then separated and quantified using UPLC-MS/MS as previously described [51], except acetic acid replaced formic acid in the mobile phase.
Western blots
Whole cell lysates were prepared in whole cell extract buffer (WCEB: 50 mM Tris pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 0.1% SDS, and complete protease inhibitor (Promega, Madison, WI)). Equal amounts of protein (30–50 μg) were electrophoresed on a mini-PROTEAN any KD acrylamide gel (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA) and transferred to Hybond ECL nitrocellulose (GE Healthcare, Chicago, IL). Transfer was verified via Ponceau S staining then blot was blocked with 5% nonfat dry milk (LabScientific, Highlands, NJ) in Tris buffered saline with 0.1% Tween 20 (TBST) for one hour at room temperature, followed by primary antibody in blocking buffer overnight at 4° C. After washing extensively with TBST, blots were incubated for 1–2 hours at room temperature with appropriate anti-mouse (GE Healthcare), anti-rabbit (GE Healthcare), or Rabbit anti-goat (Novus Biologicals, Littleton, CO), washed again with TBST, detected using Bio-Rad Clarity Western ECL Substrate (Bio-Rad Laboratories), and imaged via MYECL Imager (Thermo Scientific). Primary Antibodies used and their concentrations can be found in Supplementary Table 3.
m6A mRNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP)
m6A Ribonucleoprotein Immunoprecipitation reactions were performed by first isolating PolyA+ RNA from normoxic and hypoxic cells. Protein G Dynabeads (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Baltics UAB) were washed 3× in 1 mL of IPP buffer (10 mM Tris-HCL pH7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 0.1% NP-40). 25 μl of beads required per IP. Anti-N6-methyladenosine mouse monoclonal antibody (EMD Millipore, Temecula, CA, MABE1006) was added to the beads (5 μg/IP) and brought up to 1mL with IPP buffer. Bead mixture was tumbled for 16 hours at 4° C. Beads were washed 5× with IPP buffer and 100 ng of PolyA+ RNA was added to the beads along with 1 mM DTT and RNase out. The mixture was brought up to 500 μl with IPP buffer. Bead mixture was tumbled at 4° C for 4 hours. Beads were washed 2× in IPP buffer, placed in to a fresh tube, and washed 3× more in IPP buffer. m6A RNA was eluted off the beads by tumbling 2× with 125 μl of 2.5 mg/mL N6-Methyladenosine-5′-monophosphate sodium salt (CHEM-IMPEX INT’L INC., Wood Dale, IL). Supernatant was added to Trizol-LS followed by RNA isolation as per manufacture’s protocol. Final RNA sample was brought up in 10 μl of water.
PCR for MeRIP
Reverse transcription was performed on 10 μl m6A PolyA+ RNA from the MeRIP with the iScript cDNA synthesis kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA). After diluting cDNA two-fold, quantitative real-time PCR was performed using a Roche Lightcycler 96 with Fast Start Essential DNA Green (Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Indianapolis, IN) and primers from Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc. (Coralville, Iowa). Primers used are listed in Supplementary Table 1. Primer efficiency was verified to be over 95% for all primer sets used. Quantification of mRNA from the MeRIP was carried out via ΔCT analysis against non-immunoprecipitated input RNA. All real-time PCR primer sets were designed so the products would span at least one intron (>1 kb when possible), and amplification of a single product was confirmed by agarose gel visualization and/or melting curve analysis.
siRNA transfections
Either a negative siRNA (Silencer; Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA) or HIF-1α and HIF-2α siRNAs or METTL3 and METTL14 siRNAs (Qiagen, Germantown, MD) were transfected using Lipofectamine RNAi Max per manufacturer’s protocol (Life Technologies). siRNAs used can be found in Supplementary Table 2. Cells were incubated for 72 hours post-transfection with the last 24 hours in either normoxic or hypoxic conditions as indicated.
Plasmid transfections
Either a negative control plasmid, shRNA scramble control, ALKBH5 psi-U6 shRNA construct (GeneCopoeia, Rockville, MD) or a METTL3 and METTL14 flag tagged construct given by Dr. Jing Crystal Zhao [19] was transiently transfected in immortalized and oncogenically transformed HMEC cells using Lipofectamine 2000 (Life Technologies) in 6 well plates (USA Scientific). Cells were incubated for 48 hours post-transfection before proliferation or scratch assays.
Scratch assays
48 hours after transfection, cells were serum starved 8 hours prior to the scratch. Afterwards, a scratch was made with a p200 pipette tip (USA Scientific), and cells were washed 2× with Dulbecco’s Phosphate Buffered Saline (DPBS) (Corning) and fresh serum free media added. Pictures were taken at 0 and 24 hours and wound healing determined by measuring the percentage of the visible area that was covered by cells.
m6A: N6-methyladenosine; HMECs: human mammary epithelial cells; rRNA: ribosomal RNA; LC-MS/MS: liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry; MeRIP: m6A RNA immunoprecipitation; 4sU: 4–thiouridine.
Author contributions: N.J.F. and K.D.M. contributed to conceptualization; N.J.F, B.A.L, O.R.I., K.R.C. C.L.H., and K.D.M contributed to methodology; N.J.F., B.A.L, O.R.I., K.R.C., and K.D.M. contributed to investigation; N.J.F. wrote the original draft; N.J.F., B.A.L, O.R.I., K.R.C. C.L.H., and K.D.M. contributed to writing, review, and editing.
We would like to thank Dr. Jack D. Keene (R01 CA157268) and Dr. Laura Simone Bisogno (F31 CA185992) in the Keene lab at for generously providing the HMEC cell lines for use in this study and for advising us throughout this project. We would also like to thank Dr. Matt Friedersdorf in the Keene lab, as well as Dr. Brett Keiper at East Carolina University for helpful discussions and expertise.
This work was supported by East Carolina University Funds awarded to K.D.M. and by National Institutes of Health funds awarded to C.L.H. (K08HL114889).
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Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Volume 67, Issue 23, June 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2016.03.529
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Reduction in Ischemic Events With Ticagrelor in Diabetic Patients With Prior Myocardial Infarction in PEGASUS–TIMI 54
Deepak L. Bhatt, Marc P. Bonaca, Sameer Bansilal, Dominick J. Angiolillo, Marc Cohen, Robert F. Storey, Kyungah Im, Sabina A. Murphy, Peter Held, Eugene Braunwald, Marc S. Sabatine and Ph. Gabriel Steg
Author + information
vol. 67 no. 23 2732-2740
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2016.03.529
Received March 23, 2016
Accepted March 28, 2016
Published online June 14, 2016.
Copyright & Usage:
2016 American College of Cardiology Foundation
Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPHa,∗ (dlbhattmd{at}post.harvard.edu),
Marc P. Bonaca, MD, MPHa,
Sameer Bansilal, MD, MSb,
Dominick J. Angiolillo, MD, PhDc,
Marc Cohen, MDd,
Robert F. Storey, MDe,
Kyungah Im, PhDa,
Sabina A. Murphy, MPHa,
Peter Held, MD, PhDf,
Eugene Braunwald, MDa,
Marc S. Sabatine, MD, MPHa and
Ph. Gabriel Steg, MDg
aTIMI Study Group, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart & Vascular Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
bIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
cUniversity of Florida, Jacksonville, Florida
dCardiovascular Division, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
eUniversity of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
fAstraZeneca R&D, Mölndal, Sweden
gDépartement Hospitalo-Universitaire–Fibrosis, Inflammation, REmodelling, Hôpital Bichat, Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne-Paris Cité, and the French Alliance for Cardiovascular Clinical Trials, an F-CRIN network, INSERM U-1148, Paris, France
↵∗Reprint requests and correspondence:
Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, TIMI Study Group, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart & Vascular Center, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
Background Patients with diabetes appear to be at elevated risk of atherothrombotic events.
Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor on recurrent ischemic events in patients with diabetes and prior myocardial infarction (MI).
Methods We examined the subgroups of patients with diabetes (n = 6,806) and without diabetes (n = 14,355) from PEGASUS–TIMI 54 (Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Prior Heart Attack Using Ticagrelor Compared to Placebo on a Background of Aspirin–Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 54), in which 21,162 patients with a history of MI 1 to 3 years prior and with additional risk factors were randomized to ticagrelor (90 or 60 mg twice daily) or placebo. Patients were followed for a median of 33 months. The primary efficacy endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (cardiovascular death, MI, stroke) and the primary safety endpoint was TIMI (Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction) major bleeding.
Results The relative risk reduction in MACE with ticagrelor was consistent for the pooled doses versus placebo in patients with diabetes (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72 to 0.99; p = 0.035) and without diabetes (HR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.74 to 0.96; p = 0.013; p interaction = 0.99). As patients with diabetes were at higher risk of MACE, the absolute risk reduction tended to be greater in patients with versus without diabetes (1.5% vs. 1.1%, with corresponding 3-year number needed to treat of 67 vs. 91). In patients with diabetes requiring pharmacological therapy (n = 5,960), the absolute risk reduction was 1.9% with a 3-year number needed to treat of 53. Additionally, in patients with diabetes, ticagrelor reduced cardiovascular death by 22% and coronary heart disease death by 34%. Similar to patients without diabetes, there was increased TIMI major bleeding in patients with diabetes (HR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.52 to 4.33; p = 0.0004).
Conclusions In patients with diabetes with prior MI, adding ticagrelor to aspirin significantly reduces the risk of recurrent ischemic events, including cardiovascular and coronary heart disease death. (Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Prior Heart Attack Using Ticagrelor Compared to Placebo on a Background of Aspirin [PEGASUS]; NCT01225562)
dual antiplatelet therapy
Patients with diabetes and a history of myocardial infarction (MI) are a high-risk group (1,2). When diabetes mellitus is coexistent with prior MI, both longer-term and more potent antiplatelet therapy appear to have particular benefits as part of the secondary prevention strategy. Subgroup data from a large number of randomized clinical trials and observational data support the heightened absolute risk reductions that patients with diabetes and MI derive from various antiplatelet regimens (3–11). In various clinical settings, this relationship of greater benefit from more potent antiplatelet therapy has been shown for clopidogrel versus aspirin, for intravenous glycoprotein inhibitors versus placebo, for clopidogrel plus aspirin versus aspirin alone, for prasugrel versus clopidogrel, and for ticagrelor versus clopidogrel (3–11).
In part, this greater benefit may be due to the higher absolute risk of patients with diabetes. At least part of the larger benefit is believed to be due to heightened platelet reactivity in patients with versus without diabetes (12). Numerous ex vivo studies have demonstrated greater degrees of platelet activation and aggregation in those with diabetes (13–18).
The PEGASUS–TIMI 54 (Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Prior Heart Attack Using Ticagrelor Compared to Placebo on a Background of Aspirin–Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 54) trial found a significant reduction in the primary endpoint of cardiovascular death, MI, or stroke in aspirin-treated patients with prior MI randomized to ticagrelor versus placebo (19,20). In a pre-specified analysis, we examined the diabetic subgroup from this trial to determine the effects of more potent antiplatelet therapy. We hypothesized that there might be a larger absolute risk reduction in patients with diabetes given their generally higher event rates.
The design and primary overall results of PEGASUS–TIMI 54 have been previously published (19,20). Patients with a history of MI 1 to 3 years prior and at least 1 additional atherothrombotic risk factor (age ≥65 years, diabetes mellitus requiring medication, second prior spontaneous MI, chronic renal dysfunction, or multivessel coronary artery disease) were randomized to ticagrelor (90 or 60 mg twice daily) or placebo. For the present pre-specified analysis, patients with a history of diabetes mellitus at randomization were analyzed. Furthermore, patients who were taking medications for diabetes at baseline were additionally classified as requiring pharmacological therapy, and those specifically on insulin were also analyzed. All of these subgroups were pre-specified in the academic statistical analysis plan.
The primary efficacy endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), consisting of the composite of cardiovascular death, MI, or stroke. The individual components of the primary endpoint as well as additional pre-specified secondary endpoints, including death related to coronary heart disease, were examined. The primary safety endpoint was TIMI (Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction) major bleeding. Other safety endpoints included intracranial hemorrhage and fatal bleeding.
Because the efficacy and safety of the 2 doses of ticagrelor were similar in the main study, the data were analyzed with both dose groups combined as well as separately. Baseline characteristics between groups were compared using the chi-square test for categorical variables and the Wilcoxon test for continuous variables. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were generated using a Cox proportional hazards model to evaluate the treatment effect of ticagrelor. Models were also constructed that evaluated the interaction between randomized treatment group and the history of diabetes subgroup. A model to evaluate the increased risk associated with history of diabetes was created that included age, sex, white race, region, weight, systolic blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m2, qualifying MI ≥2 years, qualifying MI type, multivessel coronary artery disease, current smoking, prior angina, and history of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, heart failure, peripheral artery disease, stroke or transient ischemic attack, coronary artery bypass grafting, percutaneous coronary intervention, and adenosine diphosphate receptor antagonist use. A 2-sided p value <0.05 was used as the criterion for nominal significance, and adjustments were not made for multiple comparisons. Analyses were performed using SAS software version 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina).
Of 21,162 patients, 6,806 had a baseline history of diabetes mellitus, and of these patients with diabetes, 5,960 had type 2 diabetes and were receiving pharmacological therapy. The baseline characteristics of the patients with and without diabetes were markedly different (Table 1). For example, the patients with diabetes were significantly younger and had less multivessel coronary artery disease, although this was likely due in part to the inclusion criteria that required patients to have at least 1 additional risk factor to be enrolled. However, within the diabetic cohort, the baseline characteristics were well matched between the 2 randomized arms (Table 2).
Baseline Characteristics of Patients With and Without Diabetes
Baseline Characteristics of Patients With Diabetes Randomized to Ticagrelor Versus Placebo
Ischemic event rates in patients with and without diabetes
Patients with diabetes had higher rates of ischemic events compared with patients without diabetes. The risk of MACE in the placebo arm was 11.60% in the patients with diabetes versus 7.83% in the patients without diabetes: adjusted HR: 1.45 (95% CI: 1.22 to 1.73; p < 0.001). The rate of cardiovascular death was 4.97% versus 2.64%, the rate of MI was 6.51% versus 4.66%, and the rate of stroke was 2.46% versus 1.70%.
Efficacy in patients with versus without diabetes
The relative risk reduction in MACE for the pooled ticagrelor doses versus placebo was consistent in patients with diabetes (n = 6,806), with an HR of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.72 to 0.99; p = 0.035), and in patients without diabetes (n = 14,355), with an HR of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.74 to 0.96; p = 0.013; p interaction = 0.99). As patients with diabetes were at higher risk of MACE, they tended to have a greater absolute risk reduction than patients without diabetes (1.5% vs. 1.1%, with corresponding 3-year number needed to treat of 67 vs. 91) (Figure 1). Additionally, in patients with diabetes, ticagrelor significantly reduced cardiovascular death by 22% (HR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.61 to 0.99; p = 0.0495) (Figure 2) and coronary heart disease death by 34% (HR 0.66; 95% CI: 0.48 to 0.91; p = 0.01) (Figure 3). The HR with ticagrelor versus placebo for all-cause mortality was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.70 to 1.05; p = 0.15). The individual components of MACE in the pooled dosing arms and in each ticagrelor dose versus placebo are shown in Table 3. When compared with placebo, both the 90 and 60 mg twice daily (bid) ticagrelor doses were generally consistent with the findings for the pooled doses with respect to their effects on MACE (Central Illustration).
Central Illustration
Ticagrelor in Patients With Diabetes: Consistent Reduction in Ischemic Endpoints
There was a consistent reduction in ischemic endpoints, including cardiovascular death (CVD) and coronary death, in the diabetic subgroup with ticagrelor versus placebo: with the pooled ticagrelor doses, with the 90-mg twice daily ticagrelor dose, and with the 60-mg twice daily ticagrelor dose (which is the approved dose in patients with a history of myocardial infarction [MI] beyond the first year). HR = hazard ratio; KM = Kaplan-Meier.
Rates of MACE in the Pooled Ticagrelor Versus Placebo Arms For Patients With and Without Diabetes
ARR = absolute risk reduction; CI = confidence interval; CV = cardiovascular; HR = hazard ratio; ITT = intention to treat; MACE = major adverse cardiovascular events; MI = myocardial infarction.
Rates of CV Deaths in the Pooled Ticagrelor Versus Placebo Arms for Patients With and Without Diabetes
Abbreviations as in Figure 1.
Rates of Coronary Deaths in the Pooled Ticagrelor Versus Placebo Arms for Patients With and Without Diabetes
Individual Efficacy and Safety Endpoints Versus Placebo for the Pooled Ticagrelor Doses, 90-mg Dose, and 60-mg Dose in Patients With Diabetes
Efficacy in patients with treated diabetes
In patients with type 2 diabetes requiring pharmacological therapy (n = 5,960), event rates were reduced from 12.3% to 10.4% (HR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.69 to 0.97; p = 0.019), the absolute risk reduction was 1.9%, and 3-year number needed to treat was 53. In these patients, cardiovascular death was also lower in the pooled ticagrelor doses versus placebo (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.97; p = 0.029). Similar patterns were seen in the rate of coronary heart disease death (HR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.46 to 0.88; p = 0.006) and all-cause mortality (HR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.67 to 1.02; p = 0.081).
In patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin at baseline (n = 1,480), the rate of cardiovascular death, MI, or stroke was 16.9% in the pooled ticagrelor group and 18.2% in the placebo group (HR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.67 to 1.15; p = 0.35). For cardiovascular death, event rates were 6.7% with ticagrelor and 8.1% with placebo (HR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.56 to 1.30; p = 0.47). For coronary heart death, event rates were 4.0% with ticagrelor and 5.6% with placebo (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.45 to 1.30; p = 0.32).
TIMI major bleeding was significantly increased in patients with diabetes treated with ticagrelor (2.56% vs. 0.98%; HR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.52 to 4.33; p = 0.0004), similar to what was seen in patients without diabetes (2.39% in pooled ticagrelor vs. 1.09% in placebo; HR: 2.47; 95% CI: 1.73 to 3.53; p < 0.0001), p interaction = 0.89 (Table 3). There was no significant difference between ticagrelor and placebo in the diabetic subgroup in the rate of fatal or intracranial bleeding, although there were few events (0.62% vs. 0.63%; HR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.42 to 1.90; p = 0.78).
The combination of a history of diabetes and prior MI creates a very high risk for future cardiovascular events, including fatal ones. The present analysis of such patients from the PEGASUS–TIMI 54 trial finds that more potent antiplatelet therapy with the addition of ticagrelor to aspirin reduces important ischemic events, including cardiovascular and coronary heart disease mortality. There is an increase in TIMI major bleeding with this strategy, although not in intracranial or fatal bleeding. In patients with diabetes who have no history of major bleeding, this approach of prolonged, intense platelet inhibition appears to negate some of the excess ischemic risk associated with diabetes.
Previous work with clopidogrel, intravenous glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, prasugrel, ticagrelor, and vorapaxar supports greater absolute risk reductions with more potent antiplatelet therapy in appropriately risk-stratified patients, particularly those with diabetes mellitus (3–11,21). Older trials with intravenous glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors versus placebo in high-risk patients with diabetes even suggested reductions in mortality (4,22). The present analysis of the PEGASUS–TIMI 54 trial extends these findings for ticagrelor to patients with prior MI. The similar efficacy of ticagrelor 60 and 90 mg bid demonstrated in both patients with and without diabetes reflects the similar and consistently high levels of platelet P2Y12 inhibition with the 2 ticagrelor doses studied in PEGASUS–TIMI 54 (23). On the basis of the similar clinical efficacy and slightly lower bleeding seen in the overall trial, the 60 mg bid dose was the one approved for use in patients who are comparable to the PEGASUS–TIMI 54 population.
The ongoing THEMIS (Effect of Ticagrelor on Health Outcomes in Diabetes Mellitus Patients Intervention Study) will provide insight into the value of dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and ticagrelor 60 mg bid in patients with diabetes who are treated with pharmacological therapy and with angiographically-proven coronary artery disease, excluding those with prior MI. THEMIS will therefore constitute a lower-risk population than PEGASUS–TIMI 54 and will help establish the boundaries of benefit of more intense antiplatelet medications.
Patients with diabetes remain a challenging group. Polypharmacy with glucose-lowering medications and cardiovascular risk-reducing therapies is often required. Consequently, adherence to complex medical regimens can be suboptimal (24,25). The issue of nonadherence is particularly relevant to antiplatelet therapy, which can induce bleeding and lead to drug discontinuation (24). Future trials should focus on the elevated risks of patients with diabetes and be powered to determine whether tested therapies provide incremental benefit. Results of these trials should then be corroborated in real-world registries containing adequate numbers of patients with diabetes.
Limitations of the present analysis include that the diabetic subgroup was not specifically powered for the primary endpoint or for individual secondary endpoints, although this was a pre-specified subgroup. Furthermore, subgroups of subgroups, such as the insulin-treated patients with diabetes, had a small sample size and were clearly underpowered. Adjustments were not made for multiple comparisons, as this diabetic subgroup analysis was viewed as hypothesis generating. It is also important to realize that as a function of the trial inclusion criteria, the nondiabetic subgroup contained other high-risk features; thus, this is not a simple analysis of diabetes versus no diabetes in an unselected population. Details regarding duration of diabetes and glycemic control at baseline or follow-up were not available; this should not affect the clinical validity of the findings, but it may have allowed additional mechanistic insights or identified subgroups with even greater clinical benefit.
In PEGASUS–TIMI 54, patients with prior MI who had diabetes mellitus derived a significant cardiovascular benefit from long-term therapy with ticagrelor versus placebo when given in addition to background therapy with aspirin. There was an accompanying increase in TIMI major bleeding with ticagrelor, although not in fatal bleeding or intracranial hemorrhage. The reduction in recurrent ischemic events included a reduction in cardiovascular and coronary heart disease deaths, although this latter observation should be viewed as hypothesis generating and needs to be confirmed in future trials.
COMPETENCY IN PATIENT CARE: In a subgroup of MI survivors with diabetes mellitus, those randomized to ticagrelor plus aspirin had a lower rate of subsequent ischemic events, including cardiovascular deaths and fatal coronary events, than those given aspirin alone.
TRANSITIONAL OUTLOOK: Future studies should investigate whether patients with diabetes who have not sustained MI gain benefit from ticagrelor with or without aspirin.
PEGASUS–TIMI 54 was funded by AstraZeneca. The TIMI Study Group has received significant research grant support from AstraZeneca. Dr. Bhatt has served on the advisory board of Cardax, Elsevier Practice Update Cardiology, Medscape Cardiology, and Regado Biosciences; has served on the Board of Directors of Boston VA Research Institute, and the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care; is chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee; has served on the data monitoring committees of Duke Clinical Research Institute, Harvard Clinical Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, and the Population Health Research Institute; has received honoraria from the American College of Cardiology (Senior Associate Editor, Clinical Trials and News, ACC.org), Belvoir Publications (Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Heart Letter), Duke Clinical Research Institute (clinical trial steering committees), Harvard Clinical Research Institute (clinical trial steering committee), HMP Communications (Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Invasive Cardiology), Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Guest Editor; Associate Editor), Population Health Research Institute (clinical trial steering committee), Slack Publications (Chief Medical Editor, Cardiology Today’s Intervention), Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (Secretary/Treasurer), and WebMD (CME steering committees); has served as deputy editor of Clinical Cardiology; has served as vice-chair of the NCDR-ACTION Registry Steering Committee; has served as the chair of the VA CART Research and Publications Committee; has received research funding from Amarin, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Ethicon, Forest Laboratories, Ischemix, Medtronic, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and The Medicines Company; has received royalties from Elsevier (Editor, Cardiovascular Intervention: A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease); is a site coinvestigator for Biotronik, Boston Scientific, and St. Jude Medical; is a trustee of the American College of Cardiology; and has performed unfunded research for FlowCo, PLx Pharma, and Takeda. Dr. Bonaca has received consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Merck, Bayer, and Roche Diagnostics. Dr. Bansilal has received consulting fees and a research grant from AstraZeneca. Dr. Angiolillo has received consulting fees or honoraria from Sanofi, Eli Lilly, Daiichi-Sankyo, The Medicines Company, AstraZeneca, Merck, Abbott Vascular, and PLx Pharma; has participated in review activities from CeloNova, Johnson & Johnson, and St. Jude Medical; and has received institutional payments for grants from GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Daiichi-Sankyo, The Medicines Company, AstraZeneca, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Osprey Medical, Inc., Novartis, CSL Behring, and Gilead. Dr. Cohen is on the Speakers Bureau of and is an advisory board consultant for AstraZeneca. Dr. Storey has received consultancy fees from AstraZeneca, Aspen, Correvio, PlaqueTec, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and The Medicines Company; has received honoraria from AstraZeneca and Medscape; and has received travel support from AstraZeneca. Dr. Held is an employee of AstraZeneca. Dr. Braunwald has received research grant support through Brigham and Women’s Hospital from AstraZeneca, Daiichi-Sankyo, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Sanofi, and Novartis; and has served as a consultant for The Medicines Company, Sanofi, and Theravance (all ≤$10,000/year). Dr. Sabatine has received research grant support through Brigham and Women’s Hospital from Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Critical Diagnostics, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eisai, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Intarcia, Merck, Novartis, Poxel, Roche Diagnostics, Sanofi, and Takeda; and has received consultancy fees from Alnylam, AstraZeneca, CVS Caremark, and Merck. Dr. Steg has received significant research grants from Sanofi, Merck, and Servier; has received other personal fees and nonfinancial support from AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and Servier; and has received personal fees from Amarin, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Daiichi-Sankyo, Lilly, Merck, Janssen, Novartis, Medtronic, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, The Medicines Company, and GlaxoSmithKline. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
Listen to this manuscript's audio summary by JACC Editor-in-Chief Dr. Valentin Fuster.
hazard ratio
major adverse cardiovascular event(s)
Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction
Received March 23, 2016.
Accepted March 28, 2016.
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Deepak L. Bhatt, Marc P. Bonaca, Sameer Bansilal, Dominick J. Angiolillo, Marc Cohen, Robert F. Storey, Kyungah Im, Sabina A. Murphy, Peter Held, Eugene Braunwald, Marc S. Sabatine, Ph. Gabriel Steg
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John Mozeliak dishes the dirt
by Nick on August 22, 2008 · 1 comment
Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak conducted a live chat via STLToday.com on Wednesday (it was apparently the second such appearance he’s made over there).
I just saw it for the first time yesterday, and I have to say that I was surprised. Not by the typical Cardinal organization ‘non-answer/generalizations’ like this one:
Jason Winders: Greetings, JM. After watching the Cardinals’ big league talent slide every year since the final out of the 2004 World Series, I gotta ask what it will be this off season: “Market gone crazy” or “Keeping our powder dry” for that trade deadline 2009 pickup?
Be straight with us, JM, we won’t hate you.
But the fans are growing tired of these lines. Why does the Cardinals front office/ownership refuse to play it straight with fans regarding everything from injures to trades? We’re suckers, we’ll still buy tickets.
John Mozeliak: My hope is that I am straight with all of you (but specifically YOU) now saying that I look at this off-season as an opportunity to build on this year, we will have a stronger rotation and and our outfield will have a full year of experience. I do think we need to look for more offense from the middle infield and also add left-handed to strengthen our pen.
But if I fail to deliever it was not from being straight or candid…it was from not getting a deal done.
Now, I’m not completely naive – I know that he surely can’t dish out the Cards’ blueprint for the off-season, but I thought the question about being dodgy with injury reports, etc was a valid one, even if the seeming non-response was expected.
All of that aside, lots of Mo’s responses caught my eye. At the risk of duplication, here are a few:
Steve Earp: Mr. Mo, who can we expect to see showcased from our increasingly, majestic farm system come September? Will you offer Cards fans a taste of the future with Rasmus, Wallace, Anderson, D. Jones, Freese, Barden, Greene, et al? BTW, thanks for being disciplined at the deadline.
John Mozeliak: I have a meeting scheduled for Friday to determine who we think deserves the call-ups. I have laid out certian criteria that I feel needs to be met before we begin the promotion process. I do think we will benefit from the expanded rosters. At this point I will wait until everyone has had a chance to weigh in before making any public annoucement. Our young players have had a strong year and that is good news for Cardinal fans.
Not terribly shocking, but refreshing to know that Cardinal management is on the same page with a lot of fans. They have forty slots available come September 1. I would hope that we will see, at the very least: Colby Rasmus, Brian Barden, and Jason Motte. This is not to mention the guys who have already flip-flopped this season like Nick Stavinoha, Mark Worrell, Mitchell Boggs, and Brendan Ryan. Hell, we may even see guys like Kelvin Jimenez and Josh Phelps get some love.
This one is interesting for a couple of reasons:
BDAx2: Mr. Mozaliak,
Thank you for doing these chats..it obviously goes above and beyond your duties.
3 REALLY quick questions
1. Where do you realistically envision Colby Rasmus April 1, 2009?
2. Assume Carp and Waino healthy to start 2009, do you see a need to try and go outside the organization to add to the major league starting rotation in the offseason?
3. Do you see the SS position as a position where you are willing to accept below league average offense in exhcange for above league average defense?
John Mozeliak: 1. Rasmus will likely find himself competing for a major league job next spring, where he starts will be based on how he performs.
2. Looking at our ’09 rotation of Carp, Waino, Wellemeyer, and Pineiro it would make sense to add another arm. I do like what we have seen from Boggs but I do not want to rush him if we do not have to.
3. I would prefer above average offense and above average defense…that is much more desirable.
I’m glad to see the response to the first question. Rasmus should get a shot, and I suspect he’ll wind up on the roster as the team heads north next spring. Answer two is kind of another ‘duh’ answer – “we’ll add a pitcher if we see fit” – thanks for the insight. And number three was another ‘duh’. Great Mo, Cards fans would love to see that too, except there are only about three of those playing professional baseball right now. Ok, so maybe only one of those answers was interesting for a good reason.
Finally, this was the one that spurred me to write this post. This answer speaks volumes, in this scribe’s humble opinion:
Steve: Have you announced who will be replacing Izzy on the roster yet??
John Mozeliak: We have not made a roster as of today and with the off tomorrow it will likely wait until Friday.
Izzy had a great career with the Cardinals, he cared and wanted to compete at a high level. It is a disappointing ending but if he decides to pitch again, I only wish him the best.
Jason Isringhausen *had* a great career with the Cardinals? I’m not saying I disagree, or that I’m upset at the implication that statement makes, but *had*? That’s a major league slip of the tongue at this stage of the season and shortly after his injury, don’t you think Mo? Especially with your manager apparently stumping for Izzy to rehab and pitch again next season? You’re wishing him the best *if* he decides to pitch again, and wishing him the best? Sounds like Mo has turned the page…
I’m not saying that Mo is wrong. I suspect the Cardinal chapter has ended for Izzy’s career, regardless of whether his career has ended or not. But it strikes me as unorthodox to make that statement now, with the guy, one who had a lot better career wearing the Birds-on-the-Bat than most fans will remember, perhaps riding off into the sunset. It’s important for Cardinals fans to remember the good Izzy, the one who was dominant from 2002-2005. Not the injury-plagued struggle it was for Izzy to even pitch, much less succeed in the last two or three seasons.
One way or another, this organization is clearly poised to move on with young players coming up through the system. The self-sustaining program is likely going to be a must for the Cardinal organization going forward, and they have a great start on it. I think it’s important though, not to forget those who have gotten the franchise to such an elite status in the Major League Baseball annals. Let’s celebrate the Izzy’s of this team’s last decade.
Cheers Izzy – I hope you do pitch again.
Posted in: Blogs,Cardinals Front Office,Current Cardinals,Minor League Cardinals
Tagged with: Adam Wainwright, Brendan Ryan, Brett Wallace, Brian Barden, Bryan Anderson, Chris Carpenter, Colby Rasmus, Daryl Jones, David Freese, Jason Isringhausen, Jason Motte, Joel Pineiro, John Mozeliak, Josh Phelps, Kelvin Jimenez, Mark Worrell, Mitchell Boggs, Nick Stavinoha, St Louis Cardinals, STLToday.com, Todd Wellemeyer, Tyler Greene
PHE February 6, 2009
This post makes me sad.
What will Isringhausen’s Cardinal legacy be?
That he was a fearsome competitor and wildly successful when healthy, or that fans turned on him when he tried to push through injuries and failed?
Previous post: Bob Watson has lost his mind
Next post: This week’s Redbird Tweets – 2008-08-23
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Regulatory Elements of the Floral Homeotic Gene AGAMOUS Identified by Phylogenetic Footprinting and Shadowing
Ray L. Hong, Lynn Hamaguchi, Maximilian A. Busch, Detlef Weigel
Ray L. Hong
Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, California 92037Department of Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
Lynn Hamaguchi
Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, California 92037
Maximilian A. Busch
Detlef Weigel
Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, California 92037Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
Published June 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.009548
American Society of Plant Biologists
In Arabidopsis thaliana, cis-regulatory sequences of the floral homeotic gene AGAMOUS (AG) are located in the second intron. This 3-kb intron contains binding sites for two direct activators of AG, LEAFY (LFY) and WUSCHEL (WUS), along with other putative regulatory elements. We have used phylogenetic footprinting and the related technique of phylogenetic shadowing to identify putative cis-regulatory elements in this intron. Among 29 Brassicaceae species, several other motifs, but not the LFY and WUS binding sites identified previously, are largely invariant. Using reporter gene analyses, we tested six of these motifs and found that they are all functionally important for the activity of AG regulatory sequences in A. thaliana. Although there is little obvious sequence similarity outside the Brassicaceae, the intron from cucumber AG has at least partial activity in A. thaliana. Our studies underscore the value of the comparative approach as a tool that complements gene-by-gene promoter dissection but also demonstrate that sequence-based studies alone are insufficient for a complete identification of cis-regulatory sites.
It has been recognized that comparing the regulatory regions of genes that are expressed in similar patterns both within a species and across related taxa can help identify cis elements that confer conserved expression patterns (Gumucio et al., 1992; Wasserman and Fickett, 1998; Jareborg et al., 1999; Dubchak et al., 2000; Wasserman et al., 2000; Bergman and Kreitman, 2001; Kaplinsky et al., 2002). In particular, the analysis of orthologous regulatory regions in multiple species can enhance current attempts to decipher the “cis-regulatory code” (Sumiyama et al., 2001; Berman et al., 2002; Davidson et al., 2002; Dermitzakis and Clark, 2002; Markstein et al., 2002). Conversely, species-specific alterations in expression patterns often are thought to play an important role in generating interspecific variation (Doebley et al., 1997; Wang et al., 1999; Kopp et al., 2000; Sucena and Stern, 2000).
The floral homeotic gene AGAMOUS (AG) of Arabidopsis thaliana has been a paradigm for the study of transcriptional regulation during plant development. Proper expression of AG requires sequences located in a 3-kb intron (Sieburth and Meyerowitz, 1997; Busch et al., 1999; Deyholos and Sieburth, 2000). Two transcription factors, LEAFY (LFY) and WUSCHEL (WUS), that bind to sequences within this intron have been identified (Busch et al., 1999; Lohmann et al., 2001). The plant-specific protein LFY controls floral fate and is expressed throughout floral primordia (Weigel et al., 1992; Parcy et al., 1998). The homeodomain protein WUS is expressed in the center of both shoot and floral meristems (Mayer et al., 1998) and is partly responsible for the region-specific activation of AG by LFY. Binding of both LFY and WUS to AG regulatory sequences is required for the normal activity of the AG enhancer. In addition to LFY and WUS, many other genes that affect the expression pattern of AG or its orthologs in other species have been identified by mutant analysis, but it is not known whether they regulate AG directly (Lohmann and Weigel, 2002). Notably, although almost all of these genes act as repressors of AG, dissection of cis-regulatory sequences by reporter gene analysis has failed to identify specific sites required for the repression of AG (Busch et al., 1999; Deyholos and Sieburth, 2000).
The already extensive characterization of AG orthologs in diverse vascular plants—from gymnosperms to eudicots—encourages comparative evolutionary studies of the regulatory circuits underlying the formation of flowers. Phylogenetic footprinting seeks to identify conserved regulatory sequences by using known species relationships as a rough guide for choosing taxa to be sampled, although individual regulatory elements may evolve at different rates than the genome as a whole. We have analyzed AG noncoding sequences from many species to identify potentially important motifs. The most informative approach has been the comparison of a large number of species that are in the same family as A. thaliana, which circumvents the difficulties associated with aligning long stretches of noncoding sequences from more distantly related species (Clark, 2001). This approach, the identification of largely invariant motifs using sequences from closely related species, has been called “phylogenetic shadowing” (Boffelli et al., 2003), to distinguish it from the use of more distantly related species, which is known as “phylogenetic footprinting” (Gumucio et al., 1992).
Six motifs that were conserved in 29 Brassicaceae species were shown to be important for enhancer activity in A. thaliana, with one of them revealing an unexpected aspect of AG regulation: repression in the shoot apical meristem by MADS domain proteins. On the other hand, the previously identified LFY and WUS binding sites were found to be more variable. Our studies illustrate both the strengths and weaknesses of phylogenetic footprinting and phylogenetic shadowing (Gumucio et al., 1992; Wasserman and Fickett, 1998; Boffelli et al., 2003), which have been promoted as a rapid means of genome-wide identification of regulatory sequences.
Divergence of AG Noncoding Sequences in 29 Brassicaceae Species
To identify candidate sequences for regulatory motifs, we began by sequencing the second AG intron from 28 Brassicaceae species in addition to A. thaliana (Table 1; detailed information on the accessions used as well as GenBank accession numbers are provided in the supplemental data online). The sequence identity for any pair of species ranged from 64 to 94%, with an average of 74%, which was close to the average difference of these species from A. thaliana, 77% (Table 1). Kaplinsky and colleagues (2002) recently reported the use of pair-wise BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) analysis (Altschul et al., 1990) to identify short conserved motifs in genes of the Poaceae. This method is not useful in the Brassicaceae, because application of the parameters used by Kaplinsky and colleagues (2002) for comparison of Brassicaceae pairs identifies more than half of the AG intron as conserved.
Species from Which AG Introns Were Compared
Because many of the species investigated had not been analyzed by molecular phylogeny, we established their relationship using the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS), including the 5.8S rDNA, a common phylogenetic marker (Figure 1A) . The ITS sequences form a monophyletic group with the sequence from Aethionema as an outgroup, although some closely related species, such as Lobularia maritima and Alyssum saxatile, did not cluster together. In addition, we observed that a tree built from the AG intron sequences (data not shown) agrees with the ITS tree within the genera Brassica, Capsella, and Arabidopsis sensu stricto, in accordance with published phylogenetic relationships (Koch et al., 1999, 2000, 2001a; Yang et al., 1999; Mummenhoff et al., 2001). Together, these results indicate that all of the sequences came from the Brassicaceae.
Brassicaceae ITS DNA Phylogeny and AG Protein Phylogeny.
(A) Rooted neighbor-joining distance tree of 5.8S rDNA ITS sequences using Akaike informational criterion log-likelihood DNA-substitution parameters. Bootstrap support (1000 replicates) is given next to the branches. This tree includes 26 of the 29 species analyzed for AG, plus additional species extracted from GenBank (see supplemental data online for accessions and sequences used). Outgroups were Aethionema, a basal Brassicaceae species, and Cleome, from the Capparaceae family, which some authors have included in the Brassicaceae sensu lato (Judd et al., 1994). The evolutionary distances between A. thaliana and other species used in this study are estimated between 5.8 million years (A. thaliana and A. arenosa) and 40 million years (Aethionema and the rest of the Brassicaceae) (Koch et al., 2001a).
(B) Neighbor-joining distance tree of predicted AG protein sequences. Putative AG orthologs of Capsella rubella (CrAG), Capsella bursa-pastoris (CbpAG), Camelina sativa (CsaAG), Coronopus squamatus (CsAG), Lepidium phlebopetalum (LpAG), Eruca sativa (EsAG), Guillenia flavescens (GfAG), and Thlaspi arvense (TaAG) are from this study. Numbered suffixes designate AG proteins in cases of multiple genomic copies. SHP1 and SHP2 are the closest paralogs of AG in A. thaliana and serve as the outgroup to Brassicaceae AG, whereas the AG-like proteins from monocots and gymnosperms (ZAG1/2, ZMM1/2, OsMAD3a, SAG1a, and DAL2) serve as outgroups to AG homologs from dicotyledons (PTAG1/2, CUM1, TAG1, FAR, PLE, and PMADS3).
The high degree of sequence identity across species not only facilitated unambiguous alignment along the entire AG intron, but it also suggested that these sequences are derived from orthologous genes. For eight species, we confirmed by reverse transcriptase–mediated PCR that the sequenced AG copy is expressed in flowers (data not shown). We then compared the phylogenetic relationships of the predicted protein sequences with those described previously for AG homologs outside of the Brassicaceae (Figure 1B). Because multiple copies of AG introns and cDNAs sometimes were isolated from the same species, it was possible that some of these were paralogs of A. thaliana AG. In A. thaliana, the closest AG paralogs are SHATTERPROOF1 (SHP1) and SHP2, both of which function in fruit development downstream of AG (Liljegren et al., 2000). The SHP1/2 introns cannot be aligned with the AG introns, nor do they contain the CCAATCA and aAGAAT motifs characteristic of AG introns from within and outside the Brassicaceae (see below). In addition, the second introns of SHP1 and SHP2 are only 1.3 and 2 kb in length, respectively, which is much shorter than any of the AG introns from the Brassicaceae. Finally, the partial AG protein sequences from the Brassicaceae form a monophyletic group, with SHP1/2 as a clear outgroup. Together, these results indicate that the sequences that we isolated are from AG orthologs or very recently arisen paralogs.
A sliding-window analysis of AG introns from the Brassicaceae revealed three major regions of reduced sequence divergence, which also correspond to clusters of largely invariant sequence blocks that are at least 6 bp long (Figure 2 ; see supplemental data online for detailed sequence alignments). Because of the generally high sequence identity throughout the Brassicaceae, we tested whether the pattern of identical base-pair blocks (Tang and Lewontin, 1999) was different from a random distribution by permuting the positions of invariant base pairs in the alignment 100 times (see Methods). Invariant blocks that were at least 6 bp long were significantly rarer in the permuted data set than in our observed data (Figure 2C, χ2 p = 0.0055), suggesting that these regions are under substitutional constraint.
Comparisons of AG Introns from Brassicaceae Species.
(A) Sliding-window analysis. Flanking exon sequences are depicted as open boxes. KB14 and KB31 refer to complementary A. thaliana AG enhancers that confer similar expression patterns in reporter gene assays (Busch et al., 1999). Valleys indicate three regions of reduced sequence divergence and therefore high conservation. These regions also contain the only clusters of highly conserved blocks of at least 6 bp (>90% sequence identity across all positions and species), as indicated by diamonds on the line at top.
(B) Conserved motifs. Invariant positions are shown in uppercase letters. For the consensus sequences of the aAGAAT box and CCAATCA box 1, Draba was excluded, because both motifs are largely deleted in the AG intron sequenced from this species. For the adjacent LFY and WUS binding sites (LBS/WBS), the core motifs to which LFY and WUS bind are underlined. Dots indicate insertions/deletions. Activity refers to effects seen when these sites are mutated in the context of A. thaliana sequences.
(C) Observed distribution of invariant blocks compared with the distribution expected if individual invariant positions were arranged randomly within the sequence alignment. Green bars are shown in the foreground.
Region 1, which is ∼300 bp long, contains adjacent putative LFY and WUS binding sites (LBS/WBS3) that are much less variable among the 29 Brassicaceae species examined than are the two functionally characterized LBS/WBS1 and LBS/WBS2 located in the 3′ intron region of A. thaliana AG (Busch et al., 1999; Lohmann et al., 2001). Only 7 of 29 species have 1- or 2-bp differences in the putative WBS3, whereas LBS3 is invariant (see supplemental data online). Region 2, of ∼300 bp, is near the middle of the aligned sequences and begins with an aAGAAT motif also found outside the Brassicaceae (see below). Region 3, which spans ∼600 bp at the 3′ end of the introns, contains several motifs conserved in the 29 Brassicaceae species examined, including two consensus CArG boxes, CC(A/T)6GG, which are binding sites for MADS domain proteins (Shore and Sharrocks, 1995), and a pair of CCAATCA boxes, which are binding sites for CCAAT-box binding proteins (Mantovani, 1998). CArG box 1 is almost invariant in the Brassicaceae, with only two sequences, from Lepidium africanum and Nasturtium, containing a single A-to-G transition (see supplemental data online). Region 3 also contains the known LBS/WBS1 and LBS/WBS2, which are more variable than several of the other sites, or the putative LBS/WBS3 discussed above. Region 3 is contained within the 744-bp minimal fragment sufficient for early AG expression, KB31 (Busch et al., 1999).
Although conserved motifs within aligned sequences are a good indication of functionally important sites, considerable shuffling of binding sites has been reported for a well-studied developmental enhancer in Drosophila (Ludwig and Kreitman, 1995; Ludwig et al., 1998, 2000). Therefore, we searched individual AG sequences for the presence of putative LFY binding sites using the consensus CCANTG(T/G) (Parcy et al., 1998; Busch et al., 1999). We found a fourth putative LBS in A. thaliana, located in the 5′ enhancer of A. thaliana AG, although this site is more variable than LBS3 (see supplemental data online). Several other species have LBS consensus sequences close by, sometimes in addition to LBS4, whereas other species lack such motifs in this region altogether (Figure 3) .
Putative LFY Binding Site 4 in Brassicaceae AG Introns.
Ovals denote the presence of LFY consensus binding sites (CCANTG[T/G]). The highlighted region indicates the position of LBS4 in A. thaliana (see supplemental data online). Some species have additional consensus motifs, whereas others lack them altogether. Species are ordered according to the phylogenetic relatedness of this region (data not shown). Numbers at bottom refer to the A. thaliana sequence.
Requirement of Candidate Regulatory Motifs for AG Enhancer Activity
To determine the functions of motifs that are found across the 29 Brassicaceae species examined, we mutated them in the context of two AG reporter constructs, KB14 and KB31, which represent the 5′ and 3′ portions of the A. thaliana AG intron, respectively (Busch et al., 1999).
KB14, which spans the putative LBS3 and LBS4 motifs, is activated in the center of early-stage flowers and is expressed at later stages preferentially in stamens (Busch et al., 1999; Deyholos and Sieburth, 2000). A mutation in putative LBS3 (reporter RH149, CCATTGT to AAATTGT) had a modest effect, reducing reporter gene activity in both early and late stages (Figures 4B and 4E) . Even the strongest of the 23 T1 lines tested was weaker than the intermediate KB14 reference line (Busch et al., 1999). By contrast, a mutation in the putative LBS4 (RH141, CCAATGT to AAAATGT) specifically affected early reporter gene activity (0 of 20 T1 plants showed early β-glucuronidase [GUS] expression), whereas the later activity in stamens remained largely unchanged (Figures 4C and 4F).
Requirement of Putative LFY Binding Sites 3 and 4 and CArG Boxes for the Activity of AG Enhancers.
(A) and (D) KB14, wild-type 5′ AG enhancer reporter (Busch et al., 1999).
(B) and (E) RH149, with LBS/WBS3 mutated.
(C) and (F) RH141, with LBS4 mutated.
(G) KB31, wild-type 3′ AG enhancer reporter (Busch et al., 1999).
(H) MX144, with CArG box 1 mutated, shows ectopic GUS activity in the shoot apical meristem (asterisk).
(I) MX144 in lfy-12.
(J) MX215, with mutations in CArG box 1 and LBS1 and LBS2.
(K) RH155, with CArG box 2 mutated.
(L) RH174, with both CArG box 1 and 2 mutated.
Sections of 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-d-glucuronide–stained apices are shown. Staining intensities increase from orange to pink to purple. Arrows indicate staining in the center of early floral primordia between stages 3 and 6 and in the stamens, particularly in the developing filaments of stage-6 to -8 flowers. Bar in (A) = 50 μm for (A) to (C) and (G) to (L) and 100 μm for (D) to (F)
Like KB14, KB31 is activated in the center of early-stage flowers, but it is expressed at later stages in both stamens and carpels, with relatively stronger expression in carpels (Busch et al., 1999; Deyholos and Sieburth, 2000). We examined four motifs in the context of KB31, the two CArG boxes and the two CCAATCA boxes. Mutation of CArG box 1 (MX144) resulted in ectopic reporter gene expression in the shoot apical meristem, whereas the spatial and temporal expression patterns in young flowers remained unchanged (Figure 4H). Because the activity of KB31 normally requires the activity of LFY, which is expressed only in floral primordia, we were surprised that the CArG box 1 mutation was sufficient for ectopic activation of the AG enhancer outside of flowers. Consistent with LFY not being expressed in the shoot apical meristem, ectopic expression of MX144 was unaffected in lfy-12 mutants (Figure 4I). However, the CArG box 1 mutation was insufficient for ectopic AG enhancer activity when both LBS1 and LBS2 were mutated (Figure 4J), indicating that activation of the ectopic AG enhancer in the shoot apical meristem requires the LFY binding sites but not LFY protein. This independence from LFY protein but not LFY binding sites reveals an unknown activator of AG that interacts with the LFY binding sites.
In contrast to CArG box 1, a mutation in CArG box 2 caused a reduction in early expression without affecting the spatial pattern of AG enhancer activity (Figure 4K). Mutating both CArG boxes in the context of KB31 had additive effects, suggesting that the two CArG boxes do not interact with each other (Figure 4L).
A pair of directly repeated CCAATCA boxes is present in all Brassicaceae AG, with the exception of Draba, which is missing the region overlapping the 5′ CCAATCA box 1 (see supplemental data online). We deleted CCAATCA box 1, CCAATCA box 2, or the entire 49-bp region containing both CCAATCA boxes in the context of KB31. Reporter gene expression appeared somewhat lower but was otherwise largely normal during early floral stage 3 (Figures 5A to 5D) . By contrast, the activity in stamens and carpels of stage-8 and -9 flowers was reduced or abolished in all three mutated reporters (Figures 5E to 5H). In the few lines in which GUS activity was detected in stage-8 and -9 flowers, reporter gene expression was restricted largely to the base of the gynoecium (Figures 5F to 5H).
Requirement of CCAATCA Boxes for the Maintenance of AG Expression.
(A) and (E) KB31, wild-type 3′ AG enhancer reporter (Busch et al., 1999).
(B) and (F) RH47, with CCAATCA box 1 deleted.
(C) and (G) RH48, with CCAATCA box 2 deleted.
(D) and (H) RH49, with both CCAATCA boxes deleted.
Arrowheads in (E) to (H) indicate gynoecia from stage 8 on, and arrows indicate reporter gene activity at the base of the gynoecium. Asterisks indicate shoot apical meristems. Bar in (A) = 50 μm for (A) to (D) and 100 μm for (E) to (H).
Identification of AG cis-Regulatory Motifs Outside the Brassicaceae
Having compared a large sample of AG enhancers at the family level, we asked whether the motifs identified in the set of 29 Brassicaceae species are found in more distantly related dicotyledons. In addition to previously sequenced AG orthologs and paralogs from poplar, snapdragon, and petunia (Tsuchimoto et al., 1993; Davies et al., 1999; Brunner et al., 2000), we isolated intron sequences from AG orthologs of cucumber and tomato (Table 1; see supplemental data online for GenBank accession numbers). The five species represented by these sequences are in different families, except for petunia and tomato, which are both in the Solanaceae. The length of the large intron immediately downstream of the MADS box ranges from 1993 bp (cucumber CUM1) to 4864 bp (poplar PTAG1). The introns of the two poplar paralogs, which share 71% identity, and the introns of petunia PMADS3 and tomato TAG1, which share 55% identity, can be aligned over much of their lengths (Figure 6) .
Locations of Putative cis-Regulatory Elements in AG Introns from Dicotyledons Outside the Brassicaceae.
Dot plots of poplar paralogs, PTAG1 and PTAG2, and of orthologs from tomato and petunia, which are in different subfamilies of the Solanaceae, are shown at top. The window size was 25 bp, with a minimum of 50% identity and a step size of 1 character. Diagrams of AG introns with putative cis-regulatory motifs are shown at bottom. The position of the Tam3 transposon insertion, which results in ectopic expression of the PLE ovulata mutant (Bradley et al., 1993), is indicated by the arrowhead. Regions of extended similarity that include several motifs are highlighted in gray. The lengths of the introns are as follows: AG, 2999 bp; CUM1, 1993 bp; PMADS3, 4011 bp; PTAG1, 4864 bp; PTAG2, 3882 bp; PLE, 4087 bp; FAR, 2965 bp; and TAG1, 3251 bp.
In the Cucurbitaceae, no motifs with obvious similarity to A. thaliana AG were found in the introns of cucumber AG paralogs CAG1 (=CUM10) and CAG2 (=CUS1), even though both are expressed in reproductive organs (Perl-Treves et al., 1998). Phylogenetic analysis of deduced protein sequences has indicated that CAG1 is related more distantly to other AG homologs than the very similar CUM1/CAG2 pair (Theissen et al., 2000). Based on in situ hybridization results and overexpression phenotypes (Kater et al., 1998, 2001) as well as visual inspection of the second intron, CUM1 is the cucumber gene most closely related to A. thaliana AG.
As a group, introns from outside the Brassicaceae are too divergent to be aligned across their whole lengths using software such as CLUSTAL X (Thompson et al., 1997), although CUM1, PTAG1, and PTAG2 introns shared more regions of at least 50% identity than were shared between any of these three and AG. This finding reflects the fact that cucumber (Cucurbitaceae) and poplar (Salicaceae) belong in the Eurosid I superorder, whereas A. thaliana (Brassicaceae) is in Eurosids II. Pair-wise BLAST alignment (Altschul et al., 1990) with the A. thaliana AG intron revealed two short regions that are very similar among all of these sequences, an aAGAAT box and a closely spaced pair of CCAATCA boxes also found in the Brassicaceae (Figure 1). Directly repeated CCAATCA boxes ∼37 bp apart have been noted previously in FAR, PLE, AG, and PTAG1 (Davies et al., 1999), and they are found in all AG introns of dicotyledons (Figures 6 and 7) . The A. thaliana genome contains 472 pairs of CCAATCA boxes within 70 bp (http://plantenhancer.org/); if we assume a similar base composition of other dicotyledon genomes, a lower bound estimate for the random occurrence of two closely spaced CCAATCA boxes occurring in the 2- to 5-kb introns of AG orthologs is <2%. A 19-bp motif, AGAATCTNTGNTNACGTCA, corresponding to the aAGAAT motif defined in the comparison of Brassicaceae sequences, is found in all AG orthologs except snapdragon PLE (Figures 6 and 7). This is consistent with the observation that the FAR protein sequence is more similar to that of AG than is the PLE sequence (Davies et al., 1999). The A. thaliana genome contains only one perfect match to this motif.
Conserved Motifs in Introns of AG Homologs from Outside the Brassicaceae.
Asterisks indicate positions identical to the AG sequence in each alignment. At top, CCAATCA boxes (shaded) are separated by a more variable region. At bottom, the aAGAAT motif is part of a more extended region of similarity. Searches in the AliBaba2.1 (http://www.gene-regulation.com) transcription factor binding site database did not identify obvious candidates that could bind to the core aAGAAT motif.
All introns contain at least one CArG box, (C/G)C(A/T)6GG, and all but that of cucumber CUM1 have at least one pair of CArG boxes within 700 bp (Figure 6). Although CArG boxes occur more often than once every 2 kb in the A. thaliana genome, clusters of at least two CArG boxes within 700 bp are rare; their chance occurrence in a 5-kb sequence is only 10%. We also found putative LFY binding sites, CCANTG(T/G) (Parcy et al., 1998; Busch et al., 1999), in all introns (Figure 6). In A. thaliana, three LBS are adjacent to core homeodomain consensus sites, TTAAT, two of which are known to be bound by WUS (Lohmann et al., 2001). In other dicotyledons, homeodomain consensus sites generally are not found next to putative LBS. Because the putative LFY binding sites are short, finding them in introns of AG orthologs is not significant by itself. More distantly in monocots, intron sequences of the maize AG-like paralogs ZMM1 and ZAG2 (Theissen et al., 1995) and of the rice AG-like gene OsMADS3 (Kang et al., 1998) are available. All three contain very limited similarity to the motif defined by the pair of CCAATCA boxes or to the aAGAAT motif (data not shown).
Activity of Cucumber AG Sequences in A. thaliana
Because there is little overall sequence identity between the AG intron from A. thaliana and orthologs from outside the Brassicaceae, we wanted to determine whether introns of non-Brassicaceae species can perform similar roles in regulating flower-specific transcription. For functional analysis, we selected the CUM1 intron from cucumber, which is 30% shorter than that of AG and has only one CArG box but has a pair of CCAATCA boxes next to motifs with similarity to LBS/WBS from A. thaliana, although these are arranged differently than in AG. Analogous to the A. thaliana reporters, the CUM1 intron was placed upstream of the −46-bp minimal 35S gene promoter of Cauliflower mosaic virus driving a GUS reporter. The CUM1:GUS expression pattern in A. thaliana apices was similar to that of AG:GUS, although the expression levels often were lower (Figures 8A and 8C) . Like that of AG, CUM1-driven reporter gene expression began during early stage 3 but reached its highest levels soon after. In contrast to the AG intron, the CUM1 intron did not drive any expression in stamens and carpels of later stage flowers (Figures 8B and 8D).
Activity of the CUM1 Intron in A. thaliana.
(A) and (B) KB9, full-length A. thaliana AG intron reporter.
(C) and (D) CUM1:GUS apices.
Shoot apical meristems are indicated by asterisks, and numbers indicate floral stages (Smyth et al., 1990). The onset of expression (arrowhead in [C]) during the early stage (e3) is similar in AG:GUS and CUM1:GUS, but CUM1:GUS expression is not maintained as long, except for staining at the base of the gynoecium (D). Staining intensities increase from orange to pink to purple. g, gynoecium; st, stamens. Bar in (A) = 50 μm for (A) and (B) and 100 μm for (C) and (D).
We have examined noncoding sequences of the floral homeotic gene AG in a range of dicotyledons (from Asteridae to Rosidae) and in a large number of Brassicaceae species. We found that comparison of AG sequences between distantly related species reveals only a small number of putative cis-regulatory sequences. On the other hand, within the Brassicaceae, sequence identity is high, and considerably more than two species need to be compared in this variation of the phylogenetic footprinting approach, for which the term phylogenetic shadowing has been coined (Boffelli et al., 2003). At least six of the seven motifs identified by sequence comparison within the Brassicaceae are required for function in A. thaliana, although the degree of variability is not a direct indicator for the importance of a site. For example, two transcription factor binding sites (LBS/WBS1 and LBS/WBS2) shown previously to be essential for enhancer activity in A. thaliana are more variable than several other, newly discovered motifs. Similarly, the invariant LBS3 is less important than the more variable LBS4 for early AG expression, indicating the limitations of this approach. A summary of our findings is shown in Figure 9 .
Summary of AG Regulation.
Initiation and early AG expression in flowers requires all four LFY and LFY/WUS binding sites, as well as CArG box 2. The same LFY/WUS binding sites, along with a pair of CCAATCA boxes, also are required for the maintenance of AG expression in maturing carpels and stamens. In the shoot apical meristem (SAM), CArG box 1 mediates the repression of AG by a MADS domain protein(s). This repression appears to prevent the ectopic activation of AG by WUS, which is expressed in the shoot apical meristem (Mayer et al., 1998), and possibly by another unknown protein, factor Z.
Regulatory Function of AG Intron Sequences Outside the Brassicaceae
We have shown that the ability of the second intron to direct flower-specific expression is shared by at least one species outside the Brassicaceae, cucumber. In snapdragon, a transposon insertion that causes ectopic expression of PLE has been mapped to the second intron (Bradley et al., 1993), also suggesting that this intron regulates flower-specific expression outside the Brassicaceae. Despite the similar function of AG introns, the only extended motifs found throughout the dicotyledons are a pair of CCAATCA boxes, which are required for the maintenance of AG expression and a newly discovered motif, the aAGAAT box.
Shuffling and Divergence of LFY and WUS Binding Sites
Initial studies of the AG intron in A. thaliana suggested that the 5′ and 3′ portions are redundant, because they specify similar early expression patterns (Busch et al., 1999). A more detailed examination has revealed that the 3′ enhancer is more important for the early activation of AG and expression in carpels, whereas the 5′ enhancer appears to be more important for late expression in stamens (Deyholos and Sieburth, 2000). The 3′ enhancer contains two adjacent pairs of LBS and WBS, which are required for its activity (Busch et al., 1999; Lohmann et al., 2001). The 5′ enhancer contains a putative third LBS adjacent to a putative WBS, and both are much less variable than LBS/WBS1 and LBS/WBS2 found in the 3′ enhancer of A. thaliana. LBS/WBS3, which is found throughout the Brassicaceae, appears to be required for both early and late activity of the 5′ enhancer, similar to the requirement of LBS/WBS1 and LBS/WBS2 for the activity of the 3′ enhancer. Although a fourth putative LBS is more variable in both its sequence and its location along the intron than LBS3 and is not adjacent to a putative WUS binding site, mutating LBS4 abolishes all early AG enhancer activity in the context of the 5′ enhancer. Thus, the more variable LBS4 is more important in A. thaliana than the almost invariant LBS/WBS3. Although LBS4 is not found at the same position in all 29 Brassicaceae species, a motif similar to LBS4 is present elsewhere in the 5′ region of the AG intron in most Brassicaceae species. Changes in number and location also have been documented for the BICOID binding sites in the hunchback P2 promoter of higher Diptera species as well as for several other transcription factor binding sites in the even-skipped stripe 2 enhancer from Drosophila (Ludwig et al., 1998; McGregor et al., 2001a, 2001b).
Identification of Additional Regulatory Elements by Phylogenetic Footprinting and Shadowing
By far, the most highly conserved motif in all dicotyledon AG introns includes a pair of CCAATCA boxes, which are required for AG enhancer activity during the later stages of flower development. That these motifs are important for AG regulation is further indicated by the finding that the weak ag-11 allele, in which lateral stamens are transformed into petals, has a point mutation immediately downstream of the second CCAATCA box (S. Liljegren and M. Yanofsky, personal communication). The CCAATCA consensus matches the recognition site of the NF-YA/NF-YB/NF-YC (Nuclear Factor-YA/YB/YC) heterotrimeric complex in vertebrates (also known as HAP2/3/5 in yeast) (Mantovani, 1998), but it is not known which if any of the 23 NF-Y homologs expressed in A. thaliana regulates AG expression (Kwong et al., 2003). The role of the equally conserved aAGAAT motif, which does not match a known consensus binding site of any transcription factor, remains to be determined. Ultimately, it will be important to demonstrate that these motifs have functions in other species similar to those in A. thaliana.
Within the Brassicaceae, two motifs found close to LBS/WBS1 and LBS/WBS2 are CArG boxes, of which one is required for repression in the shoot meristem and the other is required for general activation. CArG box 1 is the only AG intron mutation found to date that causes a dramatic alteration in the spatial pattern of enhancer activity (Busch et al., 1999; Deyholos and Sieburth, 2000; R.L. Hong and D. Weigel, unpublished data). Surprisingly, AG enhancer activity in the shoot apical meristem is independent of LFY protein but dependent on the previously identified LFY binding sites. This unexpected result suggests the presence in the shoot apical meristem of another transcription factor that can bind the AG enhancer but whose effect on AG normally is masked by repressors binding to CArG box 1.
CArG boxes are bound by MADS domain proteins (Norman et al., 1988; Huang et al., 1993, 1996; Acton et al., 1997), and several genes that encode MADS domain proteins are expressed in the shoot apical meristem, especially after the transition to flowering (Mandel and Yanofsky, 1995; Borner et al., 2000; Lee et al., 2000; Samach et al., 2000; M. Yanofsky, personal communication). Using a gain-of-function approach, we have identified AGL6 as a candidate factor that mediates AG repression in the shoot apical meristem (R.L. Hong, F. Godard, and D. Weigel, unpublished results).
Prospects for Phylogenetic Footprinting and Shadowing in Plants
There has been much interest recently in the use of genome-wide sequence comparisons to identify conserved regulatory elements as a scalable alternative to tedious gene-by-gene promoter dissection (Jareborg et al., 1999; Dubchak et al., 2000; Wasserman et al., 2000; Bergman and Kreitman, 2001; Levy et al., 2001; Kaplinsky et al., 2002). We have found for AG that the divergence of A. thaliana and Brassica oleracea, another Brassicaceae species with extensive genome sequence information (Colinas et al., 2002), is itself not very informative (Table 1). Even the most divergent pair we found, Lepidium phlebopetalum and Berteroa incana, still share 64% sequence identity. Similarly, the degree of divergence that we found between tomato and petunia, which are in different dicotyledon families, is only slightly less than that seen with members of the Brassicaceae. On the other hand, comparisons between dicotyledon families identify only a small number of conserved elements of obvious significance. It is possible that a judicious choice of a species outside, but still close to, the Brassicaceae would have partially overcome this limitation. Examples of such species include members of the Caricaceae, which could be papaya, and the Malvaceae.
It was reported recently that conserved noncoding motifs can be identified by comparing sequences from the monocots maize and rice, both of which are members of the Poaceae (Kaplinsky et al., 2002). The families Brassicaceae and Poaceae are of similar age, likely having arisen ∼40 and 50 million years ago, respectively (Kellogg, 2001; Koch et al., 2001a). Within the Poaceae, the number of motifs identified by maize and rice comparison is small, only one or two for most genes (Kaplinsky et al., 2002). These findings suggest that the divergence of noncoding sequences among members of the Poaceae is similar to that found for members of different dicotyledon families, rather than within a single dicotyledon family, perhaps as a result of a faster mutational rate in the grasses (Song et al., 2002).
An important question is whether our findings can be extrapolated to other genes, because we analyzed regulatory sequences located in an intron. In Drosophila, patterns of sequence divergence are similar for intergenic and intron sequences (Bergman and Kreitman, 2001). In A. thaliana, the regulatory sequences of another floral homeotic gene, APETALA3 (AP3), are located in the promoter, and its sequence has been compared between A. thaliana and B. oleracea (Hill et al., 1998) and, more recently, among 14 other Brassicaceae species (Koch et al., 2001b). The general pattern observed was similar to the pattern reported here. The AP3 promoter of A. thaliana contains three CArG boxes with different roles in AP3 regulation, of which only CArG box 2 is identical between B. oleracea and A. thaliana (Hill et al., 1998; Tilly et al., 1998). Yet, when additional species are considered, CArG box 3 is not more variable than CArG box 2, thus underscoring the importance of examining several species (Koch et al., 2001b).
The value of using several closely related species for the identification of functionally important motifs has been noted (Dubchak et al., 2000; Cliften et al., 2001; Dermitzakis and Clark, 2002). After this study was completed, a similar study appeared in which sequence divergence within primates was exploited (Boffelli et al., 2003); the authors of that study came to similar conclusions as we did here. Although our approach can identify important elements, it will miss at least some, such as the previously characterized LFY/WUS binding sites 1 and 2. Thus, neither phylogenetic footprinting nor phylogenetic shadowing is a panacea for rapidly understanding transcriptional regulation on a genomic scale, but they can be effective when combined with traditional reporter mutational analysis. In the future, our comparisons would benefit from a more extensive molecular framework for understanding how regulatory sequences evolve, for which both metazoan and plant models should be considered.
Growth Conditions
Seeds of different species were kindly provided by the individuals and institutions listed in the supplemental data online. Seeds were stratified at 4°C in the dark for 3 days and sown directly onto soil in the greenhouse or in growth rooms under a 16-h-light/8-h-dark cycle at 23°C. Seeds that did not readily germinate on soil, most notably from Capsella and Lepidium species, were sown on half-strength Murashige and Skoog (1962) agar containing 30 μM gibberellic acid, and the seedlings were transplanted onto soil. For DNA extraction, we used one individual per accession. When possible, seeds derived from selfing were collected from the individual used as the DNA source.
Oligonucleotide Primers
Sequences of oligonucleotide primers used for PCR amplification, site-directed mutagenesis, and genotyping are listed in the supplemental data online.
PCR Amplification of AG Introns
Genomic DNA from leaves of a single plant was isolated using a modified cetyl-trimethyl-ammonium bromide protocol (Lukowitz et al., 2000). Nested oligonucleotide primers flanking the second intron were designed based on the Brassica napus BAG1 cDNA sequence (primary primers oRH1050 and oRH1051, secondary primers oRH1034 and oRH1035) (Mandel et al., 1992), tomato TAG1 cDNA (primary primers oRH1046 and oRH1047, secondary primers oRH1040 and oRH1041) (Pnueli et al., 1994), and cucumber CUM1 (CAG3) (primary primers oRH1044 and oRH1045, secondary primers oRH1038 and oRH1039), CAG1 (primary primers oRH1044 and oRH1045, secondary primers oRH1038 and oRH1039), and CAG2 cDNA (primary primers oRH1058 and oRH1059, secondary primers oRH1056 and oRH1057) (Kater et al., 1998; Perl-Treves et al., 1998). Primary PCR for 26 cycles was performed using ExTaq polymerase (Takara, Shiga, Japan). After 1:200 dilution of the primary reaction product as a template, secondary PCR was performed for 35 cycles. Conditions were as follows: 92°C for 1 min, 55 to 60°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 3 min per cycle.
PCR Amplification of Internal Transcribed Spacers
Primers N-471 and N-472 (Koch et al., 1999) were used, with the same conditions as for the AG intron, except for a shorter extension time of 1 min.
Cloning and Sequencing
In general, PCR products were gel isolated, cloned into pGEM-T Easy (Promega, Madison, WI), and sequenced with Applied Biosystems BigDye Terminators version 3 on ABI Sequencers 3700 or 3100 (Foster City, CA). Sequences were assembled with Autoassembler version 2.0 (Applied Biosystems). For AG introns, two clones from each PCR initially were sequenced with flanking SP6 and T7 primers. Additional clones were sequenced with these primers if the two initial clones showed substantial differences. One clone representing each species was sequenced completely by primer walking. For internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS), a single clone was sequenced on both strands. For reverse transcriptase–mediated PCR of AG cDNA, RNA was extracted from two to three floral buds from a single plant using the Qiagen Plant RNeasy kit (Valencia, CA). After reverse transcription using oligo(dT) primers with AMV-RT Polymerase (Promega) to generate single-stranded cDNA, PCR was performed with ExTaq (Takara). Primers RH1028 and RH1029 amplified AG mRNA transcripts beginning 28 bases downstream of the AG translational start codon (ACG) in the MADS box until 2 bases before the last codon (GTG) to yield ∼730-bp fragments. PCR products from one to two reactions were cloned into the pGEM-T Easy vector (Promega), and at least four clones were sequenced in both directions with T7 and SP6 primers. Only one type of insert (RH184) was isolated from Lepidium phlebopetalum, which shared an AA insertion 42 bases from the last base, likely because of AMV-RT or ExTaq polymerase error. This insertion was removed manually to predict the LpAG coding sequence.
Sequences were aligned with CLUSTAL X (Thompson et al., 1997), resulting in lengths of 4447 and 643 characters for AG introns and ITS, respectively. Sequences were further aligned manually using Se-Al version 2.0 (Andrew Rambaut, Oxford University, UK). Likelihood settings for AG introns (TrN+I+G; Tamura-Nei model with proportion of invariable sites and gamma distribution [Tamura and Nei, 1993]) and ITS (SYM+I+G; symmetrical model with proportion of invariable sites and gamma distribution [Zharkikh, 1994]) were selected using the Akaike informational criterion for best-fit DNA substitution models based on log-likelihood scores produced by Modeltest version 3.06 (Posada and Crandall, 1998). These substitution models then were used to generate neighbor-joining distance trees bootstrapped with 1000 replicates in Paup4.0b8 (Swofford, 1993). Phylogenetic trees using predicted AG amino acid sequences also were constructed in PAUP using the neighbor-joining distance method. We obtained a similar tree using sequences without the highly conserved MADS domain. Sliding-window analysis was performed with DNA SP version 3.51 (Rozas and Rozas, 1999) with a window size of 20 bp at steps of 20 characters. To determine whether invariant positions were arranged randomly within the aligned Brassicaceae sequences, we converted the alignment into a string of 0s and 1s, indicating variable and invariant positions (Tang and Lewontin, 1999). Permutations of the positions of 0s and 1s were generated using a script implemented in R (with help from B. Schönfisch, University of Tübingen, and N. Warthmann, Max Planck Institute). Pair-wise distances from dot matrices were generated with MacVector 6.0.1 (Oxford Molecular Biology Group PLC) with a window size of 25 bp and a minimum of 50% identity. Long sequence alignments between Arabidopsis thaliana and non-Brassicaceae species were visualized with the World Wide Web version of VISTA, using as a parameter 50% identity over 25 bp (Dubchak et al., 2000).
Site-Directed Mutagenesis
PCR-based mutagenesis was performed using mutagenic primers or primers flanking the deletion sites. Mutated bases are underlined in the supplemental data online. After PCR with Turbo-Pfu (Stratagene), the vector templates were digested with DpnI and transformed into Escherichia coli. Mutations were verified by sequencing.
For LBS3, PCR mutagenesis using primers oN-583 and oN-584 was performed on the SpeI fragment of the 5′ enhancer (pRH134) to yield pRH135, which then replaced the same region in the full-length AG intron to yield pRH147. For LBS4, PCR mutagenesis was performed on pKB8 (full AG intron) using primers oN-654 and oN-655 to yield pRH140. Mutations in the 3′ AG enhancer were first introduced in pKB42, containing the 3′ XbaI-HindIII fragment (Busch et al., 1999). For CArG box 1 mutation (pMX144), oMX1133 and oMX1134 were used; for CArG box 2 mutation (pRH155), oN-601 and oN-602 were used; for CArG box 1+2 mutations (pRH174), oN-601 and oN-602 were used on pMX141 containing mutated CArG box 1; for CCAATCA box 1 deletion (pRH47), oRH1082 and oRH1083 were used; for CCAATCA box 2 deletion (pRH48), oRH1084 and oRH1085 were used; for deletion of both CCAATCA boxes (pRH49), oRH1095 and oRH1096 were used. For simultaneous mutations in LBS1, LBS2, and CArG box 1 (pMX215), oMX1133 and oMX1134 were used on pMX68 carrying LBS1 and LBS2 mutations (Busch et al., 1999).
Plant Vectors and Transformation
β-Glucuronidase (GUS) reporters were in the pDW294 background, with the −46-bp 35S promoter of Cauliflower mosaic virus driving GUS (Busch et al., 1999). Mutations in LBS3 and LBS4 were introduced into plants in the context of the 5′ enhancer (present in a 2.2-kb HindIII-BamHI fragment) in the forward direction, pKB14 (Busch et al., 1999). For mutated variants of the A. thaliana 3′ enhancer, 0.7-kb BamHI-HindIII fragments were cloned into pDW294, yielding mutated versions of the pKB31 reporter (Busch et al., 1999). The CUM1 intron was cloned into pDW294 in the reverse orientation, because this orientation gave more consistent and stronger GUS expression with the A. thaliana AG intron (Busch et al., 1999). Transgenic lines in the Columbia ecotype were generated by floral dipping and selected on kanamycin medium (Weigel and Glazebrook, 2002).
Inflorescences were stained for GUS activity as described (Blázquez et al., 1997), embedded in Paraplast, and sectioned at 10 μm thickness. Between 10 and 25 individual T1 lines were examined for each reporter construct.
Availability of Material
Upon request, all novel materials described in this article will be made available in a timely manner for noncommercial research purposes.
The GenBank accession numbers (AY253235–AY253268, AY254527–AY254546, and AY254702–AY254705) of AG introns, partial cDNA sequences of newly isolated AG copies from Brassicaceae, and ITS sequences are listed in the supplemental data online. cDNA accession numbers are as follows: Brassica napus BAG1 (M99415 [Mandel et al., 1992]), tomato TAG1 (AW035543.2 [Pnueli et al., 1994]), cucumber CUM1 (CAG3), CAG1, and CAG2 (AF035438, AF022378, and AF022377 [Kater et al., 1998; Perl-Treves et al., 1998]). Other accession numbers are X81199 and X80206 for ZMM1 and ZAG2, respectively (Theissen et al., 1995), and P0489A05.5 for the rice AG-like gene OsMADS3.
We are grateful for the help of Kristina Gremski in isolating and sequencing several Brassicaceae AG introns and for the help of Birgitt Schönfisch and Norman Warthmann with statistical analyses. We thank David Baum, Justin Borevitz, Des Bradley, José Dinneny, Marcus Koch, Sarah Liljegren, Jan Lohmann, Julin Maloof, Tom Mitchell-Olds, Bob Schmidt, Marty Yanofsky, Phillip Wigge, and Xuelin Wu for discussions, sharing unpublished results, and manuscript review. The manuscript was improved by comments from anonymous molecular evolutionists who acted as reviewers. We also thank the many individuals and institutions who provided seeds of various Brassicaceae species. This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health Training Grant to R.L.H., a fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program Organization to M.A.B., grants from the National Institutes of Health (GM62932) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FG03-98ER20317) to D.W., and the Max Planck Society. D.W. is a Director of the Max Planck Institute.
Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.009548.
Online version contains Web-only data.
↵1 Current address: Department of Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
↵2 Current address: Sympore GmbH, 72770 Reutlingen, Germany.
Received November 27, 2002.
Published May 8, 2003.
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Tilly, J.J., Allen, D.W., and Jack, T. (1998). The CArG boxes in the promoter of the Arabidopsis floral organ identity gene APETALA3 mediate diverse regulatory effects. Development 125, 1647–1657.
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You are going to email the following Regulatory Elements of the Floral Homeotic Gene AGAMOUS Identified by Phylogenetic Footprinting and Shadowing
The Plant Cell Jun 2003, 15 (6) 1296-1309; DOI: 10.1105/tpc.009548
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President Kenyatta Censures Turkana Governor For Lack Of Development
On March 8, 2017 In Latest News
President Uhuru Kenyatta has criticised Turkana Governor Joseph Nanok, saying the arid county had little to show for more than Kshs 40 billion of devolved funds disbursed over the last four years.
President Kenyatta said the ODM-led county was a shameful example of poor service delivery to Kenyans. The President observed that Turkana county received funds equal to the combined allocations to Kiambu and Uasin Gishu counties but lagged behind in development. “Turkana County deserve to develop at the same pace as other counties and its residents have a right to receive efficient and effective services under the devolved unit as other counties,” President Kenyatta said. The Head of State – who was accompanied by Deputy President William Ruto – spoke today in Lodwar town where he was greeted by thousands of residents. President Kenyatta reassured that his Administration will remain focused on developing all parts of the country. In Turkana County, the President said the Jubilee Government has initiated projects aimed at transforming the lives of residents in the areas of energy, health, infrastructure, agriculture, water and security. On infrastructure, the President cited the tarmacking of the Kitale – Lodwar road that is currently underway while on electricity he said over 300 primary school have been connected. “Since independence, which Government has connected more households to electricity than Jubilee?” President Kenyatta posed. He added: “If one is a leader who is keen on uplifting the life of residents, he would join Jubilee – the party that is focused on development and unity.” Deputy President Ruto said he has fought hard to ensure that financial resources for development were channelled to Turkana County because of his quest and the President’s determination to transform the lives of Kenyans in all parts of the country. “As a national Government, we have resisted calls to change the formula for revenue allocation that would see counties like Turkana allocated less funds,” the Deputy President said. During the occasion, Turkana Senator John Munyes led 12 Members of the Turkana County Assemble in defecting to the Jubilee Party. The MCAs who defected were Raphael Loperito (ODM), James Abei (ODM), David Ateyo (Kanu), Patrick Imana (Kanu), Jackson Lowoi (Kanu), Maria Nasanyana (Kanu), Emmanuel Lomorukai (Kanu), Joseph Tioko (Ford-K), John Sepae (Ford-Kenya), Michael Ewoi (Ford-Kenya), Marystella Ekunoit (Ford-Kenya) and Leah Nachere (Ford-Kenya). Local leaders including Senator John Munyes and Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro thanked President Kenyatta and his deputy for the development witnessed in the county .
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Librarian Mary "May" Banks: Addressing "Those in Power"
Seattle Public Library postcard
Courtesy Seattle Public Library Seattle Public Library Reading Room, circa 1906
Courtesy Museum of History and Industry,
Pemco Webster and Stevens Collection, 1983.10.7734 Photographer Asahel Curtis was the leader of the Mountaineers' ascent of
Mt. Queets on the Olympic Peninsula, 1907
Courtesy Washington State Historical Society, Curtis 8416
The Library was perhaps the only place where women found employment with little resistance. When the first Freeholders' Charter was ratified in October 1890, the Seattle Public Library was created as a branch of city government. Although unpaid, Mrs. A.B. Stewart and Mrs. J.C. Haines were appointed to the Library Commission in 1890.
The Seattle Public Library was housed at various locations in its early years, including the Yesler mansion at Third and James, which was destroyed by a fire in 1901. With the help of Carnegie funds, a new Central Library opened in 1906 between Fourth and Fifth at Madison and Spring.
Several women worked for the Seattle Public Library in its early years. In 1895, Miss Mary Banks was employed as Superintendent of Circulation, at a salary of $45 per month. Banks began working for the Library in 1893 and quickly moved from the Circulation Department to Reference, becoming Chief Reference Librarian. Known as "May," her reports bubble with energy and ideas.
At the Library, she was responsible for inaugurating a "Seattle Authors" collection in 1908. Banks thought that the Library could request copies of books from local authors, with the goal of representing each local author with at least one book. Banks wrote in her 1908 annual report:
"Quite unforeseen to the originator of the idea, it has already become one of the attractions of the Library . . . Were it possible to have all of the works of even a few such authors [such] as Col. Chittenden, Mrs. E. W. Champney, Miss Adele Fielde, or others now residing here, it would make a showing that would, I believe, surprise not only non-residents, but those residents who consider themselves best informed about local authors."
In her 1909 report, Banks stated the "Seattle Authors Collection . . . proved one of the main drawing cards to the Library during the [Alaska Yukon Pacific] Exposition, the interest in it still continuing unabated."
Banks worked to establish the Washington State Library Association and was elected its first secretary. She was a charter member of The Mountaineers, and the first woman to reach the top of Mount Queets during the club's first annual outing to the Olympic Peninsula in 1907. Mary Banks was the first of four women to summit on the first ascent made from the west on August 1, 1907. The ascent was part of a six-week climbing trip chronicled by the editor of "The Mountaineer," Mary Banks.
Banks' last annual report reflects frustration with her inability to secure better resources for her department, despite pleas each year. She wrote of herself "...[I]t would appear that the head of this department had failed to convince those in power of even the most evident needs of the Reference Department, though so keenly aware of them herself. This is especially strange since she has quite the opposite reputation outside the library, to such an extent that when anything seems hopeless of accomplishment it is very frequently turned over to her, with some measure of success . . ."
Banks worked for the Library for 17 years, leaving in 1910 to work for the public service commission in New Jersey. She later worked in a library in New York City and was the librarian for the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio. She returned to Seattle, performing social work until her health failed. She died on May 29, 1917.
Mayor Bertha Knight Landes
Seattle Municipal Archives item no. 12285 Mayor Bertha Landes with Photographers
Courtesy Museum of History and Industry, SHS19233
In the early 20th century, the campaign for women's suffrage and prohibition issues brought women into the public sphere. With the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 giving women the right to vote, the idea of women in the political arena was no longer unacceptable. In 1926, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to have a woman mayor when Bertha Knight Landes was elected. She served a single two-year term.
Landes moved to Seattle in 1895 when her husband Henry was appointed to the University of Washington faculty. She was the mother of three children and active in women's clubs. She founded the Women's City Club and was president of the Washington State League of Women Voters. Landes' leadership was recognized early; she was appointed by the Mayor in 1921 to serve on a commission studying unemployment.
Bertha Landes and Kathryn Miracle were the first women to serve on Seattle City Council; both were elected in 1922. Landes was Council President after her reelection in 1924. She was acting mayor in 1924, when Mayor Brown left town to attend the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Angry at what she saw as police corruption and lawless activity, Acting Mayor Landes fired Police Chief William B. Severyns. She began her own law and order campaign, closing down illegal activities throughout the city, including lotteries, punchboards and speakeasies. Upon his return, Mayor Brown reinstated the Police Chief.
While on City Council, Landes supported city planning and zoning, improved public health and safety programs, and promoted social concerns such as hospitals and recreation programs. She continued this work as Mayor, encouraging the use of professional expertise in many areas, such as hiring by merit through a strengthened Civil Service Commission. She worked to get the City to adopt a city manager form of government, which it did not do. She also supported public ownership of utilities. Landes countered the dominant business perspective with one that included caring for the City's moral, social and physical environment. The legacy Landes left is one of using city government for civic betterment.
Report of Sewing Room Work for Women's Division of the
Commission for Improved Employment, 1932
Courtesy Seattle Public Library Bertha Landes annual report, 1928
Mayor's Messages (1802-C2), Seattle Municipal Archives Bertha Landes proclamation, June 26, 1924
Comptroller File 95242, Seattle Municipal Archives
When Landes was defeated for re-election for Mayor in 1928 by Frank Edwards, she was asked about the future of women in politics. She said, "Women now wield considerable power along political lines and I believe each succeeding year for some time to come will find them wielding that power more effectively. But . . . at present men in general are not ready to yield to women the privilege and right of holding high political office."
She wrote extensively for national magazines and encouraged other women to get involved in politics. In a 1929 Colliers article she wrote, "In politics it commonly takes a superior woman to overcome the handicap of traditional prejudice." Landes wanted to be treated equally with men and called for public service to be gender-netural. "Let us, while never forgetting our womanhood, drop all emphasis on sex, and put it on being public servants." She despised being called "mayoress."
Landes continued to be active in the community after she left office. During the 1930s, she was chair of the Sewing Room Work for the Women's Division of the Mayor's Commission for Improved Employment. She oversaw 673 women who sewed garments for women and children to "help improve the unemployment situation."
Landes paved the way for other women and encouraged Mildred Powell to run for City Council. Powell subsequently won office and served on the Council from 1935 to 1955. The first African American woman on City Council, Sherry Harris, was not elected until 1992 and served one term, from 1992 to 1995. In 1992, the balance of Council members shifted for the first time to include a majority of women members. In addition to Sherry Harris, Cheryl Chow, Sue Donaldson, Jane Noland, Martha Choe, and Margaret Pageler were on City Council, comprising six out of the nine members. With the election of Jan Drago in 1994, the numbers increased to seven out of nine. Women lost their majority status in 1998.
Parks and Recreation Leader Pearl Powell: "It is only seconds...that we see them and those seconds should be good ones."
Pearl Powell Awarding Swimming Medals, August 1963
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 86.5.41781 Newspaper clipping, Box 48, Folder 39
Ben Evans Recreation Program History Collection (5801-02),
Pearl Powell accepted her first position with the City when Bertha Landes was Mayor. Powell was employed by the Parks Department as playground "instructress" at Collins Playfield from 1927 to 1935. She took summer school classes at Cornish while in college and studied theater puppetry with Tony Sark, as well as dance, including classes in modern dance with Martha Graham. In 1927, while attending the University of Washington on a scholarship, she worked as a play leader for the Parks Department to earn money for her room and board.
Powell's early playground reports burst with her enthusiasm for the activities and the children at the playfield. In her 1931 report, written at the end of the summer at Collins Playfield, Pearl Powell wrote:
"All nationalities, faces, and creeds meet as individuals on a common level here through that splendid medium known as free play . . . Every day almost some one tells me they come to the playground because the mass of voices, that are happy, makes them forget the things that seem to hang heavily with them." It was the rule of a leader, she wrote, "to cram as much joy and fun into the recreational side of their lives . . . as we can. It is only seconds after all that we see them, and those seconds should be good ones . . ."
Ruby Chow, active in the Chinese-American community and a member of King County Council for 16 years, described how Powell made Collins Playfield a "home-away-from-home" for herself and her brothers and sisters. Others echoed her sentiments. Powell taught them softball, basketball and volleyball. She led athletic programs, crafts, and overnights to Camp Denny.
In 1929, when 35 girls attended one of the overnights at Camp Denny, they were inspired to form the Sails and Trails hiking program. Powell was the advisor to Sails and Trails, a program open to women over 18 looking for low-cost recreational outings. By 1945 the group's membership, focused on working women, had grown to 215 women. Their annual trips included a boat trip on the Puget Sound and hiking throughout the northwest.
Demonstrating her creativity and inspired by City Council member Mildred Powell, who was also a P.T.A. leader in the 1930s, Pearl Powell organized high school dances. First held in 1932, the dances were sponsored by the P.T.A., the Seattle Public Schools, and the Seattle Park Department. All-city dances were held at the Civic Auditorium, with attendance frequently over 1500. The all-city dances ended in 1960 when construction began to convert the Civic Auditorium into the Opera House.
Sails and Trails Club, 1940
Playground Division Annual Report
Ben Evans Recreation Program Collection (5801-02)
Seattle Municipal Archives High school dance
Powell was promoted to director of Women's Activities in the Playground Division of the Parks Department in 1937. In 1949, she was a recreation supervisor, in charge of public recreation program and activities city-wide. She introduced Junior Programs, cultural arts and special events for adults and recreation for the disabled. Powell was honored for her service to Seattle Public School children through her work as recreation supervisor. Throughout her career she was actively involved in community service, including the Soroptimist Club, the Big Sister Service, the YWCA and Camp Fire.
Powell served as both assistant director of recreation and deputy director of recreation. She became acting director of recreation in 1964, when director Willard H. Shumard resigned, and thus became one of the few women to hold the post in a major city in the U.S.
The first woman to head Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation was Holly Miller, who served from 1988 to 1998.
Hints for the Homemaker: Mary Norris
By the 1920s, "electric cooking" increased in popularity in Seattle, due in large part to City Light's encouragement. Selling electrical appliances to customers in the 1920s, City Light had a central showroom downtown and four branch stores throughout the city by 1930.
Mary Norris Lecture, West Seattle High School, 1954
Seattle Municipal Archives item no. 26837 Home Economist Mary Norris, 1953
Seattle Municipal Archives item no. 23858
As early as 1933, City Light also had "for the convenience of the customer, an expert home economist . . . on duty in each district of the city," according to the annual report for that year. By 1936, the home economists offered service not only in the home, but also in free cooking classes held by City Light's Institute of Electric Cookery in the auditorium of the City Light Building on Third Avenue.
In the tradition of Betty Crocker, who was created in a marketing campaign begun by General Mills in 1921, Mary Norris found a niche at Seattle City Light as the expert home economist. Beginning in 1955, Norris presented programs to employees, high school students, and community service groups on canning and freezing, holiday food preparation, and other cooking and baking suggestions. For many years, Mary Norris stated, the home economists were "the only women who were required to have a college degree as a requirement for our position."
City Light promoted the use of electric appliances in the 1950s and 1960s as time-saving devices for the homemaker. "The modern Seattle housewife lives better, for less, electrically" the advertisement stated. Along with Prudence Penny (Maurine Kelley) of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and others, Norris appeared at the Seattle Home Show in the 1950s as "a noted home economist" offering hints and helps for the homemaker. Norris also had her own home economics television show on KIRO where new electric appliances were modeled. By the time Norris left City Light in 1976, home economics had become consumer education, and the emphasis changed from promoting the use of electricity to conserving it.
After leaving City Light, Norris became the first woman to serve on the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, a nationwide body studying the fishing industry from a world-wide perspective. She was also active in community service organizations, including the Girl Scouts. She is currently serving on the Board of Administration of the Seattle Employees Retirement System.
Elec-tricks: heating, appliances, cooking, lighting, freezing
By Mary Norris, City Light Home Economist
Courtesy Seattle Public Library, SEADOC L7.9 Seattle City Light Advertisement, February 1956
City Light Advertising Scrapbooks (1201-03), Seattle Municipal Archives
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OneSpot Brings Relevance to Internet Ad Space
September 17, 2014 by lalorek 4 Comments
BY LESLIE ANNE JONES
Reporter with Silicon Hills News
Matt Cohen, president and founder of OneSpot
Matt Cohen is an old-school content guy.
Two decades ago Cohen built the Houston Chronicle’s first website and developed the paper’s digital strategy. At the paper, Cohen noted that whenever they did reader surveys, subscribers always ranked the paper-edition advertisements among the top three things they most appreciated. Those ads were useful. They let people know when sales were happening.
But somehow the utility and appeal of print ads doesn’t translate easily into the digital space. And what works on a highway billboard can seem annoying and irrelevant when directly translated to a website masthead.
“There’s no reason at all I shouldn’t be seeing things that are interesting to me,” Cohen said of web ads. “I buy things all the time.”
With the rise of social media, companies are placing more emphasis on delivering substantive value in their digital communication. This is happening alongside a long-term trend toward greater authenticity and ‘real’ interaction between brand and customer. The result of these two trends is that businesses are creating more articles, blogs and videos that are entertaining and/or informational, often entirely sans sales pitch.
“It’s not, ‘Buy, buy, buy right now.’ It’s about creating a relationship with the brand.” Cohen said.
But there’s a pipeline problem. Once that corporate content is created – how to get it to people beyond those visiting the company’s website? That’s where Matt Cohen’s idea for OneSpot comes into play: Put ads for corporate content into traditional web ad spaces, but make the placement decision based on an advanced understanding of the intended individual.
OneSpot’s proprietary technology helps companies build their brand’s audience by using advanced, multi-level audience targeting to improve media placement decisions.
OneSpot’s system has access to about 94 percent of the American Internet audience, chief marketing officer Adam Weinroth explained. The company analyzes a wide range of user behavior and leverages that data using its technology, which is based on machine learning and predictive modeling, to determine when a certain person should see a certain ad. So someone who is perusing recipe sites might see a link to a cooking article produced by Whole Foods (one of OneSpot’s clients) in the recipe site’s ad space.
“A lot of money goes into content creation,” Cohen said. “What we have is a value proposition: take a fraction of that budget to drive a multiple of the results companies are already seeing.” It’s a way to make the whole online publishing ecosystem work better, he says: Consumers get content that’s relevant to them, advertisers reach the right people, and publishers get money for ads that are more than just a necessary annoyance.
Programmatic advertising and real-time bidding on digital ad space has built up over the last five years. Once that infrastructure was cemented, Cohen’s idea coalesced and he founded OneSpot in early 2012. Previously, he’d been a partner at Austin venture capital firm G-51 Capital.
Steve Sachs, CEO of OneSpot
The first year was mainly spent building the software and enrolling a few beta customers. It was clear to Cohen he needed to bring on someone with marketing experience and connections to the advertising world. In February 2013, Steve Sachs came on as CEO.
Formerly an executive vice president at Time Inc., Sachs used to oversee the Real Simple, Cooking Light and Southern Living brands. Since he became CEO, OneSpot has worked to expand its offerings and clients. Many of its current clients come from the food, health and beauty sectors. Since all of these categories routinely roll out new products, they also tend to produce a lot of brand-related content for their markets. Companies that produce a lot of branded content have the most to potentially gain from using OneSpot.
In November 2013, OneSpot held a series A and raised $5 million led by Mohr Davidow Ventures, a leading Silicon Valley VC firm investing in the digital marketing space.
Adtech is a nascent addition to the Texas startup scene. “We’re bringing a piece of New York to Austin,” Sachs said. Cohen and Sachs are excited to be leading local development of the sector.
The company has a sales presence in Chicago and New York. Engineering and customer care is based in Austin. Over the next year, Sachs and Cohen plan to continue building their client roster and improving the capabilities of their software. In late August, OneSpot unveiled its new Facebook sequencing capabilities. The company can now use Facebook’s real-time ad exchange to place its clients’ content into Facebook users’ news feeds.
Filed Under: Austin Tagged With: Digital Advertising, Matt Cohen, Onespot, Steve Sachs
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Polling in 4 Northeast States Ends Peacefully
Kohima/Imphal/Shillong/Itanagar, Apr 10 : Polling was held today for six Lok Sabha seats in the four North Eastern States of Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, besides Arunachal Pradesh, where Assembly elections to the 60-member House were also held, reports PTI.
The Congress candidate in Konsa (W) Assembly constituency in troubled Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh was kidnapped by suspected militants, but was released unharmed later.
Polling was not held in a disputed area in Longleng district of Nagaland, bordering Assam.
Longleng Superintendent of Police James said armed Assam Police and CRPF personnel prohibited the entry of polling officials at Ladaigarh Polling Station (PS) No. 1 under Tamlu Assembly constituency in the district.
In Meghalaya, defying a 12-hour bandh called by a banned separatist group in the Khasi Jaintia Hills, voters turned out in large numbers in urban areas, State Chief Electoral Officer P Naik said.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress, BJP, NCP and People’s Party of Arunachal, besides independents, were in the fray in the Western and Eastern parliamentary constituencies, which have been traditional Congress strongholds since 1975, except in 2004 when the BJP made a dent.
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering of Congress was pitted against BJP nominee Tarir Gao and PPA’S Wangman Lowangcha in the Eastern parliamentary seat.
After casting his vote at Sagalee, about 137 km from Itanagar, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said the party would emerge winner in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
Tuki was among 11 Congress candidates elected unopposed to the 60-member House.
In Manipur, 10 contestants from the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, Naga People’s Front, NCP, JD(U) and Aam Admi Party, besides three independents, were in the fray.
The candidates whose electoral fate was decided were sitting Congress MP Thangso Baite, Gangmumei Kamei (BJP), C Doungel (NCP), Kim Gangte (TMC), Soso Lorho (Naga People’s Front), L Gangte (JD-U) and MK Zou (AAP).
Elections to the Inner Manipur seat would be held on April 17.
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Snow Sports Canada set for seasonal travel with new team gear from High Sierra
an article by Mike Spicer | Sep 17, 2015
International Outdoor Product Manufacturer High Sierra Designed Specialized Product Line for all Seven Winter Sport Organizations
5 Things Recreational Skiers and Snowboarders Should Do In The Off Season
an article by Alex Creglia | Jul 9, 2015
A look into what recreational skier’s and snowboarder’s should do in the off season in order to be prepared for the first snowfall.
The Top 10 Canadian Snow Sports Moments In The Past 10 Years
In celebration of Canada Day, we took a look back at the top 10 Canadian snow sports moments that have shaped our nation in the past 10 years.
Following a Legendary Season, Mikael Kingsbury is named Male Athlete of the Year
an article by Alex Creglia | Jun 24, 2015
In the most impressive season of his young career, Mikael Kingsbury is awarded most outstanding Canadian male freestyle skier for the 2014-2015 season.
World Champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe named Female Athlete of the Year
The Olympic and World champion in women’s moguls, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, is awarded most outstanding Canadian female freestyle skier for the 2014-2015 season.
Moguls legend Jennifer Heil inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
an article by Alex Creglia | May 27, 2015
One of the greatest Canadian freestyle skiers of all time, Jennifer Heil, was honoured with an induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame on April 22, 2015.
A Look Back On An Incredible Season
an article by Alex Creglia | May 7, 2015
Looking back on a successful season for Snow Sports Canada on the world stage – from the World Cup to the World Championships & X Games.
Snow Sports Canada Athlete of the Month
an article by Conor Gordon | Apr 3, 2015
During the month of March, biathlete Nathan Smith finished his breakout season by making history for Biathlon Canada. Coming off a strong February in which he had career best finishes of 5th and 7th, Smith went on to win the silver medal at the world championships in Kontiolahti, Finland, finish 5th in a sprint race in Russia, and then win gold in the pursuit race only a couple days later.
Snow Sports Canada Weekend Recap
an article by Conor Gordon | Mar 17, 2015
Double gold and crystal globes in France, bronze for Taylor Henrich, and strong performances from our Alpine team highlight the week for Snow Sports Canada.
From goggle tans to puddle jumps, warm weather, and patios. There’s so much to love about spring skiing! Check out our top ten reason to love spring skiing.
an article by Conor Gordon | Mar 2, 2015
With two medals at the 2015 Nordic World Championships, a record for Canada, Alex Harvey is your Snow Sports Canada Athlete of the Month.
Five Can’t-Miss Après Ski Spots in Canada
an article by Conor Gordon | Feb 26, 2015
Ah, the après ski. A tradition with deep roots from the Alps to the Rockies. Is there anything better than spending a day on the slopes with fresh snow, a clear blue sky and warm sunshine followed by an ice-cold beer (or a shot of peach schnapps perhaps)? Don’t miss out on the après experience this winter, and check out five of our favourite après ski locations in the Great White North!
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Mini Skirt Monday #193: I Dream of Jeannie - Season 5
We've covered Jeannie before in a one of the more popular, most visited Miniskirt Mondays - Number 80. So, we could easily leave it at that and feel we've covered it sufficiently; however, Season Five is so mini-centric, that it demands more attention. My only regret is that it took four years to happen.
We can't cover the whole season in one post. So, we'll divide it into two parts. For each episode, I'll deliver the mini pics and some basic story points to put the miniskirts in context (for those who care). Enjoy!
Season 5, Episode 1: Jeannie at the Piano
There's a hex on a piano which makes whoever plays it appear to be an expert. It wound up in the hands of a kid, and Jeannie must bribe him to get the piano back..
Tony must maintain his image as being a gifted pianist at all costs, so he offers the kid a hundred dollars - which he doesn't accept. Then, Jeannie learns he'd rather have a trumpet instead. The kid takes the exchange. Tony, Roger and Jeannie push the piano out... and we get a look at exactly how micro that micro mini really is...
Great Scot! Any higher and we are officially seeing Jeannie's ass. That was one helluva skirt; not a bad trade-off for her pink genie outfit.
Season 5, Episode 2: Djinn Djinn, the Pied Piper
In this episode, Jeannie is wearing a very short white mini with puffy sleeves. Nothing to write home about until she has to get on her knees with Tony to call General Schaeffer's dog.
Season 5, Episode 4: Guess Who's Going to Be a Bride?: Part 2
Part 1 (Episode 3) is miniskirt-free, with Jeannie only in her genie outfit. At the end of the second part, we have a big moment in the history of I Dream of Jeannie...
....Jeannie is just about to blink herself away so as to not be spotted, but Tony stops her, and then informs informs Dr. Bellows and General Schaeffer that she is his fiance. Big news to even Jeannie!
Tony then tells her to zap Roger back, who was literally a second away from having his head cut off (I'll spare you the details.)
And the big episode ends with Jeannie zapping the three safely back home. And, of course, Dr. Bellows and the General turn around and wonder where they've disappeared to. It's an old tired gag, but with the news that Jeannie and Tony getting married, I don't think anyone cared.
Season 5, Episode 5: Jeannie's Beauty Cream
What are Dr. Bellows and Jeannie looking at? There's a ruckus going on behind a closet door. As it turns out, it's Tony and Dr. Bellows' wife, Amanda!
Naturally, Jeannie is pissed. But there's obviously a reasonable explanation for this compromising situation: Amanda Bellows has been given a magic face cream by Jeannie. It completely transformed her appearance to look like a ravaging beauty. Tony was simply trying to keep her out of sight of her husband.
Obviously, Dr. Bellows doesn't even recognize his wife, and it's up to Roger and Tony to clean up Jeannie's mess by getting Amanda back to normal.
The "new and improved" Amanda Bellows is played by actress Laraine Stephens who gets manhandled the entire episode - shoved into closets, pushed into locked rooms, etc. until finally they get her into a bathroom with the face cream antidote...
The entire time, poor Amanda doesn't understand what is going on, and things she's being assaulted. From her perspective, this isn't a comedy at all, but rather a dark and violent tale of abduction.
When they finally get Amanda back to normal, we find that Tony has grown younger thanks to the mystery cream. (insert hysterical canned laughter)
Season 5, Episode 6: Jeannie and the Bachelor Party
It's the day before their wedding, and Jeannie is walking on air. She visits Tony at his office only to learn about the custom of bachelor parties. Tony doesn't want one, but Roger and Dr. Bellows are throwing him one tonight anyway.
That evening, Jeannie and Amanda Bellows have much more subdued plans - to take in a movie. Of course, Amanda has no idea her husband is at a bachelor party until Jeannie spills the beans.
Amanda delivers a hard lesson to Jeannie: All men are liars. She decides to go down to NASA and crash this little party.
Meanwhile at the bachelor party, the office is overflowing with girls in miniskirts (Jeannie is 'disguised' as a mannequin at left). Lots of crazy hijinks ensue, and a great episode for fans of the miniskirt to be sure.
Season 5, Episode 8: See You in C-U-B-A
Episode 7 is another miniskirt-free episode, but this one more than makes up for it, beginning with Jeannie trying on an ultra short tennis outfit.
Amanda Bellows thinks she sees Jeannie talking to Tony, but that can't be - he's supposed to be on a big mission for NASA. It's only a mannequin... or is it?
Tony has been zapped into the sporting goods store by Jeannie. This isn't good - if Amanda sees him there, she'll tell her husband and... well, you know the gag. Tony and Roger have to pretend to be mannequins, and comedy unfolds.
I should mention that this episode is a bit of a disappointment in the miniskirt department, despite Jeannie's high hemline. In this episode, Roger is giving tennis lessons to none other than a very young Farrah Fawcett. Unfortunately, if you blink you'll miss her super short tennis skirt.
The final scene takes place at the wedding rehearsal dinner. Tony arrives out of the blue, having supposedly been MIA over Cuba. As always, Dr. Bellows is aghast, Amanda Bellows is suspicious, General Schaeffer is stupidly confused, and Tony is a nervous wreck. All is as it should be on I Dream of Jeannie. Until next time.
Labels: I Dream of Jeannie, mini skirt monday
Felix July 27, 2015
How I miss 'I dream of Jeannie'. No woman ever showed off a Mini Skirt like 'Jeannie' (Barbara Eden)!
GOODSTUFF July 27, 2015
To every heterosexual male, Barbara Eden was a fox. Because Barbara Eden's voluptuous curves was always on display in her Jeannie’s costume.
Barbara Eden (given name Barbara Jean Morehead) nickname is BJ
Very exciting stuff at the time, particularly for prepubescent boys like me who thrilled to her diaphanous harem pants and bare-midriff top.
Much more - http://goodstuffsworld.blogspot.com/2014/04/goodstuffs-blogging-magazine-135th-issue.html
Nick_H July 27, 2015
I forget, did you already review the Mod Party episode?
What? No shot of Farrah? You're such a tease.
I'd swear in the 9th pic down (the first with the general in it), the actor who plays the general is actually looking at Barbara Eden's behind!
I believe the General is doing just that! How men of his age must have bemoaned the fact that the mini wasn't around 30 years earlier!
I had a crush on Jeanie too, but am I the only guy to think that Amanda Bellows was rather hot?
Nope, she was a looker. http://fanpix.famousfix.com/picture-gallery/emmaline-henry-picture-19672497.htm
Tech #31: ColecoVision Magazine (Winter 1984)
Double Feature #5: Her Face!
The Vintage Home #19: Better Homes and Gardens (19...
Mini Skirt Monday #193: I Dream of Jeannie - Seaso...
Ads #75: Fanny Face
Wonder Woman - S2E1
Vintage Men's Mags #41: Adam (1963)
The Boob Tube #50: Benny Behaving Badly
Magazines #47: SPY (May 1988)
Mini Skirt Monday #192: Minis and Male Bystanders
Vintage Style #43: Celebrating Roundness - Bathing...
Double Feature #4: She's Back from the Dead and Wa...
Kid Stuff #19: Electric Company Magazine (1975)
Vintage Scan #37: Variety (January 11, 1984)
Double Feature #3: She's Possessed!
Vintage Scan #36: Parade (March 21, 1971)
Double Feature #2: Italian Sex-Coms
Vintage Scan #35: Ice Follies 1970
Mini Skirt Monday #191: Minis on Ladders on TV & F...
Double Feature #1: Private Dicks
Magazines #46: Young Miss (March 1974)
Retro Film Report #48: Sessomatto (1973)
Artful Conception #27: The Star Wars Pose (Part 2)...
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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) X. Zhang, Ed.
Updates: 3471, 3473, 6205 V. Beeram, Ed.
Category: Standards Track Juniper Networks
ISSN: 2070-1721 I. Bryskin
D. Ceccarelli
O. Gonzalez de Dios
Network-Assigned Upstream Label
This document discusses a Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(GMPLS) Resource reSerVation Protocol with Traffic Engineering
(RSVP-TE) mechanism that enables the network to assign an upstream
label for a bidirectional Label Switched Path (LSP). This is useful
in scenarios where a given node does not have sufficient information
to assign the correct upstream label on its own and needs to rely on
the downstream node to pick an appropriate label. This document
updates RFCs 3471, 3473, and 6205 as it defines processing for a
special label value in the UPSTREAM_LABEL object.
https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8359.
Zhang, et al. Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 8359 Network Assigned Upstream-Label March 2018
(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
2. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Unassigned Upstream Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1. Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. Backwards Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Use-Case: Wavelength Setup for IP over Optical Networks . . . 5
4.1. Initial Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.2. Wavelength Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A functional description of the Generalized Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (GMPLS) signaling extensions for setting up a bidirectional
Label Switched Path (LSP) is provided in [RFC3471]. The GMPLS
Resource reSerVation Protocol with Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE)
extensions for setting up a bidirectional LSP are specified in
[RFC3473]. The bidirectional LSP setup is indicated by the presence
of an UPSTREAM_LABEL object in the Path message. As per the existing
setup procedure outlined for a bidirectional LSP, each upstream node
must allocate a valid upstream label on the outgoing interface before
sending the initial Path message downstream. However, there are
certain scenarios (see Section 4) where it is not desirable or
possible for a given node to pick the upstream label on its own.
This document defines the protocol mechanism to be used in such
scenarios. This mechanism enables a given node to offload the task
of assigning the upstream label for a given bidirectional LSP to
nodes downstream in the network. It is meant to be used only for
bidirectional LSPs that assign symmetric labels at each hop along the
path of the LSP. Bidirectional Lambda Switch Capable (LSC) LSPs use
symmetric lambda labels (format specified in [RFC6205]) at each hop
along the path of the LSP.
As per the bidirectional LSP setup procedures specified in [RFC3471]
and [RFC3473], the UPSTREAM_LABEL object must indicate a label that
is valid for forwarding. This document updates that by allowing the
UPSTREAM_LABEL object to indicate a special label that isn't valid
for forwarding. As per the bidirectional LSC LSP setup procedures
specified in [RFC6205], the LABEL_SET object and the UPSTREAM_LABEL
object must contain the same label value. This document updates that
by allowing the UPSTREAM_LABEL object to carry a special label value
that is different from the one used in the LABEL_SET object.
2. Requirements Language
3. Unassigned Upstream Label
This document defines a special label value -- "0xFFFFFFFF" (for a
4-octet label) -- to indicate an Unassigned Upstream Label. Similar
"all-ones" patterns are expected to be used for labels of other
sizes.
|1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1|
| ... |
Figure 1: Unassigned UPSTREAM_LABEL - "all-ones" Pattern
The presence of this value in the UPSTREAM_LABEL object of a Path
message indicates that the upstream node has not assigned an upstream
label on its own and has requested the downstream node to provide a
label that it can use in both the forward and reverse directions.
message MUST also be interpreted by the receiving node as a request
to mandate symmetric labels for the LSP.
3.1. Procedures
The scope of the procedures is limited to the exchange and processing
of messages between an upstream node and its immediate downstream
node. The Unassigned Upstream Label is used by an upstream node when
it is not in a position to pick the upstream label on its own. In
such a scenario, the upstream node sends a Path message downstream
with an Unassigned Upstream Label and requests the downstream node to
provide a symmetric label. If the upstream node desires to make the
downstream node aware of its limitations with respect to label
selection, it MUST specify a list of valid labels via the LABEL_SET
object as specified in [RFC3473].
In response, the downstream node picks an appropriate symmetric label
and sends it via the LABEL object in the Resv message. The upstream
node would then start using this symmetric label for both directions
of the LSP. If the downstream node cannot pick the symmetric label,
it MUST issue a PathErr message with a "Routing Problem/Unacceptable
Label Value" indication. If the upstream node that signals an
Unassigned Upstream Label receives a label with the "all-ones"
pattern or any other unacceptable label in the LABEL object of the
Resv message, it MUST issue a ResvErr message with a "Routing
Problem/Unacceptable Label Value" indication.
The upstream node will continue to signal the Unassigned Upstream
Label in the Path message even after it receives an appropriate
symmetric label in the Resv message. This is done to make sure that
the downstream node would pick a different symmetric label if and
when it needs to change the label at a later time. If the upstream
node receives an unacceptable changed label, then it MUST issue a
ResvErr message with a "Routing Problem/Unacceptable Label Value"
indication.
+----------+ +------------+
---| Upstream |--------------------| Downstream |---
Upstream Label (Unassigned)
Label-Set (L1, L2 ... Ln)
------------------->
Resv
Label (Assigned - L2)
<-------------------
Figure 2: Signaling Sequence
3.2. Backwards Compatibility
If the downstream node is running an implementation that doesn't
support the semantics of an Unassigned UPSTREAM LABEL, it will either
(a) reject the special label value and generate an error as specified
in Section 3.1 of [RFC3473] or (b) accept it and treat it as a valid
If the behavior that is exhibited is (a), then there are no backwards
compatibility concerns. If the behavior that is exhibited is (b),
then the downstream node will send a label with the "all-ones"
pattern in the LABEL object of the Resv message. In response, the
upstream node will issue a ResvErr message with a "Routing Problem/
Unacceptable Label Value" indication.
4. Use-Case: Wavelength Setup for IP over Optical Networks
Consider the network topology depicted in Figure 3. Nodes A and B
are client IP routers that are connected to an optical Wavelength
Division Multiplexing (WDM) transport network. F and I represent WDM
nodes. The transponder sits on the router and is directly connected
to the add-drop port on a WDM node.
The optical signal originating on "Router A" is tuned to a particular
wavelength. On "WDM-Node F", it gets multiplexed with optical
signals at other wavelengths. Depending on the implementation of
this multiplexing function, it may not be acceptable to have the
router send the signal into the optical network unless it is at the
appropriate wavelength. In other words, having the router send
signals with a wrong wavelength may adversely impact existing optical
trails. If the clients do not have full visibility into the optical
network, they are not in a position to pick the correct wavelength in
The rest of this section examines how the protocol mechanism proposed
in this document allows the optical network to select and communicate
the correct wavelength to its clients.
4.1. Initial Setup
+---+ /-\ /-\ +---+
| A |----------------( F ) ~~~~~~~~~ ( I )----------------| B |
+---+ \-/ \-/ +---+
Upstream Label (Unassigned/0xFFFFFFFF)
--------------------->
-- ~~ -- ~~ -->
<--------------------
<-- ~~ -- ~~ --
Label (Assigned)
<---------------------
Figure 3: Initial Setup Sequence
o "Router A" does not have enough information to pick an appropriate
client wavelength. It sends a Path message downstream requesting
the network to assign an appropriate symmetric label for its use.
Since the client wavelength is unknown, the laser is off at the
ingress client.
o The downstream node (Node F) receives the Path message, chooses
the appropriate wavelength values, and forwards them in
appropriate label fields to the egress client ("Router B").
o "Router B" receives the Path message, turns the laser ON and tunes
it to the appropriate wavelength (received in the UPSTREAM_LABEL/
LABEL_SET of the Path) and sends a Resv message upstream.
o The Resv message received by the ingress client carries a valid
symmetric label in the LABEL object. "Router A" turns on the
laser and tunes it to the wavelength specified in the network
assigned symmetric LABEL.
For cases where the egress-node relies on RSVP signaling to determine
exactly when to start using the LSP, implementations may choose to
integrate the above sequence with any of the existing graceful setup
o "ResvConf" setup procedure ([RFC2205])
o Two-step "ADMIN STATUS" based setup procedure ("A" bit set in the
first step; "A" bit cleared when the LSP is ready for use)
([RFC3473])
4.2. Wavelength Change
After the LSP is set up, the network may decide to change the
wavelength for the given LSP. This could be for a variety of reasons
including policy reasons, restoration within the core, preemption,
In such a scenario, if the ingress client receives a changed label
via the LABEL object in a modified Resv message, it retunes the laser
at the ingress to the new wavelength. Similarly, if the egress
client receives a changed label via UPSTREAM_LABEL/LABEL_SET in a
modified Path message, it retunes the laser at the egress to the new
wavelength.
IANA maintains the "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(GMPLS) Signaling Parameters" registry. IANA has added a new
subregistry titled "Special Purpose Generalized Label Values". New
values are assigned according to Standards Action [RFC8126].
Special Purpose Generalized Label Values
Pattern/ Label Name Applicable Reference
Value Objects
-------- ---------------- -------------- ----------
all-ones Unassigned UPSTREAM_LABEL [RFC8359]
Upstream Label
This document defines a special label value to be carried in the
UPSTREAM_LABEL object of a Path message. This special label value is
used to enable the function of requesting network assignment of an
upstream label. The changes proposed in this document pertain to the
semantics of a specific field in an existing RSVP object and the
corresponding procedures. Thus, there are no new security
implications raised by this document and the security considerations
discussed by [RFC3473] still apply.
For a general discussion on MPLS and GMPLS related security issues,
see the MPLS/GMPLS security framework [RFC5920].
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
[RFC2205] Braden, R., Ed., Zhang, L., Berson, S., Herzog, S., and S.
Jamin, "Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) -- Version 1
Functional Specification", RFC 2205, DOI 10.17487/RFC2205,
September 1997, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2205>.
[RFC3471] Berger, L., Ed., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Functional Description",
RFC 3471, DOI 10.17487/RFC3471, January 2003,
Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Resource ReserVation Protocol-
Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) Extensions", RFC 3473,
DOI 10.17487/RFC3473, January 2003,
[RFC6205] Otani, T., Ed. and D. Li, Ed., "Generalized Labels for
Lambda-Switch-Capable (LSC) Label Switching Routers",
RFC 6205, DOI 10.17487/RFC6205, March 2011,
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.
[RFC5920] Fang, L., Ed., "Security Framework for MPLS and GMPLS
Networks", RFC 5920, DOI 10.17487/RFC5920, July 2010,
[RFC8126] Cotton, M., Leiba, B., and T. Narten, "Guidelines for
Writing an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26,
RFC 8126, DOI 10.17487/RFC8126, June 2017,
The authors would like to thank Adrian Farrel and Chris Bowers for
their inputs.
John Drake
Email: jdrake@juniper.net
Gert Grammel
Email: ggrammel@juniper.net
Pawel Brzozowski
ADVA Optical Networking
Email: pbrzozowski@advaoptical.com
Zafar Ali
Email: zali@cisco.com
Xian Zhang (editor)
Email: zhang.xian@huawei.com
Vishnu Pavan Beeram (editor)
Email: vbeeram@juniper.net
Igor Bryskin
Email: igor.bryskin@huawei.com
Daniele Ceccarelli
Email: daniele.ceccarelli@ericsson.com
Oscar Gonzalez de Dios
Email: ogondio@tid.es
Zhang, et al. Standards Track [Page 10]
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The Rift Collection
modern and contemporary african art
Beatrice Wanjiku
Beatrice Wanjiku, born in Nairobi in 1978, is one of Kenya’s most exciting and original conceptual artists. Her distinctive canvases and works on paper constantly probe the human condition, delving into psychological issues and repeatedly questioning our reality and the space we occupy. Always beginning from a personal
perspective, informed by her environment and society’s perceptions that surround her, Wanjiku’s practice scratches away at the superficial images we project in daily life, peeling away the layers that constitute social norm and revealing haunting, abstract figures that mirror our personal, inner self. Existentialism and the shifting nature of human beings are a constant concern in her practice. She repeatedly interrogates our capacity for self-awareness and our ability to transform, offering an
insight into our eternal quest to understand our realities.
Her most recent series of paintings and collages take the image and connotation of the Straightjacket as a departing point to explore the idea of boundaries and imposed systems of thought. The works delve into how we are anchored by social conditioning and expectation, always bound at the expense of what we desire.
There is tension and restlessness in these intriguing group of works which explore repression, want, and other emotions through a rich, unsettling tapestry of abstract figures set against unadorned, monochrome backdrops. Haunting, shadowy and dramatic, Wanjiku’s figures float onto the picture plane, sometimes alone,
sometimes grouped in clusters blending into each other. Their powerful, abstract forms function as mirrors, leaving the viewer to project and question his own personal experience.
Wanjiku received her diploma from Nairobi’s Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts in 2000 and lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya. Her recent exhibitions include The OSTRALE 2015, Dresden, Germany (2015) and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York, USA (2015) curated by Ugochukwu Smooth Nzewi. She is a recipient of the UNESCO Aschberg Bursary (2013); Lava Thomas and Peter Danzig Fellowship Award (2013); Robert Sterling Clarke Foundation Fellowship (2011); and Alliance Francaise’s and Goethe-Institut’s Most Promising Female Artist Award (2006). Her recent international artists’ residencies include the Iwalewa Haus Artist Residency Program, Bayreuth, Germany (2015), Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Woodside, CA (2013), and Vermont Studio Center Program, Johnson, VT (2011).
Beatrice Wanjiku, Lifts Beyond Conception III
Ephrem Solomon
Ephrem Solomon was born in Addis Ababa and graduated from the Entoto Art School in 2009. He observes and presents socio-political works using woodcut and mixed media.
Views of the city and the people that inhabit the spaces around him inform his work, as does a fictional world that exists beyond the present. Using black and white to symbolize this juncture in reality, he produces bold figures and portraits that capture both personal and public power relations in society.
Ephrem has exhibited internationally including in Ethiopia, Kenya, Dubai and Croatia. In 2014 he had his first solo exhibition in the UK at Tiwani Contemporary, London. His work is in private collections in Dubai, Kenya, South Africa and the UK, including the Saatchi Collection where he is currently showing in Pangaea ll.
Ephrem Solomon Forbidden Fruit series 2015 Woodcut plate and acrylic 90 x 89 cm
Untitled from the Forbidden Fruit series, 2015 Signed ‘signature’ (verso centre) Wood cut and mixed media 85 x 85 cm
Peterson Kamwathi
For the last few years, Peterson Kamwathi has been considered one of the region’s most inventive artists, responding to the complex political and social issues around him. His work combines clear conceptual elements and rich content with technical mastery. He tends to work in series; using depictions of the human figure to explore and symbolize social, political, personal and institutional structures.
“My work is an attempt at depicting the different issues that impact on my society and me and, at times, issues that affect the world as a whole. These issues are social, political or environmental, depending on the specific concerns at the given time.”
Kamwathi’s work has been exhibited worldwide, including Kenya, the UK, the USA, the Netherlands, Austria, El Salvador and Finland. In 2013 he exhibited in the joint exhibition Six Degrees of Separate Nations, Frost Art Museum, Miami. He has participated in many international workshops and residencies including printmaking at the London Print Studio in 2006, Art Omi International artist residency in New York in 2009 and as a Civitella Ranieri fellow in 2012. He recently completed a residency at the Zeitz Mocaa (Museum of Contemporary African Art), at Segera, Kenya in 2015. He completed a permanent sculptural installation commissioned by Garden City Mall in Nairobi 2015.
Gor Soudan
Gor Soudan is a conceptual artist living and working in Nairobi. His practice is informed by objects created from processes of exhaustion and excesses: pages of the Kenyan constitution which were distributed widely and freely during the country’s referendum, carton, plastic and more recently ‘protest wire’, a tangled black mass of wire he salvaged from car tyres burnt during civil unrest in Nairobi, Kenya. Gor relies on circumstance and incidence to engage ontological ideas. In his current project, Bubbles and Shells, he examines spheres through an interweaving process to create hyper-dimensional sculptures and drawings.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
Always Searching for Something, Drawing in Space, Freetown Pop up Gallery, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 2014
Bubbles and shells, Freetown Pop up Gallery, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 2014
Resurrection - The Fire Next Time, National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, 2013
Eatings, Talisman, Nairobi, Kenya, 2013
Angry Birds, Kuona Trust, Nairobi, Kenya, 2012
Tomorrow's Headlines, Alliance Française, Nairobi, 2010
Selected Group Exhibitions:
Albert Samreth & Gor Soudan, Yamamoto Gendai, Tokyo, Japan, 2014
The poetic line, The Goethe Institut, Nairobi, Kenya, 2013
At a glance, Kenya Cultural Centre, Nairobi, Kenya, 2013
Cover/ Recover, Belgium Ambassador Residence, Nairobi, Kenya, 2012
Cut off my tongue, Braeburn Theatre, Nairobi, Kenya, 2012, cross platform exhibition in collaboration with poet SitawaNamwale
Another world is possible, Alliance Française, Nairobi, Kenya, 201
Gor Soudan, Untitled I
Richard Kimathi
Richard Kimathi was born in 1971 in Nyeri, Kenya. He received a diploma from the Nairobi Creative Art Centre with a major in Graphic Art. After graduation, he took up Fine Art as a career.
In 2000, Richard received a letter from the New York selection committee appointed to choose the work for a limited-edition postage stamp for the United Nations: ‘You, along with Vermeer and Matisse, have been chosen …’. This defining moment for Kenyan artists and for Kimathi in particular added still more force to the rising tide of international recognition of the extraordinary talent that is blossoming in the contemporary art of Kenya.
Richard is always exploring, experimenting, searching for a better expression. He has grown from these early years into an artist of considerable technical ability: confident in line, composition and colour; profound in expression. His work is seldom about himself, it is about us: humanity and how we are; unaffected by bling and hype and other aggrandisements evident in much of the contemporary art of our mass mediated world.
A sense of suffering: dignified, heroic even; without self-pity and borne as if merely the price of living; portrayed with an empathy and a compassion elegant in its simplicity and in its honesty, it permeates much of his work.
“He is a master of reduction. He seems to throw out anything specific and replaces it with a generic: the colour and shape of the eyes; the line of the mouth; the nose; the colour of the skin; perspective: all replaced with stylised shapes, flat planes of colour and line reduced to a minimum. The result is not incoherence but a precise statement of complex mood and emotion – quite remarkable!”
Malangatana Valente Ngwenya
Mozambique's best known visual artist, the charismatic Malangatana Ngwenya was named UNESCO Artist for Peace in 1997.
Born in 1936 in Matalana village, southern Mozambique, Malangatana 's early years were spent attending mission schools and helping his mother farm. At the age of 12 he went to Maputo (then Lourenzo Marques) to find work and in 1953 was employed at the tennis club as a ball boy. This enabled him to resume his education, attending classes at night, and it was at this time that his artistic talents were recognised.Tennis club member Augusto Cabral gave him materials and helped him sell his work. In 1958 Malangatana attended activities of the artists' organisation Nucleo de Arte, and he received support from the painter Zé Júlio. The following year his work was exhibited publicly for the first time as part of a group exhibition, and two years later Malangatana held his first solo exhibition at the age of 25. In 1963 his poetry was published in the journal Black Orpheus and the anthology Modern Poetry from Africa. The following year Malangatana was detained by the Portuguese secret police (PIDE) and spent 18 months in jail. In 1971 he received a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation and studied engraving and ceramics. Since 1981 Malangatana has worked full-time as an artist.
Among his achievements Malangatana has been awarded the Nachingwea Medal for Contribution to Mozambican Culture, and has been pronounced Grande Oficial da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique'. He has exhibited in Angola, Portugal, India, Nigeria, Chile and Zimbabwe, and his work is in collections in Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Switzerland, USA, Uruguay, India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and Portugal. He has also been commissioned for several public art works, including murals for Frelimo and UNESCO. Malangatana has also been active in establishing cultural institutions including the National Museum of Art; the Centre for Cultural Studies; the Centre for the Arts; a youth skills training centre in Maputo; and he was also one of the founders of the Mozambican Peace Movement.
Malangatana 's works have always projected a bold vision of life where there is a communion between human, animal and plant life. He draws on his indigenous heritage whilst simultaneously embracing symbols of modernity and "progress", synthesis of art and politics. Recognition of his stature is implicit in the statement made by UNESCO's Director-General Federico Mayor when he presented the UNESCO award. Mayor noted that Malangatana is "much more than a creator, much more than an artist- someone who demonstrates that there is a universal language, the language of art, which allows us to communicate a message of peace, of refusal of war."
George Lilanga
George Lilanga comes from the high, arid plateaus of the Mozambique-Tanzania border. This is the great center of Makonde culture, noted especially for its mapico initiation dances and rich sculptural traditions. Lilanga began his training as a sculptor in 1961. In 1972 he settled in Dar-es-Salaam; in 1973 he became associated with the newly founded Nyumba ya Sanaa (House of Arts), a gallery and cultural center established by local artists. In 1980 he encountered the works of the Tingatinga School (established by the followers of Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga, 1939-1972) and Tingatinga’s example of exuberantly patterned and playfully abstracted paintings had a profound effect on his work.
Lilanga’s art—animated by a keen sense of social critique and caricature—illustrates the continuity of artistic vision among the Makonde and its renewal in the context of the present day. In many ways his sculptures and paintings follow Makonde conventions. His playful figures are best understood as heirs to the Makonde shetani, the unruly spirits of Makonde cosmology. Similarly, the complexity of his paintings can be compared to the Makonde ujamaa (tree of life), which signifies unity and solidarity. At the same time, the vibrant inventiveness of Lilanga’s work also testifies to the profound revolution that marked the birth of individualization and personal talent in Africa.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Spirit of the Makonde, Gallery of African Art, London, UK
Cosmogony: Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal
Georges Lilanga
Milan – Italie
Tingatinga and Lilanga
Kouchi Prefecture Art Museum.
Kouchi - Japan.
Lilanga d’ici et d’ailleurs
Centre Culturel François Mitterrand
Périgueux - France
Christa’s Fine Tribal Art Gallery
Copenhague - Denmark
Georges Linlanga -MAMCO, Geneva
Georges Lilanga "Storie Africane"
Franco Cancelliere Arte Contemporanea.Messina, Italy
Fabbrica Eos. Milano, Italy.
"Lilanga's Artist in Residence and Workshop"
Hiroshima City Moderne Art Museum. Japan.
"Lilanga's Cosmos"
Okariya Gallery.
Focus sur la collection, Musée de la Fondation Zinsou, Ouidah, Bénin
Mes Amours…, Bandjoun Station, Bandjoun, Cameroun
Haitian Masters & Contemporary African artists, Galerie Lumières d'Afrique, Bruxelles, Belgique
South is the new North, Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal
Africa Rising, Société Louis Vuitton, Paris
African Stories
Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech, Morocco
Africa 2.0 > is there a 'contemporary african art?'" - Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal
Africa? Una nuova storia
Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy
Against Exclusion, 3rdMoscow Biennial, The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia
Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli
100% Africa
Grimaldi Forum
Monaco - France
African Art Now : Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Museum of Fine Art Houston
Houston - USA
2004 (travelling exhibition)
Africa Remix
Art contemporain d’un continent
* 24 July 2004 – 7 Nov 2004
Museum Kunst Palast
Düsseldorf - Germany
* 10 Feb 2005 – 17 April 2005
London – England
* 15 May 2005 – 20 Aug 2005
Paris – France
* Feb – May 2006
Mapico Dance
Geneva – Switzerland
Galleria Spazia
Shanghai Biennale 2000
Shanghai - China
Il ritorno dei Maghi
Palazzo dei Sette. Orvieto, Italy.
Casino di Malindi, Kenya.
Desposito 6, Verona, Italy.
African Contemporary Art
Lenz Gallery of Art.
Pregassona, Italy.
La Persia srl.
Palazzo Carlotti, Verona, Italy.
Dak'Art
Dakar 2nd Biennal, Senegal.
Johannesbourg 1st International Biennal
"Haring K. and Lilanga"
"Animals and Spirits of Africa"
Pantheon Tama Gallery.
Mimoca Gallery.
Marugane, Japan.
"La Grande Vérité, Les Astres Africains"
Nantes Fine Art Museum.
Nantes, France.
Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery.
London, Great-Britain.
Tingatinga Art
Art Tower Mito.
National Gallery.
Harare, Zimbabwe.
National Museum, Dar Es Salaam.
International Summer Academy.
Salzburg, Austria.(1983-1987).
Marykoll Ossining Centre.
New-York, USA.
IMF Hall, World Bank.
Washington, USA.
Goethe Institut.
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
National Gallery of Botswana.
Gaborone, Botswana.
National Museum.
George Lilanga, Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster, VDM Publishing, 2010
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Electa & Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli.
Exhibition catalogue. Published by TF Editores & FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.
Arts of Africa: The Contemporary Collection of Jean Pigozzi
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Skira Edition & Grimaldi Forum Monaco.
African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Merrell.
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Hatje Cantz Verlag.
Latitutes 2003
Exhibition catalogue. Mairie de Paris.
Safari nocturne
Exhibition catalogue (Centre Culturel François Mitterand).
Tribal Soul, Metropolitan Body.
Contemporary African Art.
Valerio Deho, Barbara Grimani, Enrico Mascelloni, Sarenco, Aldo
Tagliaferri.
Publication : L'Artière.
Georges Lilanga E Altre Stories Dell'Arte Tanzania
Enrico Mascelloni E Sarenco
Book, 120 pages, bilingual text Italian, English.
SAFARIBOOKS Adriano Parise Editore.
"Storie Africane" Georges Lilanga.
Testo (italiano) di Lucio Barbera, Interview Sarenco.
Exhibition Catalogue. Franco Cancelliere Arte Contemporanea.Messina.
Fabbrica Eos.Milano.
Adriano Parise Editore.
Contemporary Art of Africa
Territory : Georges Lilanga by André Magnin p.36-39, text in English.
Edited by André Magnin & Jacques Soulillou
Published By Harry N. Abraams, USA.
Lilanga's Cosmos
Editor Shirashi Kenji & Yamamoto Fumiko.
Catalogue d'exposition, bilingual text Japonese, English.
La Grande Vérité, Les Astres Africains
Contemporary African Art Collection
Lilanga by André Magnin, text in French p.46-49.
George Lilanga, Untitled (yellow mashetani figure with spirits), Color etching (10 1/4" h. x 6 1/2"w.), #19/50
Michael Soi
Michael Soi studied fine art at the Creative Arts Centre Nairobi. He joined Kuona Trust Centre for Visual Art at the Nairobi National Museum in 1996 and is currently a resident artist at the GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi. He has exhibited in the US, UK, Netherlands, Germany, and in South Africa at the Johannesburg Art Fair in 2010. In June 2014, he exhibited works from his China Loves Africa series in South Korea at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and at Artion Art space in Seoul.
Soi’s paintings offer satirical social commentary on the issues that impact the average Kenyan. From Kenyan politics to commercial sex work, he explores the controversial issues the people prefer to ignore.
This work, part of his 2015 exhibition, "Faces," explores portraiture of women constructed from Soi’s imagination.
His works are in various private and corporate collections including that of Standard Chartered Bank.
Michael Soi. Untitled XV Acrylic on canvas. 100 x 100cm
Paul Onditi
Born in Kenya, Paul Onditi moved to Germany in 2000, where he studied art at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach am Main. In 2010 he returned to Nairobi, where he is currently living and practicing.
Mystical, translucent and seductive, Onditi’s work centers on exploring a private world, layered in details and informed
by current issues. Mixing and matching genres, materials, techniques and media, Onditi’s quirky, surrealistic style
explores a rich imagery that draws on elements of the past and connects them to our present and perceived future.
Filmstrips, prints, pared down layers of paint, caustic acid, polyester plates are patched together in meticulous ways to
visualize an imaginative world that on careful observation has startling references to the present. In his most recent
group of works, Onditi examines the cyclical nature of human experience and behavior exploring the existence of “pipes”, visible and invisible lines of connections permeating our everyday consciousness and connecting all humans around the globe.
Onditi has participated in many group shows in Kenya and Europe and has had several solo show in Kenya and Germany. His work has been included in Bonham’s Africa Now auction in London in 2013 and 2014, as well as featuring in the first auction devoted to Contemporary East African art that took place in Nairobi in November 2013. He has also taken part in Ernst and Young Action in the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany
Pipes that bind, Faces in Places, The Goethe Institut, Nairobi, Kenya, 2014
Paul Onditi, Rezeption Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany, 2013
Art of Paul Onditi, Talisman, Nairobi, Kenya, 2013
Paul Onditi, One Off Gallery, Nairobi, Kenya, 2012
Skagerak Energy, Olso, Norway, commission for the headquarters, 2011
Paul Onditi, Gor Soudan and Meshaq Oiro, Embassy of Belgium, Nairobi, Kenya, 2013
Another World is Possible, Alliance Française, Nairobi, Kenya, 2012
Ehoodi Kichapi
Ehoodi Kichapi (b. Jesse Ng’ang’a) is a self taught artist, who has only been painting for the last seven years. His artistic life started in 2002, by doing caricatures as an instructor for the Kuruka Maisha art group. He had his first solo show in 2007 at the Alliance Francaise, in Nairobi, Kenya.
“His work is expressive and graphic: energetic line drawings, circles, marks, scribblings, figures, rudimentary images of animals, portraits, screaming faces and reaching hands create harsh and brutal images. Wild colourful acrylic paint is applied in thick sweeping strokes, creating abstract sections in his work that are just about colour and movement.” (From 2009 East African Art Biennale, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania)
The inspiration for his paintings comes from artists Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Shabu Mwangi
Observer II - Mixed media on canvas - 69 x 60 cm
Daudi Karungi
Since he arrived on the Ugandan art scene in 2001, Daudi has become one of Kampala's premier artists. His work is collected widely by art aficionados in Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States, to name a few, and it hangs in embassies, companies and five-star hotels around Kampala.
Recently, Daudi has been at the forefront of a new movement to promote Ugandan art inside and outside the country. This year, he co-founded START, a journal of arts and culture that is the first ever publication of its kind in Uganda.
He is a founding member of the Kampala Arts Trust, a coalition of artists and art appreciators in the country and elsewhere who are working toward the dream of establishing a modern art museum in the country. It will facilitate research, exchange programs and training as well as offering a state-of-the-art exhibition space for local works.
Daudi Karungi, MWH32DK0313
Robino Ntila
At the age of 23, Robino became an artist with the Nyumba ya Sanaa in Dar es Salaam, an artist’s association founded in Tanzania by Sister Jean Pruitt from the US. Later on, he acted as chief coordinator with them for 30 years.
Specializing in etching, Robino taught several workshops including a 2002 etching workshop at Kuona Trust’s Museum art studios in Nairobi influencing artists such as Peterson Kamwathi and Simon Muriithi. He travelled regularly to Austria to study printmaking accompanied by fellow Tanzanian artists Francis Imanjama, George Lilanga and his nephew, Hendrick Lilanga.
Ntila prints often depict traditional life in East Africa; he has exhibited in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Switzerland. Ntila was chosen to represent Tanzania at the !Kauru African Contemporary Art project in South Africa in 2014. He is also part of the British Museum's permanent collection.
Robino Ntila, Mother and Children
Robino Ntila, Mother and Children, 1980
Eria Nsubuga "Sane"
Eria ‘Sane’ Nsubuga is a Ugandan artist and lecturer. He graduated from Makerere University in 2008 with a Masters in Fine Art (Sculpture) from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts.
Since 2002 he has had several solo exhibitions in Kampala as well as participated in numerous local and international group shows, biennales and exhibitions. Among other places his work has been on display at the Milan Triennale, the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre, Rahuset Exhibition Hall in Copenhagen, the Art Museum in Shanghai, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Sane currently lectures at the Department of Art and Design at the Ugandan Christian University in Mukono, and practices painting, illustration and sculpture. Since the beginning of his career in 1999, he has constantly been challenging himself and his art by experimenting with techniques. Often he has been confronting viewers with new and difficult subjects such as human rights, social privileges and responsibilities, and most recently political affairs. Coming from a background in sculpture, he works within a variety of media. From drawings, paintings and illustrations to sculpture and installation he always tries to relate his art to viewers by using or depicting familiar objects and symbols as well as experimenting with local materials. His work contains multiple layers of meaning that often comes ahead of aesthetic considerations, and, as he admitted recently, he has had to learn to enjoy his own work without waiting for other people to like it.
Eltayeb Dawelbait
Eltayeb studied at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Sudan. His studies were interrupted when he was dismissed for political activities and he spent the following years living a nomadic existence in exile, struggling to make a living and continue his artistic practice. For the last 15 years Eltayeb has been living in Nairobi and is renowned for his inventive use of materials.
Eltayeb has exhibited widely including a solo show at TAD Gallery in Rome in 2003 and a group show at Ensign Gallery in London in 2004. He exhibited at the Toronto Art Fair in 2006 and Monaco Art Fair in 2010. In 2013, he completed a large commission for PwC Towers in Nairobi and was part of a group exhibition in Madrid at the Gazzambo Gallery.
These pieces were featured during the 2015 Cape Town Art Fair and were acquired by the Rift Collection in 2015.
Eltayeb Dawelbait, Untitled, Acrylic on paper, 41 x 32 cm
Chain Muhandi
Chain Muhandi painting career started in when he was a young boy. He took a keen interest in drawing in his early years of school, not knowing that he would take it up as his career later in life. To him it was just a way to amuse himself, but after leaving school he started painting. It was at this time that he realized he had a talent for art and it became his chosen path.
Initially Muhandi worked with batiks, and continued working in this medium until the late 1980's. It was during this time of experimentation that he was exposed to oil painting and quickly realized thathis skills were best suited to this adaptable and creative medium.
His paintings are difficult to read, composed mainly of bizarre and distorted characters in various poses that unify the painting's theme. You generally have to look at a Muhandi painting closely to see what's going on, and when you do, you can see that he still hasn't lost his sense of childhood and youthful humor. His paintings not only give you insight into the mind of the artist, but into his childhood and life growing up in Kenya.
Muhandi lays the paint on thick, to a point where they are textural and almost brittle. Somehow this adds to their depth and gives an added dimension to the painting making them even more interesting.
Muhandi has exhibited in several countries, and has held two workshops in Germany on the Contemporary Art of East Africa.
Sayuki Matindiko
Kivuthi Mbuno
Kivuthi Mbuno was born in Kenya in the year 1947. He is an recognized master of the international art scene. His works were exhibited in very important museums and private galleries in Europe (Saatchi Collection, London, Germany) and in the United States (Center for African Art, New York).
In his early days, Kivuthi Mbuno worked as a chief on Safaris, which led him to travel, primarly into the interior of Kenya and Tanzania. This is how he came to know nature and its wild fauna and to mantain a close relationship with them that was to mark him deeply. In 1976, his ties with the family of baroness Karen Blixen (better known under her nome de plume, Isaac Dinesen) led him to settle in Langata, where, from then on, he devoted himself exclusively to drawing. These lenghty treks inland as well as the traditional life of the Wakamba tribe, from which he comes, have inspired him. Mbuno gives himself to nature and shows us the extraordinary in what is common place. In a precise drawing style - using ink, color pencils, and pastels - he combines animals, humas, objects of traditional life and huge spaces. This is his vocabulary, and it has not changed in almost 20 years.
Here the vast territories of Africa have none of that hostile aspects usually ascribed to them. Kivuthi Mbuno transports us into a peaceable and luminous world that yields itself up to any activity. For Kivuthi Mbuno the sparkle of his world is percetible in places where we do not ordinary notice it. Animals (gazelles, giraffes, hyienas, elephants, snakes, birds) ceaselessly play with their morphological characteristics ( the giraffes long neck, the powerful elephants trunk, and so far) in this nature in which they apropriate their respective territory in perfect harmony with the other animals. Only mankind might appear as the disturbing element. But there, too, Mbuno decks them out with characteristics that are at one and the same time grotesque and elegant: they move about with the same ease as the animals they are hunting. Shining through their very singular faces are the spiritual characteristics of shrewd, pleasure-seeking, enjoyful people.
The model in the artist's mind comes closer to the supernatural than to the natural. We would be wrong to believe in one ancestral vision or to see in this work the mark of primitive naivete. The artist himself explains that what he wants to paint is less the reality than the idea he has of nature in a sort of eden-like era. For Kivuthi Mbuno, beauty merges with the lovely harmony of people with their natural environment, and he feels that this way of being in the world might be called "being inside beauty".
In 2013, Kivuthi Mbuno was chosen to represent Kenya at the 55th edition of the prestigious Venice Biennale. He is also part of the British Museum collection and the Saatchi Gallery.
Godfrey Kalungi
Born in Uganda, studied at Makerere University in Kampala as part of the Margaret Trowell School of Fine Arts.
Currently living in Rwanda and painting as part of the Inema Arts Collective in Kigali.
Mario Macilau
Mário Macilau’s ambitious path towards becoming a social documentary photographer began with a symbolically charged instance. At the age of fourteen, while walking down Vladimir Lenin Avenue in Maputo he shot his first image with a borrowed camera, capturing a woman selling cassava in a street market. From that site, marked by the name of a political leader whose revolution was imported to Africa, his personal utopia took him to travel the world as a professional photographer. The artist’s photographs, which unveil the human condition under the oppression of injustice and the hardship of poverty, have been exhibited internationally.
Macilau embarks in long standing thematic essays, constructing a narrative that, by means of a certain epic realism, produces ambivalent images of arresting power, as they are simultaneously crude and beautiful, mesmerizing and heartbreaking.
His subject matter is found in African living conditions, social imbalance, environmental disaster and waste, all issues that overwhelm daily life in his city of birth, Maputo, where he continues to live.
Mário Macilau, Galeria Belo-Galsterer, Lisbon (programmed for April)
Living on the Edge, Kuona Art Trust, Nairobi, Kenia
Taking Place, Gallery Influx Contemporary, Lisbon
Life goes on, Mediateca do BCI, Mozambique
Wood and Deforestation, Kokopelli Festival 2011, Belgium
Terra de Boa Gente, Instituto Camões, Maputo
NATURA, Paisagem e Natureza, Museu Nogueira da Silva, Braga, Portugal, curated by Alda Galsterer ( July-August)
Convergências, Alliance Française, Madrid, Spain & King’s Place, London, UK
Dak’art Biennial OFF 2012
Crossing Point Residency, Les Rencontres d’Arles 2012, France
Africa. See me, see you! Photo Spring Festival, Beijing, China
BESPhoto, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
BESPhoto, Berardo Museum Collection, Lisbon, Portugal
São Tomé Biennial 2011, São Tomé Island
Bamako Biennial 2011, Mali
Common Language, curated by Miguel Amado, for PLMJ Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
South is the new North, Gallery Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal
Hasselblad Master Finalist, Studio, London, UK
Hasselblad Master Finalist, Siren Studios, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Hasselblad Master Finalist, Shoot NYC, (La Venue), New York City, U.S.A.
Hasselblad Master Finalist, Delight Studios, Berlin, Germany
Festival de Cine Africano de Tarifa, Tarifa, Spain
VI Certamen de Fotografia Digital, Santa Lucia, Spain
32ste Internationaal Fotofestival, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
Lagos Photo, Lagos, Nigeria
Mulheres e Fronteiras - Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano, Maputo, Mozambique
Dockanema Film Festival, Maputo, Mozambique
Bamako – Maputo, Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano, Maputo, Mozambique
FotoArt, Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano, Maputo, Mozambique
Gwanza Photo Festival, Harare National Museum of Art, Harare, Zimbabwe
Bienal da TDM, Maputo Museum of Art, Maputo, Mozambique
Month of Photography, Cape Town, South Africa
Sonhos Perdidos, Rua de Arte, Maputo, Mozambique
Cozinhas Ambulantes, Centro de Formação e Documentação Fotográfica, Maputo, Mozambique
Finalist of “UNICEF PHOTO OF THE YEAR”
Mario Macilau, "Alito the Guy with Style," Moments of Transition Series, 2013, 90x60cm
Ato Malinda
Ato Malinda’s cross-disciplinary practice currently focuses on the ontology of African female experience, queer identity and feminist narratives, and has been gaining rapid prominence on the global contemporary art scene.
These works are from a limited series of zoomorphic drawings of female figures, which interpret roles of women in African social hierarchies.
Malinda studied art history and molecular biology at the University of Texas. She also has a masters in fine art from Transart Institute in New York and is currently working towards a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) in art at Leiden University and the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.
Her work is part of the travelling exhibition The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists, curated by Simon Njami, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main and SCAD Museum of Art in 2015. Other solo and group exhibitions include African Odysseys, BRASS Contemporary Art Centre Brussels 2015, GAMES, Savvy Contemporary in Berlin 2013, and the Karen Blixen Museum in Copenhagen 2010.
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Trumpublicons: Foreign Influence/Grifting in '16 US Election
2130 posts • Page 120 of 142 • 1 ... 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123 ... 142
Re: Trumpublicons: Foreign Influence/Grifting in '16 US Elec
by seemslikeadream » Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:32 pm
Zoe Tillman
NEW: Remember that mystery grand jury subpoena case argued last week in the DC Circuit? A decision is out, and it's public, sort of — it's about a company (unnamed) owned by a country (unnamed). Court upheld the denial of a motion to quash the subpoena https://www.scribd.com/document/3959741 ... y-Subpoena …
There is *no* reference in today's judgment to Mueller's office. But there's no reference at all to who is prosecuting this case, so we don't have any new, concrete info on that front
One thing we learned is that the judge found the company in contempt for failing to comply with the grand jury subpoena, and imposed a daily $ penalty — the DC Circuit said that was okay, although how that gets enforced "is a separate question for a later day"
https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman
Or any of the Middle Eastern Sovereign funds that were part of the great Seychelles Laundry caper.
Sounds like the Russian development corp, or similar, which is something that Zainab Ahmad has probably been working on.
Clue, 2018 style:
Which foreign country paid the slush to which co-conspirator via which money laundering vehicle?
Life was so much easier when we just had to find a candlestick.
We might have a better chance of guessing which co-conspirator (Trump himself or Jared) this mystery foreign bank was protecting, than guessing which slushy sovereign fund was doing the slushing.
https://twitter.com/emptywheel
A few guesses
- Russian Direct Investment Fund
- Qatar Investment Authority
- Rosneft
- Mubadala or ADIA (UAE)
- a Saudi fund
- VTB
- Sberbank
- RT
Wildcard guess
- Rosatom - Russia's nuclear co (re: Flynn's Mideast nuclear project)
Qataris opted not to give info on Kushner, secret meetings to Mueller
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nation ... er-n855326
looking for banking records outside of U.S. ....looking for money flowing ....locking down court room big deal 3 judges saw secret stuff ......
Bank of China?
The subpoena falling into the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s exception for commercial activities is a notable clue as well.
Looks like it’s got a good shot to go to the Supreme Court on this point; the DC Circuit carved out a brand new ground for federal courts to exercise subject matter jurisdiction over foreign sovereigns (in criminal cases).
https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/ ... 5850032128
Trump Foundation Dissolved Like It Was Dipped In Hot Tub Of Acid
Not so long ago, back in June, we reported that the state of New York was suing the president's ... well, it's too charitable to call it a "charity," so we'll go with "crooked-ass scam," the Donald J. Trump Foundation. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood came out swinging and declared that the foundation was "little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose of legality." Trump insisted he'd never settle this case, and now six months later, Underwood has announced, with her tail between her legs, that the grifter in chief has agreed to dissolve the Trump Foundation and give away its remaining funds. Aren't you tired of winning yet, Donald?
No one should expect Powerball-level payouts, though. At its peak, Trump's Music Man act never had more than $3.2 million in the bank. Aquaman will swim past that in its first couple hours of domestic release. Trump's a fake billionaire, but we know he has access to real billionaires. He's given them Cabinet positions. Even they aren't taking spare cash from their yacht funds and trusting it to the Trump white-collar crime family.
Trump himself never gave any of his own money to the foundation since 2008. I don't entirely blame him. I wouldn't give one Yugoslavian pfennig to any organization, charitable or otherwise, with Trump's three oldest and dumbest kids on the board of directors. In fairness, though, Trump has claimed that his name alone is worth $3.3 billion dollars. That's quite the donation right there. The John Smith Foundation would only be worth a significantly less imaginary figure.
The best LOL moment from the attorney general's investigation is the discovery that Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump — all listed as officers of the charity — had never held a board meeting. The board hadn't met since 1999. I'm not a five-dollar feminist, but I've served on a few theatre boards and even I know you have to, you know, meet and stuff. That's kind of the point. Is there nothing legal about this "foundation"? Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg was reportedly unaware he was even on the board despite being the charity's "official treasurer." Couldn't Ivanka be bothered to send him an email at some point saying, "BTW: In case anyone asks, you're the treasurer of our fake board." You don't want the attorney general catching folks off guard with this.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump sent a lot of time attacking an actual legitimate charitable organization, the Clinton Foundation. Totally coincidentally, after winning the election, Trump suddenly tired of his own "charity" and tried to shut it down, but the attorney general's office blocked that obvious attempt to "bust the joint out" during its investigation of his advanced crookery. Underwood still seeks more than $2.8 million in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the four Trumps temporarily from coming within a country mile of the boards of other New York nonprofits.
Underwood released a statement today detailing the various and assorted ways the Trumps suck and can't be trusted to not take candy from a sleeping baby.
"Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more. This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests.
"Today's stipulation accomplishes a key piece of the relief sought in our lawsuit earlier this year. Under the terms, the Trump Foundation can only dissolve under judicial supervision – and it can only distribute its remaining charitable assets to reputable organizations approved by my office.
"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone. We'll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law."
Look, we're the first to admit we'll miss the Trump Foundation a little. We've had fun reporting on its repulsive actions under the guise of philanthropy. Remember how DTF used funds to buy awful portraits of Trump's stupid face? Or when Trump used foundation funds to make a campaign contribution to Pam Bondi, the Florida attorney general he needed to buy off? Or when he used the foundation (allegedly) as a tax dodge? And who can forget Trump swiping more than $250,000 from the foundation to settle the many lawsuits that can crop up when you're a total shyster. Just in case you're thinking of setting up your own scam "charity" for fun and profit, pretty much all of this is illegal.
Underwood stresses that despite the dissolution of the Trump Foundation, the state's lawsuit is "ongoing." Incoming attorney general Letitia James had already promised to bring the ruckus to the Trumps. I get the feeling they're going to wish they'd never gotten into the fake charity business.
https://www.wonkette.com/trumps-fake-as ... -shut-down
THIS IS THE END OF MY PRESIDENCY. I'M F***ED
- trump May 17, 2017
Dotard = Bulger Rat
trump is member of a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government
Why we do think that Trump owes debt to Putin? 50 reasons
seemslikeadream
Location: into the black
by seemslikeadream » Wed Dec 19, 2018 8:15 am
Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow project despite Giuliani insisting he didn't
http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2018/images/12/1 ... ment.1.pdf
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How Trump Tower Moscow fits into Russian interference
By Marshall Cohen and Tal Yellin
The recent guilty plea of Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen revealed new details about efforts by the Trump Organization to land a lucrative business deal inside Russia.
The plea shows that Cohen was soliciting help from officials in the Russian government at a time when then-candidate Trump was praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and also disavowing any suggestion he was seeking to do business in Russia. On plenty of occasions throughout the campaign, Trump declared that he had “nothing to do with Russia.”
A timeline of 10 critical months casts new light on public statements and previously known activities that occurred while the Trump Tower Moscow proposal was still active. These details come from court filings, public statements, and reporting from CNN and other outlets.
Efforts begin for Trump Tower Moscow project
Trump Tower Moscow activities
Cohen received a proposal from a Russian company to build Trump Tower Moscow. He started to explore the deal with help from former Trump business associate Felix Sater, according to court filings.
Donald Trump public comments
Trump praised Putin’s leadership in an interview with Fox News, saying, "I will tell you that I think in terms of leadership, he is getting an 'A,' and our president is not doing so well.”
Trump signs letter of intent for Moscow deal
Cohen told Trump about the Moscow proposal and Trump signed a non-binding letter of intent with a Russian company, according to court filings. The parties agreed to move forward with the project, which would have given the Trump Organization a $4 million upfront fee, and other perks.
Trump publicly expressed support for Russia’s military intervention in Syria. He repeated the Kremlin’s talking points that Russia was bombing ISIS, even though the Obama administration said that Russia was there to give a military boost to the Syrian dictator.
Trump dismisses claims of Russian aggression
Cohen and Sater continue working on the Trump Tower project. According to The New York Times, Sater told Cohen in an email: “Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.”
At a Republican primary debate, Trump sidestepped a question about Russian aggression. Instead, he criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of Iran and North Korea.
Trump continues praising Putin’s leadership
Meetings between Trump team and Russians
Before he became a Trump adviser, retired General Michael Flynn attended a gala in Moscow to honor RT, the Kremlin-controlled propaganda outlet. He was paid more than $30,000 for his appearance, which included a question-and-answer session.
In an interview, Trump again praised Putin’s leadership. He also dismissed allegations that Putin kills journalists and dissidents, saying, “I think our country does plenty of killing also.”
Interference by the Russian government
Putin complimented Trump, calling him a “bright and talented person, without any doubt," and saying that Trump has "an outstanding and talented personality." Trump released a statement in response, where he said Putin was “so highly respected within his own country and beyond,” and stressed that the US and Russia should work more closely together.
On social media sites, Russian-backed trolls started spreading misinformation about Clinton and openly advocating for Trump’s candidacy, according to a US intelligence report.
Cohen talks to the Kremlin about Moscow deal
Cohen reached out to the office of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asking for help moving the Moscow project forward, according to court filings. Cohen later spoke on the phone with Peskov’s assistant, who took notes and said she would follow-up with other people in Russia.
In an interview, Trump cast doubt on the findings of a British investigation, which concluded that Putin probably ordered the murder of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Trump said: “I don't think they've found him guilty. If he did it, fine. But I don’t know that he did it.”
Trump Tower Moscow project continues
Cohen’s work on the Trump Tower Moscow project continued, despite Cohen’s misleading claims to Congress that he terminated the deal before the Republican primaries kicked off.
At a series of campaign rallies, Trump distanced himself from Putin. He said Putin was “very nice” to him, likely referring to the public compliments from a few months earlier. Trump also said, “I have no relationship with him other than he called me a genius.”
Trump adds advisers with Russian ties
Russian military intelligence launched wide-scale hacking attacks relating to the US election. This included breaches against the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. Russian agents later passed on internal emails from the DNC and Podesta to WikiLeaks, which published thousands of documents later in the campaign.
Kremlin-controlled propaganda outlets, including RT and Sputnik, began promoting Trump’s candidacy. These English-language broadcasts and websites were targeted at US voters.
Trump added several advisers with Russian ties to his presidential campaign. He hired lobbyist Paul Manafort to manage delegate efforts ahead of the convention. He also named George Papadopoulos and Carter Page as advisers on his foreign policy team. The Justice Department and FBI have investigated all three aides for their Russian connections.
Trump briefly meets Russian ambassador
Papadopoulos met with a Kremlin-connected professor, Joseph Mifsud, in London. Mifsud informed Papadopoulos that the Russian government had “dirt” on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to court filings.
Before Trump delivered a major foreign policy address, he and his son-in-law Jared Kushner briefly met Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, along with a few other diplomats during a VIP reception for dignitaries. In the speech, Trump expressed hope for better relations with Russia, saying, “I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia – from a position of strength – is possible.”
Starting in April and continuing for several months, the Russian government extended a group of trademarks belonging to the Trump Organization, according to The New York Times. For years, Trump’s company owned Russian trademarks for terms including “Trump Tower.”
Trump becomes presumptive nominee
Cohen and Sater discussed the possibility of Cohen and Trump traveling to Russia to work on the Moscow project. Cohen agreed to go before the Republican National Convention in July, and told Sater that Trump would make the trip after the convention, according to court filings. Cohen discussed these plans with Trump.
Trump was asked in a Fox News interview about his past claims that he once met with Putin, but he dodged the question. Trump said: “I don’t want to comment because, let’s assume I did. Perhaps it was personal. You know, I don’t want to hurt his confidence. But I know Russia well.”
Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee after all his opponents dropped out. He also promoted Manafort to serve as campaign chairman, expanding his influence.
At a dinner during the National Rifle Association convention, Donald Trump Jr. briefly met Alexander Torshin, a prominent Russian banker and lawmaker. Torshin was later named as the handler of accused Russian agent Maria Butina as she infiltrated US political circles.
Manafort met in the US with a business associate from his Ukraine lobbying work, according to news reports. The Soviet-born associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, is suspected of having active ties to Russian intelligence, according to court filings from special counsel Robert Mueller.
Moscow deal dies as Trump-Russia ties ramp up
Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort met at Trump Tower with a group of Russians who were said to have “official documents and information that would incriminate” Clinton. In testimony to Congress, the participants said nothing came from the roughly 30-minute meeting.
Cohen filled out travel forms and continued planning his trip to Russia, according to court filings. But Cohen abruptly cancelled the visit and told Sater about his decision at a meeting in the Trump Tower lobby. This is when plans finally fizzled out to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow.
A cybersecurity firm hired by the DNC publicly announced for the first time that the Democratic group was breached by Russian government hackers. Shortly after that, a shadowy online persona called Guccifer 2.0 started to publish hacked materials. US intelligence later said Guccifer 2.0 was a fake persona operated by Russian agents.
Denials
Trump and his associates adamantly deny colluding with the Russian government. Putin says the Kremlin never interfered in the 2016 election. Trump also said Cohen is a liar who was pressured by Mueller to undermine his presidency, and that any business projects in Russia were entirely legal. Putin also denies any involvement in the killing of Litvinenko, the ex-spy.
Published December 1, 2018, 12:30 p.m. et.
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2018/po ... index.html
by seemslikeadream » Wed Dec 19, 2018 7:58 pm
17 ongoing investigations
Mueller Ready to Pounce on Trumpworld Concessions to Moscow
New court filings by Mueller’s office could answer a central question of the Russia investigation: What did the Kremlin hope to get from its political machinations?
Erin Banco
12.18.18 5:00 AM ET
For more than a year, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office has questioned witnesses broadly about their interactions with well-connected Russians. But three sources familiar with Mueller’s probe told The Daily Beast that his team is now zeroing in on Trumpworld figures who may have attempted to shape the administration's foreign policy by offering to ease U.S. sanctions on Russia.
The Special Counsel’s Office is preparing court filings that are expected to detail Trump associates’ conversations about sanctions relief—and spell out how those offers and counter-proposals were characterized to top figures on the campaign and in the administration, those same sources said.
The new details would not only bookend a multi-year investigation by federal prosecutors into whether and how Trump associates seriously considered requests by Moscow to ease the financial measures. The new court filings could also answer a central question of the Russia investigation: What specific policy changes, if any, did the Kremlin hope to get in return from its political machinations?
“During his investigation, Mueller has shown little proclivity for chasing dead ends,” said Paul Pelletier, a former senior Department of Justice official. “His continued focus on the evidence that members of the Trump campaign discussed sanction relief with Russians shows that his evidence of a criminal violation continues to sharpen. This has to come as especially bad news for the president.”
Mueller’s interest in sanctions arose, at least in part, out of his team’s investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The Special Counsel’s Office noted in a court filing last week that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak concerning U.S. sanctions. But other portions of this court filing were left redacted.
Mueller’s team is looking closely at evidence—some of it provided by witnesses—from the transition period, two individuals with knowledge of the probe said.
“Sanctions conversations that happened after November are more serious,” said Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia under President George W. Bush. “At that point Flynn, for example, would have already known he was going to be part of the administration and those conversations would have included plans for what might happen [next].”
And Flynn wasn’t the only figure talking sanctions during that transition period, three sources with knowledge of the probe said. Several individuals in Trump’s inner circle were developing their own plans to put pressure on other parts of the government to roll back the sanctions, which have cost the Russian economy more than $100 billion, according to Kremlin estimates.
It’s still unclear if Trump adviser Erik Prince and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of one of Russia’s sovereign wealth funds, spoke about sanctions in their now-infamous meeting in the Seychelles held during the last days of the transition. But The Daily Beast previously reported that the two spoke broadly about Russian investment opportunities in the U.S. and the potential for peace in Ukraine.
Just a week after Trump took office, Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii V. Artemenko handed Michael Cohen, then Trump’s personal lawyer, a “peace plan” that would lift sanctions. Accounts differ on how seriously the proposal was considered by the administration.
Around the same time, Trump reportedly asked staffers in the State Department to come up with a plan to roll back sanctions. But the department’s transition team was disorganized and understaffed, according to one person on the team. The request never made its way to people tasked with advising the White House on sanctions, according to two former national-security officials.
“The Russians were definitely looking to ease sanctions, or the relaxation of sanctions,” said one former Treasury official. “There was clearly a person they supported in the election and Trump clearly had a favorable view of Russia. But the transition was a mess and it took more time to get their feet under them. By the time they got their stuff together, Congress was increasing sanctions.”
The U.S. implemented sanctions on Russia in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea. Those sanctions were broadly supposed to make it more difficult for Russia to make money and to conduct business with the U.S. and its European allies. Several of Russia’s financial entities, including the Russian Direct Investment Fund, one of Moscow’s sovereign wealth funds, and VTB, one of the leading banks in the country, were put under sanctions but still allowed to transact with Americans under certain circumstances. Others, though, including top government officials like Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft, the formerly state-owned Russian oil enterprise, were blacklisted.
When Trump began campaigning in 2015, the Russian sanctions had started to take a toll on local Russians. Trump, unexpectedly, vowed to roll them back. “I don’t think you’d need the sanctions,” the future president said in response to a question from Russian provocateur Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty this month to conspiracy to violate restrictions on foreign agents.
Meanwhile, Putin was in the midst of implementing measures to insulate the economy from total collapse, compliance lawyers told The Daily Beast. With the careful maneuvering of business deals, Russia continued to conduct business with the U.S. and its European allies, two former Obama officials involved in drafting the sanctions said.
But compliance lawyers said investors and U.S. businesses were wary of the legal risks of doing business with Moscow. The lifting of sanctions, lawyers told The Daily Beast, would have allowed for Russia to conduct business with American and European investors with more ease. It would have allowed international businesses and individuals to lend money to Russia as well as borrow, which the sanctions currently broadly restrict.
The topic kept coming up during the campaign. In the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, for example, Donald Trump Jr. reportedly suggested a review of sanctions law.
But since Trump took office, the Treasury Department has increased the number of sanctions on Russia. In April 2017, for instance, the government blacklisted another set of Russian oligarchs and government officials, many of whom have close connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Congress is considering a number of pieces of legislation that would further punish Moscow for its interference in the 2016 elections.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-r ... -to-moscow
by seemslikeadream » Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:24 am
Donnie has been told to get shit done before he runs away. Maybe Vlad "strongly" briefed him on how fucked he is.
trump is lifting sanctions on Oleg Deripaska and announcing an end to the war in Syria so abruptly on the same day? (BTW, what DID Trump talk with Putin about during their talks with no US translators?
Trump-Russia: Here are the Two Meetings the New Congress Must Investigate First | Opinion
Seth Abramson
On 12/18/18 at 12:50 PM
On January 3, 2019, House Democrats will exercise oversight of President Trump for the first time since his election. Democratic Congressmen Adam Schiff, Jerrold Nadler, and Elijah Cummings—the new committee chairs of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, House Judiciary Committee, and House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, respectively—have wisely chosen investigation over impeachment as their first order of business. A review of major-media investigative reports from around the world confirms that an untrammeled, nonpartisan, comprehensive investigation of Trump-Russia collusion will unearth significant evidence of criminality. But sworn testimony to this effect must be taken before proceeding to the controversial question of impeachment.
With this in mind, there are two subjects Congress should immediately move to investigate. Both lines of inquiry require the production of documents by individuals previously permitted to remain beyond the purview of Congressional subpoena, and sworn testimony from witnesses who have either never been called to testify or have been allowed to avoid truthfully answering difficult questions.
First, Congress must investigate the March 31, 2016 National Security Advisory Committee meeting Trump held at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. At this meeting, Trump directed his advisers to ensure that the Republican National Committee platform on Ukraine would take a clear stance opposing lethal assistance to anti-Kremlin rebels there—a major victory for Vladimir Putin, who illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. At the same meeting, Trump also learned that his adviser George Papadopoulos was an intermediary to the Kremlin, and, with a Kremlin agent’s blessing, was seeking to arrange a clandestine summit between Trump and Putin. Instead of firing Papadopoulos and reporting him to the FBI, Trump promoted him to his speechwriting team and made him a key campaign spokesman on Russia.
Media reports now indicate that three of the meeting’s attendees told Special Counsel Robert Mueller that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not, as he insisted to Congress under oath, object to Papadopoulos’ secret negotiations. Moreover, Kremlin agent and former Paul Manafort associate Konstantin Kilimnick, with whom Manafort was in touch during the 2016 campaign, later took credit for the RNC platform’s language on Ukraine—underscoring that obtaining more information on this change and the meeting at which it was first discussed are critical. And if Trump aide John Mashburn was telling the truth when he told Congress that Papadopoulos first informed the campaign in spring 2016 that the Kremlin had acquired stolen Clinton emails, Trump’s demand for a pro-Kremlin RNC platform on Ukraine, and his and Sessions’ decision to permit Papadopoulos to continue secretly meeting with Kremlin agents, becomes key evidence of collusion.
A second area of inquiry involves spring 2018 reporting from the New York Times that on August 3, 2016, Donald Trump Jr. met in Trump Tower with George Nader, an emissary from the Crown Princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; Erik Prince, a Trump national security adviser and later an envoy from Trump to a top Russian oligarch; and Joel Zamel, an Israeli business intelligence expert with ties to both Russian oligarchs and Israeli intelligence officers. At the meeting, both Nader and Zamel offered collusive assistance to Trump’s campaign; according to the Times, Trump Jr. reacted favorably to both offers. Zamel, who had in the past attempted to recruit Trump national security adviser Mike Flynn into his intelligence-gathering outfit, offered Trump Jr. a clandestine propaganda and domestic disinformation campaign that mirrored the one Russian trolls ultimately delivered in the final three months of the general election.
The fact that Zamel would, immediately after Election Day, strike a business partnership with Trump’s campaign data-firm—the Steve Bannon-founded Cambridge Analytica—underscores that this August 3, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower must be investigated every bit as robustly as the infamous June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting Trump Jr. also attended. Notably, Jared Kushner not only attended the latter meeting but also meetings during the presidential transition that were intended as follow-ups to the former. These meetings, attended by Bannon as well as Flynn, suggest an even broader collusive agreement among powerful interests in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Israel, and Qatar. If the Steele dossier and relevant reporting since its January 2017 publication are to be believed, Kushner personally benefited from this collusion in the form of hundreds of millions in Qatari Investment Authority-backed loans. This means that not only Trump’s historically pro-Russia foreign policy, but also certain policy decisions Trump made in 2017 and 2018 that were favorable to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel must be investigated.
It will take months for a transparent and thorough Congressional investigation of Trump-Russia collusion to wipe away the memory of two years of House Republicans’ stonewalling, disinformation, suppression of evidence, and surreptitious cooperation with White House obstructers—the president included. But if the American people are to regain their trust in the equal application of our rule of law, Democrats must move swiftly to pursue these and other significant investigatory leads uncovered by major media outlets following the 2016 election.
Seth Abramson is Assistant Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences at the University of New Hampshire and author of Proof Of Collusion (Simon & Schuster, 2018.) On Twitter @SethAbramson
The views expressed in this article are the author's own.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-russia-c ... ca-1263860
by seemslikeadream » Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:50 am
For the past two years, Tump has done everything he could to dismantle this country in the name of staying one step ahead of his endless criminal scandals, while selling out this country to every foreign thug willing to put money into his pocket
The House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously to release documents regarding Roger Stone’s testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller.
Remember the Big Story in the Russia Scandal: Donald Trump Betrayed America
In the flurry of new developments—and disinformation—it’s easy to lose sight of this essential and proven fact.
Michael Cohen heading to jail. Michael Flynn narrowly avoiding a prison sentence—for now. Paul Manafort stuck in the hoosegow and still tangling with special counsel Robert Mueller. The news of the Trump-Russia scandal these days has focused on the dramatic developments for several top lieutenants in Donald Trump’s crew. (And don’t forget about Roger Stone!) But whenever there is a rush of new details about one slice or another of this controversy—or the other pending or possible cases involving the Trump Foundation, the Trump Organization, the Trump inauguration, the Trump family’s alleged tax fraud, and more—it’s important for all of us (and the media) to keep the spotlight on a central element that has already been established beyond any doubt: Trump betrayed his fellow Americans.
This Big Story often gets lost in the details and the ever-unfolding developments. Naturally, Trump’s alleged role in the campaign finance crimes committed by Cohen has drawn much coverage. (Federal prosecutors stated that Cohen broke the law “at the direction” of Trump: arranging hush-money payments to a porn star and a Playboy model who each alleged a sexual relationship with the president.) And the allegations of the Trump Foundation’s illegal activities certainly deserve plenty of headlines. But for more than two years, Trump has kept the paramount point of the Trump-Russia controversy—Trump’s own perfidy—from being the main theme of the narrative.
Trump’s chaff-throwing has prevented core truths of the scandal from shining through, with a big assist from Fox News and “alternative facts” disinformation.
Trump has screamed “No collusion,” shrieked “Witch hunt,” and screeched “Hoax.” He has denied and lied. He has strived to make the public believe that the fundamental question is whether he directly conspired with Vladimir Putin to hack Democratic targets and disseminate the stolen material—contending that anything short of that is no big deal. And he and his minions have cooked up multiple conspiratorial distractions, ridiculously insisting Trump has been the victim of a Deep State plot.
And though recent polling shows most of the public believes the president has been dishonest about the Trump-Russia investigation, he has succeeded to an extent. Given the power of Trump’s ultra-bully pulpit, he has been able to win attention for his diversions, no matter how absurd (“Obama wiretapped me!!!”). His chaff-throwing has prevented core truths of the scandal from shining through, with a big assist from Fox News and “alternative facts” disinformation. Trump and his conservative handmaids in politics and right-wing media have done everything they can to prevent a clear-eyed reckoning with what happened in 2016.
Yet recent events make Trump’s already obvious treachery even more obvious. And it’s necessary for journalists and citizens to make sure this can be discerned through the dust Trump kicks up daily.
We now interrupt this article for a pitch: If you’re reading this, I know you value the kind of journalism that pays attention to both the daily revelations and the overarching big picture. That’s what the Mother Jones Washington bureau and I are focused on every day. We deliver the scoops and we cover what they mean, and we can do this only because we receive support from readers like you. (Yes, I’m talking dollars.) Your end-of-year donation will make it possible for us to keep digging and muckraking in 2019. Please send us a few bucks—or more—and help us do the hard-hitting, independent journalism that is so necessary these days. Now, back to the article. —D.C.
Let’s step back for a moment and look at the big picture. In late November, Cohen, Trump’s onetime lawyer and (lousy) fixer, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. His lie, Cohen admitted, was designed to help Trump cover up what amounts to a tremendous scandal in its own right: the secret business deal in Moscow that Trump tried to pull off while campaigning for president. After word of this deal emerged last year, Cohen told congressional investigators that Trump’s efforts in Moscow had ended in early 2016 (before the bulk of the Republican primaries) and that there had been no contact between Trump’s company and the Russian government regarding the project (though Cohen said he’d tried but failed to reach Putin’s office to discuss the venture).
All this was false. The efforts to cut a deal continued until at least June 2016—all the way through the GOP primaries—and Cohen did speak with an aide in Putin’s office about the project. Cohen’s plea highlighted one of Trump’s grandest deceits of 2016: Throughout the campaign, Trump insisted he had no connections to Russia. And after the election, he said he had “stayed away” from the country.
The full significance of Trump’s deception of the American public has not sufficiently registered. (Has a single Republican leader said boo about it?)
The exact opposite was true. While Trump had pitched himself to voters as an America First candidate who sincerely held positive sentiments regarding Putin, he had pursued a deal in Russia that could have reaped him hundreds of millions of dollars. And he had not shared this salient fact with the public. Nor had he shared that Cohen, on his behalf, had asked Putin’s office for help. Needless to say, Trump could not have moved ahead with a major endeavor in Moscow if he had been talking tough about the Kremlin. He was thoroughly compromised as a candidate and hid that from the public during the campaign.
In a non-Trumpified world, revelations of this behind-the-scenes scheming for profit would have set off an enormous political earthquake. After all, this was the most significant conflict of interest in modern American campaign history.
But Trump has changed the rules of what counts as a political scandal. And when the Washington Post revealed details of the project in the summer of 2017, no firestorm ensued. After the first splash, most of the media world moved on, and Republicans in Congress barely took notice.
Cohen’s plea last month brought attention back to this secret project—which could well be called an act of collusion between Trump’s company and Putin’s office. Still, the full significance of Trump’s deception of the American public has not sufficiently registered. (Has a single Republican leader said boo about it? None that I have noticed.)
This episode is a reminder that other proven acts of Trump deceitfulness have not become the dominant and widely-accepted storylines of the Russia affair. For example, the infamous Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, when Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner sat down with a Russian emissary to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. The Trumpsters all say that nothing of use came out of this meeting. But its true import was established before it even occurred: Simply by taking the meeting—which had been described to Trump aides as part of a covert Russian effort to help them win—the Trump camp signaled to the Kremlin that it was fine with a clandestine Moscow scheme to assist Trump, and was willing to secretly collaborate with it.
Pause on that for a moment. An American presidential campaign indicated to the Kremlin it would happily conspire with the Russians on secret dirty tricks.
In the weeks after the Trump Tower meeting—as the Russian hack attack became public and the swiped Democratic National Committee emails were dumped to harm Clinton’s campaign—Trump and his team (including senior advisers who had been at that meeting) had the gall to deny Russia was intervening in the election. They lied and lied, amplifying the Russian disinformation that Moscow was not behind the hacks.
Trump aided and abetted Russia’s secret war on the United States. This is known. And indisputable.
For his part, Trump even called on Russian hackers to target Clinton. And after he received a private intelligence briefing in mid-August 2016 that included the intelligence community’s preliminary assessment that Putin was interfering in the election, Trump publicly and continuously claimed that talk of a Russian assault on US democracy was bunk. And he kept on with this after the Obama administration publicly stated Moscow was the culprit. Trump’s remarks could well have been taken by the Kremlin as a sign that the Trump gang was not concerned or upset about Russian intervention in the US election. (Earlier this month, Dan Friedman and I reported in Mother Jones that two associates of Michael Flynn, Trump’s top national security campaign aide, say Flynn has said he communicated with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and discussed how Trump could work productively with Russia if he won—conversations that also would have sent Moscow the message that Trump was willing to do business regardless of Putin’s assault on the election.)
Let’s recap:
Trump, while campaigning for president, had a secret deal in Russia for which his attorney sought Putin’s help. Trump lied to the public about this.
Trump’s campaign was informed that Moscow intended to intervene to help Trump. It said nothing about this information, essentially encouraged the Kremlin, and denied Moscow’s involvement once the Russian hack-and-dump attack became publicly known.
Trump, after being told the Kremlin was attempting to subvert an American election, claimed no such thing was happening. He covered for Putin.
Trump aided and abetted Russia’s secret war on the United States—a war that helped shape the outcome of a narrowly decided presidential election. This is all known, and indisputable—except that these days, anything will be disputed by Trump and his followers. Even if Trump’s disputations are demonstrable lies—“I have nothing to do with Russia”—they still color and cloud the ongoing public discourse about what happened in 2016. They have prompted his supporters and his GOP comrades to reject or ignore the powerful truth of Trump’s profound betrayal, portraying it as just another debatable point in the grand chaos of the Trump years.
This holiday season, though, the truth is crashing down on several of the president’s men (and one female Russian operative). And Trump’s multiple lies about the hush-money payments have been highlighted, with Trump himself practically branded an unindicted co-conspirator.
As the nation heads toward the third year of the Trump-Russia scandal and the investigations get tougher to track, we must keep in mind the already-known essential fact: The man in the White House engaged in the most consequential political skullduggery in US history. That’s the sad truth—and it is a damn shame that journalists, elected officials, and citizens have to fight every day to keep it front and center in Trump’s multi-ring circus.
https://www.motherjones.com/media/2018/ ... mp-russia/
by seemslikeadream » Thu Dec 20, 2018 1:33 pm
Trump Administration to Lift Sanctions on Putin-linked Oligarch's Companies and the Bank Linked to Trump Tower Moscow Project Will Benefit
By Cristina Maza On 12/20/18 at 11:39 AM
After eight months of lobbying to be taken off the U.S. sanctions list, companies tied to the Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska got their wish on Wednesday.
The Treasury Department notified Congress on Wednesday that it plans to remove three companies belonging to Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, from the sanctions list on the condition that Deripaska relinquishes control over his companies.
Deripaska was sanctioned in April 2018, along with six other Russian oligarchs, for supporting Russia’s efforts to meddle in the internal affairs of Western governments and for a handful of other offenses related to Russia’s activities in Syria and Ukraine.
The energy companies EN+, Rusal, and ESE were also sanctioned due to their relationship with Deripaska. Experts at the time noted that it would be impossible to hit the oligarch financially without forcing the companies to sever their ties with him or face sanctions.
Now, it appears that these efforts have paid off and Deripaska will lose control of the companies with which he built his career and fortune. But some observers have questioned why the ultimate beneficiaries of the deal are entities with legal problems and close ties to the Kremlin: the Swiss commodities firm Glencore, which has done business with Deripaska for years, and the Russian bank VTB (nicknamed “Putin’s piggy bank”), which was allegedly going to finance a Trump Tower in Moscow.
“There are lots of reasonable suspicions that VTB and Glencore are involved in other aspects of these schemes. So what assurances do we have that Deripaska doesn't have influence over them or that other bad actors aren’t taking control?” Jed Shugerman, a professor at Fordham Law, told Newsweek.
“It's part of Putin's MO to play oligarchs off of each other and simply replace them with other oligarchs. How do we know this isn't just Putin taking Deripaska out of the game and replacing him with his cronies in VTB and other co-conspirators now that Deripaska’s name is known?” Shugerman added.
gettyimages-944092372-594x594 Oleg Deripaska, Russian billionaire and president of United Co. Rusal, pauses on the Bloomberg Television debate panel during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) at the Expoforum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 1, 2017. Simon Dawson/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The lifting of sanctions hinges on an agreement that the three energy companies restructure their corporate governance so that Deripaska no longer owns a 50 percent share. According to the restructuring agreement between the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the three companies, EN+ will take ownership of both Rusal and ESE. Deripaska, meanwhile, will reduce his share of EN+ from 70 percent to 44.95 percent, and will have almost no ownership of ESE or Rusal.
“As part of this agreement, half of En+'s restructured board of directors will be comprised of U.S. or UK nationals and Rusal's current board chairman will step down. Deripaska will remain sanctioned,” a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell read.
“OFAC has secured from Petitioners a binding agreement that severs Deripaska's control over these critical revenue-generating entities and reduces his ownership in these entities below 50 percent, thereby untangling and protecting these companies from the controlling influence of a Kremlin insider,” the letter continued.
The companies had, in fact, been negotiating aggressively for this very arrangement. They hired the Washington D.C. lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs, which, coincidentally, previously employed President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort when his finances were deeply entwined with Deripaska’s.
Mercury enlisted the aid of Lord Gregory Barker, the former minister of state for energy and climate change for the United Kingdom, who advocated that the companies be permitted to ditch Deripaska in order to be removed from the U.S. sanctions list.
Now, OFAC and the companies appear to have come to a mutually agreeable solution. But the companies taking over Deripaska’s shares in EN+ raise questions about whether the hit to Deripaska is really hurting Putin and Russia.
VTB Bank will take over some of Deripaska’s lost shares of EN+. Meanwhile, Glencore, which holds a small direct equity stake in the Russian oil company Rosneft, will “swap shares in Rusal” for a direct ownership interest in EN+, according to the letter to Congress.
“Glencore is under investigation for money laundering. It would be laughable if it weren't so serious, and it raises more suspicions that this is Putin and Trump playing shell games,” Shugerman said.
Olga Lautman, an investigative reporter who spent years tracking Russian money in U.S. politics, said that Russian government officials were supportive of the effort to have Deripaska's companies removed from the sanctions list.
"In April, the head of Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service, Igor Artemyev, proposed an idea of temporarily nationalizing Deripaska's stake held in Rusal to protect the company from sanctions," Lautman told Newsweek. "Both VTB and Glencore were previously involved in the 19.5 percent Rosneft sale in 2016, and more recently VTB allegedly offered to finance Trump Tower Moscow. VTB, a state-owned bank, is considered one of Putin's banks that is associated with the Russian intelligence agency the FSB."
Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen recently pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the timeline for attempting to open a Trump Tower Moscow. Cohen originally claimed that the project had been abandoned in January 2016, but the efforts to begin the development project continued for at least six more months, Cohen later admitted.
In 2015, Trump's longtime associate, the Russian-born developer Felix Sater, reportedly bragged in an email to Cohen that he had secured financing for the project from VTB Bank. VTB Bank has denied its involvement in the project.
But despite VTB's involvement in the restructuring of Deripaska's companies, Brian O’Toole, an expert in economic sanctions at the Washington D.C.-based Atlantic Council, argues that the OFAC decision is tough enough to teach Russian oligarchs not to meddle abroad.
“Deripaska just lost 25 percent of his stake in EN+ and he’s not even going to see a cent of it. That’s a pretty remarkable outcome," O’Toole told Newsweek. "Deripaska doesn’t get this 25 percent even if he gets off the [sanctions] list. He’s lost billions of dollars, and he has no ability to influence or control the company that’s been his identity.”
Furthermore, Deripaska’s 44.95 percent stake in EN+ won’t bring him any benefits in the near term, O’Toole noted.
“Deripaska still has a 45 percent stake in the holding company that sits on top of Rusal, but he has no operational influence. He can’t benefit from that stake, he doesn’t get any of those dividends, he can’t sell any of those shares, and he can’t cash out either," O’Toole said. "It’s a pretty big thing, and I think it sends a message to the other oligarchs in Russia, if you’re going to do this then you’re going to have your companies swept out from under you.”
OFAC also went to great lengths to ensure that the Kremlin can’t reap too many rewards from the restructuring, supporters of the agreement said. Kremlin ally Matthias Warnig, who has known Putin since their days in the East German secret police during the Cold War, is required to step down as the chairman of Rusal. And if the companies violate any of the agreements they struck with OFAC, they can easily be placed back on the sanctions list.
“If you look through the letter, it says VTB gets shares but it’s unclear what size of the chunk those shares are. And they don’t get any voting rights because they’re forced to give their voting rights to an independent third party, which is a pretty aggressive play by OFAC,” O’Toole added.
“Both of the actions with VTB and Warnig were direct shots at criticism that the Kremlin was taking over because of the VTB transfer, and kind of an attempt to make sure the Kremlin doesn’t get outsized influence over this by dint of kicking Deripaska out,” he explained.
Glencore, meanwhile, will reap substantial benefits from the arrangement, but will also take on substantial compliance risks, experts said. The company has already come under fire for partnering with Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler on cobalt extraction projects in the Congo. The U.S. sanctioned Gertler in 2017 for using his friendship with Congo’s President Joseph Kabila to secure lucrative, preferential mining deals.
“Glencore is certainly benefiting from the Deripaska sanctions, it is one of the world’s largest commodities traders and now has a major say in one of the aluminum market player’s future. The company had dealt with sanctioned Russian companies before, most notably Rosneft, and is well known for being willing to engage in political contentious dealings, and generally doing so well,” Maximilian Hess, head of political risk advisory at the London-based consultancy firm AKE International, told Newsweek.
“However, it has faced challenges over the last year, particularly with the sanctioning of Dan Gertler. It agreed on a plan to pay him his dividends in a way that avoids U.S. sanctions, but this has yet to be tested,” Hess continued.
Deripaska has recently become the subject of U.S. public attention due to his close ties to Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was convicted of financial crimes in August. The longtime lobbyist had allegedly offered Deripaska private briefings about the Trump campaign in exchange for debt forgiveness.
In March, a Belorussian escort who had appeared in a video on Deripaska’s yacht was arrested in Thailand and claimed that she had obtained information from the oligarch on Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential elections. It’s unclear whether the woman, who went by the moniker Nastya Rybka, was telling the truth. But the high-profile conviction of Manafort, and Rybka’s antics from a Thai jail, helped propel the oligarch into the spotlight.
The lifting of sanctions on Deripaska’s companies is subject to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which Congress passed last year. That means that Congress must give its approval before the sanctions can be officially lifted.
"Lifting sanctions makes sense for the other shareholders who were punished for being shareholders in a company Deripaska controlled. However, it does appear that Congress, who can prevent the sanctions from being released, have not warmed to the idea. I expect the debate to be spirited, to say the least," Burke Files, an international financial investigator who has been following the case, told Newsweek.
"Deripaska is still sanctioned, period. The idea is to release economic pressure and damage to those who became collateral damage when Deripaska was sanctioned. It is a bit like being able to aim sanctions more like an economic rifle shot and hit your target and not everyone else in the room," Files added.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-russia-p ... re-1266018
Russian Agents Sought Secret US Treasury Records On Clinton Backers During 2016 Campaign
Whistleblowers said the Americans were exchanging messages with unsecure Gmail accounts set up by their Russian counterparts as the US election heated up.
Posted on December 20, 2018, at 12:49 p.m. ET
US Treasury Department officials used a Gmail back channel with the Russian government as the Kremlin sought sensitive financial information on its enemies in America and across the globe, according to documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
The extraordinary unofficial line of communication arose in the final year of the Obama administration — in the midst of what multiple US intelligence agencies have said was a secret campaign by the Kremlin to interfere in the US election. Russian agents ostensibly trying to track ISIS instead pressed their American counterparts for private financial documents on at least two dozen dissidents, academics, private investigators, and American citizens.
Most startlingly, Russia requested sensitive documents on Dirk, Edward, and Daniel Ziff, billionaire investors who had run afoul of the Kremlin. That request was made weeks before a Russian lawyer showed up at Trump Tower offering top campaign aides “dirt” on Hillary Clinton — including her supposed connection to the Ziff brothers.
Russia’s financial crimes agency, whose second-in-command is a former KGB officer and schoolmate of President Vladimir Putin, also asked the Americans for documents on executives from two prominent Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the National Council of Jewish Women, as well as Kremlin opponents living abroad in London and Kiev.
In an astonishing departure from protocol, documents show that at the same time the requests were being made, Treasury officials were using their government email accounts to send messages back and forth with a network of private Hotmail and Gmail accounts set up by the Russians, rather than communicating through the secure network usually used to exchange information with other countries.
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Analysts at an elite agency within Treasury first warned supervisors in 2016 that the Russians were “manipulating the system” to conduct “fishing expeditions.” And they raised fears that the Treasury’s internal systems could be compromised by viruses contained in emails from the unofficial Russian accounts. But staff continued using the Gmail back channel into 2017, despite repeated internal warnings that Russia could be trawling for sensitive financial records — including Social Security and bank account numbers — to spy on, endanger, or recruit targets in the West.
The Treasury Department refused to tell BuzzFeed News why its officials were communicating with unofficial Gmail accounts at the same time that Russia was sending the suspicious requests, or to say whether it eventually turned over any documents in response. Nor would officials answer any other specific questions about the matter.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: “Treasury does not discuss or comment on confidential communications with foreign governments, including to confirm whether or not they have occurred. We have notified our Office of the Inspector General of these allegations.”
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But documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News reveal that Russia’s attempts to extract information about Western targets triggered alarms inside the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, a powerful unit of the Treasury Department with exclusive access to the most comprehensive and sophisticated financial database in the world.
Officials at FinCEN said they reported the use of the back channel to Treasury’s counterterrorism unit and security office, and requested an investigation. They said it was a breach of protocol and that it exposed the Treasury to potential hackers because the Russian messages contained attachments — a common way for intruders to worm inside an organization’s servers.
“If the attachment had a virus it could infiltrate the server,” a senior FinCEN official told BuzzFeed News. This source said insiders have been concerned that their internal records could have been corrupted.
The FinCEN officials reported the incidents in July and August 2016, and claim that there was no substantive investigation of the matter. These sources said that other senior officials continued to use the back channel even after they were told to stop by the Treasury’s office for security.
They suspected that the Russian agency making the requests, called Rosfinmonitoring, set up by Putin in 2001 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, was closely tied to Russia’s espionage apparatus.
“They are passing information that may have interest to the Russians for other reasons,” a FinCEN official wrote to colleagues in March 2017. “One has to wonder what the heck is going on here.” This official filed for whistleblower protection and quit last year.
“If you are a Russian government entity and you are communicating with Americans, you have an FSB officer sitting right next to you and that officer is probably sending the email.”
In emails reviewed by BuzzFeed News, FinCEN insiders expressed shock that staff in another Treasury office had agreed to communicate with the Russians outside of normal, secure channels. FinCEN uses an encrypted portal called the Egmont Secure Web to exchange information with more than 160 other countries, including Russia, and to keep sensitive financial data out of the wrong hands.
A former US intelligence official who served in Russia for many years told BuzzFeed News that the use of unsecure accounts is a major red flag for espionage activity.
“Rosfinmonitoring is under the command and control of the FSB,” the former intelligence officer said, referring to Russia’s spy agency. “If you are a Russian government entity and you are communicating with Americans, you have an FSB officer sitting right next to you and that officer is probably sending the email.”
The first chapter in this extraordinary chain of communications began in late 2015, when a unit of the Treasury Department called the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes entered into an agreement, named the ISIL Project, that called for Russia and the US to share information on financial institutions in the Middle East suspected of supporting ISIS.
According to a senior FinCEN intelligence analyst, Russia’s subsequent actions suggest that was just a cover. “What we were seeing with Russia was the fruition of a long-term strategy to try and compromise Treasury by cultivating civil servants. That’s why we sounded the alarm and reported it.”
It was not the only time that concerns about serious counterintelligence threats were raised at the elite financial intelligence unit during the past two years.
Six sources told BuzzFeed News that at least two FinCEN analysts were reported to Treasury’s inspector general over suspicions that they might have been working against the interests of the US.
One analyst was a man with close family ties to Ukraine. He was tracking the finances of corrupt foreign officials in a job that requires a security clearance. Four sources said they were told by security officials at the agency that the analyst turned out not to have one. He had applied for clearance during his previous posting at the State Department, they were told, but was denied it because of suspicious contacts with foreigners. The sources said the man also had unusual contacts with his colleagues both before and after he was fired. Shortly after he was escorted out of FinCEN early last year, he showed up outside a coworker’s apartment building late at night and asked questions about investigations and internal Treasury databases. The coworker reported the encounter to supervisors.
The man’s uncleared access to sensitive information was considered such a major national security breach that FinCEN was stripped of its authority to grant security clearances for some time, according to these four sources. FinCEN’s security chief was later placed on administrative leave.
A second employee was suspended after he was caught traveling to other countries without informing his supervisors — something that FinCEN analysts are forbidden to do because of the value their data could have to foreign powers. A Treasury spokesperson declined to answer detailed questions about these matters.
These revelations are the latest evidence of the disarray inside America’s financial intelligence system, which a two-year BuzzFeed News investigation has laid bare.
FinCEN is a critical US law enforcement agency that each day collects and analyzes thousands of bank reports about suspicious financial behavior. Analysts have played a key role in current investigations by the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller, assisting FBI agents with inquiries into the murky finances of President Donald Trump and his associates.
Yet hundreds of internal records and interviews with more than a dozen insiders — from frontline workers to senior leaders — show an agency in turmoil, torn apart by turf battles, sinking morale, and internal chaos. Officials there say that, as a result, the unit struggles to hold the line against global money launderers, terrorist organizations, and drug cartels, and lies vulnerable to foreign threats.
Critical financial records on some Trump associates and Russian figures, collected by FinCEN analysts, have not been turned over to Congress, despite numerous requests. And more than a dozen FinCEN officials say that a rivalry with another unit of the Treasury Department cost them several crucial hours of work to track suspects’ movements in the immediate aftermath of the 2017 London Bridge terror attack.
The disarray bled into FinCEN’s daily output. One analyst wrote an investigative memo last year that was shared with the FBI, falsely connecting a member of Trump’s inner circle to a notorious Kremlin bagman. BuzzFeed News reviewed that memo and quickly debunked it; a spelling error led the analyst to mistake an unrelated person for the Putin financier.
At least 10 FinCEN employees have filed formal whistleblower complaints about the department. The whistleblowers say they tried multiple times to raise concerns about issues they believed threatened national security, but that they faced retaliation instead of being heeded. Some of FinCEN’s top officials quit in anger. One senior adviser has been arrested and accused of releasing financial records to a journalist.
That adviser, a whistleblower named Natalie Mayflower Edwards, first sounded the alarm in the summer of 2016. She went on to speak with six different congressional committee staffers to air her concerns. In July and August 2018, she met again with staffers of one of the Senate committees investigating Russian interference during the presidential campaign. In those meetings, she told the staffers that FinCEN withheld documents revealing suspicious financial transactions of Trump associates that the committee had requested.
Along with a colleague, Edwards wrote a letter last year to six congressional oversight committees. In it, the analysts included documentary evidence and Edwards wrote, “I have brought forward lawful documented evidential disclosures of violations of law, rule, and regulations, gross mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, and substantial and specific danger to public safety and I have NOT been protected against reprisal.”
Edwards added that she reported the “wrongdoing” to her supervisor, the inspector general, Treasury’s general counsel, Treasury security personnel, and the counterterrorism unit, requesting an internal investigation, as well as alerting the Office of Special Counsel, the federal government agency that deals with whistleblower complaints. Despite her disclosures, she wrote, “I continue to be retaliated against.”
“May Edwards took it on herself to try and protect everyone here as well as national security,” a senior FinCEN official told BuzzFeed News. “Nobody listened to her or some of the other brave whistleblowers who came forward. They’re all now paying a high price.”
Over the past two years, BuzzFeed News reporters have spoken at length to 12 individuals inside FinCEN. These men and women asked for anonymity to draw back the curtain on breakdowns inside the world’s most powerful financial watchdog. They described an agency turned upside down, where failures left them vulnerable to foreign threats, hampered their ability to investigate financial crimes, and ultimately put the public in danger.
A high-risk agreement
The foundations of the Treasury Department’s highly unorthodox relationship with its Russian counterpart were built late 2015, sources and internal documents show.
One of FinCEN’s key jobs is to work with other governments to track illicit money networks and shell companies across the globe. Nearly 160 countries, including Russia, have agreements to share bank information through a secure network.
But Russia chose to work outside that system — and it began by building a relationship with a unit of Treasury called the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.
Senior officials from the terror unit had multiple meetings with top officials at Rosfinmonitoring to discuss jointly tracking the financing of ISIS. Among the negotiators was the Russian financial watchdog’s second-in-command, Yuri Korotky. Korotky went to a KGB finishing school the same year that Putin finished his training there, and worked for the KGB’s successor, the FSB, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Yuri Korotky
Rosfinmonitoring / Via Rosfinmonitoring.ru
Rosfinomintoring did not return detailed messages seeking comment.
Korotky and other Russian officials proposed that Rosfinmonitoring trade information directly with the US as part of their joint effort to defeat ISIS. But almost immediately, the Russians reneged on their end of the bargain.
Rosfinmonitoring was slow to share data. It sought ways to work around FinCEN, the Treasury office that had sole access to the data it wanted, and whose analysts were skeptical of sharing information directly with Russia. By the summer, Rosfinmonitoring had made a series of requests about individuals and companies seemingly unconnected to ISIS or jihadi terror.
Among them were Alexander Lebedev, a newspaper publisher and Putin critic based in London. The Russians asked for financial tracking documents on a company tied to the Panama Papers, the multinational investigation that embarrassed the Kremlin by revealing Putin’s financial network. Throughout 2016, Rosfinmonitoring asked for documents on nearly two dozen entities that FinCEN insiders believed were enemies of the Kremlin.
Even more concerning: Documents show senior officials within the Terrorist Financing unit were communicating with Hotmail and Gmail accounts set up by the Russians, rather than using the standard secure channels.
“They sent this to a GMAIL account? Is that normal?”
When she found out, FinCEN’s chief of staff was stunned.
“They sent this to a GMAIL account? Is that normal?” she asked in an email to a half dozen colleagues on Nov. 28, 2016.
The chief of staff was responding to Treasury colleagues who were discussing with Rosfinmonitoring the outlines of their agreement to track terrorism financiers.
“Unfortunately, Rosfin does prefer throwaway gmail accounts as their preferred method to communicate,” a FinCEN intelligence official responded.
In March 2017, this same official wrote to supervisors to warn that Russia was manipulating the system. She said that the Terrorist Financing unit, which set up the collaboration with Russia, wasn’t forthcoming about the extent of its relationship with that country and wouldn’t let FinCEN attend meetings with its representatives.
Jamal El-Hindi speaks at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance.
GOPFinancialServices / YouTube / Via youtube.com
A power vacuum
Just as the Kremlin started fishing, a new leader took over FinCEN.
Jamal El-Hindi has spent nearly two decades at Treasury. When he was named acting director of FinCEN in June 2016, he assumed control of one of the most important law enforcement bodies in the US.
But during his tenure, FinCEN has withered.
About 70 full-time jobs have gone unfilled, sources said, and El-Hindi canceled popular programs that insiders felt helped them recruit young, talented analysts. Employees grumbled about a laggardly pace inside the building and complained that basic reports once took days to be approved but were now being held in limbo for weeks.
Twelve current and former employees said El-Hindi was notoriously late to meetings. Unlike his predecessors, he did not set yearly priorities, they said. One veteran supervisor said that on El-Hindi’s watch, FinCEN became too cautious and too concerned with the optics of its work rather than the substance.
A slide from the 2017 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results.
Obtained by BuzzFeed News
“El-Hindi’s failure to make decisions is legend at FinCEN,” this official said. “At one point, the previous director had him put together a decision-making seminar in hopes he might learn how to decision-make.” BuzzFeed News sent El-Hindi detailed messages personally and through Treasury, but received no response. The previous director also did not respond to queries.
A new director, Ken Blanco, took over the unit in November 2017.
“Treasury does not comment on personnel actions or matters,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.
By 2017, morale at FinCEN ranked dead last among every unit at the Treasury Department. Frustrated by the dysfunction, seasoned employees started leaving for more lucrative work in the private sector. That’s when officials in a rival department made a lunge for FinCEN’s greatest asset.
Whistleblowers say the US Treasury Department has been consumed by chaos during the past two years.
The unit of Treasury that monitors suspicious bank transactions outside the US is called the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, a sister unit of the terror department that had struck the deal with the Russians. Now, by the fall of 2016, the OIA wanted more authority over FinCEN’s vast database of suspicious financial transactions across the globe.
The unit proposed a “realignment” that would have peeled off FinCEN’s authority over the database, some of its employees, and a piece of its budget. FinCEN staffers were aghast. They worried that El-Hindi was too weak to fend off the incursion and that it would hamper the office’s ability to fight financial crime. They also said the move by OIA was illegal, because it would cross the bright line that is supposed to separate intelligence agencies that collect information abroad from those that collect information on US citizens and residents.
OIA’s maneuver led to an open revolt inside FinCEN. More than a dozen workers reported the matter to their supervisors or to Congress. In September, an attorney from OIA got into a heated exchange with a small group of FinCEN employees, according to eight sources and internal documents.
After BuzzFeed News published a report about the allegations last year, Sens. Ron Wyden and Orrin Hatch sent a letter to the Department of Treasury’s inspector general, Eric Thorson, requesting a briefing about the matter.
After months of investigation, Thorson’s office concluded there was no merit to the complaints, which included the allegation that OIA analysts illegally snooped on the banking records of American individuals and companies.
His office noted, however, that OIA has been working for a decade without proper guidelines on how it handles US citizens’ information. The audit report recommended that OIA “as expeditiously as possible” submit its rules to the Department of Justice for approval, which the agency did earlier this year.
El-Hindi wanted his department to “get along” with OIA, these sources said, and did little to stand in that office’s way. In fact, emails show that he instructed his workers not to take their complaints to Congress — which the whistleblowers viewed as a staggering betrayal.
But the FinCEN employees spoke out anyway.
At least 10 filed formal whistleblower paperwork, many for the first time in their government careers. In meetings with six different congressional committees, two of the whistleblowers described a litany of misconduct at Treasury, including Russia’s attempt to gather intelligence on its enemies during the 2016 election. To this day, the committees have done little to address those whistleblowers’ concerns.
Ultimately, FinCEN won out. The realignment failed and the unit retained control over its records. But its battle with OIA wasn’t over.
FinCEN analysts were involved in the search for suspects after terrorist incidents at the Manchester Arena and the London Bridge.
Desperate hours
In May 2017, a bomb exploded at an Ariana Grande concert in northwest England and killed 23 people. The following month, knife-wielding terrorists attacked pedestrians near London Bridge.
Because the US has access to the largest set of financial records in the world, the British turned to the Americans for help. In the first frantic moments following an attack, FinCEN’s financial databases can reveal important information about the killers, others in their network, or whether another plot is imminent.
FinCEN analysts sprang into action, racing to their headquarters in Northern Virginia to begin searching for clues on a Saturday night. But when they arrived, they discovered that everyone on duty had been locked out of the classified networks that they depended upon. They couldn’t open links from the FBI about the suspected terrorists they were supposed to be chasing and they couldn’t trace the suspects’ funding.
That night, two dozen FinCEN employees learned that the digital keys they needed to unlock classified data had expired without warning. The suspects remained on the run in London, but FinCEN was unable to help track them.
The office that administered those security keys was OIA, FinCEN's rival department.
Staffers were furious.
“We have escalated the critical problem to key individuals,” one of the whistleblowers wrote in an email, “and we still DO NOT have the ability to complete our mission or fully protect the American people.”
OIA blamed the FinCEN employees for forgetting to update their permissions. But more than a dozen FinCEN officials said they saw the incident as retaliation for their earlier power struggle. OIA had sent its own staffers an email weeks earlier reminding them to apply for new keys, but had not sent that same email to anyone at FinCEN. OIA officials blamed that oversight on “time” and “resource restraints.”
The divide grew, and made its way to Congress, where Republican Steve Pearce, chair of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, demanded answers. The Treasury Department’s inspector general stepped in again to investigate, and concluded that OIA had done nothing wrong — though he did acknowledge the strained relationship between OIA and FinCEN.
The whistleblowers told BuzzFeed News they have largely given up on seeing anyone at FinCEN, OIA, and TFFC held accountable for the chaos that they say has torn the Treasury apart over the past two years.
“It is very hard to measure the sum total of the damage done,” said one of the whistleblowers, a senior FinCEN official. “We are treading water right now.”●
Tanya Kozyreva, Emma Loop, John Templon, and Azeen Ghorayshi contributed to this story.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/an ... on-backers
Unsealed Documents in Special Counsel Mueller’s Investigation [Updated]
Just Security
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has prosecuted the Russia investigation by bringing charges against a number of former Trump campaign officials and their associates, and against Russian individuals and entities. Those charges have yielded a series of indictments and plea deals. Find below an updated list of substantive documents in cases related to the Russia investigation.
New: Michael Flynn
12/18/2018: Transcript of Sentencing Hearing
12/17/2018: Michael Flynn FD 302 Interview Report (date of entry 02/15/17)
12/14/2018: Government’s Reply to Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing
12/11/2018: Defendant’s Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing
12/4/2018: Government’s Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing
New: Maria Butina
12/13/2018: Plea agreement and Statement of Offense
07/14/2018: Signed affidavit package
07/14/2018: Criminal complaint
Recent: Michael Cohen
12/7/2018: Michael Cohen Sentencing Memorandum filed by Special Counsel
12/7/2018: Michael Cohen Sentencing Memorandum filed by SDNY
Recent: Paul Manafort
12/7/2018: Government’s Memo on Breach Determination
Recent (late November): Michael Cohen Criminal Information
11/29/2018: Criminal Information
11/29/2018: Plea Agreement
11/30/2018 Sentencing Memorandum on Behalf of Michael Cohen
U.S. v. 12 alleged Russian intelligence officers
07/13/2018 Indictment
U.S. v. Internet Research Agency, et al (1:18-cr-32, District of Columbia)
02/16/18 Grand Jury Indictment Against 13 Russian Nationals and 3 Russian Entities
U.S. v. Paul J. Manafort, Jr., and Konstantin Kilimnik (1:17-cr-201, District of Columbia)
06/08/2018 Superseding Indictment Against Manafort and Kilimnik
U.S. v. Paul J. Manafort, Jr. (1:18-cr-83, Eastern District of Virginia)
06/04/18 Government’s Motion to Revoke or Revise Order of Pretrial Release
06/04/18 Declaration by Brock W. Domin in Support of Government’s Motion to Revoke or Revise Order of Pretrial Release
05/04/18 Hearing on Motion to Dismiss (full transcript)
04/02/18 Government’s Response in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
04/02/18 Attachment C (Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein’s August 2017 memo defining Mueller’s authority)
03/09/18 Order Outlining Bail Conditions (noting that because of the criminal charges and the weight of the apparent evidence against Manafort, he “faces the very real possibility of life in prison” and poses a substantial flight risk)
03/08/18 Arraignment for Manafort
02/28/18 Status Report in Advance of Manafort Arraignment
02/26/18 Indictment Against Manafort
U.S. v. Richard W. Gates III (1:18-cr-83, Eastern District of Virginia)
03/01/18 Order on Motion to Dismiss Charges Against Gates
02/27/18 Motion to Dismiss Charges Against Gates (in accordance with Gates D.D.C. plea agreement)
U.S. v. Paul J. Manafort, Jr., and Richard W. Gates III (1:18-cr-83, Eastern District of Virginia)
02/22/18 Superseding Indictment Against Manafort and Gates (charging financial and tax crimes)
02/13/18 Redacted Criminal Case Cover Sheet for Manafort
U.S. v. Paul J. Manafort, Jr. (1:17-cr-201, District of Columbia)
02/23/18 Superseding Indictment Against Manafort (charging Conspiracy Against the U.S., Conspiracy to Launder Money, FARA violations, and lying to the executive branch)
09/14/2018 Superseding Criminal Information
09/14/2018 Plea Agreement
U.S. v. Richard W. Gates III (1:17-cr-201, District of Columbia)
02/23/18 Statement of the Offense
02/23/18 Plea Agreement
02/02/18 Superseding Criminal Information
U.S. v. Paul J. Manafort, Jr., and Richard W. Gates III (1:17-cr-201, District of Columbia)
02/22/18 Status Report (explaining the venue change from D.D.C. to E.D.Va. in superseding indictment, and that defense counsel was presented with proof of the underlying crimes before an indictment was returned)
02/16/18 Government’s Response to Manafort’s Supplemental Memorandum to His Motion for Reconsideration of Conditions of Release (alleging additional criminal conduct by Manafort in the form of bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies)
12/11/17 Supplement on Manafort Property Values
12/08/17 Government Motion to Leave, Exhibit, and Supplemental Declaration in Opposition to Manafort’s Motion to Modify Bail Conditions (accusing Manafort of working with a Russian associate to write a public op-ed in support of Manafort’s Ukraine lobbying work)
12/07/17 Gates Motion to Modify Bail Conditions (reflecting updated bail negotiations)
11/30/17 Gates Motion to Modify Bail Conditions to Attend Family Event
11/30/17 Manafort Motion to Modify Bail Conditions
10/31/17 Government Memorandum (supporting conditions of bail release, complex case designation under the Speedy Trial Act, and notice of intent to use specific foreign bank records)
10/30/17 Manafort and Gates Arrest Warrants
10/27/17 Indictment
In Re GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION (Misc. Action No. 17-2336, District of Columbia)
10/02/17 Memorandum opinion (compelling grand jury testimony of former Manafort and Gates personal counsel)
Grand Jury Subpoena for Sam Nunberg
02/27/18 Grand Jury Subpoena (Former Trump aide Nunberg provided partial text of his grand jury subpoena to multiple news outlets)
U.S. v. Alex van der Zwaan (1:18-cr-31, District of Columbia)
03/27/2018 Government’s Sentencing Memorandum
03/27/2018 Sentencing Memorandum on Behalf of van der Zwaan
02/16/18 Criminal Information
U.S. v. Richard Pinedo, et al (1:18-cr-24, District of Columbia)
U.S. v. Michael T. Flynn (1:17-cr-232, District of Columbia)
12/01/17 Statement by Michael Flynn (not directly part of the trial, but related)
U.S. v. George Papadopoulos (1:17-cr-182, District of Columbia)
10/05/17 Transcript of Arraignment and Plea Agreement Hearing
07/28/17 Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint
07/28/17 Criminal Complaint
Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s Appointment Order for Special Counsel Robert Mueller
05/17/17 Order 3915-2017
Other Cases Related to the Mueller Investigation
On Jan. 3, 2018, Paul Manafort filed a civil suit against the Department of Justice, Rod Rosenstein, and Robert Mueller. It contended that Rosenstein’s special counsel Appointment Order exceeded the scope of the special counsel regulations, and was invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act. The suit seeks declarative and injunctive relief to set aside the Appointment Order and the investigation’s actions toward Manafort, and to declare Mueller’s authority limited to investigating Russian collusion, and enjoin investigating beyond that matter.
Paul J. Manafort v. U.S. Department of Justice, et al. (1:18-cv-11, District of Columbia)
03/02/18 Defendants’ Reply Memorandum to Plaintiff’s Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
02/27/18 Motion to Unseal Sealed Document [#20] filed by David Andrew Christenson
02/21/18 Order Denying David Andrew Christenson’s Motion to Intervene
02/14/18 Plaintiff’s Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss
02/14/18 Order Denying Motion to Intervene by Freedom Watch
02/13/18 Defendants’ Memorandum in Opposition to Motion to Intervene by David Andrew Christenson
02/06/18 Defendants’ Memorandum in Opposition to Motion to Intervene by Freedom Watch
02/02/18 Second Supplemental Motion to Intervene by David Andrew Christenson
02/02/18 Department of Justice Motion to Dismiss
01/26/18 Motion to Intervene by David Andrew Christenson
01/23/18 Motion to Intervene by Freedom Watch
01/03/18 Civil Complaint
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
https://www.justsecurity.org/46583/unse ... stigation/
by seemslikeadream » Thu Dec 20, 2018 11:51 pm
THE MOVING PARTS: THE WALLS COME DOWN AROUND TRUMP
December 20, 2018/8 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe /by empty wheel
The other day (I forget which day it was, to be honest) I wondered aloud whether, as it became clear the walls were collapsing around Trump, he’d make a rash move to pay off his debts, perhaps to salvage something for his post-Presidenting life.
I’m not sure we’re quite at that point yet. But in recent days, a ton has happened it’s hard to make sense of.
This post doesn’t pretend to offer answers. I just want to write down everything I think is happening in one place — bloggers prerogative, call it.
MATTIS RESIGNS, CITING TRUMP’S FONDNESS FOR AUTHORITARIANS
The most alarming news is not that James Mattis resigned, but how he did so. In his resignation letter, he cited the importance of NATO, and China and Russia’s authoritarianism that promotes their interest over that of their neighbors, America, and our allies, before he made it clear that Trump disagrees with Mattis in rejecting those authoritarian values.
One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO’s 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.
Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model — gaining veto authority over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions — to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America[,] and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.
My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.
Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. [my emphasis]
The precipitating event, though, was Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria.
Officials said Mr. Mattis went to the White House on Thursday afternoon in a last attempt to convince Mr. Trump to keep American troops in Syria, where they have been fighting the Islamic State. He was rebuffed, and told the president that he was resigning as a result.
One source says that Trump’s decision to close the Special Forces base in Syria is part of the problem.
The US is set to shut a special forces base in Syria that has been the subject of repeated Russian complaints, and that some US officials have cast as a key part of US efforts not just to defeat ISIS but to counter Iranian influence in the country.
Muhannad al-Talla, a rebel commander at al-Tanf, a US base near the Syrian border with Jordan, told BuzzFeed News that the base would see the withdrawal of the US troops who have trained and fought alongside rebels there.
I’m wondering if this base was involved in the shellacking of Putin ally Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s mercenaries.
Another is Erdogan’s threat (or promise) to massacre our longstanding Kurdish allies.
Defense officials tell me Mattis went to the White House to discuss Syria & that he was livid after reading reports that Turkey’s Defense Minister threatened to kill US-backed Kurds & put them in ditches once the US withdrew. He was incensed at this notion of betrayal of an ally.
Effectively, it seems, Mattis told Trump, “it’s me or Vladimir Putin” … and Trump chose Putin.
ERDOGAN EXERCISES LEVERAGE — OR IS HE THE MESSENGER BOY?
But it wasn’t exactly — or just — Putin that finally got Trump to deliver on the payback he started delivering 14 hours after polls closed in 2016. It was Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As I noted, Trump met with Erdogan in Argentina but not — after the Michael Cohen allocation made it clear Putin was enticing Trump with a Tower deal in 2016 — Putin.
Multiple reports say a call Trump had with Erdogan on Friday was the precipitating factor.
That leads me to wonder what leverage Turkey, specifically, has over Trump, such that he’d pull out of Syria in response to a threat to massacre the Kurds, which will make it easy for Turkey to massacre the Kurds.
And I have to believe Turkey’s ploy with the Jamal Khashoggi execution is part of it. Erdogan never gave a shit that the Saudis lured a dissident to their soil to dismember alive. Erdogan himself pursues such repression, even if he conducts it with a bit more cover.
Indeed, whatever Erdogan has over Trump also has him considering extraditing Fethullah Gulen to Turkey for what would certainly be similar treatment — the payoff Turkey was requesting back in December 2016 when Trump’s chosen National Security Advisor was still hiding that he had been an unregistered agent for Turkey.
Perhaps Turkey has proof not just implicating Mohammed bin Salman in the execution, but Jared Kushner in green-lighting it, or possibly even Trump?
MUELLER’S MOVES TOWARD ENDGAME
It’s hard — particularly given comments from people like Nancy Pelosi — to separate it from what feels like an approaching Mueller (attempted) endgame. The lead-up to Flynn’s aborted sentencing featured the following:
Flynn makes an ill-considered attack on the legitimacy of the Mueller probe
Emmet Sullivan orders the release of the documents with which Flynn was attempting to undercut Mueller
Sullivan orders the far more damning Flynn 302 that, among other things, reveals that Turkey and Russia both had compromising information on Trump and Flynn
DOJ indicts Flynn’s business partners for hiding how Turkey angled to force DOJ to extradite Gulen
At Flynn’s sentencing hearing, Sullivan emphasizes that Flynn had been an agent of Turkey while ostensibly working for Trump and mentions the word treason
Plus there’s evidence that Jared Kushner — who has been the boy plaything for all these ruthless players — probably tried to attack Flynn even while he was having a grocery store tabloid pimp the Saudis.
And it was revealed that the Mystery Appellant refusing to provide information to Mueller is a foreign-owned corporation, probably a Russian or Middle Eastern bank or sovereign wealth fund funneling money to Trump or Jared. The company appears to have asked for an en banc review today.
Mueller also asked for and got the House Intelligence Committee to release its transcript of Roger Stone’s testimony. The timing of this is the interesting thing: Mueller chose to do this when Republicans had to (and did) vote to expose Trump’s top political advisor to indictment. He could have waited, but didn’t. That suggests either he wanted Republican buy-in, or he needs the transcripts now, to finalize his case against Stone before Democrats take over in a few weeks.
The day after SSCI released materials on James Wolfe, he was indicted.
So things are moving to a head in the Mueller probe, and in a way that both Russia and Turkey may be implicated.
MATT WHITAKER PERFORMS A HEADFAKE BEFORE TAKING THE CORRUPT STEP HE WAS HIRED TO TAKE
Then there was the news today on big dick toilet salesman Matt Whitaker. This morning, multiple outlets reported that DOJ had told Whitaker he didn’t have to recuse from the Mueller probe. After that became the headline, however, multiple outlets revealed that the truth was the opposite: an ethics advisor had told Whitaker he should recuse, and having heard that, Whitaker consulted a hand-picked committee that predictably told him not to.
Within days of the president’s announcement in early November that he had put Whitaker in the role on a temporary basis, Whitaker tapped a veteran U.S. attorney to become part of a four-person team of advisers on his new job, according to a senior Justice Department official. Their guidance included the question of whether Whitaker should recuse himself from Mueller’s investigation because of his past statements regarding that probe and because of his friendship with one of its witnesses, the official said.
Whitaker never asked Justice Department ethics officials for a formal recommendation, nor did he receive one, this official said.
However, after Whitaker met repeatedly with Justice Department ethics officials to discuss the facts and the issues under consideration, a senior ethics official told the group of advisers on Tuesday that it was a “close call” but that Whitaker should recuse himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the official said. Whitaker was not present at that meeting, they said.
Those four advisers, however, disagreed with the ethics determination and recommended to Whitaker the next day not to recuse, saying there was no precedent for that, and doing so now could create a bad precedent for future attorneys general.
That big dick toilet salesman Whitaker did this is not surprising.
That he chose to roll out this admission today is worth noting. One outlet reported that, up until today, Whitaker had not been briefed on the Mueller probe. Apparently, in the wake of a judge raising treason concerns after having reviewed Mike Flynn’s behavior, Whitaker has made the move to become Trump’s mole on the Mueller probe.
TRUMP PREPARES TO SHUT DOWN GOVERNMENT
All this is happening as Trump prepares to shut down the government because Fox News laughed at him for getting pantsed by Nancy Pelosi.
Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy said the Democrats had won the showdown, and Trump had lost.
He launched into a tirade saying the president “loses, and the Democrats will win everything” based on his apparent decision to compromise with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Doocy said Trump’s defeat would not only risk his campaign commitment to build the wall, but also bring into question his electoral promises to curb the rest of the government’s spending.
In response, over the course of today, Trump told Republicans he’d veto any continuing resolution that didn’t include $5 billion for his steel slat wall, making it much more likely we’ll have a shutdown as Trump skedaddles to Mar-a-Lago to take calls from his authoritarian buddies.
This may be entirely unrelated. After all, Fox and Friends is Trump’s bubble, that’s the only place where he considers losses to matter, and after the truth that Pelosi had bested him started to seep through, the narcissist-in-chief had no choice but to make a rash demand that Republican politicians sacrifice their careers in deference to his tantrum.
Which is to say that this behavior is precisely what we should expect when a narcissist’s mirror tells his he has been bested by someone he must demean.
Or maybe it is related?
PUTIN — OR SOMEONE ELSE — IS CALLING IN RECEIPTS
As I’m thinking about these things, I keep thinking back to an argument I made in August. I argued that Putin had compromised Trump not with a pee tape, but by ensuring his people kept receipts every time Trump got sucked deeper and deeper into a deal with Russia.
People are looking in the entirely wrong place for the kompromat that Putin has on Trump, and missing all the evidence of it right in front of their faces.
Vladimir Putin obtained receipts at each stage of this romance of Trump’s willing engagement in a conspiracy with Russians for help getting elected. Putin knows what each of those receipts mean. Mueller has provided hints, most obviously in that GRU indictment, that he knows what some of them are.
For example, on or about July 27, 2016, the Conspirators attempted after hours to spearphish for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted by a third-party provider and used by Clinton’s personal office. At or around the same time, they also targeted seventy-six email addresses at the domain for the Clinton Campaign.
But Mueller’s not telling whether he has obtained the actual receipts.
And that’s the kompromat. Trump knows that if Mueller can present those receipts, he’s sunk, unless he so discredits the Mueller investigation before that time as to convince voters not to give Democrats a majority in Congress, and convince Congress not to oust him as the sell-out to the country those receipts show him to be. He also knows that, on the off-chance Mueller hasn’t figured this all out yet, Putin can at any time make those receipts plain. Therein lies Trump’s uncertainty: It’s not that he has any doubt what Putin has on him. It’s that he’s not sure which path before him — placating Putin, even if it provides more evidence he’s paying off his campaign debt, or trying to end the Mueller inquiry before repaying that campaign debt, at the risk of Putin losing patience with him — holds more risk.
Trump knows he’s screwed. He’s just not sure whether Putin or Mueller presents the bigger threat.
It has since become clear that not just Russia, but at least also Turkey and whatever bank is fighting a demand from Mueller that it turn over evidence of Trump’s graft, also have receipts.
Nevertheless, at the moment where it has become increasingly clear that Mueller knows much of whatever blackmail these partners have over Trump, Trump has chosen, instead, to alienate the Senators who might keep him from being impeached by evacuating from Syria and, later reports make clear, Afghanistan.
Trump is, on a dime and without warning to our closest allies, rolling up the American Empire. And he’s doing it not because he’s a peacenik — as far too many self-described progressives are trying to claim — but because ruthless, committed authoritarians have convinced him he needs their continued approval more than he needs the approval of even the Republican hawks in the Senate.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/12/20/t ... und-trump/
by seemslikeadream » Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:33 pm
Russia Gloats: ‘Trump Is Ours Again’
If Moscow was happy about the Syria pullout, it’s ecstatic about Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ resignation.
12.21.18 12:49 PM ET
The Kremlin is awash with Christmas gifts from Washington, D.C. and every move by the Trump administration seems to add to that perception. On Wednesday, appearing on the Russian state TV show “The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev,” Director of the Moscow-based Center for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies Semyon Bagdasarov said that the U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis is “struggling to keep up” with the flurry of unexpected decisions by the U.S. President Donald Trump. The news that Mattis decided to step down sent shock waves across the world, being interpreted as “a dangerous signal” by America’s allies.
Meanwhile, the Mattis departure is being cheered in Russia. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Upper House of the Russian Parliament, has said that “the departure of James Mattis is a positive signal for Russia, since Mattis was far more hawkish on Russia and China than Donald Trump.” Kosachev opined that Trump apparently considered his own agenda in dealing with Russia, China and America’s allies to be "more important than keeping James Mattis at his post," concluding: "That’s an interesting signal, and a more positive one” for Russia.
Jubilation was even more apparent on Russia’s state television, which adheres closely to the Kremlin’s point of view. The host of the Russian state TV show “60 Minutes,” Olga Skabeeva asserted: “Secretary of Defense Mattis didn’t want to leave Syria, so Trump fired him. They are leaving Syria.”
President Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Sanders, remarked: “The idea that Putin is happy about this [Trump's decision to withdraw US forces from Syria] is ridiculous. It puts them at a greater risk, so I think that's just silly.” To the contrary, the idea of an American withdrawal from Syria is being widely perceived in Russia as “a total dream come true” if it truly takes place.
State TV host Olga Skabeeva surmised that Americans are “losers, since Putin has defeated them in every way.” With a theatrical sigh, her co-host, Evgeny Popov, added: “Trump is ours again—what are you going to do?” Every member of the sizeable audience enthusiastically clapped. While these statements are decidedly sarcastic, Russian opinion makers recount the Kremlin’s victories with unmistakable glee. Popov smirked: “It seems to Americans that we won on every front: the U.S. Secretary of Defense has been removed, we unquestionably secured a complete, unconditional victory in Syria.” Skabeeva chimed in: “They’re also planning to leave Afghanistan.”
Popov pointed out: “On top of that, Rusal sanctions have been lifted with Trump’s hands.” Panelists of the show, including Russian lawmakers, couldn’t hide their satisfied grins. The reference was to the announcement that Trump’s Treasury Department intends to lift sanctions against the business empire of Oleg V. Deripaska, one of Russia’s most influential oligarchs, sanctioned for Russian interference in the U.S. elections.
Texas Representative Lloyd Doggett told The New York Times that the move to lift Rusal sanctions amounted to Trump “sliding another big gift under Vladimir Putin’s Christmas tree.” The gesture is certainly being interpreted that way in Russia. Deripaska’s attorneys are reportedly mounting an aggressive campaign to pursue the removal of personal sanctions from the Putin-linked oligarch as well.
Discussing the planned departure of the U.S. from Syria, state TV host Olga Skabeeva pondered why Trump suddenly decided to leave at this point in time: “Americans say, it’s because he is beholden to Putin. Is that logical? Yes, it is.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-gl ... n?ref=home
by seemslikeadream » Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:53 pm
A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations
ORGE SILVA/AFP/Getty Images
While popular memory today remembers Watergate as five DNC burglars leading inexorably to Richard Nixon’s resignation two years later, history recalls that the case and special prosecutor’s investigation at the time were much broader; ultimately 69 people were charged as part of the investigation, 48 of whom pleaded guilty or were found guilty at trial.
After three weeks of back-to-back-to-back-to-back bombshells by federal prosecutors and special counsel Robert Mueller, it’s increasingly clear that, as 2018 winds down, Donald Trump faces a legal assault unlike anything previously seen by any president—at least 17 distinct court cases stemming from at least seven different sets of prosecutors and investigators. (That total does not count any congressional inquiries, nor does it include any other inquiries into other administration officials unrelated to Russia.)
While the media has long short-handed Mueller’s probe as the “Russia investigation,” a comprehensive review of the cases unfolding around the president and the question of Russian influence in the 2016 campaign harkens back to another lesson of Watergate: Deep Throat’s dictum, “Follow the money.”
More than two years in, the constellation of current investigations involves questions about foreign money and influence targeting the Trump campaign, transition, and White House from not just Russia but as many as a half-dozen countries. Prosecutors are studying nearly every aspect of how money flowed both in and out of Trump’s interconnected enterprises, from his hotels to his company to his campaign to his inauguration. While President Trump once said that he’d see investigations into his business dealings as crossing a “red line,” it appears that Trump himself obliterated that line, intermingling his business and campaign until it was impossible for prosecutors to untangle one without forensically examining the other.
Obviously, some of these investigations below may—or will—eventually overlap. Many of the players, particularly those like Michael Cohen, may end up central to multiple cases. And the existence of an investigation does not necessarily mean convictions will follow.
There’s also plenty we don’t know about who else Mueller and other investigators might have in their sights, or who might be cooperating. There’s even a special mystery witness Mueller was fighting in court last week. Notably, most of the open investigations involve known cooperators, not to mention likely millions of documents, telephone calls, recordings, emails, communications, and tax returns assembled by the special counsel and other prosecutors.
Here’s a complete rundown of the various known investigations targeting Trump’s world from local, state, and federal prosecutors:
Investigations by the Special Counsel
1. The Russian Government’s Election Attack: The special counsel moved aggressively to outline and charge the Russian government’s core attack on the 2016 election, which included both active cyber intrusions and data theft by the military intelligence unit GRU and the GRU’s attempted attacks on the US voting system, as well as online information influence operations by the Internet Research Agency, known by the moniker “Project Lakhta.” Numerous threads from this investigation remain unseen—including a possible cooperator inside the Internet Research Agency, Putin’s own involvement, whether any Americans contributed knowingly to the attack, the role of the FSB’s “Cozy Bear” hackers, and whether or how Russia’s expensive and multipronged attack coordinated with contacts between Russian nationals and the Trump campaign over the course of 2016, including the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. Mueller has also reportedly been investigating the role of late GOP activist Peter Smith, who had apparently tried to locate stolen emails and make contact with Russian hackers. It’s also unclear what has sparked Mueller’s apparent continued interest in Trump’s campaign tech firm, Cambridge Analytica.
Status: 12 Russian military intelligence officers from the GRU indicted, 13 people indicted from the Internet Research Agency, alongside three Russian companies, and a guilty plea from one California man who unwittingly aided their identity theft. Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators.
2. WikiLeaks: Whether WikiLeaks’ publishing of the emails stolen by Russian hackers connects from Moscow to Trump Tower itself remains an open question. But a leaked aborted plea agreement from conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi makes clear that Trump associates had at least some advance knowledge of what WikiLeaks was planning to publish. How any of that may connect with looming charges facing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and another apparently abandoned deal for him to leave the Ecuador embassy in London is also unclear.
Status: Both Trump aide Roger Stone and Corsi have said they expect to be indicted. Unclear if looming charges against Assange relate to Mueller investigation.
3. Middle Eastern Influence: Potentially the biggest unseen aspect of Mueller’s investigation is his year-long pursuit of Middle Eastern influence targeting the Trump campaign, which the Daily Beast reported last week might become public sometime early next year. As the Daily Beast wrote, “The ‘Russia investigation’ is set to go global.” The investigation appears to center on the role of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, which were eager to help the campaign and, in some cases, have business ties to Trump or presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner specifically appears to have been a key focus of these foreign efforts: The New Yorker and other news outlets have carefully traced how China, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia targeted the White House senior adviser.
Status: No public court activity yet, but two key figures are known to be cooperating: Middle East would-be power broker George Nader and Blackwater mercenary group founder Erik Prince.
4. Paul Manafort’s Activity: What began over a year ago with a sweeping money laundering indictment targeting Trump’s one-time campaign chair—and resulted in his conviction on eight felonies at trial before he accepted a plea agreement on other charges—continues to unfold. In court documents, Mueller has made clear that he’s investigating Manafort associate Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian tied to Russian intelligence. He may also have interest in Kilimnik’s interactions with another Trump associate, real estate investor Tom Barrack, who has also been interviewed by investigators.
Status: Manafort’s been both convicted at trial and accepted a plea agreement; lawyer Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about the Ukrainian work; Manafort associate Sam Patten has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent; Kilimnik has been indicted for obstruction of justice. Known cooperators include Trump deputy campaign chair and Manafort business partner Rick Gates, who has also pleaded guilty to his own role in the money laundering scheme.
5. The Trump Tower Moscow Project: Just days before Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison for the eight felonies he pleaded guilty to in August, Mueller surprised everyone with a ninth charge. Cohen admitted that he lied to Congress about the status of the Trump Organization’s pursuit of a Trump Tower Moscow, a proposed project that extended longer into the campaign and proceeded into more serious conversations than previously admitted. The special counsel also noted how the project would be worth “hundreds of millions” of dollars, far more than a normal Trump licensing deal, leading to questions about why it would have been so lucrative. The case also connects the Trump Organization’s business deals, and the campaign, directly to the office of Russian president Vladimir Putin, whose government was at the time busily engaged in the attack on the US election. Moreover, according to statements by congressional investigators and documents released from Congress’s own Russia investigation, other figures, including Donald Trump Jr., may face legal exposure about their own testimony on the Trump Tower Moscow project.
Status: Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the status of the project and is cooperating with investigators.
6. Other Campaign and Transition Contacts With Russia: As journalists have pieced together, at least 14 Trump associates had contact with Russia during the campaign and transition, from foreign policy aide Carter Page to would-be attorney general Jeff Sessions. Questions continue to surround many of those contacts, not least of all the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 that included Trump Jr., Kushner, and Manafort, and which involved hints that the meeting was only “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” as the email setting up the meeting first promised.
Status: Both national security adviser Michael Flynn and foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to charges related to their campaign and transition contacts with Russia. Cohen and Flynn have both provided extensive cooperation to Mueller about the campaign and transition contacts.
7. Obstruction of Justice: Robert Mueller’s appointment stemmed from Trump’s decision to fire FBI director James Comey and fears that the firing was an attempt to obstruct the initial stages of the Russia investigation. But recent court documents hint that Mueller might be assembling a broader obstruction-of-justice case against Trump, one that could potentially argue that the president’s public statements intentionally misled the public in an attempt to limit the scope of the Russia investigation. Even if Mueller decides there’s enough evidence to bring a case here, it seems more likely to get passed along to Congress for consideration of impeachment rather than prosecuted in court.
Status: No public movement yet, but court documents point to the fact that at least Manafort and Cohen have provided evidence useful to this case about their own contacts in 2017 and 2018 with the White House.
Investigations by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
8. Campaign Conspiracy and the Trump Organization’s Finances: Despite the myriad cases unfolding from the special counsel, the White House’s most immediate legal jeopardy increasingly appears to stem from federal prosecutors in New York digging into Trump’s alleged financial shenanigans. Perhaps the biggest political bombshell amid the last three weeks has been the new revelations around Michael Cohen, “Individual 1” (as court documents have identified Trump), and the hush money payments to cover up extramarital affairs in the final weeks of the 2016 election. Prosecutors have written that Donald Trump himself directed the payments—an indication that they have solid documentary evidence that hasn’t become public yet—and have apparently lined up nearly every other participant in the scheme as a cooperator.
Status: Cohen has already pleaded guilty, and National Enquirer’s David Pecker, its parent company AMI, Cohen, and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg are all cooperating with investigators.
9. Inauguration Funding: Late last week, The Wall Street Journal broke word that prosecutors were digging into the record $107 million raised and spent by the Trump inauguration committee, potentially with concerns about where that money came from and where it went, based in part on documents and evidence seized during the Michael Cohen investigation. Journalists have long raised questions about where the inauguration money went, and the FBI expressed concern about the Russian elites who appeared at the event. We already know that at least some shady money was involved: Manafort associate Sam Patten’s plea agreement includes that he helped a Ukrainian businessman funnel $50,000 to the inauguration.
Status: No public court activity yet beyond Patten, but he is cooperating with investigators.
10. Trump SuperPAC Funding: Related to the news about the inauguration inquiries was word that prosecutors are digging into the funding of a Trump SuperPAC, Rebuilding America Now, where Paul Manafort also played a role.
Status: No public court activity yet, but Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators.
11. Foreign Lobbying: Robert Mueller also handed off information he uncovered during the Manafort money laundering probe to prosecutors in New York. According to news reports, he referred questions about at least a trio of other lobbyists—Tony Podesta, Vin Weber, and Greg Craig—and whether they allegedly failed to appropriately register as foreign agents for work related to Ukraine. Podesta abruptly closed his eponymous lobbying firm last year, and Mueller had previously been interested in the work done by Mercury LLC, Weber’s firm, as well as the law firm Skadden Arps, where Craig worked until earlier this year. Skadden Arps also employed the Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contacts with Rick Gates.
Status: Rick Gates is cooperating with investigators.
Investigations by the US Attorney for the District of Columbia
12. Maria Butina and the NRA: The guilty plea last week by Russian agent and gun-rights enthusiast Butina came with an extensive cooperation agreement, including the possibility of her meeting with investigators without lawyers present. While the most immediate next target of the investigation appears to be Butina’s boyfriend, Republican operative Paul Erickson—he was sent a so-called “target” letter by prosecutors recently—questions have also swirled about 2016 campaign funding by the National Rifle Association and the reach of Russia into the US conservative movement. Notably, Butina attended numerous conservative events—including the inauguration—and brought 11 Russians to the annual prayer breakfast, was photographed with numerous conservative leaders, and even asked candidate Trump a question at an event early in the campaign, giving him an opportunity to praise Russia.
Status: Maria Butina has pleaded guilty and is cooperating.
Investigations by the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
13. Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova: The alleged chief accountant of the Internet Research Agency was indicted separately earlier this fall by prosecutors in northern Virginia and the Justice Department’s unit that handles counterintelligence and espionage cases, not by Mueller’s special counsel office. Khusyaynova was charged with activity that went above and beyond the 2016 campaign, including efforts to meddle in this year’s midterms. Why she was prosecuted separately remains a puzzle.
Status: Khusyaynova has been indicted.
14. Turkish Influence: According to court documents, Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn contributed to two investigations beyond the Russia probe. While both were redacted in his court case, there are strong hints, including reporting by The New York Times, that one of those two cases includes a grand jury in northern Virginia focused on illegal influence by the Turkish government. According to the Times, “Prosecutors are examining Mr. Flynn’s former business partners and clients who financed a campaign against Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in Pennsylvania whom the Turkish government has accused of helping instigate a failed coup.” Flynn’s own sentencing documents allude to the fact that Flynn handed over voluminous records from his own businesses.
Status: Michael Flynn’s plea agreement includes some details of the case. Flynn is cooperating with investigators.
Investigations by New York City, New York State, & Other State Attorneys General
15. Tax Case: In the wake of a New York Times investigation that found Donald Trump had apparently benefited from upwards of $400 million in tax schemes, city officials said they were investigating Trump’s tax payments, as did the New York State Tax Department. Longtime lawyer and Trump fixer Cohen also reported in his own court filing that he met with investigators from the New York Attorney General’s Office, although the court filings didn’t explain what the investigation entailed.
Status: Unknown.
16. The Trump Foundation: The New York Attorney General sued the Trump Foundation this summer, charging it with, as The New York Times summarized, “sweeping violations of campaign finance laws, self-dealing and illegal coordination with the presidential campaign.” A judge just ruled last month that the lawsuit can proceed. Now the incoming attorney general has promised even more wide-ranging inquiries in the Trump business world.
Status: Case is proceeding, having cleared initial court tests.
17. Emoluments Lawsuit: The attorneys general for Maryland and DC sent out subpoenas earlier this month for Trump Organization and hotel financial records relating to their lawsuit alleging that the president is in breach of the so-called Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which appears to prohibit the president from accepting payments from foreign powers while in office. The lawsuit’s discovery phase could push voluminous amounts of information into public view about how foreign governments have funneled business to Trump’s organization, like how the Saudi government evidently purchased more than 500 rooms at Trump’s hotel in DC in the months after the election.
Status: Subpoenas have been issued.
Mystery Investigation Underway by Unknown Office
Redacted Case #2: A second redacted Flynn investigation could be one of the other investigations mentioned here, could represent another as-yet-unknown unfolding criminal case, or could be a counterintelligence investigation that will never become public.
Unrelated Criminality Pursued by Other Offices
Identity Theft Cases: The special counsel charged Californian Richard Pinedo with identity theft stemming from the efforts of the Internet Research Agency to create online fake identities. According to prosecutors, Mueller also uncovered through Pinedo other criminal activity, unrelated to Russia, which has been referred to other offices for ongoing investigation. This approach is consistent with Mueller’s conservative interpretation of his own mandate, only holding on to cases that directly inform the core questions of his case.
https://www.wired.com/story/mueller-inv ... ete-guide/
WE WILL NOT GET PEACE FROM THE PEOPLE WHO DISMEMBER DISSIDENTS ALIVE
December 21, 2018/10 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe, War /by empty wheel
In the wake of Trump’s announcement that the US will withdraw from Syria and James Mattis’ subsequent resignation, Jeremy Scahill captured the ambivalence of the moment this way:
I agree with much of what Scahill says: I welcome withdrawing troops from overseas. We should never forget that Mattis earned his name, Mad Dog, nor that he got fired by Obama for being too belligerent. The panicked response of a bunch of warmongers is telling. Trump cannot be trusted.
But I think Scahill is too pat in saying “the chaos presents opportunity,” in part because (as he suggests) there doesn’t yet exist “an alternative vision for US foreign policy.”
And while I appreciate that Scahill really does capture this ambivalence, far too many others welcoming a potential troop withdrawal are not recognizing the complexity of the moment.
While we don’t yet fully understand the complex dynamics that led to it, Trump decided to withdraw from Syria during a phone call with a man who has spent two months embarrassing Trump, Trump’s son-in-law, and the corrupt Saudi prince whose crackdown Trump has enthusiastically backed by releasing details of how that prince lulled an American resident dissident to a third country so he could be chopped up with a bone saw while still breathing. And even while Erdogan was embarrassing Trump with those details about Khashoggi’s assassination, he was pressuring Trump to extend the same favor to him by extraditing Fethullah Gulen so he could be chopped up in some grisly fashion.
It is a mistake to think we will get peace from men who dismember dissidents alive.
All that said, Trump will do what he wants and unless the simmering revolt at DOD changes his mind, he will withdraw from Syria and drawdown in Afghanistan.
And if that happens those who would like peace had damn well be better prepared for that “opportunity” than by simply hoping a future alternative US foreign policy arises. It will take immediate tactical actions to prevent any withdrawal from creating more chaos and misery both in the US and overseas. After all, Trump says he wants to bring troops home, but he has already come perilously close to violating posse comitatus by deploying troops domestically, and that was even with Mattis pushing back against that campaign stunt.
At a minimum, those who want peace need to answer some of the following questions immediately:
WHAT PERSON WOULD BOTH BE WILLING TO WORK FOR TRUMP AND PURSUE A POLICY OF PEACE?
I could not think of any person who could be confirmed by the Senate — even one where nutjobs like Marsha Blackburn have replaced people like Bob Corker — that would be willing to work for Donald Trump and might pursue some kind of alternative foreign policy.
In fact, the only person I could think of for the job (ruling out Erik Prince for a variety of reasons) would be Tom Cotton.
So job number one, for people who hope to use this as an opportunity, is to start coming up with names of people who could replace Mattis and anyone else who quits along with him.
HOW TO PREVENT THE REFUGEE CRISIS FROM GETTING WORSE?
Multiple accounts of the events leading up to Trump’s decision make it clear that Erdogan would like to use US withdrawal to massacre the Kurds. It’s possible we’ll see similar massacres in Assad-held Syria and Afghanistan as those left try to consolidate their victory.
For all the years the refugee crisis has been mostly a political prop here in the US, it has posed a real threat to the European Union (indeed, I went to several meetings with EUP members in the weeks before Trump’s election where they said it was the greatest threat to the EU). So we need to start thinking seriously about how to prevent genocide and other massacres and the inevitable refugee crises that would result.
HOW TO COUNTER TRUMP’S FONDNESS FOR FOSSIL FUELS AND ARMS SALES?
No withdrawal is going to lead to “peace” or even a retreat of the US empire so long as Trump exacerbates an already unforgivable US addiction to fossil fuels and reliance on arms sales. Particularly with Saudi Arabia but also with Turkey, Trump has excused his fondness for authoritarianism by pointing to arms sales.
And on these issues, Trump actually agrees with the “war party in DC,” which will make it far harder to counter them. Yes, many of the new Democrats entering Congress — most of all Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — don’t have these horrible habits. So what can you do to make sure her Green New Deal not only isn’t squelched by party leadership, but is seen as the alternative to Trump by centrists?
NUKES. HOW TO PREVENT TRUMP FROM USING THEM?
It’s not that Trump is opposed to violence. He’s opposed to engagement and complexity and long term engagement.
Which means, particularly as more and more so-called adults leave, the chance he’ll turn a tantrum into a nuclear strike. Mattis won’t be there to stop him.
HOW TO BALANCE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE MISTAKES THAT GOT US HERE WITH ACCOUNTABILITY FOR TRUMP?
The movement that brands itself as “The Resistance” has long made a grave mistake of embracing whatever warmed over anti-Trump centrist wanted to loudly denounce the President.
As a result, the mistakes of many of those people — people like John Brennan and Jim Comey and David Frum and David Brooks — were ignored, even when those mistakes created the vacuum that Trump (and Vladimir Putin) have filled.
Trump would not be President if George Bush had not invaded Iraq, abetted by Frum’s nifty tagline, Axis of Evil. Trump would not be President if the banks that crashed the economy in 2008 had been accountable by people like former Bridgewater Associates executive and HSBC board member then FBI Director Jim Comey.
Again, this is about complexity. But so long as those who would keep Trump accountable ignore what made Trump possible, we will make no progress.
HOW TO PRESERVE DEMOCRACY LONG ENOUGH TO PURSUE A NEW FOREIGN POLICY?
Finally, an increasingly real challenge. Trump sides with Putin and Erdogan and Mohammed bin Salman and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi not because it serves US interests (which is the excuse American politicians usually offer for tolerating Saudi and Egyptian authoritarianism). He does so because he genuinely loves their authoritarianism.
And as Republicans in the Senate begin to push back against Trump, Democrats in the House try to hold him accountable, and the so-called adults leave his Administration, it raises the chances that Trump will embrace increasingly desperate measures to implement his policies. We can’t just assume that Mueller and SDNY and NY State will prevent a Trump authoritarian power grab, particularly not as he continues to pack the courts.
While numerous State Attorneys General and NGOs are having reasonable success at constraining Trump, thus far, in the courts, eventually we’re going to need a bipartisan commitment in DC to constraining Trump. Eventually we’re going to need to convince a bunch of Republican Senators that Trump is doing permanent damage to this country. That’s going to take building, not severing, relationships with some Republicans, even while finding some means to persuade them that Trump can no longer benefit them.
To some degree, we have no choice but to find answers to these questions, one way or another. It is especially incumbent on those celebrating a withdrawal to acknowledge, and try to answer, them.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/12/21/w ... nts-alive/
Ex-Mossad Head: Russia Decided Trump Was Their Best Candidate, and Ran Him for President
Russia chose the most advantageous candidate and used cyber bots to catapult Trump to the position of U.S. president, Tamir Pardo says
Refaella Goichman Dec 25, 2018 11:34 AM
Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo said Monday that Russia deployed tens of thousands of bots to influence the 2016 U.S. elections in favor of Donald Trump, but not because Trump is a great friend of Russia.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.pr ... -1.6782359
Russia ‘chose’ Trump and then ‘ran him for president’ — and it could destroy him: ex-Israeli spy chief
President Donald Trump's manner with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was in contrast to the anger he flashed at NATO allies. (AFP / Brendan Smialowski)
Tamir Pardo, the former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, said that Russia “ran” Donald Trump as their preferred candidate in the 2016 elections.
Pardo said at The Marker’s digital conference that Russia examined American politics and decided that Trump was most aligned with their interests.
They “thought, which candidate would we like to have sitting in the White House?” he said, according to Haaretz. “Who will help us achieve our goals? And they chose him. From that moment, they deployed a system [of bots] for the length of the elections, and ran him for president.”
But Pardo warned the same tactics used to support Trump could also be used to topple him.
“I don’t see a president coming out of the White House after a year-and-a-half or two and telling the public ‘I’m sitting here by mistake.’ Politicians from all over the world think it serves them too,” he remarked, according to Arutz Sheva.
“I think they’re wrong. At one point Trump might have thought the Russian move served him. This move could destroy him.”
Categories: Breaking BannerFacebookLatest HeadlinesTrump NewsU.S. News
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Quick.tv partner with Ooyala to offer intelligent clickable video
London(11/7/2010) -
Quick.tv, the leading video engagement technology provider, today announced that it has partnered with Ooyala, to enable Ooyala customers to leverage Quick.tv’s award winning viewer engagement application.
"Publishers using the Ooyala platform can now deploy Quick.tv overlays in their video, allowing them to add interactive and dynamic features such as buy now, voting, hotspots, live pricing and data feeds while still enjoying Ooyala’s market leading analytics and content management capabilities," said Quick.tv’s Co-Founder Nick Bell.
“It is important that the integrity of the user’s workflow remains intact whilst adding significant value with the introduction of interactive overlays,” added Bell, “improving the viewer experience, response rates and accountability through increased functionality.”
The partnership, which takes advantage of Ooyala’s new Open Player Framework, allows the seamless integration of Quick.tv overlays within the Ooyala Player. An existing library of widgets is immediately available for the quick deployment of interactive features. Alternatively, there is an advanced editor providing a toolset with almost unlimited scope for the creation of unique widgets.
“The widget approach is both efficient and flexible,” says Bell, “in that it provides a wide range of monetization and editorial overlays for immediate use in all market sectors whilst offering an editing facility with limitless creative potential for those who want to deliver a more specific user experience. And the analytics generated by viewer interactions takes video accountability and market intelligence to a new level.”
Case studies back this up. When Ooyala and Quick.tv combined to deliver live webcasts of former UK Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown at an inquiry into the Iraq war, viewers on The Telegraph website were invited to vote on what they saw. Nearly 400,000 votes were cast and displayed live within the webcast, an average of over three clicks per viewer. Voting is one of the Quick.tv widgets available to Ooyala users.
About Quick.tv
Quick.tv is the award-winning video engagement technology provider. It’s browser-based application gives users the ability to add interactive and dynamic features to their video to enhance the viewer experience, increase engagement rates and improve accountability. Quick.tv interfaces seamlessly with the Ooyala platform, adding value and maintaining the quality of the user experience throughout. The Quick.tv application is suitable for businesses using video for e-commerce, publishing, market research, public sector information, gaming and corporate communications.
Quick.tv
Nick Bell
nick.bell@quick.tv
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