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R. Kelly Has Been Arrested On Federal Sex Trafficking Charges & Good Luck Beating These, M8
By Sam George-Allen
Law enforcement sources have informed the media that singer and known piece of shit R. Kelly has been arrested on federal sex crime charges.
The 52-year-old was arrested in Chicago on Thursday, US time, by police detectives from New York and Department of Homeland Security investigators. It’s expected that he will be taken to New York.
READ MORE R. Kelly Faces 11 New Sexual Abuse Charges, Including 'Class X' Felonies
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in northern Illinois, the ‘Ignition‘ singer is facing serious charges including child pornography, enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and obstruction of justice, totalling 13 counts.
In February he was charged with 10 counts of sexual abuse involving four women, three of whom were minors at the time. Then in May he copped another 11 felony counts of sexual assault.
Some of these charges reportedly carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.
READ MORE R. Kelly Pleads His Innocence In 1st TV Interview Since New Sex Abuse Charges
R. Kelly has been followed by sexual assault allegations for twenty years, with some dating back to 1998. The push to bring him to justice was renewed by the Lifetime documentary series ‘Surviving R. Kelly‘, released in January, which interviewed a number of women who claim they were abused by the singer.
His own daughter has called him a monster, and he won over exactly no-one in a bizarre and borderline violent interview with CBS‘s Gayle King in March. He was acquitted of child pornography charges by a jury in 2008, but it remains to be seen what will come of the federal charges against him. More details about his arrest are expected to be released in the next 24 hours.
Source: NBC
Image: Getty Images / Scott Olson
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Information on This Website
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada (in further text PEIANC), and while we make every possible effort to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance placed on such information is therefore strictly at a visitor's own risk.
In no event will the PEIANC be liable for any loss or damage without limitation, including indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Throughout this website, there are links to other websites or online documents which are not under the control of the PEIANC. We have no control over the content and availability of those sites or documents. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within those websites.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, PEIANC takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
This website is available in eight languages (all languages except for English are referred to as additional languages in further text):
Certain pages, blocks of text and PDF documents are available in English and French only, as the two official languages in Canada. The content on those pages and in those documents is intended only for users who speak English or French.
The original content on the website is always developed in English. We make every effort to hire reliable professional translators and editors for all additional languages, but they are not always permanent employees of the PEIANC. Because of the volume of the content on this website and its dynamic nature, the translation of the new content or updates of the existing content may be delayed due to translators and/or editors being temporarily unavailable. Therefore, there may be cases where the translated content does not match the original in English.
New Immigrants in PEI
Settling in Prince Edward Island
Interested Islanders
Refugee Sponsors
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Charlottetown, PE C1A 1A3
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Berlin (Kindle)
Victory in Europe
WWII Berlin 1945 Photographic eBooks WWII Photographic eBooks Military
By Nik Cornish
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Series: Images of War
File Size: 91.4 MB (.mobi)
eBook Released: 17th March 2010
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In April and May 1945 the city of Berlin was the site of the final destructive act of the Second World War in Europe. The German capital became a battleground. After three weeks of ruthless fighting against a desperate, sometimes suicidal, defence, the Red Army took the city and crushed the last remaining German armies in the East. This momentous battle and the elaborate preparations for it were recorded in graphic detail by photographers whose images have come down to us today. These images, which give us an unforgettable glimpse into the grim reality of mid-twentieth-century warfare, are the raw material of Nik Cornish’s evocative book. Using a rich selection of rare photographs from the Russian archives as well as images from German sources, most of which have not been published before, he traces the course of the entire campaign. The battles fought in East Prussia, eastern Germany and Hungary – in particular the assault on Budapest – are covered. But the body of his book is devoted to the battle for Berlin itself - the monstrous onslaught launched by Zhukov’s armies on the Seelow Heights, the bitter street fighting through the suburbs, then the ultimate confrontation, the merciless room-by-room struggle for the centre of the city and the Reichstag.
Nik Cornish is a former head teacher whose passionate interest in the war on the Eastern Front and in the Red Army in particular has led to a series of important books on the subject including The Russian Army 1914-18, Images of Kursk, Armageddon Ost, The Russian Army and World War II and A Monolith United. As well as these books he has published many articles on aspects of the history of the Russian and Soviet armies. He is currently working on a pictorial history of the Battle of Berlin.
There is a good mix of pictures from German and Soviet sources, covering a wide range of topics, including military equipment of both sides, soldiers resting or preparing for combat, the fighting itself and the aftermath of battle. The pictures are supported by a good clear narrative account of the campaign and useful captions.
History of War Website
Berlin Victory in Europe is in essence a picture essay employing some of the most extraordinary images to have appeared for years. This is an outstanding photo collection of the fall of Berlin.
Scottish Legion News
In April and May 1945 the city of Berlin was the site of the final destructive act of the Second World War in Europe. The German capital became a battleground. After three weeks of ruthless fighting against a desperate, sometimes suicidal defense, the Red Army took the city and crushed the last remaining German Armies in the East. The momentous battle and the elaborate preparations for it were recorded in graphic detail by photographers whose images have come down to us today. These images, which give us an unforgettable glimpse into the grim reality of mid-twentieth-century warfare, are the raw material of Nik Cornish's evocative book. Using a rich selection of rare photographs from the Russian archives as well as images from German sources, most of which have not been published before, he traces the course of the campaign. The battles fought in East Prussia, eastern Germany and Hungary - in particular the assault on Budapest are covered. But the body of his book is devoted to the battle for Berlin itself - the monstrous onslaught launched by Zhukov's armies on the Seelow Heights, the bitter street fighting through the suburbs, the the ultimate confrontation, the merciless room-by-room struggle for the centre of the city and the Reichstag. "Just when you think, you may have seen all of the images of the Third Reich's downfall, this book simply opens a different and powerful dimension to the horrors of combat superbly presented".
Stuart Humphrey - World War Two Re-enactor's Magazine
About Nik Cornish
Nik Cornish is a former head teacher whose passionate interest in the world wars on the Eastern Front and in Russia’s military history in particular has led to a series of important books on the subject including Images of Kursk, Stalingrad: Victory on the Volga, Berlin: Victory in Europe, Partisan Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1944 and The Russian Revolution: World War to Civil War 1917-1921.
More titles by Nik Cornish
Other titles in the series...
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Corned Beef: An Irish American Tradition
Corned beef and cabbage is the iconic St. Patrick’s Day feast here in America, but it wasn’t necessarily so traditional for the Irish. In fact, Irish celebrations surrounding this holiday were much more likely to feature lamb or bacon, and green beer was practically unheard of! Find out how this culinary tradition made its way into our culture.
Corned beef and cabbage is the iconic St. Patrick’s Day feast here in America, but it wasn’t necessarily so traditional for the Irish. In fact, Irish celebrations surrounding this holiday were much more likely to feature lamb or bacon, and green beer was practically unheard of!
So how did this culinary tradition make its way into our culture? While corned beef wasn’t eaten much in Ireland historically, around the 17th century it was one of their greatest exports and a treat for those who could afford it. Back then, St. Patrick’s Day was much more of a religious celebration in Ireland. It wasn’t until the Great Famine started in 1845, forcing a large Irish population to emigrate for survival, that the holiday became a celebration of Irish heritage abroad.
Many Irish citizens immigrated to America, where Irish-Americans began recognizing St. Patrick’s Day with iconic national fare like their famous export—corned beef. By then, the dish was cheaper and much more accessible (often purchased from local Jewish kosher butchers), and so became part of the heritage-honoring meal. Potatoes and cabbage joined the customary St. Patrick’s Day fare as potatoes were traditionally a major part of the Irish diet and cabbage was one of the most economical vegetables available.
Want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day like an Irish American? Try making your own Corned Beef and Cabbage at home!
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Would a Horse-Drawn Carriage Ban Kill NYC Romance?
They came from all walks of life, some in heavy horse suits despite midday June weather, to descend on the steps of City Hall and rally for an end to New York City’s horse-drawn carriages.
New York Press
by Alissa Fleck
They came from all walks of life, some in heavy horse suits despite midday June weather, to descend on the steps of City Hall and rally for an end to New York City's horse-drawn carriages.
They are New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets (NYCLASS), as well as community members and advocacy groups, who think the city's horse-drawn carriages are archaic and harmful all across the board.
Diane Moss, a native New Yorker who is not affiliated with NYCLASS but gives money to PETA, is appalled no one seems to be paying attention.
"I have hated horse-drawn carriages since I was conscious," said Moss. "We need someone in the White House who cares about animal rights." For now, advocacy groups like NYCLASS are focusing more locally.
PETA Representative Emily McCoy, NYCLASS Executive Director Carly Knudson, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio alternately took the stand Friday to discuss the issue:
"One third of the city's horses are cycled out yearly and 70 out of 200 horses disappear," said McCoy. "Accidents are a frequent occurrence." One sign held by a rally participant clarified: "10 Accidents in 10 Months."
"That says enough," said de Blasio of the sign.
McCoy added that the horses are treated inhumanely once cycled out; many are slaughtered post-retirement.
NYCLASS discussed its solution to the problem of animal cruelty: the eco-friendly electric vintage-replica car. Introduced into legislation by Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito under Intro 86A, the fleet of cars would create jobs, increase the industry's income and allow for more work days in addition to being safer and cleaner, explained Knudson.
The substitution would also happen at no cost to the city. NYCLASS proposes a prototype pilot program before implementing the car, which would be funded entirely by NCLASS. Currently "employed" horses would be humanely retired by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
The speakers condemned Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for sidestepping the issue. According to de Blasio, Bloomberg fears the repercussions for tourism if horse-drawn carriages—the supposed epicenter of NYC touristic appeal, joked de Blasio in his own words—are banned.
When asked what other options are being explored, Knudson told NY Press her group was only currently considering the electric vintage-replica car. She said other bills propose an outright ban, but her group acknowledges the economic necessity of finding an alternative to the carriages.
Moss agreed with this assessment. Asked her thoughts on the replica car, she told NY Press: "I don't know anything about the car, but it's offering an alternative. [Carriage drivers] only know this trade." Following her comments, Moss donned a NYCLASS t-shirt, grabbed a sign and joined the rally.
NY Press took to the streets surrounding Central Park, where these horse-drawn carriages are most prevalent, to find out if the end of the carriages means the decline of romance (or at least tourism as Bloomberg proposes).
One semi-retired carriage driver, who would not give his name, has been driving carriages in the park on and off for thirty years. He said there have been proposals like this one for years, and Central Park will simply never allow it. When asked why, he told the Press: "It just goes against the characteristics of the park.
"This is an animal rights Trojan Horse," he said. "They just want access to the horse stables."
The carriage driver was sitting in a horse carriage at the time, but when asked the horse's name, he replied he did not know.
When asked if he thought replacing carriages with vintage-replica cars might hurt tourism, he conceded there are enough touristic activities in New York for it not to have an effect.
He also added if, hypothetically, the replacement happened, he would not drive one of the cars.
When asked if a vintage car could be as romantic as a horse-drawn carriage, he said: "It's not about the romantic aspect. The park was designed for carriages. It was a demonstration area for carriages to show off in the horse-drawn era."
Four other carriage drivers declined to talk to the Press.
Many tourists enjoying Central Park on a Friday evening hardly seemed interested in the carriages. When asked if he would ever ride in a horse-drawn carriage, Lee Sang Yun, who was visiting New York City with a friend, said: "No. There's no time. We like to walk."
The Ramajos, a French couple enjoying ice cream cones on a park bench, had similar feelings. "No, we don't want to take a horse-drawn carriage," said Mrs. Ramajo. "We want to walk," said her husband.
Regardless of the carriage driver's dismissal of this proposal, according to NYCLASS, 85,000 New Yorkers support the Vintage-Replica Car Trial, and Knudson says they will not stop fighting until horse-drawn carriages in the city are a thing of the past.
-- LINK to Story --
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Europe|Who Got the E.U.’s Top Jobs
Who Got the E.U.’s Top Jobs
Germany’s defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, walking with members of the German Navy in Wilhelmshaven, Germany last month.CreditCreditFabian Bimmer/Reuters
By Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Milan Schreuer
BRUSSELS — As the European Union’s importance on the world stage grows, its politics are fragmenting: Smaller, more ideological parties, including populists and nationalists, have made gains and weakened the traditional, more centrist parties.
How have the bloc’s leaders responded? By calling on strong consensus builders to head up its key institutions. Here are the major names you need to know.
The first woman to lead the E.U.’s huge bureaucracy
Germany’s center-right defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, will be returning to the city of her birth, Brussels, once she’s confirmed to lead the European Union’s most important institution and her father’s former workplace: the European Commission.
A medical doctor and economist by training, she is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats. She is likely to bring a fervor for more European integration to the job — music to the ears of much of her 32,000-strong staff of bureaucrats, but less so to skeptical leaders in countries like Hungary and Poland, who would like to keep their nations’ priorities front and center.
Ms. von der Leyen served as Germany’s first and, so far, only female defense minister, and had previously served in social policy roles like minister of family affairs, working in several of Ms. Merkel’s cabinets.
Her goal of a more integrated Europe — she told the German weekly Die Zeit in 2015 that she wanted her grandchildren to live in a “United States of Europe” — could prove difficult to achieve at a time when a small but important part of the bloc wants to hold back. She has also expressed support for the idea of a European army, a rather extreme position even among so-called federalists who would like to see some national institutions phased out and replaced with joint European Union ones.
One of Ms. von der Leyen’s top priorities will be overseeing the implementation of some kind of Brexit, though she has lamented Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and said Britain has brought much-needed pragmatism to Europe.
From Washington to Frankfurt: Christine Lagarde
Already one of the world’s most prominent policymakers, Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, will head up the European Central Bank. Ms. Lagarde, 63, has led the I.M.F. since 2011 — lifting up its profile, though not without controversy, through the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the eurozone crisis.
Although not a trained economist, Ms. Lagarde worked as a prominent corporate lawyer specializing in antitrust with a major Chicago-based firm, Baker & Mackenzie. She rose through the ranks to lead the firm’s Western Europe practice and became its first chairwoman in 1999.
In the mid-2000s, Ms. Lagarde turned to public life in France, holding several cabinet positions during the conservative presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, including that of finance minister. Ms. Lagarde is credited with restoring the profile of the I.M.F. after replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn as its leader after he was accused of sexual assault in a case that was later dismissed.
In 2011 she became entangled in a corruption investigation involving a French businessman, though she was not herself a suspect in the case. In 2016, a French court found Ms. Lagarde guilty of negligence in relation to the same case, but the court did not impose a penalty.
Ms. Lagarde was named directly to the Central Bank, and does not require a confirmation. She is widely regarded as a tough and energetic negotiator, qualities she will need to coordinate monetary policy and major economic decisions for the 19 nations, encompassing about 340 million people, who use the euro.
Acting Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium arriving for a European Union meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.CreditPool photo by Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt
Lifelong politics and coalition-building
The new European Council president will be Charles Michel, the acting prime minister of Belgium, which has still not formed a government following national elections in May. At 43, he is among the youngest European leaders, though he grew up surrounded by politics: His father, Louis Michel, was a well-known liberal politician and himself a former European commissioner.
Mr. Michel, who like his father is a member of a liberal party, is used to being the youngest politician in the room. He became a provincial councilor at 18, the youngest member of the Belgian Parliament at 23, a regional minister the next year, and the youngest Belgian prime minister in 2014, at 38.
As prime minister, he proved effective at keeping together a fragile coalition government of right-wing Flemish nationalists and Walloon liberals for nearly five years. The alliance finally fell apart late last year, when the Flemish nationalists took a harder stance on migration and pulled the plug.
Mr. Michel is known for being a deft coalition-builder — a useful skill in Belgium’s fractious politics — and for his discreet manner and diplomatic language, which often allows space for compromise.
This skill set will be indispensable as he takes on the tough task of carving out consensus among 28 European Union leaders who are ideologically fragmented. He will likely have to call on his experience dealing with far-right governments and members of nontraditional political parties in his new role, facing rising populism and anti-migrant sentiment across Europe. He will not require confirmation by members of the European Parliament.
Foreign Minister Josep Borrell of Spain at the European Parliament in Brussels, last month.CreditStephanie Lecocq/EPA, via Shutterstock
A foreign minister for 28 Countries
The role of the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy is seen as less prestigious than the other top institutional positions, but its importance has grown, especially as the bloc tries to save its fraying nuclear deal with Iran.
The man nominated to the role is Josep Borrell, 72, a Spanish socialist, former president of the European Parliament and Spain’s current foreign minister in the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
After working in the 1970s as an engineer for Cepsa, a Spanish multinational oil company, Mr. Borrell was elected as a city councilor in a suburb of Madrid. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Socialist Party, earning a junior appointment in the national government in the 1980s and becoming an elected member of the Spanish Parliament in 1986.
His European Union credentials are strong. In 2004 he led the grouping of socialist parties in the European Parliament elections and was chosen as the institution’s president, serving a full term that ended in 2009.
Corruption controversies have haunted Mr. Borrell throughout his career. He has stepped down twice amid investigations into political corruption among members of his entourage: Once as Socialist party leader in the late 1990s and a second time as president of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, in 2012.
He made a political comeback in 2017 as one of the most outspoken opponents of Catalan secession from Spain. He was appointed foreign minister in June 2018 and successfully ran for the European Parliament in May, but gave up his seat to remain in the Spanish government. He will require the Parliament’s confirmation for the role.
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For The Potawatomi Nation “MNOMEN Means WILD RICE” A Short Film: That Narrates The Tribe's Effort To Preserve It's Traditions
The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan (Gun Lake Tribe), based in Bradley, Michigan, premiered “Mnomen | Wild Rice” a documentary that narrates their efforts to protect their traditions and the importance of Wild Rice=Mnomen in their culture.
Mnomen is a Potawatomi word for wild rice.
“Mnomen | Wild Rice” is a 24-minute documentary film about tribal members harvesting, processing and cooking wild rice in the traditional ways of the Gun Lake tribe’s ancestor. Tribal members discuss the cultural significance of wild rice to the Potawatomi past, present and future.
The Tribe’s Environmental Department staff discusses the importance of wild rice to the environment. The plant has virtually disappeared from West Michigan over the last few decades due to a number of environmental factors. Much of the documentary was filmed in other areas of Michigan where wild rice is more plentiful. A reseeding effort is underway to bring the plant back to West Michigan. Several environmental groups are contributing to this effort to reestablish healthy wild rice beds in Michigan’s waterways.
The documentary is part of an overall wild rice restoration effort funded by a federal grant by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative program, which is really about food sovereignty of tribes.
The Gun Lake Tribe contracted with Rhino Media, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan to make the film.
Planned wild rice harvest to test 1855 treaty rights
Joe Hoagland, left, pushes a canoe through a wild rice bed in White Earth, Minn., as 14-year-old Chris Salazar learns how to harvest the rice by knocking the grain off the stalks with two sticks. A group calling itself the 1855 Treaty Authority is planning a wild rice harvest outside Nisswa Thursday that is outside the bounds of state law and DNR policy -- but that the group says is within the bounds of a 19th century treaty with the U.S. Jim Mone | Associated Press
Listen to the interview here
Members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota are planning a wild rice harvest this week to test their rights under an 1855 treaty with the U.S. government.
Members of the group, which calls itself the 1855 Treaty Authority, said they will not apply for a permit for the Thursday harvest, which will be held at Hole-in-the-Day Lake near Nisswa, Minn.
The move would be a direct challenge to state law and Department of Natural Resources regulations, which require a license for harvesting wild rice on areas outside of reservation land. It is among a series of challenges to interpretations of 19th century treaties struck between the federal government and Minnesota's Native American tribes. The group said it is trying to assert the rights granted to them under those treaties.
The DNR has warned that the group could be subject to prosecution if members go through with the harvest as planned.
"If DNR comes out and they cite someone with a ticket, we are going to cause the state of Minnesota to have to come and defend their actions in federal court," said Frank Bibeau, an attorney who represents the group. "And if that happens, ... I believe we can get an injunction against the state of Minnesota DNR for doing any of these things any more."
Bibeau said the group hopes that the wild rice challenge can also apply to other treaty rights matters, such as state approvals of oil pipelines across northern Minnesota.
"I think ... it's going to be discovered, finally, by Minnesota, that they have been opressing us and preventing us from gathering food for the last 50 years," Bibeau said, "just because they want to enforce their laws and save the game and fish for other people and charge for it."
White Earth band members made a similar challenge in 2010, when they set fishing nets in Lake Bemidji and said a treaty gave them rights to hunt and fish outside state regulations or seasons.
via NativeNewsOnline and MPRNews
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Federal Registers
Respiratory Protection For M. Tuberculosis
Fed Register #:
68:75776-75780
Standard Number:
29 CFR Part 1910
[Docket No. H-371]
RIN 1218-AA05
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Final rule; revocation.
SUMMARY: OSHA is revoking "Respiratory Protection for M. Tuberculosis" (29 CFR 1910.139) which is simply a recodification of OSHA's 1971 General Industry Respiratory Protection standard that was revised in 1998. At the time of the revision of the 1971 standard, OSHA decided that, because its proposed standard for occupational exposure to TB, published three months earlier, included a comprehensive respiratory protection provision, the Agency would allow compliance with the previous respirator standard for TB protection until completion of the TB rulemaking. Thus, pending conclusion of the TB rulemaking, OSHA redesignated the old Respiratory Protection Standard in a new section entitled "Respiratory Protection for M. tuberculosis". However, in a document published elsewhere in this separate part of the Federal Register, OSHA is today withdrawing its proposed TB standard. Because this withdrawal concludes the TB rulemaking, OSHA is revoking the redesignated Respiratory Protection Standard, and will begin applying the General Industry Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) to respiratory protection against TB.
DATES: This revocation is effective December 31, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Shaw, OSHA Office of Communication, Room N-3647, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-1999.
On October 17, 1997, OSHA published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Occupational Exposure to TB (62 FR 54160). In the proposal, the Agency made a preliminary determination that workers in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and certain other work settings were at significant risk of incurring TB infection while caring for their patients and clients or performing certain procedures. The Agency also preliminarily concluded that this significant risk can be minimized or eliminated using infection prevention and control measures that have been demonstrated to be highly effective in reducing or eliminating job-related TB infections. These measures included the use of respiratory protection when performing certain high-hazard procedures on infectious individuals.
On January 8, 1998 OSHA revised its 1971 General Industry Standard for Respiratory Protection (63 FR 1152). Because the 1997 TB proposal included all of the respiratory protection provisions that OSHA believed would be applicable to respirator use for TB protection, the Agency did not require this use to comply with the new § 1910.134 during the rulemaking proceedings on the TB proposal. Instead, pending conclusion of the TB rulemaking, OSHA redesignated the old § 1910.134 as § 1910.139, "Respiratory protection for M. tuberculosis."
However, OSHA is today withdrawing its proposed TB standard (see Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis; Proposed Rule; Withdrawal published elsewhere in this Federal Register), and with this document is revoking 29 CFR 1910.139.
II. Reasons for the Revocation of 29 CFR 1910.139
OSHA is revoking 29 CFR 1910.139 because it was intended to apply only during the pendency of the TB rulemaking, and that rulemaking is being terminated. The standard being revoked is simply a recodification of OSHA's 1971 General Industry Respiratory Protection Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134, which was revised in 1998. (63 FR 1152, (January 8, 1998)). At the time of the revision, OSHA decided that, because the TB proposal issued three months earlier included a self-contained respiratory protection provision, the Agency would allow compliance with the previous respirator standard for TB protection until completion of the TB rulemaking. (62 FR 54289); (63 FR 1180). To accomplish this, OSHA redesignated the old § 1910.134 as § 1910.139, "Respiratory protection for M. tuberculosis." OSHA made clear in both rulemakings, however, that it intended the respiratory protection requirements ultimately made applicable to TB protection to be consistent with the revised § 1910.134, and the TB proposal was itself consistent with that revision. (62 FR 54257, 54287-54288; 63 FR 1180). In fact, the relevant comments from the Respiratory Protection rulemaking were made part of the TB rulemaking. (Exs. 150-1 through 150-178). With this termination of the TB rulemaking, it is now appropriate for OSHA to begin applying the revised 29 CFR 1910.134 to respiratory protection against TB.
Applying the General Industry Respiratory Protection standard to the use of respirators for TB protection is supported by the records in both the TB and respirator rulemaking proceedings. OSHA noted in the proposed TB rule that one option was to apply the general respirator standard to TB protection. (62 FR 54257). A number of participants in the TB rulemaking urged OSHA to take this course. (See, e.g., Exs. 17- 215; 17-271; 17-455; 17-570; 17-906; 17-1145). The proposed TB standard's respiratory protection requirements were largely consistent with those in the revised general industry standard. One of the hazards the latter standard was designed to address is the "inhalation of bacteria * * * including tuberculosis." (63 FR 1159).
The revised general industry standard reflects the Agency's evaluation of current knowledge and technology as they relate to effective respiratory protection programs. The revisions help to ensure that employers have sufficient guidance to select and maintain appropriate respiratory protection. Given the extensive rulemaking undertaken to establish these requirements, and the intensive review and consideration of all issues related to respiratory protection in that rulemaking, the Agency believes it is appropriate and necessary to ensure that employees exposed to TB have the same protections as employees exposed to other types of hazards in the workplace. All facilities that use respirators for any purpose other than TB protection are already required to comply with the revised respiratory protection standard. The revised standard has also been upheld in its entirety by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. AISI v. OSHA, 182 F.3d 1261, 1273 (11th Cir. 1999).
The new requirements in the revised respiratory protection standard include updating the facility's respirator program, complying with amended medical evaluation requirements, annual fit testing of respirators, and some training and recordkeeping provisions. These provisions were also included in the TB proposal, and the only one that elicited significant comment was the requirement for annual fit testing.
With regard to updating each facility's respiratory protection program, § 1910.139 provides the skeletal requirements for such a program, but does not elaborate on what would be required in each element. The revised respiratory protection rule provides employers with additional guidance on what constitutes an appropriate and effective program, giving employers a better road map to follow when relying on respiratory protection in the workplace. It is the Agency's view, supported by the Respiratory Protection rulemaking record, that an effective program requires a systematic approach to evaluating workplace conditions, selecting the appropriate respirator, ensuring the respirator fits, and maintaining the respirator properly. The revised standard specifies how this systematic approach is to be implemented in the workplace.
Similarly, § 1910.139 requires medical evaluation, but does not set forth the components of the evaluation, or how it is to be accomplished. The medical evaluation provisions of the revised § 1910.134 set forth the minimum requirements employers must implement to determine if employees are medically qualified to wear respirators in their places of work. The employer must provide a medical evaluation for each covered employee, performed by either a physician or another licensed health care professional. Information from the medical evaluation is to be used to determine the employee's eligibility to wear the respirator proposed for the employee. The employer must base the determination on the recommendation of the health care professional. Administration of the medical questionnaire in § 1910.134, Appendix C, is a further requirement.
The medical evaluation provisions of revised § 1910.134 are significantly better than the original standard. They ensure that the health care professional, the employee, and the employer are aware of the factors that must be considered in evaluating an employee's respiratory protection needs, and provide the tools to ensure appropriate decisions are made.
With regard to employee training, § 1910.139 states only that employees must be "instructed and trained in the proper use of respirators and their limitations," with no provision for annual retraining. Revised § 1910.134 requires employers to provide effective training to employees who are required to use respirators. The training must be comprehensive, understandable and recur at least annually. Employers must provide the training before their employees are required to use the respirator. Topics to be covered include why the respirator is necessary, what the limitations of the equipment are, how to use the respirator in emergencies, how to use and care for the equipment, and how to recognize the medical signs and symptoms that may limit or prevent the use of respirators. OSHA has determined that these more detailed requirements regarding employee training will help to ensure that the training provided is appropriate and effective, thus leading to a more effective workplace respiratory protection program.
Section 1910.134 requires more recordkeeping than § 1910.139. Section 1910.134 consolidates recordkeeping requirements with respect to medical evaluations, fit testing and the respirator program into one section of the standard. Commenters agreed that such consolidation of requirements would improve understanding of the standard's recordkeeping obligations (Exs. 54-267; 54-286).
Both § 1910.139 and § 1910.134 recognize that fit testing is an important component of an effective respiratory protection program. Fit testing is necessary because a respirator that does not fit properly provides only the illusion of protection. While it has long been known that fit can affect respiratory protection significantly, particularly for these types of respirators that depend on filtering the contaminant (rather than providing a separate source of uncontaminated air), specific protocols for fit testing are a more recent development. The revised § 1910.134 reflects this newer technology, and provides specific guidance on appropriate fit testing procedures. OSHA believes that following these types of procedures is necessary to ensure that respirators are really providing the protection needed.
The frequency of fit testing was an issue in both the respiratory Protection and TB rulemakings, and it generated significant comment in both records. There was little dispute that some additional fit testing beyond the initial test is necessary because respirator fit can be affected by a number of factors, including the size and shape of a person's face, dental changes, changes in the types of movements required to perform work when wearing the respirator, and the presence of facial hair. As OSHA explained when it promulgated the annual retesting requirement in 29 CFR 1910.134, waiting more than a year between fit tests allows a substantial fraction of workers to lose the protection respirators provide (63 FR 1224). This is no less true when respirators are used for TB protection than it is when they are used for protection against other hazards.
Consistent with current practice, CDC guidelines and NIOSH recommendations, and the selection criteria in § 1910.134, OSHA anticipates that half-mask N95 air-purifying filtering facepiece respirators will be the primary type of respirator used for TB protection. This type of respirator has a securely-fitting facepiece that filters the air, preventing inhalation of contaminants. Effective protection requires a good face-to-facepiece seal in order to ensure that there are no gaps through which contaminated air can enter the facepiece and be breathed in by the worker. Thus in order to provide protection, the respirator must fit the employee well enough to prevent leakage from occurring. This is particularly important for a hazard such as TB that does not have any warning properties that would allow an employee to detect that it is being inhaled, e.g., there is no odor that might indicate a breakthrough.
The proposed TB standard acknowledged these issues by proposing that fit testing be performed as follows. Each employee who would have been required to wear a tight-fitting respirator would have had to pass a fit test at the time of initial fitting of the respirator; whenever changes occurred in the employee's facial characteristics that affected the fit of the respirator; and whenever a different size or make of respirator was assigned for use by that employee. At a minimum, the proposal would have required fit tests to be conducted annually unless an annual medical evaluation (also required by the proposal) indicated that a fit test was not necessary. The revised respiratory protection standard imposes the same requirements, except that it does not require annual medical evaluations, and annual fit tests are required for all respirator users.
Several commenters supported the proposed provision allowing a licensed health care professional to determine the need for an annual fit test during a face-to-face evaluation. (See, e.g., Exs. 17-671; 17- 454; 17-932.) However, others argued compellingly that there are no objective data demonstrating that it is possible to determine whether a respirator fits by examining a person's face. (See, e.g., Exs. 17-271; 17-697; 18-60A; 17-455; 17-768; 17-920).
A number of commenters argued that repeat fit testing should only be done when the respirator changes, or when there is a significant change in the employee's physical condition that may interfere with the facepiece seal (see, e.g., Exs. 150-56; 150-69; 150-125). Some infection control professionals cited additional costs and a perceived lack of benefits from repeating fit testing on an annual basis. (See, e.g., Exs. 17-671-I; 17-671-X; 17-211; 17-464; 189-22; 183-15; 183-13.) In particular, the Infectious Disease Society of America cited studies by Blumberg et al. that examined tuberculin skin test conversion rates before and after the implementation of expanded TB control measures at a large metropolitan hospital. (Exs. 189, p. 22; 18-5300; 7-173.) The implementation of expanded controls, which included retrofitting rooms into negative-pressure isolation rooms, expanding respiratory isolation policies, 6-month skin testing of all health care workers, and the addition of NIOSH certified respiratory protection, led to a 90% reduction in skin test conversions. Because annual fit testing was not a part of the expanded infection control program, the IDSA asserted that these studies demonstrate that there is no benefit to annual fit testing.
The fact that a single study of workers whose respirators were fit tested only once did not show excess TB infections does not overcome the evidence supporting OSHA's conclusion in the revised respiratory protection standard that "annual fit testing * * * is appropriate to protect employee health" (63 FR 1224). The studies by Blumberg, et al. were not designed to study the efficacy of fit testing but rather the efficacy of an overall expanded TB infection control program in which many different protective measures were implemented simultaneously. Thus, it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the relative efficacy of any one measure. Moreover, not all exposed workers would have been infected even without respirators. In the absence of periodic fit testing, there is no way to determine which of the exposed workers were wearing properly fitting respirators. It is the fit of a respirator that determines its effectiveness, and the record contains no evidence indicating that factors affecting fit are different for TB- exposed workers than they are for other workers.
A large number of participants in both the respiratory protection and TB rulemakings supported annual fit testing (see, e.g., Exs. 150- 23; 150-24; 150-27; 150-45; 150-52; 150-53; 150-58; 150-74; 150-89; 150-93; 150-96; 150-103; 150-117; 150-123; 150-45; 150-52; 150-141; Respiratory Protection Hearing TR, pp. 1573, 1610, 1653, 1674). These participants agreed that fit is not static, and that a one-time, initial fit test without a requirement for annual re-fitting does not ensure that the appropriate level of protection would continue to be provided over time. A number of participants in the TB rulemaking suggested that the respiratory protection standard be applied in its entirety for protection from TB exposures. For example, Health Evaluation Programs, Inc. indicated:
Respirator fit testing is not a hazard-specific or industry specific activity. It is specific to tight-fitting respirators worn by people. OSHA recognized this when the new Respiratory Standard 29 CFR 1910.134 was released on January 8, 1998. The fit testing provisions of this new standard replace those found in the various substance-specific OSHA standards. Likewise, there is no reason to make an exception for TB. The respirator either provides the level of fit it is rated for, or it does not. (Ex. 17-570)
This commenter went on to state:
OSHA's responsibility to base a final standard on the best respirator information available can best be served by incorporating what OSHA has already learned and decided regarding respirator fit testing frequency.
Another commenter, Certified Industrial Hygienist David L. Spelce, noted the particular aspects of TB exposures that indicate fit testing is necessary to ensure proper fit for protective purposes, as well as reinforcing the training aspects of fit testing that help employees don respirators appropriately:
Annual fit testing provides the opportunity for employees to receive feedback on how well they are donning their respirator. TB droplet nuclei have no warning properties such as taste, odor, or irritation. Employees cannot detect if TB droplet nuclei leak into their respirators. Qualitative fit test challenge agents are detectable by odor, taste, or irritation and provide instant feedback as to how well the respirator fits and if the respirator was properly donned. Quantitative fit tests also provide instant feedback to employees through instrumentation. Employees need fit testing annually as part of training to ensure they don the respirators correctly so that the respirator properly seals to their face. Fit testing is one of the respirator program elements that is essential to ensure the respirators issued to employees provide the protection factor assigned to that particular class of respirator. (Ex. 17-920)
(See also Exs. 17-455; 17-591; 17-717; 18-53; 183-7).
Some commenters who supported the concept of periodic fit testing suggested varying time intervals for that testing, either more or less frequent than annually. (Exs. 150-16; 150-55; 150-124; 54-290.) NIOSH, in addition to its support for applying all of the provisions of the revised § 1910.134 to TB exposures, also supported periodic fit testing for those exposures. (Exs. 18-60A; 189-36.) NIOSH suggested that, in the absence of TB-specific data on the appropriate fit testing interval, the "record for and the provisions of 29 CFR 1910.134 [would] be the best guide." (Ex. 18-60A.)
It should also be noted that the annual fit testing requirement of the revised respiratory protection standard was specifically challenged in court, and was upheld. The court concluded that the requirement is supported by substantial evidence in the record, even though "some evidence" indicated that such frequent retesting might not be necessary. 182 F.3d at 1273.
In summary, OSHA believes that the provisions of revised § 1910.134 represent the Agency's assessment of the best information available at the time that rule was issued to ensure that respiratory protection in the workplace is effective. In order to extend similar protection to workers exposed to TB in the workplace, OSHA will apply all of the provisions of § 1910.134, including annual fit testing to TB exposures. Because of the current widespread adherence to § 1910.134, and the ongoing nationwide decline in active TB, the Agency believes the rulemaking records for both the revised respiratory protection standard and the proposed TB standard support such an approach to respiratory protection.
III. Summary of the Final Economic Analysis and Regulatory Flexibility Certification
By including TB-related respirator use in Section 134, OSHA is imposing some new requirements on employers who require their employees to use respirators for this purpose. However, this action is not a significant rulemaking under Executive Order 12866, or a "major rule" under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1501) or Section 801 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601). Even though this action does not meet any of the criteria for an economically significant or major rule specified by the Executive Order or relevant statutes, as shown in the remainder of this summary of the Final Economic Analysis and Regulatory Flexibility Certification, it was reviewed by OMB pursuant to E.O. 12866. (The full analysis this summary relies upon has been entered into the docket as Ex. 192.)
Affected Establishments
The scope of this action is limited to establishments in the health services industry (SIC 80) that follow the CDC guidelines and provide respiratory protection for employees potentially exposed to tuberculosis. These establishments are primarily hospitals. To the extent that patients with active tuberculosis may be treated in other health services facilities, such as those that may be affiliated with nursing homes, correctional facilities, or substance abuse treatment facilities, these may also be potentially affected by this action.
An estimated 6,500 establishments are potentially affected by this action. The employees who would be covered are those using respirators for protection against occupational exposure to TB. Unfortunately, there are no data showing exactly how many persons use respirators for the purpose of protecting against occupational exposure to tuberculosis. For the purposes of this analysis, OSHA is using a BLS estimate of the number of persons using filtering face piece respirators in the health care sector. This results in an estimate of 638,000 affected employees. Using this estimate overestimates the number of respirator users using respirators for occupational exposure to TB by including respirator users in unaffected sectors and by including employees using respirators for reasons other than occupational exposure to TB. However, the estimate may exclude some employees who should be using respirators for occupational exposure to TB and are not doing so.
An estimated 5,312 of the potentially affected establishments are small entities. Small entities were identified in accordance with the definitions established by the Small Business Administration, as specified in the Regulatory Flexibility Act. These small entities employ approximately 457,000 of the employees potentially affected by this action.
The employees covered by this action are those using respirators for protection against potential occupational exposure to tuberculosis. The reduction in risk achieved through compliance with the requirements of this action will result in reductions in the numbers of infections, active disease cases, and fatalities occurring among the covered workers. Although the employees working in establishments covered by this action will be the primary beneficiaries of the increased protection provided by the standard, many other individuals will also benefit from the standard because tuberculosis is a communicable disease.
For the final respirator program standard, OSHA concluded based on the best available evidence that from 5 to 50 percent of employees would lack a proper fit without annual fit testing. OSHA further concluded that overall, moving from full compliance with the old standard to full compliance with the new standard would reduce exposures by 27 percent on average across all employees covered by the respirator protection program. OSHA estimates that this action will have similar effects in reducing the number of infections, active disease cases, and fatalities occurring among the covered workers.
Technological Feasibility
In accordance with the provisions of the OSH Act, OSHA has reviewed the requirements of this action and has assessed their technological feasibility. As a result of this review, OSHA has determined that fulfilling the resulting requirements of this action is technologically feasible.
Compliance with the requirements of the action can be achieved with methods and measures that have already been developed and implemented in many establishments already under the respirator protection standard. As established in the final respiratory protection standard, the standard's provisions in the respirator program standard require only technology that is currently and readily available and widely in use. There is no barrier to applying these technologies in a health care setting. In fact, the requirements added by this action are already applicable to and have already been implemented in many of the affected health care establishments to the extent that any use of respirator protection is occurring for purposes other than protection from occupational exposure to tuberculosis.
Costs of Compliance
When OSHA promulgated its final respiratory protection standard in 1998, all potentially affected establishments and employees, including those in the health services industry and those using respirators only for protection from tuberculosis, were included in the analysis of the costs of compliance and potential impacts. This was done because of uncertainty as to the extent to which respirators were being used for protection against occupational exposure to tuberculosis. Thus, the conclusions and determinations regarding impacts and feasibility associated with the provisions of the standard for these establishments have already been established by the evidence in the record and other documents and decisions associated with the rulemaking. Nevertheless, the final economic analysis for this action analyzes the full economic impacts of this action alone. Using the estimate of the number of respirator users provided by BLS, which probably overestimates the number of affected employees, the total annualized estimated costs for this action are $11.7 million, as shown in Table 1. The largest component of the costs is comprised of the requirements associated with employee fit-testing and training (which OSHA assumes will be done at the same time), which account for about 92 percent of the total costs, or $10.7 million. Costs associated with revising respirator programs and with the recordkeeping requirements have an estimated annualized cost of about $1 million. Given these costs, this action is not an economically significant rule with respect to E0 12866.
Table 1. -- Compliance Costs Associated With Revised Requirements For Respiratory Protection
Type of cost Annualized
incremental costs
Respirator Program
Fit Testing And Training
Total $325,000
In order to assess the nature and magnitude of economic impacts, OSHA compares the estimated costs of compliance to industry revenues and profits. The estimated compliance costs represent less than 0.005 percent of the revenues of the affected establishments in the hospital sector. The estimated compliance costs also represent about 0.08 percent of profits among affected for-profit establishments. For these establishments, the costs of compliance with the OSHA action would also be economically feasible. The affected establishments face more significant increases in costs or reductions in revenues on a continuing basis, through changes in rent, labor costs, utility costs, and costs of other resources purchased, through changes in levels of donations and contributions provided, and through changes in government funding levels. Even if such costs cannot be passed on to consumers, changes in revenues or profits of this magnitude will not threaten the existence or competitive structure of an industry [the test for economic feasibility stated in United Steelworkers of America v. Marshall, 647 F.2d 1189, 1272 (D.C. Circuit 1980)].
Regulatory Flexibility Screening Analysis
OSHA also analyzed the potential economic impacts of this action on small entities (as defined in accordance with SBA criteria) and on very small establishments (those with fewer than 20 employees). For small entities as defined by SBA criteria, the costs represent 0.008 percent of revenues and 0.21 percent of profits (for those entities which are not nonprofits). For small entities with fewer than 20 employees, the cost also represents 0.008 percent of revenues and 0.21 percent of profits (for those entities which are not nonprofits). OSHA's Procedures define a significant impact as one in which the costs exceed 1 percent of revenues or 5 percent of profits. OSHA therefore certifies that this final regulation will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Unfunded Mandates Analysis
OSHA reviewed this action according to the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (2 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) and Executive Order 12875. As discussed above in the Final Economic Analysis and Regulatory Flexibility Certification of this preamble, the Agency has determined that this action imposes less than $100 million in costs in any given year on either private or public sector entities. As a result, this is not a major rule under UMRA. OSHA standards do not apply to state and local governments, except in states that have voluntarily elected to adopt a State Plan approved by the Agency. Consequently, this action does not meet the definition of a "Federal intergovernmental mandate" (see section 421(5) of the UMRA (2 U.S.C. 658(5))). In conclusion, this action does not mandate that state, local, and tribal governments adopt new, unfunded regulatory obligations.
Paperwork Review
The paperwork burdens for this action were included in the final standard on Respiratory Protection, published January 8, 1998 (63 FR 1152). The OMB control number is 1218-0019.
The provisions of this action have been reviewed in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 [42 U.S.C. 432, et seq.], the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations [40 CFR part 1500], and OSHA's DOL NEPA Procedures [29 CFR part 1911]. As a result of this review, OSHA has determined that this action will have no significant adverse effect on air, water, or soil quality, plant or animal life, use of land, or other aspects of the environment.
Authority and Signature
This document was prepared under the direction of John L. Henshaw, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, 20210. It is issued pursuant to sections 4, 6, and 8 of the Occupational and Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657), Secretary's Order 3-2000, and 29 CFR part 1911.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 19th day of December, 2003.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
• For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 29 CFR part 1910, Subpart I is amended as follows:
PART 1910 -- [AMENDED]
• 1. The authority citation for Subpart I of part 1910 is revised to read as follows:
Authority: Sections 4, 6 and 8, Occupational Safety Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657); Secretary of Labor's Order 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), or 5-2002 (67 FR 65008), as applicable. Sections 1910.132, 1910.134, and 1910.138 also issued under 29 CFR part 1911. Sections 1910.133, 1910.135, and 1910.136 also issued under 29 CFR part 1911 and 5 U.S.C. 553.
§ 1910.139 [Removed]
• 2. Section 1910.139 is removed.
[FR Doc. 03-31846 Filed 12-30-03; 8:45 am]
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Noah and the Whale front-man brings new show at The Apex...
Former Noah and the Whale front-man, songwriter Charlie Fink brings his new production ‘Cover My Tracks’ to The Apex on 24 September.
This night of live music and theatre gives you the exclusive chance to see Charlie Fink perform songs from his new solo album of the same title, his first since Noah and the Whale.
The album has been compared to the sound of Noah and the Whale’s 2011 album ‘The First Days Of Spring’ and has shades of Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen in its wry lyrical storytelling.
‘Fans of Noah and the Whale and Laura Marling will not be disappointed with this indie-folk score.’ (The Upcoming).
Fink explains the reasoning behind Cover My Tracks; “the album is quite a redundant format right now. We’re in a time when every song ever written is in our pocket. You don’t play one album on repeat for months anymore, which is a shame. I was thinking about how to make an album worthwhile, given the way people currently listen to songs, and one idea was a story. For me, that’s a way to make an album feel relevant now - you need to listen to all the songs to understand the whole thing.
Then expanding on that, I was thinking - what’s the ultimate way to tell a story, and it’s in a theatre. [It’s interesting] because if you’re making a film you’re showing people a world, whereas in a theatre you’re inviting the audience to create the world in their head. They’re just looking at two people on stage, one of them has a guitar, but they’re being asked to create these images of this story.”
Fink teamed up with multi-award winning playwright David Greig and director Max Webster for his unique production, which came about due to Charlie and David’s shared love of folk music and storytelling. It premiered at London’s The Old Vic in June, before heading off to this year’s Latitude Festival and a national autumn tour.
The show at The Apex is a mix of a live gig and a modern folk tale and stars Fink and Rona Morison. It tells the tale of an idealistic young songwriter attempting to write a 21st century pop masterpiece, who suddenly vanishes without a trace. Might his personal songbook hold clues to unlocking the mystery? Cover My Tracks earned glowing reviews from performances at The Old Vic: The Stage described it as “A blissful hour-and-a-little-bit of contemplative, gently poetic storytelling and wistful, folksy guitar music”, while The Upcoming thought ‘Charlie Fink’s music is sublime, and David Greig’s script positions Sarah’s dialogue to fall over the sound of the guitar like spoken word poetry.’
As the lead singer-songwriter for the band Noah and the Whale, Charlie Fink sold over a million albums and headlined at notable venues around the world, including a sold-out show at the Royal Albert Hall. He was the producer of Laura Marling’s Mercury Prize nominated album Alas, I Cannot Swim and has written and produced music for artists including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Foxes, Rhodes and Eliot Sumner.
Charlie Fink’s Cover My Tracks is at The Apex on Sunday 24 September at 7.30pm. Tickets are £20, ring the Box Office on 01284 758000, or visit www.theapex.co.uk for more information, or to book your tickets.
Address 1 Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds
IP33 3FD
Opening Hours Box office opening times: Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00 Sun Closed
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SDXC Memory Cards
January 7, 2009 | Mark Goldstein | Digital | Comment |
SDXC is a next-generation memory card format, with up to 2 terabytes storage capacity and read/write speeds of 300 megabytes per second. SDXC (eXtended Capacity) will provide maximum speeds even when it achieves its maximum 2TB storage capacity. “SDXC is a large-capacity card that can store more than 4,000 RAW images, which is the uncompressed mode professionals use, and 17,000 of the fine-mode most consumers use.” said Shigeto Kanda, general manager at Canon. Developed by the SD Association, specifications for the new SDXC standard will be released in the first quarter of 2009.
SD Association Press Release
SDXC SIGNALS NEW GENERATION OF REMOVABLE MEMORY WITH UP TO 2 TERABYTES OF STORAGE
SDXC Memory Cards Provide Consumers with Massive Storage, Incredible Speed in Familiar, De Facto Standard
LAS VEGAS – CES Booth South 3 #31277 – Jan. 7, 2009 – The next-generation SDXC (eXtended Capacity) memory card specification, announced today at the 2009 International CES, dramatically improves consumers’ digital lifestyles by providing the portable storage and speed needed to store weeks of high-definition video, years of photo collections and months of music to mobile phones, cameras and camcorders, and other consumer electronic devices. The new SDXC specification provides up to 2 terabytes storage capacity and accelerates SD interface read/write speeds to 104 megabytes per second this year, with a road map to 300 megabytes per second.
The SDXC specification, developed by the SD Association, leapfrogs memory card interface speeds while retaining the world-leading SD interface. Specifications for the open standard will be released in the first quarter of 2009. SDHC, Embedded SD and SDIO specifications will also benefit from the new SD interface speeds.
“SDXC combines a higher capacity roadmap with faster transfer speeds as a means to exploit NAND flash memory technology as a compelling choice for portable memory storage and interoperability,” said Joseph Unsworth, research director, NAND Flash Semiconductors, at Gartner. “With industry support, SDXC presents manufacturers with the opportunity to kindle consumer demand for more advanced handset features and functionality in consumer electronics behind the ubiquitous SD interface.”
Turning mobile phones into media centers
SDXC allows users to enjoy more from their mobile phones. Larger capacity and faster transfer speeds allow for expanded entertainment and data storage. A 2TB SDXC memory card can store 100 HD movies, 60 hours of HD recording or 17,000 fine-grade photos.
“With SDXC, consumers can quickly download higher quality content to their phones, including games, video and music – giving consumers a richer media and content experience,” said James Taylor, president of the SD Association. “The SD interface already has proven itself valuable in mobile phones. Now, SDXC memory card capabilities will spur further handset sophistication and boost consumer content demand.”
Shooting pictures at the speed of life
SDXC is also the first memory card specification to provide 2TB storage without hindering the high-speed performance necessary for high-end photography. It will provide maximum speeds even when the SDXC specification achieves its maximum 2TB storage capacity.
“SDXC is a large-capacity card that can store more than 4,000 RAW images, which is the uncompressed mode professionals use, and 17,000 of the fine-mode most consumers use. That capacity, combined with the exFAT file system, increases movie recording time and reduces starting time to improve photo-capturing opportunities,” said Shigeto Kanda, general manager at Canon. “Improvements in interface speed allow further increases in continuous shooting speed and higher resolution movie recordings. As a memory card well suited to small-sized user-friendly digital cameras, the SDXC specification will help consumers realize the full potential of our cameras.”
SDXC will enable camcorders to provide longer, professional level HD video recording with a small form factor.
The SDXC specification uses Microsoft’s exFAT file system to support its large capacity and interoperability in a broad range of PCs, consumer electronics and mobile phones. The exFAT system was designed for increased compatibility with flash media, from portability of data to interoperability with multiple platforms and devices on removable media.
“The SD Association is committed to answering and anticipating consumer demand for easy-to-use memory card storage that is interoperable in any device with a matching SD slot,” Taylor said. “The SDXC card gives consumers a new, yet familiar, high-performance card that will be used in hundreds of manufacturers’ device offerings.”
SD Association
The SD Association is a global ecosystem of more than 1,100 technology companies charged with setting interoperable SD standards. The association encourages the development of consumer electronic, wireless communication, digital imaging and networking products that utilize market-leading SD technology. The SD standard is the number one choice for consumers and has earned nearly 80 percent of the memory card market with its reliable interoperability and its easy-to-use format. Today, mobile phones, Blu-ray players, HDTVs, audio players, automotive multimedia systems, handheld PCs, cameras and camcorders feature SD interoperability. For more information about SDA or to join, please visit the association’s web site, www.sdcard.org.
Panasonic UK Press Release
Panasonic, a Founder of the SDA, Announces Support of SDXC
The SD Card Association, of which Panasonic is a founder, has announced the next generation SD Memory Card, the SDXC (SD eXtended Capacity), a new standard for storing data more than 32 GB and up to 2 terabytes (TB). This standard will be the specification for SD Memory Cards with capacities more than 32 GB and their host devices. The new cards will provide capacities in the future ranging up to 2 TB at read/write speeds of 300 megabytes per second.
Panasonic supports the announcement and development of the SDXC standard and plans to launch a 64 GB massive capacity SDXC Memory Card, which will have more capacity than the currently available 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray Disc. This introduction will allow consumers to conveniently store more data, helping them to experience a true High Definition (HD) digital lifestyle.
Panasonic supports the usage and application of SDXC Memory Cards in order to bring to life a world where high-quality HD content can be easily handled and a large volume of professional-quality HD video and high-resolution pictures can be captured smoothly. The SDXC Memory Cards will allow for seamless transfer of large quantities of HD content from one device to another.
Pricing and availability for Panasonic’s SDXC Memory Cards will be announced at a future date.
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The 4 Spaceships Vying to Send Crews to the ISS
In a press conference today, NASA and four private companies briefed the press on their progress in developing private vehicles to send crews to the International Space Station. To date, NASA has spent $1.5 billion fostering the development of the new vehicles, and plans to up the ante in the next couple of years.
By Michael Belfiore
The secretive private space program of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos divulged perhaps the most details of its progress to date. Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson boasted that his was the only company of the four to conduct a flight demonstration for NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev). While that is technically true, it ignores SpaceX's recent flights to the International Space Station with a cargo version of its planned crew vehicle.
Nevertheless, Meyerson outlined the 2012 milestones in Blue Origin's attempt to build suborbital vertical-takeoff/vertical-landing rockets with the goal of scaling up to orbital flight and eventually reaching the International Space Station.
In a flight test at Blue Origin's West Texas launch facility in 2012, the company tried out the launch-abort system. A full-scale model of the company's planned crew capsule blasted off, deployed parachutes, and drifted to a gentle touchdown within 7 feet of its planned target, Meyerson said. He compared the launch-abort system to the airbags in a car, saying that the reusable capsule would be able to fly multiple times with no maintenance to the safety system, as long as no mishap required them to be used.
Perhaps more impressive was Blue Origin's test of a new hydrogen/liquid-oxygen-powered rocket engine with 100,000 pounds of thrust. Blue Origin designed the engine, called the BE-3, for the company's planned orbital rocket and tested it at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in October. The engine, along with a Blue Origin–designed rocket and so-called biconic capsule, which uses its shape to provide some lift on reentry, is designed to be fully reusable.
It's clear that Blue Origin is serious about reaching orbit, using its own money if necessary. Meyerson said that the NASA seed money the company received has sped its development process, but he also made it clear that Blue Origin would continue no matter what, with the help of Bezos's private fortune.
The aerospace giant is busy building a capsule called the CST-100. Boeing's John Mulholland, Commercial Programs Space Exploration vice president and program manager, said Wednesday that the company has completed a series of parachute drop tests of a full-scale space capsule mockup, with a landing system that consists of parachutes and airbags. The team building the capsule also tested potential control and display layouts over the course of three days with NASA astronauts, conducted simulated micrometeoroid-impact tests, and tested automated rendezvous and docking software.
However, while Boeing seems to have the financial and technical wherewithal to accomplish the ISS mission, at least one Boeing executive has stated that Boeing's commitment to building the ship is limited. For Boeing execs to justify completing the ship, they will have to see NASA commit not only to funding CST-100's development, but also to actually using it to reach the space station.
Sierra Nevada Corporation
Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser spacecraft is the only one of the bunch with wings, which are incorporated into the vehicle in what's called a lifting-body configuration. The ship is designed to return to Earth on a runway, like the space shuttle did.
SNC's main achievement to date is construction of a full-size engineering test article. The mockup underwent unmanned drop tests from a helicopter near the company's headquarters in Colorado in 2013. Head of space systems Mark Sirangelo said Sierra Nevada also completed a docking simulator and conducted rocket-engine tests for the Dream Chaser's on-orbit maneuvering system. The company plans an autonomous landing test sometime in 2013.
SpaceX is the clear frontrunner in the race: It's the only contender that has reached the International Space Station. In two flights so far, the SpaceX Dragon has successfully docked with the station and delivered cargo.
SpaceX's Garrett Reisman said that his company spent the NASA seed money it has received thus far to determine what the engineers must do to let the Dragon cargo capsule carry humans, which has been SpaceX's goal from the outset.
Although the Dragon has carried only cargo to the ISS so far, the capsule already has windows. And like Boeing, SpaceX has been working on cabin layouts with the help of NASA astronauts (Reisman himself is a former astronaut). The main order of business, then, is an escape system for the crew in case something were to go wrong during a launch. The company tested a new engine, called the Super Draco, for that purpose in 2012. The crew-rated Dragon will use eight Super Dracos with 17,000 pounds of thrust each to escape from a launch gone awry.
In 2013, SpaceX plans to launch a Dragon from the Kennedy Space Center to test the launch-abort system, building up to an in-flight abort test in 2014 in which the capsule will blast away from a rocket that is already in the air.
Reisman said SpaceX was on track to send its first crew to the International Space Station by the end of 2015.
Michael Belfiore is the author of Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots Is Boldly Privatizing Space.
More From Space
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20 Facts You Didn't Know About Apollo 11
The Best NASA Gear for the Apollo 11 Anniversary
Launching To Space at a Crawl
Saturn V: An Origin Story
'We Have a Liftoff': Welcome to Apollo Week
Voyager 2 Still Alive After Difficult Choices
5 Scientific Reasons for Believing in Aliens
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The ISS After the Shuttle: Analysis
Everything You Need to Know About Dream Chaser , America's Next Space Plane
SpaceX Launch Will Test Reusable Rocket
Space 2012: What’s Blasting Off This Year
Step Inside the SpaceX Dragon V2
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37-year-old man driving home after party crashes into 15-feet ditch, dies
A 37-year-old man was killed on Wednesday morning after his vehicle fell into a 15-feet deep pit dug up by the civic body for a sewer in Maharashtra’s Thane, officials said.
Sachin Kakodkar was returning home in his Ertiga late at night after meeting his friends when his vehicle fell into the pit as soon as he crossed Neelkanth Gardens towards Ghodbunder Road at Mullabaug.
When he did not return home till the morning, his wife traced him with the help of his vehicle’s global positioning system (GPS) and alerted the fire brigade around 6:15am.
The Thane Municipal Corporation had dug up the road for laying pipelines for a sewer. They had also put up wired barricades as a warning to motorists. Locals said Kakodkar must not have noticed the barricades as there were no reflectors near the pit.
The rescue operations took 45 minutes and a critically injured Kakodkar was rushed to Bethany Hospital, where he was declared dead there.
“We got a call from the fire brigade and immediately rescue vehicles were rushed to the spot. With the help of a crane, the vehicle was taken out of the pit. But we had to strategise and get necessary machinery in place which took some time,” chief of the Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) Santosh Kadam said.
It was difficult for RDMC personnel to lift a four-wheeler out of the trench and it took 45 minutes to complete the rescue operations, officials said.
“The trench had barricades at both ends and it was connected with wires. If Kakodkar was driving at a speed he would have overshot the barricades easily and fell into the pit,” said a TMC official on condition of anonymity.
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From Tame Impala to Vampire Weekend – here are some of our fave UK festival exclusives of 2018
Festival season is in full swing.
Published: 2:49 pm, June 27, 2018
It’s something you’ll see all over event posters during the summer months. From the small ‘uns with their won’t-find-anywhere-else headliners, to the big ‘uns with their ‘omg they’re back’ special guests, if you want your festival to stand out from a mass of often similar line-ups you need the word “Exclusive” plastered on somewhere or other. This year’s batch of one-offs is a good ‘un, too. Here are a few of our faves.
Vampire Weekend, End of the Road
(30th August – 2nd September, Larmer Tree Gardens)
Vampy Weeks are back! Hasn’t it felt a long time? End of the Road will mark their first live show in four years as they work their way towards a new album, and also their only UK festival for 2018. They join fellow festival exclusive Feist at the top of the bill, and St. Vincent, too.
Tame Impala, Citadel
(15th July, Gunnersbury Park, London)
This one isn’t just a festival exclusive, oh no – it’s a UK exclusive. You’re not going to see Tame Impala anywhere else without getting on a plane, boat or, er, going under a tunnel. The Aussie psych-rockers are currently working on the follow-up to 2015 album, ‘Currents’.
London Grammar, Bestival
(2nd-5th August, Lulworth Estate, Dorset)
Along with Jorja Smith, London Grammar are putting in a UK exclusive set at Bestival this year, on a bill that also features M.I.A., Grace Jones, First Aid Kit, Mura Masa and loads more still to come. It’s about time London Grammar were headlining major UK festivals, innit?
At The Drive In, 2000trees
(12th-14th July, Upcote Farm)
For the first time in 2000trees’ history, the Main Stage will be open for Thursday daytime – leading up to a UK festival exclusive set from post-hardcore legends, At The Drive In. They’ll be in town to celebrate the release of their latest album, ‘in•ter a•li•a’, playing alongside Basement, Arcane Roots, Creeper and loads more.
Stormzy, Wireless
(6th-8th July, Finsbury Park, London)
The Wireless line-up is a bit of a sausage-fest this year; it’s basically Lots Of Blokes plus Mabel, Cardi B and Lisa Mercedez. Maybe they’ll have fixed that by the time you’re reading this. We can hope, eh? If you want to see Stormzy though, you’re going to have to brave the bratwursts because this is the only UK festival he’s playing.
Dua Lipa, Reading & Leeds
(24th-26th August, Richfield Avenue, Reading; Bramham Park, Leeds)
There’s been a mixed reaction to Reading & Leeds’ first line-up announce, but that’s just par for the course, innit? They’ve got some good names signed up so far – from headliners Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco and Kendrick Lamar (no, not you Kings of Leon), to Dua Lipa, (this here exclusive), Sigrid, Wolf Alice and Pale Waves.
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2017 "FOCUS ON YOUTH":
Sculptor & Painter:
Sarah Danielson
Alfred University - New York
Sarah Danielson is a senior at Alfred University in New York. She is majoring in fine arts with a minor in psychology. In high school, Sarah won Gold Keys in the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition for her work in ceramics. She enjoys how art gives her the ability to let go – let her mind run free. She draws inspiration from nature, animals and the appearance and behaviors of those around her. Although she originally planned to concentrate in ceramics, Sarah found that she also loves to paint, including painting her sculptures (instead of glazing them). Recently, she has been creating pieces that combine her two passions – art and psychology. She has been experimenting with portraiture by defining people around her in one “snapshot,” either through a facial expression or a compilation of objects. Her work was chosen for display at the Scholes Library at Alfred University.
Sarah is also a dedicated volunteer who has been involved with several community and children’s programs. Most recently, Sarah had the opportunity to teach art at a school in Ukraine for an English as a second language program. She will be going back next year and hopes to make it an annual commitment.
© Sarah Danielson
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Women's Rights Research Seminar- Between Love and Lineage: Elopement, Rights and Violence in an Afghan Valley
Wednesday, 24 October 2018 - 2:00pm
Dr Naysan Adlparvar (Yale University)
Dr Soraya Tremayne (Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISCA)
Dr Naysan Adlparvar is an Academic Visitor and Senior Member at St. Antony’s College. He holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University’s Department of Anthropology. Naysan has previously served as a Rice Faculty Fellow (AY 2017-18) and Postdoctoral Fellow (AY 2016-17) at Yale’s Council on Middle East Studies.
Naysan’s primary research interests surround the nature of social relations in conflict-affected and transitional contexts. This includes not only research on identity, ethnicity and religious affiliation, but also examination of processes of social cohesion and peacebuilding. He completed his PhD, at the University of Sussex’s Institute of Development Studies in 2015. Naysan’s thesis investigated the effects of conflict and the impacts of post-2001 political reconstruction upon identity in Afghanistan’s Bamyan Valley.
In 2016, Naysan published an article entitled ‘The Evolution of Ethnicity Theory: Intersectionality, Geopolitics and Development’ that discusses the development of, and potential new frontiers of research in, ethnicity theory. He is currently preparing his thesis for publication as a book, and as a number of journal articles. Naysan is also preparing a special issue of Iranian Studies addressing identity in contemporary Afghanistan.
Naysan has previously worked for non-governmental organizations and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan, Jordan and Iraq conducting research and providing technical advice. His work has addressed poverty reduction, community development, gender, and issues pertaining to social inclusion. He currently works with United Nations headquarters, in New York, developing policy and guidance on support to core government functions in conflict-affected and fragile contexts.
About the seminar:
Marriage, in Afghanistan, is a highly strategic affair. In most cases, Afghan parents carefully manage who their children marry. This is done to forge alliances and accrue financial benefits. At the same time, marriage also serves to maintain community boundaries — be they familial, religious or ethnic. These boundaries are often stark; with prolonged conflict making interethnic and intersectarian marriage uncommon. Yet, since the US-led intervention in Afghanistan, intergenerational modes of control have begun to falter and marriage patterns have begun to shift.
In the Bamyan Valley — deep in the mountainous Central Highlands of the country — “escape marriage” or elopement has become increasingly common, as has the retaliatory violence it engenders. A series of high-profile elopement cases, between members of two ethnic communities, have captivated the local media. Hazarah men are “escaping” with Sayid women; which is being met with mounting violence and growing ethnic tensions. Young women and men in Bamyan are caught between familial/ethnic expectations and their personal desire—backed by Human Rights institutions—to marry those they choose.
Based on extended ethnographic research in Afghanistan’s Bamyan Valley, this lecture will discuss the emerging phenomenon of “escape marriage” and the underlying mechanisms that foster it. It will do this by exposing the shifting social landscape in Afghanistan and by drawing linkages between the formation of the new Afghan State, the emergence of educational opportunities for women, the action of Human Rights institutions and, ultimately, the changing nature of marriage and elopement. This lecture will explore how and why young Bamyani men and women navigate the treacherous ground between love and lineage.
Image credit: Diego Ibarra Sanchez
Event flyer
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Laura Kliewer and Carmin Lewis take part in a sing-along during a pre-Halloween celebration at the Seniors’ Resource Centre on Friday, Oct. 26. (Lachlan Labere/Salmon Arm Observer)
Seniors’ Resource Centre offers services and socializing in Salmon Arm
Programs are provided by three part-time staff and 80 volunteers
Barb Brouwer
Nov. 3, 2018 11:30 p.m.
Animated conversation and laughter are the backdrop for a Halloween party held Friday, Oct. 26 at the Seniors’ Resource Centre.
Located on Second Avenue NE, next to Fletcher Park, the centre offers many programs to seniors.
Volunteer co-ordinator Marilyn Bjorkman says the centre is a place for seniors to socialize and access services.
One of the most popular programs is Day Away, which takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. It starts with a social time over coffee and goodies and is followed by an exercise or craft session, or a speaker. Lunch is followed by another activity such as board games or entertainment.
Foot care including nails cut, treatment and massage is available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at a cost of $35.
Friendly Check-in is a program for those who are unable to go to the centre, says Bjorkman.
Volunteers call shut-ins who don’t get out on their own or have family visit them.
Related: Rethinking how to care for B.C. seniors
“Calls are made on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to make sure they’re OK,” Bjorkman says. “It lets them know someone cares about them and is thinking about them.”
Lunch With Friends is another popular program that is held from 11:30 to 1 p.m. every Tuesday between September and June in the hall at St. Joseph’s Church. The meal is followed by bingo. Call 250-832-7000 to register for this program.
“Each card is only 25 cents and they might win a dollar, but, hey, they love it,” says Bjorkman.
Resource centre clients who register in the Monday Morning Market program are picked up by the HandiDart and taken to downtown Askew’s Foods to shop. After shopping, seniors enjoy a social time over coffee and cookies supplied by Askew’s at the New Bombay Restaurant and are then driven back home by HandiDart.
“Their groceries are carried into their kitchen for them by volunteers,” says Bjorkman, noting help with shopping is available if the senior would like it.”
Seniors who are not able to get out of their homes to shop can register through the centre, then phone their grocery orders in to downtown Askew’s Foods on Monday or Tuesday and the groceries are delivered to them the following day. Shoppers must buy a minimum of $25 in groceries but there is no charge for delivery.
A caregivers’ support group from 10 a.m. to noon on the second and fourth Monday of the month is for anyone who is caring for someone in cognitive decline.
”We have two facilitators who have been through it with their own spouses, so they know the path these people are on,” Bjorkman says.
Related: Shuswap offers one-stop wellness for seniors
Clients can access rides to medical appointments locally or to Kamloops or Kelowna for a fee – $5 for a local trip and $65 for longer runs.
Volunteers will do non-complicated income tax returns for lower income singles and couples during March and April and a senior adviser is available to help seniors complete government forms.
Residents who are in a rush or don’t want to cook can pick up three-course meals, which cost $6.75 each, through the Better Meals program.
Another program that is gaining ground throughout the province is the Blue Bottle Program, sponsored by Remedy’s RX and Shoppers Drug Mart, in which donated bottles provide emergency personnel with all medical information, including medications, allergies, doctor’s name, blood type and next of kin.
“It also contains information on who will take care of your pets and a magnet and label to put on your entry door,” Bjorkman says.
The centre keeps an information list on rental housing, home support, people willing to bake, or do things around the house and information on local seniors’ homes.
“They each charge their own amount so we tell clients to ask lots of questions so it’s a good fit for them,” adds Bjorkman.
The centre at 320A Second Ave. NE is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and is run by three part-time staff and approximately 80 volunteers.
barb.brouwer@saobserver.net
VIDEO: Moms Gone Wild thrill Canucks crowd
Salmon Arm rewards northern priest
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Sharing traditions with future generations
Indigenous artists pass their art forms on to future generations.
Indigenous artists Margaret Harrison and Rosella Carney are working hard to ensure their traditional art forms will continue to be practiced by future generations.
Harrison learned Métis rug hooking from her mother and other women in her family, while growing up in a road allowance community in the Qu’Appelle Valley. The women made and sold rugs to nearby farmers to provide food for the family, as well as creating them for special occasions, such as weddings.
The local landscape inspired her family’s rugs, which were typically made in floral patterns like those used in traditional Métis beading and embroidery. The women sorted and saved rags from old clothes until they had the right combination of patterns and colours to realize their vision. If more variety were needed, they coloured the rags using crepe paper or dyes made from local plants. “My mother could create something from nothing. Any kind of rug hooking is beautiful, whether it’s a tweed coat or a tablecloth,” Harrison says.
Now living in Zenon Park, Harrison believes she is the only Métis artist from the Qu’Appelle Valley who still practices the artform. “I continue to make these rugs so that I can help to preserve and promote this history and Métis artistic traditions, but also so I can help pass on this art to young people and the next generation.”
Harrison conducts workshops throughout the province at schools, events such as the John Arcand Fiddle Fest and the museum at the Batoche National Historic Site. She received an Indigenous/Métis Art and Artists grant to create a multimedia manual for rug hooking, to be published by the Gabriel Dumont Institute. “I am often asked during workshops for handouts that students can take home. I have found that workshops are never long enough for students to learn more than the basics of rug hooking. Creating a how-to manual provides ongoing support, tips and techniques for new rug hookers, as well as provides a history of Métis rug hooking,” she says.
Carney is a Cree language instructor and cultural teacher in La Ronge. In 1989, she invited an elder into the classroom to teach students about birch bark biting. She was captivated. The elder gave her a piece of birch bark and taught her how to fold it and make patterns by biting it with her canine teeth. “I started by doing birds, bees, butterflies – nature stuff. I went from there and got addicted to it, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” she says.
There are very few people who practice birch bark biting, so Carney makes an effort to teach it across the province, to everyone from children to elders. “I want to pass on the tradition, so it won’t be a dying art,” she says.
One of the biggest challenges of birch bark biting is harvesting the bark. It must come from the white birch tree and be picked in the spring, after which it is stored in plastic bags, so it doesn’t dry out over the fall and winter. “It’s a lot of work, but I look forward to the joy of making designs on it, so I don’t worry about how long it takes to pick or prepare it,” Carney says.
An Indigenous Pathways Initiatives grant meant she could hire others to help with the sometimes dangerous task of harvesting bark in the forest, and it also enabled her to conduct workshops at northern Saskatchewan schools.
She enjoys teaching the youth and watching them get excited about their creations. “They just love it. When they make a biting and open it up, they’re overjoyed because they see something that seemed kind of impossible for them to do it in the first place. Some people say it’s magic. But it’s not magic. It’s just the joy of creating an artwork on a piece of birch bark.”
Carney says that the process of birch bark biting is also meditative. “It’s good for the mind. It relaxes you. All you’re thinking about is what kind of design you’re going to make,” she says.
Her students are now teaching the art form to others across the province. “It’s going out, and it’s spreading. I’m happy about that,” she says. The bitings also create income for artists, who sell them to people looking for unique gifts for their loved ones.
“I’m still doing birch bark biting, and I will continue to pass it on,” Carney says, noting she has been teaching her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “When they learn, they can pass it on, so they don’t lose the tradition. It’s the same thing as language – language and tradition are dying – we need to keep it up, keep it going and pass it on to the next generation.”
Top: Margaret Harrison teaches a workshop on Métis rug hooking. Photo by Donna Heimbecker
Bottom: Rosella Carney with one of her birch bark bitings. Photo courtesy of the artist
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CSO Message
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has a long and distinguished tradition of research that has spanned nearly a century. The research breakthroughs at Children's Hospital have improved the lives of countless children throughout the world and put the institution on the course to pediatric research preeminence.
Research at the Hospital had modest beginnings. The Hospital established its first research laboratory in 1922 as a single room in its basement. By 1931, the Hospital founded the “Society of Pediatric Research” for its expanding base of investigators, who conducted their experiments wherever space permitted.
These beginnings gained significant momentum in 1972 when Children's Hospital designated 70,000 square feet to research and established the Research Institute, the first pediatric research department in the country.
Today, the Hospital's entire research enterprise is organized under the aegis of the CHOP Research Institute and constitutes a separate organizational, administrative and financial entity within the Hospital.
While Research Institute investigators have academic homes in one of the Hospital's six departments and hold faculty appointments at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers also belong to designated Centers of Emphasis and interdisciplinary, cross-divisional Research Affinity Groups.
These groups, as well as investigators and their research programs, are supported by more than a dozen Core Facilities that substantially enhance basic and clinical research programs. The cores provide investigators with sophisticated research equipment, knowledgeable advisors and experienced support staff. The Research Institute invests annually in refreshing the cores and acquiring new cutting-edge resources to ensure that investigators have access to the best tools available.
Today, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute is home to one of the largest pediatric research programs in the country with more than $138 million in total federal awards and an annual budget of more than $329 million (FY14).
Innovation to Intervention
Among the historical research breakthroughs that have made Children's Hospital an international pioneer in pediatric medicine are vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella, the development of a balloon catheter for use in cardiology, and the generation of methods for changing sickle-shaped red blood cells.
By fostering collaborations between clinical and basic scientists the Hospital's traditional “bench to bedside” philosophy has resulted in an array of other major scientific achievements.
Building upon its solid foundation in both clinical and laboratory investigation, the Hospital and its Research Institute continue on the course to pediatric research preeminence.
Research today at Children's Hospital reflects the institution's commitment to improve child health and concentrates on basic, translational and clinical research on issues of importance and relevance to child health. With more than 525 investigators and a research staff in the thousands, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute continues its groundbreaking research on diabetes, neonatal seizures, childhood cancer, hemophilia, pediatric heart disease, cystic fibrosis, nutrition disorders, hypercholesterolemia, intellectual disabilities, AIDS, sickle cell disease and numerous other diseases and disorders that affect children. Among its distinguished investigators are numerous members of the Institute of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators, Pew Scholars in Biomedical Sciences, and NIH Merit Scholars.
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Free Editorial: Defending Immigrant Students — in the Streets and in Our Classrooms
It has always been an educator’s responsibility to act in solidarity with vulnerable students. But with President Donald Trump’s September declaration that he will end DACA, we are called on to be more audacious, more resolute, and more imaginative in our solidarity with the 800,000 undocumented young people who now face a frightening uncertainty about their future in the United States.
Free Rethinking Islamophobia
A Muslim educator and curriculum developer questions whether religious literacy is an effective antidote to combat bigotries rooted in American history
By Alison Kysia
The increasing violence against Muslims, Sikhs, South Asians, and others targeted as Muslim, suggests we, as Americans, are becoming less tolerant and need educational interventions that move beyond post-9/11 teaching strategies that emphasize our peacefulness or oversimplify our histories, beliefs, and rituals in ways that often lead to further stereotyping.
Inclusivity is Not a Guessing Game
By Chelsea Vaught
An elementary teacher tells how she works to include her Muslim students in the life of her classroom. "We can use or create curriculum and projects that allow students to learn about and incorporate their culture and religious practices if they want to. We can be deliberate in including, making space for, and recognizing our students in all aspects of their identities. Making schools inclusive doesn’t have to be a guessing game."
Free Teaching SNCC: The Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution
By Adam Sanchez
Teaching the history of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee helps students see the Civil Rights Movement as being fueled by thousands of young people like themselves instead of a few charismatic leaders. "Without the history of SNCC at their disposal, students think of the Civil Rights Movement as one that was dominated by charismatic leaders and not one that involved thousands of young people like themselves. Learning the history of how young students risked their lives to build a multigenerational movement against racism and for political and economic power allows students to draw new conclusions about the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement and how to apply them to today."
Free Elementary Student T-Shirt Workers Go on Strike
By Michael Koopman
An elementary school teacher uses his students’ T-shirts to launch a lesson about child labor, basic economics, factories, unions, and strikes. "When I was a child, I remember 'playing pretend' with my cousins. We could be anyone we imagined, and in that moment, we were those people. Why not use that energy and imagination as a resource? When we use our imagination to walk in another’s shoes, that’s where real learning begins."
Free It's Imperialism.
How the textbooks get the Cold War wrong
By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
A high school teacher critiques the textbook treatment of the Cold War and U.S. imperialism. She describes her approach to the “curricular conundrum” that the Cold War presents because it lasted so long, and was so far-flung. ""If we are ever to create a different world, one in which the United States does not cast an outsized and militarized shadow across the globe, we need our students to understand how and why that shadow was created in the first place."
Jailing Our Minds
By Abbie Cohen
An education researcher explores “no-excuses” discipline policies and the rate of out-of-school suspensions at charter schools in Denver and around the nation. "Democracy is healthiest when our educational institutions reflect our best virtues — creativity, joy, and growth. We must strengthen our oversight over no-excuses charter schools, thereby ensuring that no child in that city — or our country — is subjected to policies that could have been culled from one of Denver’s neighboring prisons."
Fourteen Days SBAC Took Away
By Moé Yonamine
A teacher wrestles with her frustrations with having to administer a standardized test that she wouldn’t even allow her own daughter to take. "Fourteen days I enforced SBAC testing to be the priority of our classroom learning — or rather, our classroom “unlearning.” Fourteen days SBAC took away."
What About the Students Who Are Not Labeled as "Gifted"?
By Kipp Dawson
A middle school English teacher calls for an end to separating students into groups of “gifted” and “not gifted” and argues that labeling students damages them — and us. "We are going down too many roads that push too many of our children aside, reinforcing the worst of our society’s racist and classist limitations. Let us push back hard."
Free Our Winter 2017 Picks for Books, Videos, Websites, and Other Social Justice Education Resources
By Bill Bigelow, Deborah Menkart, Adam Sanchez, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Ed Alert
“This Is Not Happening Without a Fight”
Puerto Rico’s teachers battle privatization after Hurricane Maria
By Ari Bloomekatz
Education Action
Student Athletes Kneel to Level the Playing Field
By Jesse Hagopian
Volume 32, No. 2 - Winter 2017
Our Winter 2017 Picks for Books, Videos, Websites, and Other Social Justice Education Resources
By Devin Allen
(Haymarket Books, 2017)
Devin Allen’s A Beautiful Ghetto is more than a collection of award-winning photographs. Allen’s book documents Black life in Baltimore before and after the police murder of Freddie Gray and the uprising it produced through short essays, poetry, and stunning images. The book is a worthwhile addition to any classroom attempting to learn from the Black Lives Matter movement and about Black life today. Several essays, including Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s “The Boisterous Demand of Black Baltimore,” give essential background for those less familiar with the 2015 uprising in Baltimore. The poetry by Tariq Touré that dots the book — in particular “Poverty Is Violence” and “April 27th,” which focuses on Freddie Gray’s murder — are worth analyzing with students. But most of all, the incredible photographs by Baltimore native Devin Allen are powerful resources for the classroom. The photographs are split into two sections: “Ghetto,” which highlights “a beauty that is often overlooked and unappreciated” in Baltimore’s Black community, and “Uprising,” which documents the Black revolt after Freddie Gray’s murder. A gallery walk of photographs from the book would produce deep discussion in many classrooms.
Electric Arches
By Eve L. Ewing
“Every story in it is absolutely true.” This is from Eve Ewing’s Note of Introduction to Electric Arches, her debut book of poetry, prose, collage, and handwritten notes. Truth in Ewing’s hands is dynamic, including the real and imagined, the past, present, and future, and always, the possibility of a just world. Her “retellings” reflect this dynamism. In one, Ewing shares a painful account of the first time she was called a racial slur. Interrupting this typewritten story with her own handwriting, Ewing leads the reader into an imagined, alternative ending involving a flying bike, a giant net, and a delicious popsicle. In a recent interview, Ewing explained the origin of these retellings. “When I was a kid, whenever I woke up from a nightmare, my mom would ask me to finish it. She’d be like, ‘OK, and then what happened?’ and I would have to come up with some kind of ending, one that didn’t negate the thing that frightened me or the thing that had been scary, but allowed me to reassert some sort of agency.” Ewing’s writing pulses with that agency, as even a small sample of her titles attest: “why you cannot touch my hair,” “I come from the fire city,” “Shea Butter Manifesto,” “what I mean when I say I’m sharpening my oyster knife.” Ewing’s poems of childhood, place, identity, and daily life will serve as rich models for students and teachers pursuing writing that is both relevant and liberating.
The Era of Reconstruction: 1861–1900
By Gregory P. Downs and Kate Masur
(The National Park Service, 2017)
The Era of Reconstruction: 1861–1900, published by the National Park Service, is a useful resource for teachers and students. The majority of the booklet is an impressive bottom-up overview of the Reconstruction era broken into six major themes. If the textbook coverage of Reconstruction was as good as the National Park Service’s, students would learn a more complete and relevant history of the era. The booklet’s first four parts include sections that would be worthwhile to pull out for use in the classroom. In particular, the introduction is one of the best short overviews of Reconstruction that we’ve seen, emphasizing the role of ordinary people. Any teacher looking for a short overview of the time period would find this useful. “Part 3: Enfranchisement/New Democracy” is an in-depth look at the expansion of democracy during Reconstruction that could also be used in its entirety in a classroom.
When the Rules Aren’t Right: 7 Time Travel Tales of Activism
By Leslie Tolf; illustrated by Sophie Geneva Page, Giselle Sarmiento, Molly Walsh, Alex Graudins, Veronica Agarwal, Haejin Park, and Madeline Zuluaga
(Bardo Press, 2016)
This is a delightful and inviting primer about the importance of organizing in the face of injustice. Told as a time-travel story of Emma, a teenage girl, we begin with a story from her grandmother about a women’s jewelry collective in India. We then travel with her to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911, an ad agency in 1960s New York, a music studio in 1986 Los Angeles, a school in 2012 Chicago, a farmworker community in 1988 McFarland, California, and then back to the present. The book’s message is simple: When you see or experience something that is not fair, you should organize and act. The book’s illustrations are lively and colorful.
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race
By Beverly Daniel Tatum
(Basic Books, revised and updated: 2017)
When it was first released in 2007, this book radically transformed how countless readers thought and talked about racial identity in the United States. Tatum spent two years on this new updated and expanded edition. She addresses the many setbacks of the past 20 years — the recession of 2008, mass incarceration, police shootings of African Americans, the rollback of Affirmative Action, and the early days of the Trump presidency. To balance these challenges, she ends with an epilogue called “Signs of Hope, Sites of Progress.” This is an ideal text for teacher and/or student reading and discussion groups.
Benny Doesn’t Like to Be Hugged
By Zetta Elliott
Illustrated by Purple Wong
(Rosetta Press, 2017)
We learn about the things Benny likes (trains, cupcakes with sprinkles, shirts without wrinkles) from his elementary school friend who narrates the story. Interspersed with those likes are a few things he does not like, such as “being hugged.” Benny is autistic. This book is a wonderful vehicle for ensuring that teachers can address with other students the qualities and challenges autistic children face. The text is very easy for a beginning reader with one sentence per page. The illustrations reflect a diversity of identities including Muslim and Native American children.
Producers Sarah Mondale and Vera Aronow backpackfullofcash.com
Like many public education supporters, Sarah Mondale and Vera Aronow became increasingly concerned in the last decade about attacks on public schools and teachers. They decided to do something about it. The result, five years in the making, is their documentary, Backpack Full of Cash.
Narrated by Matt Damon, the film explores the growing privatization of public schools, especially in urban districts serving predominantly students of color, and how such privatization starves public schools of needed resources. Filmed in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Nashville, and other cities in 2013–14, the film focuses primarily on the effect of privately run charter schools and, in New Orleans, publicly funded vouchers for private religious schools. It also touches on issues such as the obsession with standardized tests and attacks on teacher unions.
Rethinking Schools, in conjunction with Aronow and Mondale and with support from the Schott Foundation for Public Education, developed a downloadable 24-page discussion guide for the lm. In addition to discussion questions, the guide includes background information, resources, and a special Frequently Asked Questions section, “Charters, Vouchers, and Public Schools,” which addresses common confusions about the causes and effects of privatization. The guide and stand-alone FAQ are available at rethinkingschools.org/backpack-full-of-cash. For a list of upcoming screenings, or to rent the film, check out the film’s website backpackfullofcash.com.
Reviewed by Bill Bigelow, Deborah Menkart, Adam Sanchez, and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
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China Mulls New Energy Targets
Amid a last-minute drive to fulfill its five-year energy plan, Beijing is debating new targets for 2020.
By Michael Lelyveld
Outside a coal-fired power plant in Beijing, Oct. 29, 2010.
China is setting new energy goals for the next decade amid controversy over a campaign to meet current targets by the end of this year.
On Oct. 18, an official of China's National Energy Administration (NEA) told state media that the country would cut energy use by 17.3 percent per unit of economic output between 2011 and 2015.
A further reduction of 16.3 percent is planned for the 2016-2020 period, said Huang Li, a deputy director of the NEA.
It is unclear yet whether Huang's statement will be the government's final word on the efficiency goals, which will come before the National People's Congress as part of the 12th Five-Year Plan next March.
But experts are already combing the numbers to assess the direction of China's development and environmental policies.
"In my view, these are ambitious targets," said David Fridley, deputy leader of the China Energy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
The reductions are less than the current five-year goal of a 20-percent cut in energy waste that China is trying to reach by the end of 2010. But Fridley says the numbers reflect realization that the easiest steps, like closing old factories and power plants, have already been taken.
"Achieving these lower goals will require them to come up with new programs, new policies, new targets and a greater focus on the policies that are working already," he said.
The proposed "energy intensity" targets also have consequences for climate change that will be closely watched, now that China has grown into the world's largest source of greenhouse gases.
The government has already pledged to cut carbon emissions 40-45 percent by 2020 per unit of GDP from 2005 levels.
Fridley said Huang's targets would actually lead to a 45-percent drop in energy intensity, which could produce even greater carbon reductions if China meets goals for switching to non-fossil fuels.
"It actually is somewhat higher than the way they've expressed this target before," Fridley said.
The real effect on the environment may get lost in the numbers, however, since China bases its efficiency targets on consumption per unit of GDP.
With the economy expected to keep growing at or near double-digit annual rates, so will the total volume of energy use and emissions. The issue is whether the total will grow more or less.
Efficiency goal
The government has attached enormous importance to meeting its current 20-percent energy efficiency goal, often with harsh local measures like power cuts to factories and residential areas in recent months. By the end of 2009, the reductions had reached 15.6 percent, but this year saw slippage caused by economic stimulus programs.
One reason for a last-minute push is that Beijing has insisted on using its measurement of emissions as the basis for a global warming treaty without international review or verification.
By meeting its energy targets, the government hopes to gain credibility for its climate pledge, despite widespread doubts about data accuracy.
"In a way, it is target-driven," said Robert Ebel, senior adviser to the energy and national security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"They're showing that they're willing and capable of doing whatever it takes to meet a particular goal."
"Then they can take that and say to the rest of the world, we set this goal and we made it. Now, what are you doing?" said Ebel. "It's as much propaganda as anything."
'Fake statistics'
Despite the focus on targets, the government has frequently aired concerns about the accuracy of its own data.
Most recently in July, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) ordered local price bureaus to stop submitting "fake statistics," the official English-language China Daily reported.
In August, the paper cited signs of "false reporting" in regional GDP figures used by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In September, the NBS also announced steps to make its housing data "more credible."
And in October, Vice Premier Li Keqiang said China "must improve the quality, accuracy and credibility of statistics," the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Yet, the government seems to have staked even more credibility on reporting success in meeting the 20-percent energy efficiency benchmark.
Call for accurate reporting
Fridley said China has taken real steps with measures like closing older coal-fired power plants. But he sees accurate reporting as more valuable than doubtful data, even if China falls a few points short of its goal.
"Perhaps people would think that they're being somewhat more transparent about the number than what might be the case if it comes in solidly at 20.0 [percent]," he said.
The government has also tried to cast recent performance on energy-saving in the best possible light.
On Oct. 25, for example, the NEA reported that power consumption in September fell 12 percent from the previous month. But it failed to note that it rose 8.5 percent from the year-earlier period, although the figures were cited by Xinhua.
Electricity use also climbed 18 percent in the first three quarters of the year from the comparable 2009 period, a much faster pace than the 10.6-percent growth in GDP for the first nine months.
The year-to-year comparison "is anything but reassuring," said China Daily in a commentary.
China's Oil Giants Seek to Cut Gas Losses
China's Arctic Investments Generate Heat
Cambodia’s Dam Troubles, Power Woes Seen as Arguments For More Solar Energy Use
China Adds Coal Capacity Despite Pledge to Cut
China Increases Coal Use And Climate Concerns
China's Energy Efficiency Claims Questioned
China Pushes LNG Imports to the Limit
Chinese Tourism Benefits Few in Laos, Sources Say
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The Post-Modern Era
By 1950, every state in the Union at that time had imposed, and was vigorously enforcing, compulsory education laws along with methodologies for funding their public schools with taxpayer dollars. In the time between 1850 and 1950 (a short but eventful century), America had endured Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, the Suffragette Movement, Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression, and WWII along with the realization of manifest destiny (the informal doctrine that enumerated the belief that the United States was destined to stretched from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast). We may have been knee deep in the Cold War, but we knew we really had nothing to fear because we were enriching uranium and building a nuclear arsenal so vast that for the next few centuries we will be armed to the teeth (despite the "Red Scare," which was probably politically motivated to limit civil liberties because the government was scared of being overrun by the communists availing themselves of the democratic process. But we digress.). By the middle of the 20th Century, the United States had emerged as the leader of the free world. We were, arguably, "the greatest country in the world." Or were we?
At the same time we were becoming a major power broker on the world stage, our domestic social policy was still being held hostage by the Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine of "separate but equal." While young Americans were abroad fighting and dying for the world to be free, domestically an entire subset of our population was legally required, via de jure (legal) segregation, to sit in the rear of buses, enter homes and hotels through the kitchens, work for asinine wages, and then pay taxes without the ability to exercise the right to vote! (Can someone say "taxation without representation?" Did we not revolt against the British Empire for this exact type of tyranny?) Likewise, this same social caste was expected to attend sub-standard schools with sub-standard materials and teachers who may or may not have attained proper teacher education and training. Perhaps the meaning of the word "equal" has been misconstrued, but these circumstances indicate, with certainty, that our educational system (not to mention society) at that time was most assuredly not.
Nevertheless, and despite the many obstacles in their way, this caste spoke out. They found the right advocates and appropriate poster-children to mount a decent enough counterstrike concluding with the reversal of "separate but equal" in 1954 by the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Warren states that segregating children "from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone." The Court also ordered that every publicly funded school in America serve all students regardless of race, class, or gender, and, at that time, to do so "with all deliberate speed." But:
the federal courts did not simply say what states and educational officials could not do in the struggle for equality of opportunity; they moved actively and positively to tell officials and school boards what they must do to eliminate discrimination in school systems and promote equality of educational opportunity. States and school boards were ordered to take 'affirmative action' against segregation and prejudice (Rippa, 1984).
Also, the passage of "the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the education amendments of 1972 [which went into effect in 1975] specifically applied to affirmative action to benefit women" andspecifically ordered that: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance" (Rippa, 1984 pp. 277, 280). We can conclude, therefore, that among Blacks and other non-majority ethnic groups, women were also a minority being shafted by our educational and social system. However, these judicial actions came with a price-tag that no one could have foreseen we would still be paying for more than seven decades later. Civil Rights has proved to be a double-edged sword and yet another nail in the coffin of our public educational system; not because of the policies themselves, but their implementation.
As previously stated, the Supreme Court ordered public schools to make all of the aforementioned changes "with all deliberate speed." The problem with legalese is that it tends to be vexingly literal and ambiguous. Consequently, with reference to Brown, states were able to interpret the phrase almost unilaterally as long as the perception was that the policies were being implemented. Combining the study of history with eyewitness accounts, the upset to the status quo prompted a societal backlash that we are still combating today.
To start: many majority parents (who could afford it) removed their children from the public schools, pooled their resources, and created private institutions where they could continue to educate their children without the pressures of liberal legislation that would force them to integrate. In some locales, like Prince Edward County in Virginia, the local officials, predominantly comprised of majority citizens, shut down their public school system altogether. Apparently, so many districts took up this practice that in 1968 the Court required all of those that followed suit to reopen their public schools and develop "workable" desegregation plans. The Court then went even further to decree that federal judges could order schools to integrate their staff (Rippa, 1984). To boot, the Court upheld the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971) decision to support the practice of busing. Busing was a:
remedial plan [that] required a massive, long-distance transportation program: students residing closest to inner-city schools were to be assigned to suburban schools; students residing closest to suburban schools were to be assigned to inner-city schools. Thus the neighborhood school concept, a principle argument against busing, was substantially weakened by the Court decree. Although the United States Supreme Court did not outlaw 'schools all or predominantly of one race in a district of mixed population,' it did create conditions that would make such schools difficult to maintain (p. 283).
As an added blow, many of the qualified majority teachers, who deigned to teach students they did not deem worthy or capable of higher scholarship, found positions elsewhere. The quick fix was to fill the vacated teaching positions with majority teachers who may not be as qualified but were willing to teach in an integrated classroom. Likewise, they system mostly hired minority teachers who would not rock the boat or make too much noise about unjust business practices (also not usually the crème de la crème in their field). Consequence: a substantial number of vacated teaching positions with those remaining being less likely the best in their field and classrooms filled, and later overfilled, with students of a certain income bracket with the prejudices and etiquette to match.
So, over two decades, in our efforts to speedily build a more inclusive society, we instituted protocols that filled the public schools with: (a) Untrained and under-qualified teachers, many of whom would refuse to collaborate with one another because they were relegated to work in the same schools aside colleagues against whom they were prejudiced, (b) Large, diverse classrooms filled with a number of angered majority students with deep prejudices for many of their classmates fostered by their parents (many of whom were also highly displeased with the upset to the status quo and the transition to a new social order) and chronically stressed minority students trying to get a substantive education equal to that of their majority counterparts with no other options, and (c) Highly disgruntled administrators and districts who believed the federal courts robbed them of their rights to operate their own schools the way they saw fit. Then we placed all of these people under one roof and expected them to attain and maintain the same level of academic rigor before the shifts. Selah.
Forgotten by most, but at this same time our society was also caught up in the Deinstitutionalization Movement. This social movement was emptying mental hospitals and institutions en mass. This action, coupled with the nascent but ironclad civil rights legislation, would eventually require public schools to fully include students with "handicaps" in the already disturbed school environment. It would also require schools to develop academic programs that appropriately met these students' needs. Noble and morally just? Of course. Should this have happened? Absolutely. The problem, again, was timing and implementation.
Chris Koyanagi prepared a report entitled "Learning From History: Deinstitutionalization of People with Mental Illness As Precursor to Long-Term Care Reform" for the Kaiser Foundation in 2007 where he explores the history of deinstitutionalization to explain how we can learn from our mistakes. (To reiterate: mistakes.) He notes that initially "the early focus was on moving individuals out of state public mental hospitals and from 1955 to 1980, the resident population in those facilities fell from 559,000 to 154,000." That means at least 405,000 known mental patients were suddenly on the streets; and that is just on paper. While that difference may seem trifling, being that many of these types of institutions are localized in densely populated urban areas, the impact was not. Koyanagi goes on to say that, "only later was there a focus on improving and expanding the range of services and supports for those now in the community, in recognition that medical treatment was insufficient to ensure community tenure" (p. 1). Without knowing the exact statistics on the number of patients released who were of school age, suffice it to say that the number was significant enough for Congress to enact the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, reauthorized in 2004).
Let it be said that the other social reform movements occurring concurrently were not the driving force for this movement. Koyanagi explains that "governors and state legislatures were strongly motivated by cost concerns..." And historically, when money management is a factor, reforms happen quickly, sloppily, and with little concern for future consequences. "Yet Deinstitutionalization initially progressed very slowly. ...It only accelerated into a full-scale, nationwide policy in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the federal government became involved" (p. 4). It got involved mostly in response to the report entitled Action for Mental Health commissioned by the Joint Commission on Mental Health. However, one could also argue that the feds became involved because they were already dealing with an existing public outcry over civil rights and wanted to avoid angering another sect of the population (and given the time that would not be a real stretch).
Logically, one can deduce that this sudden influx of students with emotional and intellectual disorders and disabilities put further pressure on the public schools. They had just been ordered to ensure that all students receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and this now included students with disabilities. Noble? Yes. But, we must consider that at the same time they were dealing with the social pressures of racism and sexism, teachers and students, already reeling with a severe case of culture shock, were yet again charged to deal with another extreme upset to the status quo absent desperately needed resources and training.
As these radical social movements, and consequent social tensions, raged on in the 1960s and 1970s, unforeseen obstacles to the effectual administration of public education emerged. Educationally focused sociological and psychological research took the country by storm as we began to realize that the quality of our public schools was quickly plummeting. As such, many schools began to implement programs and practices with novel ideas and rhetoric like "multicultural," "whole language," and "constructivist." The damage of this type of rhetoric will be discussed later as the consequences of its adoption would not be realized until generations later.
Now enter the deleterious effects of technology: In the 1970s and 1980s, there were many books and articles written decrying the effects of widespread access to recreational and time-saving popular technology—television, microwave, radio, walkman, etc.—on children (and, by extension, the classroom). The issues enumerated are almost verbatim what teachers complain about today. These decades developed the progenitors of the subsequent "popcorn" generations.
The progeny of these progenitors have become increasingly more loathsome and slothful with each decade as they become more and more accustomed to the fast food lifestyle—quick, cheap, and convenient. People who become accustomed to this type of lifestyle also tend to develop an extremely low tolerance for sacrifice and hard work and an increased dependence on instant gratification and learned helplessness. Now, imagine having thirty to forty intellectually lethargic students in a single classroom. Then imagine having to be accountable for the substance and quality of their work. Then imagine that if these students refuse to work or act out to avoid work (and they do so regularly) and you dare to even imply that the student is ill-equipped or just plain lazy, you, the teacher, are reprimanded. Why? Because the public has decided that personal accountability for one's own education is no longer a reasonable request of students because personal accountability requires sacrifice and hard work.
Astoundingly, as if the complete and utter degradation of the public K-12 classroom was not enough, we turn our attention to the publicly funded college. With the problems previously enumerated from the 1960s and 1970s, one can only assume that the quality of the general product of the public school system was greatly diminished. The natural consequence was a decrease in college admissions in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially of students from inner-city high schools, which were affected far worse than their suburban counterparts. To combat this “social crisis,” many state funded colleges and universities increasingly relaxed admissions requirements and crafted (oxymoronic) remedial college courses designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge they should have acquired in secondary school.
Monetary incentives were also given to many students to attend these “colleges." The "greatest country in the world" could not retain or justify such a title if its college admission or graduation rates fell below those of other developed countries. According to eyewitness accounts, it appears that there was very little oversight, regulation, or vetting of the recipients of these incentives. Many did not matriculate or graduate on time, if at all. It was also during this time that the average number of years it takes the average American student to complete a four-year degree increased to six years, and it remains six to this day (if it has not risen).
Public colleges were in a potentially perilous state. Low enrollment or graduation rates meant decreased income from tuition, decreased government funding, and inevitable closure. Coupled with having a limited pool of scholars truly qualified for higher scholarship and saddled with an alarming number of sub-standard students, there was only one intervention left: lower the standards of the American college.
(A quick note about college education: Students get from their collegiate experience what they put into it. Higher scholarship is not like secondary education where the teacher is trying to engage students in the pursuit of skills and knowledge they will need to matriculate to college or a career. The college professor and environment is a haven where the student academic is encouraged to creatively and freely apply all that they learned in high school about the world and themselves and to safely and securely challenge it. That being said: it is a black mark on the history of our public school system that our colleges were, and still are, relegated to accept and promote the gross mediocrity of the average American academic that we should be ashamed to call their work "American.")
(To be continued...)
Education and learningKevin Quail II July 16, 2017 education, history, american, public
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Live Review: Elton John Debuts ‘The Captain and The Kid’ at Lincoln Center
On June 21, 1975, Elton John played his soon to be released album Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy in front of 120,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium. The crowd, who came expecting the hits (which opening acts Eagles and the Beach Boys gladly delivered) walked out by the thousands when presented with the unfamiliar material. Last night, in front of a thoroughly ritzy crowd, John debuted his Captain Fantastic sequel The Captain and the Kid at Lincoln Center’s 1,233-seat Frederick P. Rose Hall. The tuxedo-and-evening-gown clad audience may have not been the most boisterous crowd in rock history, but nobody walked out this time — even if some of them spent more time looking at their Blackberries than the stage.
John put on a typically amazing high-energy show. Kicking off with his 1973 magnum opus “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” he dragged out the his warhorses (“Bennie & The Jets,” “Rocket Man,” “Philadelphia Freedom”) early before playing most of The Captain and The Kid for the first time in front of an audience. The eight autobiographical songs he played trace John’s career from 1970 through the present; next to his 2001 comeback album Songs From The West Coast it’s Elton’s only post 1970s album that’s strong from start to finish.
Looking around the crowd it occurred to me that the more people pay for tickets (the best seats were $1,000 — though it’s all for charity) the less they seem to enjoy the show. I can’t remember the amount of times I’ve seen people in the so-called “golden circle” at arena shows sitting down indifferently, sending text messages while the fans behind the stage are dancing in the aisles. One exception: Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath who was seated directly in front of me, and seemed to be having a blast. He burst onto his feet when the band went into “The Bitch Is Back” and did a little shimmy while grinning from ear to ear. So take a cue from the Sugar Ray dude, all you suits!
In This Article: Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John, sequel, The Captain and the Kid
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WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF ALCUDIA?
Over the centuries, Alcudia’s privileged location has made it witness and host to many Mediterranean cultures.
The first archaeological remains (Son Simó, Son Siurana del Dalt, etc.) date back to the pre-Talayotic period, 2000 to 1200 BC.
After conquering the island in 123 BC, the Roman consul Metellus founded the city of Pollentia. It was constructed like a small Rome, with temples, public buildings, domus, urban villas and an amphitheatre. However, with the barbarian invasions in the 5th century AD, Pollentia began a process of decay and destruction.
In 902, the Arabs conquered Mallorca and gave Alcudia its current name (meaning “the hill”), as well as Guinyent, Biniatria, Gatamoix or Alcanada.
In 1229, the Catalan King Jaume I conquered Mallorca and later, in 1928, Jaume II declared Alcudia the capital of the parish limits. That same year began the construction of the first walls, which were completed in 1362.
During the popular revolt of the Germanies, the nobles of Mallorca took refuge in Alcudia. At the end of the revolt in 1523, the Emperor Carlos V declared it “Most Loyal City”.
The second ring of walls dates back to the 17th century. The aim was to reinforce the walls that already existed to defend the city. The two walls were preserved until the late 19th century, when a demolition process began due to the city’s expansion and sanitation.
The town of Alcudia and the archaeological remains of Pollentia were declared a historical and artistic site in 1963. In recent years, various plans to preserve and restore these areas have been launched.
Lose yourself in the town of Alcudia and travel back in its history!
ALFONSA Pollensa
Alfonsa is a welcoming and modern one-bedroomed villa with private swimming pool, ideal for a romantic couple, perfectly set in a ...
LA CORBAIA Artà
La Corbaia is a delightful home away from home in the green, unspoilt countryside near Artà. Sleeping up to 6 guests in 3 s...
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About usFaculty of Theology and Religious StudiesResearchCRCG
CRCG
In Society
Blog: The Religion Factor
The Religion Factor
The Religious/Secular Divide and the Global Displacement Crisis
Author: Religion Factor
“Refugees 1987” – original work by Zvi Malnovitzer. Obtained from Wikimedia Commons. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Today is World Refugee Day and if the numbers released by the UNHCR today tell us anything, more action and new approaches are urgently needed to address the needs of the rapidly growing globally displaced population. While religion is often consider marginal in discussions about the displacement crisis, in today’s post Erin Wilson argues that the ways in which we think about the religious and the secular, the public and the private, neutrality and partiality are entangled in and, in part, productive of elements of contemporary approaches to protection.
It’s official. The world is experiencing a crisis of displacement and protection on a scale not seen since World War Two. On World Refugee Day, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees released its annual report, outlining that by the end of 2013, 51.2million people had been forcibly displaced, 6 million more than at the end of 2012. For the first time since the end of World War Two and the establishment of the UNHCR and international refugee law, global displacement exceeded 50 million.
As the report outlines, multiple conflicts and violent unrest are contributing to this displacement crisis. The civil war in Syria is the primary culprit, creating 2.5 million refugees and a further 6.5 million internally displaced persons. Yet in the last year, the conflicts in the Central African Republic and South Sudan have also contributed to this huge increase in the numbers of people needing protection.[1] With recent developments in Iraq, it looks like this number is set to increase again by the end of 2014.
Last month, the University of Groningen’s CRCPD[2], the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent and the ISIM[3] and the Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University coordinated the first of two workshops in Washington DC, funded by the British Council USA, on the role of faith in this global displacement crisis. Participants in the workshop came from academic, government, practitioner and advocate backgrounds and organizations. Religion is not a topic that often features in discussions of the global displacement crisis and when it does, it is usually in one of two forms – either as one of the driving factors of conflict and violence that forces people to flee and become displaced, or as one of the key sources of assistance for refugees through faith-based organizations that provide relief and support for refugees and asylum seekers in camps and in resettlement countries.
What emerged in our discussions in Washington, however, is that religion’s role in displacement is far more complex. Understanding the relationship between the religious, the secular and global displacement requires deep reflection, conceptual innovation and ongoing collaboration across academia, policy and practice. While it is undoubtedly the case that religious beliefs, worldviews, institutions and organizations do contribute to global displacement dynamics as both a cause of flight and a source of comfort and support, these are not the only ways. Casting religion’s role in displacement in only these two avenues buys into the “good religion, bad religion” narrative that has become a common place of contemporary politics in the aftermath of the Cold War and especially September 11.[4] “Good religion” contributes to global (secular) human rights standards, justice, compassion and upholding human dignity; “bad religion” creates intolerance, exclusion, violence and chaos. Yet such simplistic black and white categorizations obscure complex dynamics of power and exclusion that are embedded within the discourses and frameworks that we use to talk about contemporary, state-centric global politics. In fact, I would argue that the religious/secular divide that we have become so familiar with, that is so embedded and ingrained in the national and global political structures through which we live our lives, is also centrally significant and normatively productive in the realm of asylum and refugee issues. If we are to effectively address problems and gaps in our current approaches to asylum, protection, refugees and asylum seekers, scholars, policy makers, practitioners and advocates, particularly in the West, must move beyond this tendency to divide the world into secular, public spheres and religious, private spheres. Indeed, we must become more conscious, careful and deliberate, sensitive to contextual specificities of culture, politics, economics, time and space in the ways in which we define, speak of and about the religious and the secular, including in relation to the global problem of displacement.
This may seem a strange argument to make at first. After all, the terms “religious” and “secular” are not the first that immediately come to mind when thinking about issues related to asylum, refugees and displacement. We think of this as a primarily political or humanitarian problem, one that is only, if at all, marginally related to the more conceptual problems of defining exactly what “religion” and “secularism” are. It does not take much, however, to see that many of the categories and terms through which we think about and govern processes of providing protection in contemporary politics, the voices, knowledges and experiences that are included and excluded, are in many ways produced by normative discourses of religion and secularism, articulated and reinforced by actors of all and no traditional faith-based affiliations. These discourses privilege the secular as neutral, universal and inclusive, positioning the religious as subjective, particular and exclusive, thereby subordinating religious worldviews and frameworks to secular ones.[5]
The secular/religious divide is entangled with the public/private divide. In the largely Euro/Western-centric political imaginations that continue to dominate global politics, the secular belongs to the public, the religious belongs to the private. Participants in the first Faith and Asylum workshop discussed how religious belief is privatized in humanitarian discourses. There is a willingness to acknowledge diversity of beliefs, worldviews, cultures and lifestyles, but only on the surface. “It’s fine for you to believe that and live your life by those beliefs, just keep it to yourself.” This privatization of belief has contributed to a marginalization of faith, spirituality and faith-based perspectives in humanitarianism and to what participants described as “an instrumentalization of the religious assets of FBOs” – utilizing volunteer and fundraising networks that FBOs often have through their faith communities, for example, or the influence the religious leaders can frequently have in local communities, without engaging deeply, seriously and respectfully with their core beliefs. Indeed, many FBOs themselves talk down or exclude their faith commitments when working in humanitarianism and refugee and asylum seeker support. Some scholars and practitioners will argue that this is a good thing, because it reduces the possibilities for proselytizing and the exploitation of vulnerable people by religious groups eager for converts. While this is indeed a danger to be wary of, this view fails to recognize that secularism and secular worldviews can be just as normative, biased and exclusionary as religious ones.[6] As one of our participants pointed out, faith doesn’t have to be religious, it can be “making the world a better place”, whatever you understand a “better place” to mean. Secular humanitarianism is its own kind of faith.[7]
There is a real fear amongst practitioners, policymakers and scholars of partiality in humanitarianism, especially emanating from religious actors working in this sector, and an almost ideological insistence on neutrality and objectivity, which they believe is achieved through secularism. Yet as the workshop participants and scholars such as Michael Barnet and Janice Gross Stein,[8] Benjamin Berger,[9] Elizabeth Shakman Hurd,[10] Luca Mavelli and Fabio Petito[11] and many others[12] are highlighting, the supposed neutrality and objectivity of secularism is in fact a highly particular set of worldviews and assumptions emanating from a very specific cultural, historical, political and economic context. It may in fact be more problematic to insist on the veneer of neutrality and objectivity, since this to some extent encourages the suppression or ignoring of particular normative views and assumptions, rather than openly acknowledging and then critically self-reflecting on how our own deeply held beliefs and assumptions, regardless of whether they emanate from religious, philosophical, political or ideological traditions, affect our ideas and actions.
This privatization and exclusion of religious belief is entangled with an additional problem noted by the participants in our workshop – the exclusion or marginalization of refugee and asylum seeker voices themselves. What do asylum seekers and refugees themselves want to see occurring in responses to displacement and protection? How do they themselves see the role of faith and faith-based organisations in these processes? What role would they like faith and faith-based organisations to have in the provision of protection? It is not an insignificant point that the vast majority of the world’s refugee population come from regions of the world where there are no clear distinctions between secular and religious and public and private, where these categories and divisions do not really make sense at all. To assume that secular models of politics and analysis are somehow superior to or “more developed than” worldviews that do not make this distinction is not only incredibly arrogant but also runs the risk of replicating the errors of imperial colonial thinking and the assumptions of modernization theory, now decried by many development scholars and practitioners.
Yet, in the dominant Western/Euro-centric political imagination, the secular is frequently associated with development and modernity, while religion is in general considered backward and pre-modern, if it is even considered at all. In global institutions that have largely emerged from Western political powers and structures, such assumptions are implicit, entangled with ongoing inequalities and power imbalances left over from the colonial era. The secular/religious divide is part of this production of power imbalances that contribute to silencing alternative (non-Western) perspectives on global problems, including the global displacement crisis, and may in part contribute to the exclusion of the voices of displaced and marginalized people themselves. As such, we must be very careful about excluding worldviews that take seriously the spiritual, metaphysical, supernatural and transcendent, in which these dimensions of the human experience are not partitioned off from the rest of life but are deeply embedded and entangled with daily realities. Such exclusions devalue the ways of thinking and being of vast sections of the global population, silencing their voices in what must be global conversations.
The need to recognize the diversity of thinking in relation to the place of religion, faith, spirituality, the metaphysical and transcendental – however you wish to describe it – in the daily lived experiences of different individuals and communities around the world is perhaps most acute in the realm of displacement and protection. This is because it is in displacement and protection that the multiple perspectives intersect on the ground in daily lived realities. Multiple local and culturally specific worldviews meet and intersect with one another, alongside grand overarching narratives and structures related to state power, globalization and cosmopolitan global civil society. Different “locals” intersect at the same time as different “nationals” and “globals”. The personal local perspective of a Somali refugee who has been resettled in the United States, Australia or the Netherlands, for example, intersects with the personal local perspectives of the white American/Australian/Dutch volunteer or advocate (or security guard or politician) that they encounter through their application and resettlement process. These worldviews will differ from time to time with regard to what a legitimate cause for flight is, what place religious narratives, worldviews and actors should have in these application and resettlement processes, whilst being overlaid with global discussions, norms, laws and institutions. Making space for diversity of worldviews, beliefs and experiences, on an array of issues, not just in relation to the religious and the secular, is critical in generating greater political and social openness and willingness to work together to respond to the challenge of displacement.
One practical way for creating this space for diversity that our workshop participants suggested is to train security guards, politicians, policy makers and practitioners to be sensitive and open to spirituality. Contributors to the workshop noted that the faith-based experiences of refugees and asylum seekers often go ignored or unaddressed by practitioners, and yet spirituality can be a central component of how refugees and asylum seekers make sense of their own journey and in facilitating the resettlement process. As such, this greater sensitivity would significantly alter the current experiences of displaced persons. Other more practical suggestions that workshop participants had included involving FBOs directly in the adjudication process for asylum seekers and encouraging greater power and responsibility sharing across government and organisations in the humanitarian sector, from multiple and no faith backgrounds.
A last critical observation for all who are engaged in and affected by the plight of displaced people – Language matters. Most of us are already aware of this. We know that labeling someone an “illegal immigrant” or “boat person” dehumanizes them, whereas highlighting their dignity and their humanity through acknowledging their situation, referring to their family relationships or even by using their name has the power to create connection and empathy. How the media, politicians, activists, scholars and practitioners frame these issues matter.
Several scholars have argued that emphasizing the moral responsibility aspects of the asylum and displacement crisis have little to no effect in altering attitudes amongst the broader population towards refugees and asylum seekers.[13] One of the workshop participants from the Public Religion Research Institute shared the results of a recent poll they took, which showed that, while religious organisations have been emphasising their traditions of “welcoming the stranger” in relation to asylum seekers and refugees, this approach has far less impact than approaches that emphasize shared human experiences – keeping families together, protecting and defending human dignity,[14] and showing that rather than being a threat to security or a drain on the economy, refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants of all kinds enrich our societies, through sharing their experiences, their cultures, their skills, through hard work and innovation, through engagement and participation. This is an important insight for faith-based organisations who may also have a tendency to reinforce and emphasise the religious/secular divide in their campaigning and advocacy.
Displacement is a huge challenge, one that has real, immediate, life and death consequences for individuals, families and communities. It is not something we are going to solve in an instant or perhaps even ever. But the current record high numbers of people requiring protection suggests that perhaps we need to start thinking about and responding to displacement differently. One place to start is in through addressing more explicitly embedded implicit assumptions in our global political structures, such as the religious/secular distinction. Perhaps rather than worrying about religious vs secular, partiality vs neutrality, public vs private, we must encourage diversity, deep openness, respect and engagement with different worldviews, space for previously marginalized voices and perspectives and acknowledge of our own biases and assumptions. Perhaps most importantly, we need to create the space to identify our shared experiences as human beings, not regardless of where we come from and how different we are, but with an abiding interest in and awareness of the immense diversity that characterises our global community.
Erin Wilson is the Director of the Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen. Together with Luca Mavelli from the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, and Elzbieta Gozdziak from ISIM, Georgetown University, she has been involved in organizing two workshops on faith and asylum, funded by the British Council USA. The first workshop took place in Washington DC, 1-2 May, with support from Katherine Marshall at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. The second workshop will take place in Brussels at the end of next week, 26-27 June.
[1] http://www.unhcr.org/53a155bc6.html
[2] Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies
[3] Institute for the Study of International Migration
[4] E.S. Hurd. 2012. “International Politics after Secularism” Review of International Studies. 38(5): 943-961
[5] Some religious organisations and traditions will privilege their particular tradition as right and true over and above the secular and all other religious traditions, but nonetheless they still enforce the boundaries between the religious and the secular.
[6] Luca Mavelli and Fabio Petito. 2012. “The Postsecular in International Politics: An Overview” Review of International Studies, vol. 38, no. 5, p931
[7] Michael Barnett and Janice Gross Stein, 2012. “Introduction: the Secularization and Sanctification of Humanitarianism” in Barnett, Michael and Janice Gross Stein (eds). Sacred Aid: Faith and Humanitarianism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press
[8] Barnett and Stein, Sacred Aid
[9] B. L. Berger. “Law’s Religion: Rendering Culture” Osgoode Hall Law Journal vol. 45, no. 2 (2007), 277-314
[10] Hurd, “International Politics”
[11] Mavelli and Petito, “The Postsecular in International Politics”
[12] See, for example, Talal Asad, 2003. Formations of the Secular. Stanford: Stanford University Press;Jose Casanova. Casanova, José. 2009. ‘The Secular and Secularisms’ Social Research 76(4): 1049–66. Casanova, José. 2006a. ‘Rethinking Secularization: A Global Comparative” The Hedgehog Review 8(1-2): 7-22; C.J. Eberle. 2003. Religious Conviction in Liberal Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Cecelia Lynch, 2003. “Dogma, Praxis and Religious Perspectives onMulticulturalism” in Petito, F and P. Hatzopolous (eds). Religion in International Relations: The Return from Exile. Basingstoke: Palgrave; E.K. Wilson, 2012. After Secularism: Rethinking Religion in Global Politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave
[13] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-16/crowe-asylum-seeker-campaign-strategies/4892374
[14] http://publicreligion.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2013-Religion-Values-and-Immigration-Reform-Survey-Topline1.pdf pp18-19
Tags: international relations, secularism, displacement, modernity, migration, definitions of religion, humanitarianism, religion, statelessness
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The Religion Factor features pieces by scholars of politics, religion, and secularism(s) in the contemporary world.
To pitch an article, contact our editor, Dr Méadhbh McIvor.
The Religion Factor is an initiative of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen, coordinated by fellows and students affiliated with the Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalization. We use our expertise to reflect on religion as an element of public life and welcome contributions from other scholars eager to engage in conversation around this theme. The Religion Factor provides a platform for scholarly analysis alongside reflection, discussion and exchange.
We want to create a post-secular space where people can be clear about their religious or non-religious identity, whether secular, atheist, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jedi – and every other perspective besides. (What do we mean by post-secular space? Check out our first blog post.)
Our goal is to write about religion in a way that is inquisitive, socially relevant, thought-provoking and maybe even a little bit revolutionary.
Join us for an experiment in post-secular public debate.
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In My Feelings Music Video Will Keep The Song Alive
By Pseudonym Smynoduesp Edited By Bruce Jones
August 5, 2018 Pseudonym Smynoduesp
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After weeks of listening to “In My Feelings” on repeat and watching celebrities and friends do the dance challenge, there is finally a music video for this record-breaking song. It’s time to watch this video nonstop. Eventually, Kiki will answer the question.
“In My Feelings” was originally released with Drake’s newest studio album Scorpion on June 29. The dance challenge which was created by comedian Shiggy became viral a couple weeks after.
The song has also been the number one track on the Billboard Hot 100 for the past three weeks and will probably continue to reign dominance over the charts for more weeks to come thanks to its music video.
Personally, I can still listen to this song on repeat indefinitely and not get tired of it for a while (that beat though). However, I am sure there must be a few people who are getting a little tired of this song due to its massive popularity.
I call this phase in the hit lifespan of “In My Feelings” as the meh-hmmm point, This is when people still like listening to the song but are on that line of getting tired of it a little.
I imagine even if “In My Feelings” had a slight drop in popularity, it would still be number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video though will now lengthen its hold. As I write this, the music video is the number one trending video on YouTube.
I believe it is very possible for “In My Feelings” to maintain its position for the rest of the month. The video was also released Thursday night. This exact timing will help the song’s popularity as the charts are recorded for this weekend.
One must also remember that this song does have competition. No, it’s not Cardi B but the new DJ Khaled fueled collaboration song “No Brainer.” It features all the artists (except Lil Wayne) who played a role in last summer’s hit song “I’m the One.”
Coincidentally, Lil Wayne plays a role in the success of “In My Feelings” as the song samples his hit song “Lollipop.”
“No Brainer” is sure to premiere very high on the Billboard Hot 100. However, due to the “In My Feelings” music video, it won’t easily take down the current champion of the charts.
It will be interesting to see how long “In My Feelings” remains on top of its competition. Meanwhile, I’m about to rewatch its music video again and again.
ENTERTAINMENT, Musicbillboard hot 100, Chance the Rapper, DJ Khaled, Drake, In My Feelings, Justin Bieber, No Brainer
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The National League MVP Race is Completely Wide-Open »
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Sandy set to go ‘aroond in circles’ for fundraiser
0 comments, 21/10/2016 , by Ryan Taylor, in News
He has already been behind a host of fundraising adventures on the mainland, but Sandy Peterson will be staying closer to home when he takes on his latest mad-cap adventure in aid of Disability Shetland.
But the walk will come as the charity faces continued uncertainty over its future because of a shortfall in funding.
Sandy raised cash this year when he completed the West Highland Way. He now aims to walk a five mile circuit round Lerwick – at least four times.
The 73-year-old has set himself a £2,000 target for the walk, which will take place on Saturday 29th October.
He has praised people for their generosity, and insisted the charity would probably no longer exist if it were not for the willingness among people to donate.
Sandy plans to begin his first circuit at 9am, followed by others at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.
His route will start at the Market Cross, before going past the Lodberrie to the Knab, along the shore to Clickimin, up Staney Hill, down the Old North Road and back to the Market Cross.
Sandy has become something of a fundraising regular for his favoured charity. Speaking to this newspaper, he said he was looking forward to the challenge – although he ruefully noted his route would take him past the Gilbert Bain Hospital, as well as the grave yard.
“The last few things we’ve done have tended to be outside of Shetland,” he said.
“We did the West Highland Way, then we had friends Iain Robinson and his son Ben who climbed Kilimanjaro in August, and Wilma Sim, one of our trustees, did the Glasgow half marathon.”
This time he will be joined for parts of the route by children from the Disability Shetland Saturday Club, together with their leaders and volunteers.
“The good thing about doing it on a Saturday is we will be able to connect with the Saturday Club. I’m hoping the bairns will be able to take part.”
It is major fundraising events such as this which provide Disability Shetland with much of the money it needs to survive.
Sandy says the charity, which has recently been let down by major funding operators like the lottery fund and Children in Need, only has sufficient funds to see it possibly through to the beginning of the next financial year.
“We probably have enough money to last us into the New Year and maybe to the beginning of the next financial year, but beyond that we don’t ken what’s happening.”
He says the greatest support from outside the isles has actually come from the Scottish government.
Sandy says he enjoys walking, although he admits struggling to keep up with his wife when out for a stroll.
“I ken I can do one circuit or two, the third one will be hard and on the fourth one I’ll be just keeping it going, because I’ll be embarrassed if I don’t do what I set out to do.
“My route goes past the hospital, which might be quite handy, although it also goes past the grave yard.”
Joking apart, Sandy says he has seen firsthand the value parents of children with disabilities see in the charity.
“I’ve just finished doing a holiday club today, and I can see the appreciation parents have for it,” he said.
“It’s the folk we work for – the folk we are concerned about – and that’s how it should be.”
He praised people’s generosity, and stressed they had always been willing to dig deep to help the charity.
“The Shetland public have been terrific. If it were not for the Shetland public, the charity would probably not be going now.
“I feel guilty about continuing to ask them for help, but they don’t seem to mind.”
Anyone wanting to join Sandy on the day can just turn up at the Market Cross, be checked in and have their laps counted and lap times recorded. If they want, they can get sponsor forms from Market House or by contacting him on 01806 577 321 or peterson@skelberry.shetland.co.uk
• To donate to Sandy’s fundraiser visit: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/disability-shetland/circles
Disability Shetland
Sandy Peterson
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Scott Dodson Guest
Posted Tue, February 28th, 2012 10:46 am
Argument recap: Disregarding a state’s litigation decisions on habeas
Posted Tue, February 28th, 2012 10:46 am by Scott Dodson
Yesterday the Court heard oral arguments in Wood v. Milyard. The issue in the case is whether, when a state neither challenges nor concedes the timeliness of a state habeas petition, an appellate court can raise and decide the issue on its own.
Three primary themes ran throughout the oral argument.
The first theme was a focus on power and discretion. Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed Assistant Federal Public Defender Kathleen A. Lord, arguing on behalf of petitioner Patrick Wood, on the difference between appellate power and discretion. Justice Sotomayor asked whether the state’s conduct circumscribed the power of the court of appeals or whether the state’s conduct was just a factor in how the court of appeals exercised its discretion. Ms. Lord responded that the state’s conduct amounted to a deliberate waiver and thus circumscribed the authority of the court of appeals to raise the issue again on its own. Colorado Solicitor General Daniel D. Domenico, arguing on behalf of the state, naturally disagreed. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia seemed to agree with him that the state’s conduct did not deprive the court of appeals of the power to exercise discretion. But Justices Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer seemed more receptive to the idea that party conduct can constrain both the power and the discretion of a court of appeals.
A second theme was on the meaning of the two key precedential cases of Granberry v. Greer and Day v. McDonough. In Granberry, the Supreme Court allowed a state to raise a habeas exhaustion defense for the first time on appeal, even though the state had forfeited the defense in the district court. And, in Day, the Supreme Court allowed a district court to raise, on its own, the same habeas limitations defense at issue in Wood.
Justice Kagan was the first to point out that these cases, taken together, could create a problem for Wood, particularly because Day drew upon Granberry in suggesting that the habeas exhaustion defense and the habeas limitations defense were two peas in a pod. Ms. Lord responded in several ways. She distinguished Granberry as a case that did not involve sua sponte actions by the court; in that case, the state in fact raised the exhaustion issue (for the first time on appeal). She also argued that exhaustion is different than limitations because although a limitations period denies relief, exhaustion just delays it. Finally, Ms. Lord distinguished Day as a case that allowed the court to ensure that the state really wanted to let the limitations defense go.
Later, Justice Kagan acknowledged that the precedent had a gap; although Granberry and Day together will get the state “most of the way there,” the “one difference is that here there was sua sponte decision by the Court; whereas, in even the combination of Granberry and Day, it was a party that raised it, although the party raised it late. So why should that difference not matter?” Assistant to the Solicitor General Melissa Arbus Sherry, arguing on behalf of the federal government as amicus curiae in support of the state, responded that habeas proceedings imbue courts with greater screening authority, so party presentation holds relatively low value. Justices Scalia and Alito seemed to agree that waiver, forfeiture, and inherent-authority rules ought to be different in the habeas context.
Justice Ginsburg, the author of Day (and the possible author of Wood), also distinguished the case. In Day, the district court noticed the state’s computation error and brought it to the state’s attention, then allowed the state to revive its forfeited limitations defense. That was a permissible exercise of the trial judge’s discretion. But Wood, Justice Ginsburg remarked, is “so different” because the state timely acknowledged the availability of the defense but deliberately refused to pursue it. In her view, the state’s conduct was not the kind of negligent oversight at issue in Day. It was an affirmative representation that the state was relinquishing the right to assert the timeliness defense.
The third theme of the oral argument flows from the second: how to characterize the state’s conduct in this case. Justices Sotomayor and Alito both asked Ms. Lord whether knowing silence would be forfeiture or waiver. At one point, Ms. Lord appeared to concede that deliberate silence would not deprive the appellate court of authority to decide the issue on its own. However, Ms. Lord argued that this case was different because the state acknowledged the issue and affirmatively declined to pursue it.
The Justices seemed to appreciate the difference between a litigant’s substantive right to a limitations-based dismissal and the litigant’s procedural right to raise the limitations defense in a motion, and they all seemed to understand that the state only gave up the latter. Justice Breyer, however, suggested that the two merge when a court apprises the litigant of its procedural right, but the litigant deliberately refuses to exercise it.
Mr. Domenico maintained that a waiver must be “unequivocal and clear,” but several Justices – including Justices Sotomayor, Breyer, Kagan, and Ginsburg – seemed to buy Ms. Lord’s characterization of the state’s conduct as a deliberate waiver.
Justice Breyer, for example, told Mr. Domenico that according to Black’s Law Dictionary, “it seems like you lose.” Forfeiture, he said, is the loss of a right, which might fit the fact pattern of Day. But waiver, Justice Breyer continued, is the voluntary relinquishment of a right, and by acknowledging and refusing to press the right, Colorado waived it in this case.
Justice Breyer then posited a hypothetical: say the state just forgets and the court tells the state it hasn’t raised the limitations defense in a timely fashion. Then, Justice Breyer continued, the state responds one of three ways: (1) oops, my mistake, I’d like to raise it now; (2) I don’t care; or (3) I don’t want to raise it. Justice Breyer suggested that the first is a forfeiture covered by Day, but the third is a waiver presented by this case. (He didn’t say how he would characterize the second response.)
Justice Kagan also pressed the state, saying that the state was “saying something considerably more” than what was allowed in Day. When a state gets up after an inquiry by the court and affirmatively disavows the argument, she noted, “that’s unequivocal to me.”
Justice Scalia, who asked only a few questions, seemed more interested in the practical issue at stake: whether a court of appeals could raise the habeas limitations issue on its own. In his view, if the Court instead had to decide whether to characterize the state’s conduct in this case as waiver or forfeiture, then he would prefer to dismiss the writ as improvidently granted because that decision was too fact-bound to justify certiorari review.
Notably, a few issues from the briefs received little airtime during oral argument. First, and perhaps most interesting, no Justice questioned the advocates about the distinction that Ms. Lord drew in her brief between district-court authority and appellate-court authority to exercise sua sponte power. That distinction formed a major part of her opening brief on the merits and relied in part on the cases of Kontrick and Eberhart, neither of which was mentioned during oral argument. It appears the Justices were persuaded by the state’s argument that those cases were too far afield as non-habeas, true-forfeiture cases. Second, although Ms. Lord attempted to explain why the state may have been strategic in its conduct, the Justices were disinclined to guess at the meaning of the state’s cryptic position in the trial court. Third, the Justices did not engage the parties’ briefs about the normative benefits of their respective rules; policy took a back seat. Fourth, the Justices showed little interest in whether, if the court of appeals had discretion to consider the issue, the it properly exercised or abused that discretion.
Three additional points are worth mentioning. First, neither Justice Clarence Thomas nor Justice Anthony Kennedy asked a question. Second, although Justice Sotomayor used the term “power” at times, no Justice fell into a trap about whether the court of appeals had or lacked “jurisdiction” to decide the issue. Third, Mr. Domenico’s sole citation for the proposition that waiver must be “unequivocal and clear” was College Savings Bank, which elucidated the standard for a state’s waiver of its sovereign immunity. As I wrote in my preview, the decision in Wood could affect the waivability doctrine of state sovereign immunity.
Posted in Wood v. Milyard, Featured, Merits Cases
Recommended Citation: Scott Dodson, Argument recap: Disregarding a state’s litigation decisions on habeas, SCOTUSblog (Feb. 28, 2012, 10:46 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2012/02/argument-recap-disregarding-a-state%e2%80%99s-litigation-decisions-on-habeas/
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Dennis Stansfield
28 // 25 May 2019, 08:48 IST
Memorial Day weekend is often regarded as the best weekend in motorsports. It all kicks off Sunday morning with Formula One’s Grand Prix of Monaco, followed by the Indianapolis 500 in that afternoon, and finishing off with NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600. The Indy 500 is usually the best race of the three, but in 2011 both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 had amazing finishes, filled with triumph and heartbreak.
In the Indianapolis 500, defending winner Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Alex Tagliani and Oriol Servia were the dominant cars at the beginning of the race, as they swapped the lead amongst themselves.
On Lap 164, Franchitti and J.R. Hilldebrand came into the pits to top of their fuel in hopes of making it to the finish. As the race was coming to its conclusion, it was clear the winner would be either Franchitti, Hildebrand or Bertrand Baquette who were trying to make it to the end on fuel, or Dixon or Dan Wheldon who were good on fuel, but far behind.
Hildebrand took the lead with three laps to go and seemed on his way to winning the race in his rookie season. On the final lap, coming into Turn 4, Hildebrand went high to avoid a lapped car but made contact with the wall allowing Wheldon to pass him for the win. Tragically, this would be Wheldon’s final win as he was killed in a vicious crash in the season finale race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway later that year.
Fast forward a few hours later to the Coca Cola 600. The race was an action-packed one, as there were 14 cautions and 38 lead changes between 19 different drivers. Matt Kenseth led the most laps with a total of 103. The action really begins on Lap 396 as Jimmie Johnson blows his engine which led to the infamous Chad Knaus F-bomb. Kasey Kahne and several others stayed out in hopes of making it to the finish on fuel.
On the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead and pulled away, but ran out of gas heading into turn 4 on the final lap, handing the lead and victory to Kevin Harvick.
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springbig: the latest leader in marijuana marketing
August 5, 2017 | Javier hasse
Back in April, Benzinga shared an interview with Joel Milton, CEO of Baker Technologies, one of the largest VC-backed cannabis companies in the U.S. The firm offers a customer engagement platform designed for marijuana dispensaries and brands, often dubbed “the salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) of pot.”
Are there any real contenders in the space?
We reached out to SpringBig cofounder and CEO Jeff Harris, a veteran in the marketing space, and asked him to walk us through the business, the products and the returns on investment.
SpringBig
SpringBig is a software-as-a-service marketing platform that seeks to provide small businesses with the tools they need to create their own loyalty rewards programs, communicate with customers, and drive clients into their stores. At first, the product was aimed at “mom and pop” operations like yogurt shops, coffee shops, hair salons and the like.
Related Link: A Cannabis Wonderland? This Company Bought A Whole Town In California To Create A Marijuana Tourism Destination
But, as SpringBig grew, the management team noticed the clients that used the platform the most were medical marijuana dispensaries. So, at the end of 2016, they decided to pivot to focusing solely on the cannabis industry, adapting their platform exclusively for these kinds of businesses. The firm services 90 dispensary locations and has roughly 100,000 cannabis consumers in its database.
“We are primarily providing loyalty rewards and visual communication services to medical and recreational cannabis retailers,” Harris told Benzinga. “We are growing very fast and very excited about what we are doing. We feel like the service we are offering is a service that retailers need.
“Another thing I like about our business is that, since we are operating in the marketing space, we don’t have to focus and worry about state-by-state regulations. This gives us a lot of freedom to work with stores, wherever they are.”
While Baker is often cited as SpringBig’s main competitor, their business models differ. Unlike Baker, SpringBig doesn't provide white-label e-commerce support, remaining solely focused on the marketing side. “This allows us to create a lot more partnerships,” Harris added.
In addition, SpringBig doesn't require that its customers sign pre-established contracts or pay a minimum fee. Instead, companies sign up and pay for each SMS they send to their customers.
Why use text messages to market a product?
According to Harris, 99 percent of text messages are opened, versus 20 percent for emails. And, the average time for an SMS to get opened is 4 minutes, compared to two days for an email.
Crunching The Numbers
Based on some case studies, SpringBig has concluded that, on average, its clients recuperate the value of a yearly contract within four weeks, said marketing director Natalie Shaul. “In four weeks they’ll see about a 20 percent lift in sales, per campaign,” she said.
Harris said SpringBig's clients have said they get between 20 an 50 additional visitors to their store when they run a campaign.
“So, our most successful stores are texting at least 5 times a week. This proves it works; it’s a very inexpensive way to market.”
Related Link: This Compostable Cannabis-Infused Coffee Pod Maker Is All About Social Impact
The company aims at ending the year with more than 200 locations and $1 million in revenue. Harris says it seems like they're on track to hitting their target — and expect sales of $5 million in 2018. The company also plans to white-label its software for other firms to license, and has recently closed large partnerships with Dispensarly, often called “the Yelp Inc (NYSE: YELP) of the cannabis industry.”
SpringBig is focused on getting dispensaries into a customer’s Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone or Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) devices, Harris said.
“When you get access to a consumer’s smartphone, you have jumped a level of intimacy between yourself and that customer beyond email and other kinds of marketing."
SpringBig has already raised $2 million in seed capital, and is now conducting a $2 million Series A round, which is expected to close by the end of November.
Read the full article here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meet-springbig-leader-marijuana-marketing-183108075.html
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Future University
It's time to fight for the Internet, says WWW creator
By Mike Moore 2019-07-10T13:20:17Z Internet
Just don’t be nasty, says founder of the World Wide Web
(Image credit: OpenText)
The inventor of the World Wide Web has said that social media and fake news are helping lead to the downfall of the online space as we know it.
Speaking as part of the opening keynote at OpenText Enterprise World in Toronto, Sir Tim Berners-Lee described how he built the World Wide Web, and how he and his team could never have envisaged how it could have grown.
But he also raised concerns about how companies, governments and other institutions could maliciously use the Internet in order to drive humanity apart and create discord.
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“The Web isn’t perfect,” Sir Tim Bernes-Lee said during his speech, “We want people to use the web in a positive way.”
“Be creative, be constructive. Build communities that respect civil rights and dignity. Don’t be nasty - it's that simple.”
Berners-Lee took particular aim at the power of social media sites, referencing the recent Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandal and how that particular social network could affect society as a whole.
Noting how “fake news” scams had helped polarise opinions across the world, making people click on obviously false stories out of curiosity, he bemoaned how the “unintended consequences” of growing social networks may have helped bring many of us closer together, but also driven us further apart.
“The world is a certain amount more nasty and more divided thanks to a certain social network,” he said. “These are the things we didn’t think about back in 1969.”
Berners-Lee referenced TV smash hit Black Mirror as “a flag itself” for the negative effects technology is having on our everyday lives, stating that, “we need to keep working until Black Mirror is not a thing - we need to build a ‘White Mirror’, helping to build something constructive...things like the personal power we felt when we were bloggers.”
“When you're worried about all the things that could go wrong, it's easy to focus on this - but let's not...the Internet started off utopian, but now it looks like it's going a bit more dystopian.”
(Image credit: Future/Mike Moore)
Going forward, Berners-Lee urged Internet users to go out and fight for the future of the Internet, harking back to the days of political protest he saw when developing the Web.
“We ask people to fight for the web,” he said, “because the governments and the industry will get together and try to get the policy and technology right.”
“But every now and again they slip up, go in the wrong direction...at the end of the day, citizens are the only people that hold governments or people accountable.”
“The web is bigger than you, and we must analyse it and make sure it behaves as it should.”
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TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
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Blog Watch Haven Season 3 Episode 2 Online
Watch Haven Season 3 Episode 2 Online
Each week, as the town-peoples’ dormant powers begin to express themselves, Audrey will try to keep these supernatural forces at bay while unraveling the many mysteries of Haven - including one surrounding her own surprising past in this extraordinary place. Watch Haven Season 3 Episode 2 Online and be one of them to investigate the case. Last week Episode "301", no other name was given to it, begins where episode 212, Sins of the Fathers, left off: Audrey Parker is missing and Nathan Wuornos is fighting with Duke Crocker in the belief that Duke is connected to Audrey's disappearance. They stop when all metal objects in the cabin of Duke's boat are drawn to the ceiling. Duke takes the opportunity to convince Nathan he's been framed. Audrey is tied to a post in a cellar and interrogated by a dark figure asking about the Colorado Kid. Stay is the second episode of the third season of the supernatural American/Canadian television series Haven. It is to be aired on SyFy on September 28. Barbarians run amok in the streets of Haven, and it's up to Audrey and Nathan to bring the situation under control.
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Terra taps star architect Renzo Piano for NoBe condo Eighty Seven Park
July 24, 2015 | South Florida Business Journal
Terra Group’s Eighty Seven Park condo project, on the north end of Miami Beach, exemplifies what the developer is all about: bold design by a star architect, luxury over density, and incorporating a building with its environment.
The Miami-based developer and partners Bizzi & Partners Development and New Valley LLC hired Pritzker Prize-Winning architect Renzo Piano to design the 68-unit, 18-story condominium at 8701 Collins Ave. The Italian’s work includes the Morgan Library in New York City, the NEMO science museum in Amsterdam, the expansion of the Art Institute of Chicago, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, the New York Times Building and the Shard in London. This will be his first project in Florida.
The site is on the ocean and the north side of North Shore Open Space Park, which Terra Group President David Martin considers one of the project’s most attractive features.
“The views are not only of the ocean, but of the nature.” he said.
Piano designed Eighty Seven Park with suspended decks to take advantage of both viewpoints and not to block the public view of the ocean.
Terra Group bought a 230-room hotel there and could have added an additional 100 units. Instead, it opted for a lower density, but with larger spaces, upscale amenities and service that will be modeled after a hotel, Martin said.
“North Beach has a very bohemian atmosphere,” Martin said. “It has great juice bars, great restaurants. It has the feeling Miami Beach had 10 or 20 years ago, and it hasn’t been commercialized. When we bought the property, we were considering building a high-density hotel or condo. We decided to go in line with our philosophy of low density.”
The developer also contributed $10.5 million to the city for improvements at the neighboring park, including a beach walk and public access to the ocean from 87th Street. Residents of Eighty Seven Park will have a private 2-acre park and a botanical garden.
Martin said he’s close to launching sales for Eighty Seven Park after getting strong interest from potential buyers. Douglas Elliman will be broker. Units will average 2,500 square feet. Prices haven’t been determined.
Terra Group has a handful of projects moving forward, all aimed at the luxury market. The Grove at Grand Bay in Coconut Grove is sold out and will be delivered in the fourth quarter, while the neighboring Park Grove – a joint venture with the related Group – is under construction, Martin said. Miami Beach’s Glass is a month from completion and sold out. Atlantic 15 in Sunny Isles Beach is almost finished. The modern Doral single family home community will begin closings in August, while the Botaniko neighborhood in Weston should deliver its first homes in the first half of 2016. Its Doral Commons retail center should open in the fourth quarter.
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California’s Nurse-Patient Ratio Law Improves Safety
By Roy Maurer May 19, 2015
Researchers have concluded that California’s law governing minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios improves safety for nurses.
The results were published in the May 2015 issue of the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health.
California is the only state with such a law, which went into effect in 2004. “The ratios vary depending on the type of hospital service but are in the range of one nurse for every five patients,” said J. Paul Leigh, Ph.D., a professor in the department of public health sciences and the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research at the University of California Davis School of Medicine, and one of the authors of the research study.
Leigh and his colleagues used the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey collects annual data on nonfatal injuries and illnesses from 150,000 to 200,000 companies. The researchers selected injury and illness data from 1999 to 2009 and combined it with data on hospital employment in California and the rest of the U.S. “We applied the ‘difference-in-differences’ method whereby the change in injury and illness rates before and after implementation of the law within California were compared to changes in injury rates for the same time period in the 49 other states and D.C. combined,” Leigh said.
They found that:
The California staffing mandate was associated with 55.57 fewer occupational injuries and illnesses per 10,000 registered nurses per year, which represents a 32 percent drop from the expected rate without the law, based on injury and illness rates before the law was enacted.
The estimated reduction in injury and illness rates for licensed practical nurses was 38 percent.
“While the data don’t tell us why the rates went down, the improved staffing ratios could lower rates of injuries and illnesses to nurses in a number of ways,” said Leigh. “For example, back and shoulder injuries could be prevented, if more nurses were available to help with repositioning patients in bed. Likewise, fewer needle-stick injuries may occur if nurses conducted blood draws and other procedures in a less time-pressured manner.”
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South Shropshire
South Shropshire >
Bishop's Castle
Leintwardine
Tenbury Wells
Railway building in Bishop's Castle to get £100k revamp
By Rory Smith | Bishop's Castle | News | Published: Aug 11, 2018
A £100,000 scheme is set to give a neglected old railway building a new lease of life.
A neglected old railway building is due to be revamped by Bishop's Castle Railway Society
The Bishop's Castle Railway Society has started work on the weighbridge building with plans to turn it into a community hub for public use.
Originally built in 1865, the building is situated in the yard of Charles Ransford & Sons timber, and was home to railway offices and a weighbridge facility.
Plans have been drawn up to preserve the weighbridge mechanism and restore the building as near to its original state as possible.
A new roof, windows and doors will all be included in the renovation, along with repairing the brickwork and fencing around the site.
As well as this, the group plans to have mains water, electricity and a toilet facility installed for public use.
The total cost of the renovation is estimated to be £100,000.
Negotiations for a lease have already been agreed for the Railway Society to rent the property.
It is now waiting on an application for funding.
The group has applied for an £80,000 grant from the heritage lottery fund, and hopes to raise the further £20,000 from smaller charitable grants and fundraising.
The railway service opened in 1865 and linked Bishop's Castle to Craven Arms through a private railway network.
It was put into administration and remained there until it was closed in 1935, although much of its infrastructure still remains.
The station houses at Plowden, Eaton and Hordeley are still occupied, the weighbridge office in Bishop's Castle still exists and parts of the original route can still be seen from the A489 between Bishop's Castle and Craven Arms.
John Rimmer, chairman of Bishop's Castle Railway Society, said: "The building is in very bad condition as it has been left to rot for about 50 years.
"It's a serious bit of work that needs doing but we're ambitious, we can get it done and create a new building for the people of Bishop's Castle and tourists to come and use.
"If we develop it in this way, it could be opened at a number of times during the year coinciding with events in the town such as the beer festival and Michaelmas Fair, in addition to any private hires or meetings that might occur.
"If we can preserve it and make it last another 100 years that would be ideal."
The weighbridge and building is the last link in the town that relates to the original railway.
"If we didn't step in and do something now, the building would be irretrievably lost within the next couple of years which would be such a shame for the town," Mr Rimmer added.
"The roof is full of holes and the timber is rotting away so it's only a matter of time before it collapses.
"The timber yard it's located on are the biggest employees in the town and they've been incredibly supportive. Their business spreads over what would have been the original station area."
The Railway Society will know whether its grant application has been successful later on this year.
The group aims to complete the renovations by autumn 2019.
Bishop's Castle South Shropshire Local Hubs News
By Rory Smith
Reporter - @rorysmith_star
Trainee news reporter based at the Shropshire Star's Ketley office in Telford.
Shropshire shoe shop shutting after nearly 70 years as internet bites
South Shropshire | Jul 10, 2019
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Dabney, Tulane beat SE Louisiana 71-61
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Louis Dabney scored 19 points and Tulane held Southeastern Louisiana at bay in the second half for a 71-61 win on Friday night.
Tulane (4-1) used a 9-2 run to go up 56-45 midway through the second half and SE Louisiana (1-5) never got within eight points from there.
Dabney scored 18 of his points in the first half to help the Green Wave build a 43-37 halftime lead. His 3-pointer with 12:08 left in the first half gave Tulane the lead for good at 22-20.
Dabney was 3 of 5 from 3-point range and Jay Hook was 3 of 7 with 16 points. Jonathan Stark added 12 points.
Zay Jackson also had 18 first-half points and finished with 22 points, six assists and four 3-pointers for the Lions. Joshua Filmore added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
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DHFL's Q4 FY19 net loss at Rs 2,223 crore
Last Updated: Sat, Jul 13, 2019 23:40 hrs
Mumbai, July 13 (IANS) Housing finance company DHFL on Saturday reported a net loss of Rs 2,223 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018-19.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 134 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
On the full financial year basis, the company's net loss stood at Rs 1,036 crore from a net profit of Rs 1,240 crore reported for 2017-18.
Besides, its gross NPAs (non-performing asset) as on March 31, 2019 rose to 2.74 per cent as against 0.96 per cent during the like period of previous fiscal.
However, DHFL managed to make repayments of over Rs 41,800 crore primarily through securitization of assets and repayment collections.
The company's total Assets Under Management (AUM) amount to Rs 119,992 crore as on March 31, 2019 as against Rs 111,318 crore as on March 31, 2018.
"In the backdrop of a significant slowdown in disbursement and loan growth post September 2018, the financials of the company have been quite strained for the quarter impacting the overall performance of the year," Kapil Wadhawan, Chairman and Managing Director, DHFL said in a statement.
"However, due to the additional provisioning of Rs 3,280 crore (incl. net loss on fair value), the company reported a net loss of Rs 2,223 crore for the quarter and net loss of Rs 1,036 crore for the whole year."
Wadhawan said that the company is in an advanced stage of submitting its resolution process under the inter-creditor agreement as entered into by banks.
"As already announced, the inter-creditor agreement will examine and firm up the terms of the resolution process by July 25, 2019 and make it operational before September 25, 2019," he said.
"The process of identifying a strategic investor is also nearing completion which will bring in an equity investor into DHFL to bolster its capital base. The board will be reconvening in the next two weeks to look through the potential proposals and will decide accordingly on the way forward."
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Adam Scholtes: This is the Skill Up Build Up Podcast powered by the Morales Group where we are leading talent to thrive. The war for talent is real Skill Up Build Up is a place to connect with businesses and community leaders to surface forward thinking solutions for better skilled workforce to compete in the 21st century.
Kofi Darku: Happy New Year. Welcome back to the Skill Up Build Up podcast where we're leading talent to thrive. On this first episode in 2019, we have the Chairman of the Governor's Workforce Cabinet, Danny Lopez on the show with us. Welcome Danny.
Danny Lopez: Hey guys. How are you?
Kofi Darku: Well, since we're fresh into this new year, we're curious about whether or not you had any type of New Year resolution that you're trying to hold to this year. What do you have, Danny?
Danny Lopez: Well, first happy new years to you guys. I hope you had a great Christmas. Um, I think this year is the, is the year I'm going to get in shape. That's my, that's my. I'm going to get off the blood pressure. Medicate my, my job does not, does not lend itself to get an off blood pressure medication, but I think this is gonna be the year I get healthy and do a little exercise to find a little bit, a little bit of balance, but we'll, we'll see. At least that's my commitment in January and we'll see how long I can hold that out. It's a wise resolution. It is. It's a hard one. And you make is not easy. I'll tell you what, it's so much harder in Indiana because usually, you know, in, in January you make the resolution to get healthy, you get out and you run a little bit. But here I'm not running in that, so.
Adam Scholtes: Nope, no ice on the ground and snow. Yeah,
Danny Lopez: A little bit more of a challenge. Just like rocky in Siberia.
Adam Scholtes: So second question then with Christmas, just wrapping up, what's, what's the best Christmas gift you've ever gotten?
Danny Lopez: So the one that jumps out at me, so being in the seventies, eighties and bron in the seventies and grew up in the eighties. Uh, I was uh, he-man guy and so we lived in a little, uh, we lived in a little one bedroom apartment in, uh, in, in sort of the western part of Miami Dade County and we were transitioning between homes and I vividly remember getting castle grey skull and He- man and skeletaltor and I had that thing forever. It's so bad that a couple years ago my sister got me the dvds of the show and tee shirts and He- man and all that kind of stuff and which I really can't wear all that often because my wife won't go out with me if I'm wearing those, those shirts. But uh, but that's the one that really does jump out at me. I'll never forget that.
Kofi Darku: So when you're watching those he-man episodes does it hold up?
Danny Lopez: Oh God, they're awesome. Yeah. Well, I mean, you watch these things, they got good lessons there, you know, its positive, you know, you've watched so much stuff now and I feel like they're kind of an old, old man saying this, but it's true. I mean, you watch so much stuff now and it's just so snarky and everybody's taking shots at each other. Even in the cartoon he, man, it was positive. It was Kinda dumb, but it was, it was awesome.
Adam Scholtes: So are you just binge watching these? Like for days on end?
Danny Lopez: But I, I do, I did, I did when I got them. And now I tried to get my son, my son's four and a half. I tried to get them into it and it's funny because the uh, the animation is so he didn't, he didn't watch a whole lot, but even between even things like peppa pig and other things, I mean the animation is so slow. That I think sometimes he's just looking at it and kind of looking at me going, what is this? How does anybody watching this? But we're going to try anyway.
Adam Scholtes: Kids now they have pixar. It's like it looks like they're talking to you and me.
Danny Lopez: Right. It's totally different. That's right. That's right. So, but that's one that'll jump out.
Kofi Darku: Well, I was born in the seventies, grew up in the 80's. So I relate, but let's, let's step out of memory lane and let's jump back into 2019 and it's so good to have you on the show because we can talk about some high level goals for Indiana. Um, and as your chairman of the Governor's workforce cabinet, can you give us some background on your role and what you are doing in that position
Danny Lopez: So just a little bit of background on how we came to be. So every state has a state workforce board that's really responsible for coordinating the workforce activities for the state across different agencies. Um, our state workforce board here in Indiana for a long time was under the Department of Workforce Development, uh, and it was staffed by the Department of Workforce Development. And so what the governor did in 2018 was pull that out from underneath the agency and I was his deputy chief at the time. I did essentially state operations and um, and he said, well, you're going to chair it. And so we reconstituted the board. We made it. We took it from about 50 people down to a manageable group of 21 people. And includes our agency heads that work in this space, but then also ivy tech and uh, and Vincennes and then just business people. And the governor was really intentional about not having, you know, the associations in the chambers of commerce and you know, and sort of the usual suspects who, whose job is, it is a who we love, but whose job it is really to hang around the state house, make policy and informed policy. We really wanted practitioners. We want people who are out across the state of diverse group of, of employers who are actually doing the work. Now, the challenge with that is that when you start talking about funding formulas that you start talking about really, uh, you know, you mentioned, you said the word wonky earlier. I mean, that's, that's it. You get into the weeds on policy and people who don't do this for a living who have their businesses to run a, it takes them a bit to catch up. And so there's been a little bit of a learning curve for our members, for our cabinet members. But when you've got people that are doing the real work that are experiencing the challenges in this workforce that are also experiencing the highs, right, the, the humming economy and the strength of this economy and employment, um, and, and can speak to it in very real terms that is invaluable. And so that's, that's what the governor was really going for. And so the role of the cabinet is really to think and the, and the, and really the reason he brought this under his under him and his office, it was because we wanted to think about workforce a little bit differently and this kind of economy with, you know, pretty much full employment. Um, workforce means healthcare. It means housing and transportation. It means everything in the pre K to career pipeline. It doesn't just mean, you know, adults and training programs for adults or Ivy Ttech or Vincences or higher it. I mean, it really doesn't mean the continuum. And so when we think about the investments that we've made a, this, this administration and made it actually the legislature has made in a bipartisan way, I mean doubling funding for pre k making stem and computer science mandatory in every school having career exploration starting this year in every school mandatory, um, graduation pathways, I mean graduation pathways or something so that are game changers. And I hear more from other people in other states, my counterparts about graduation pathways than anything else. And that essentially means that your kids, every kid in the state of Indiana, uh, we're, we're taking it from this kind of end of year assessment model where you pass this 10th grade exam and that's what determines your ability to get through to a diploma and graduation on time to essentially that one size fits all mentality to these pathways. So now, yeah, you're getting a kid is striving towards a diploma and is going to hit that diploma, but they also have to demonstrate employability. So every kid is going to have work based learning or project based learning or service based learning at some point in there ninth through 12 educational career to check a box and every kid is gonna have to demonstrate postsecondary readiness, so every kid is going to have to have a baseline score on the SAT or ACT. Every kid is going to have to have dual credit. Every kid is going to have to have an industry recognized credential. One of those to check that box as well. So then you've got these three boxes. So the other thing that's done is it's given an avenue for these locally created pathway. So you've got businesses that are partnering with schools all across the state to say here's what our region needs, not just now, but this is what our region is going to need for the next 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. How do we create a real pipeline in the schools so that we build curriculum that flows right into postsecondary and then right into the workplace in Madison County or in St Joe County. And so that's a powerful tool. So graduation pathways really are a game changer. And then you think about the fact that we've made Vincences and Ivy Tech for six fields are key industries, whether it's transportation or logistics or advanced manufacturing, health sciences, IT, agriculture. We have buildings and trades, we've made those technical certificates, 18 credit hours, free to pretty much any Hoosier. So we will pay last dollar for those, for those certificate programs. Um, so we put these things all along the pipeline in place. But the one piece that I think the governor recognized was missing was we've got so many agencies that play in this space and there weren't a set of common goals across these agencies. And so having everybody now really working in a different way, try and get out of their silos. That's really what the function of the cabinet is, uh, is, is to bring all these players together and go, okay, so for the betterment of the state, how are we approaching healthcare from a workforce development standpoint? How are we approaching transportation from a workforce development standpoint? And how are we solving these problems in collaboration?
Adam Scholtes: That's good. You mentioned career exploration and recently read Indystar article about Governor Holcomb's 2019 agenda on it mentioned dollars for a one semester career exploration for high school students. Can we dig into a little bit, how does, how's that gonna work? What does that, what does that look like?
Danny Lopez: So what we're proposing is having every student in the state of Indiana and they're ninth or 10th year or ninth or 10th grade, uh, take a one semester exploration course that really is looking at career and technical education clusters, right? So career clusters and not just this specific occupation, but rather, you know, so you, you, you may, you may think your interest is in the health sciences somewhere, health sciences somewhere, whether you want to be an oncologist or you want to get off on an off ramp and be an RN or you want to or anything in between. Here's what that pathway looks like. Here are the boxes from an educational standpoint, from a work experience standpoint that you better be checking whether you're, you know, start to starting to think about that in 10th grade, 11th grade, twelfth grade. Right now, uh, that happens in a lot of places, but it's a little bit scatter shot and we just think, you know, one of the big pushes, we've got 25,000 kids roughly every single year, get to high school completion and have no post secondary plans. They don't have any college credential, they don't have any postsecondary credential at all, no training, that's a leaky pipeline. And so what we want to make sure we're doing is trying to grab these kids early on in their career and layout, help them lay out their pathway to whatever it is that they want to do so that they know the exact steps they got to take from an academic, from a workplace standpoint, uh, to get where they want to go.
Adam Scholtes: Do you have any employer partners right now that are going to participate?
Danny Lopez: So, on the, on the career navigation side, we do. So what we've pieced together, again, Indianapolis, Indianapolis solutions rarely work outside of Indianapolis, right? Creating mandates from the State House for the rest of the state really rarely works. And so what we've done instead is we've said, look, let's, let's set aside a little bit of money and let's have regions of the state who are self selecting, let's have them in an employer driven way come back to us and tell us what solutions look like around career navigation in their area. So, you know, we're in the process of the cabinets and the process of building out those parameters now, but essentially, you know, you're going to have to have education partner. So school signing on the dotted line saying we're onboard edgy or a industry clusters and industry sectors, uh, actual employers, philanthropy matching grants at the local level, but they're going to come back and tell us, you know, here's the technology that we need. Here's the manpower that we need. Here are the tools we're going to build. Here's how we're going to better leverage purdue extension's. Here's what we're going to better leverage staffing companies in our area. Here's what we're going to better leverage Ivy Tech's or WorkOne centers. These are all assets that are a little bit disjointed right now. They're all sort of working in the same way. Well, we want to do is put some dollars on the table to get them synchronized specifically in the direction of career navigation and coaching in the high school.
Kofi Darku: I'm really curious, and we may not have an answer that is a nicely packaged yet, but we're aware that we have this leaky pipeline. We have, um, despite a strong going to college culture, we still a lot of students that they finished their high school career and they're not going to college. Is there any plan to do a better job to reach them sooner? How do we engage them so that we can help them connect with some of these immediate opportunities that we know are good for our economy?
Danny Lopez: Well, the Next Level Jobs program really is targeted at that. And, and that's one of the, that is one of the focal points for this coming legislative session that we're in a really is, is, um, look it, it's, it's a tricky thing because we never want to be discouraging kids from pursuing traditional four year college, bachelor's degrees, advanced degrees. We want more, in fact, when you compare us to the rest of the country, I mean we've had a 13, we've had an eight percent jump in the last year from 16 to 17. We had an eight percent jump in stem related bachelor's degrees. We had a four percent jump in bachelor's degrees as a, as a whole. Um, those numbers from 17 to 18, we don't have them yet, but they're going to go up. Our educational attainment rate, rosed two and a half points, outpace the national average and all of that growth has happened. Almost all of that growth is happening with people from 25 to 45 years old. So we're moving the needle with the right populations. So we are making strides when it comes to getting people and attend a completion rates are up in the four year space. And so I think we're doing a better job of moving people towards advanced degrees or bachelor's degrees. You're right when you've got this many kids that just don't go on to anything or don't complete anything. You've got a problem. And we have had a culture where every kid, that's the solution, you've got to go to college, you got to go to a traditional four year college. And for a lot of kids, that's not the answer right now. We never want to say that's not the answer, but the model has changed. You know, you for a long time you had this model where first you learn, then you go earn. And the reality is that that's flipped. That's not this economy, right? So we've got to get these kids thinking, Hey, if you get yourself into a short term program to get yourself some work experience, maybe get a technical certificate or associate's, it's okay if you're getting your bachelor's degree when you're 30, but you've got a whole swath of real life experience that makes you marketable to employers in the state. We haven't approached it that way. So we're trying to use career and technical education in the high school space better. We think graduation pathways, again, like I referenced with work based learning, that's an essential component of this, uh, is going to be an important tool without getting at that too. But look, the truth is we've gotta we've gotta turn off the spigot because if we keep hemorrhaging a five to 35,000 kids every year who get through high school and they don't know what they're doing after and are getting any postsecondary screen. So what we know is that a high school diploma is just not good enough anymore and that doesn't mean every kid is going on IU, but you got to get some kind of training that makes you marketable post, you know, post high school. And so number one, how do we get that message to kids and parents, how do we give them tools to keep going? So workforce ready grant and other things that I've already read, but you know, putting money in the hands of employers through training, since people are working, get money in the hands of employers, let them do training. But the other thing too is how do we take that 25,000 kids and blur the lines between college and high school? How are we getting more of those, those kids in high school, a technical certificate before they ever leave high school. We're already paying for them in high school and so that's going be a lot of the focal point this year and how we fund $150,000,000 almost in career and technical education every year that we spend, how do we take that money and ensure that we're getting more and more and more kids, those post secondary credentials before they ever walk off campus.
Kofi Darku: I think it's critical to not only get that, that message to the students, but to parents also because obviously it's a cultural thing where a parent may feel they're not doing their kid the greatest justice by pushing them to a four year colleges, but obviously it's no longer learn to earn. We have opportunities where we can get people to experience much sooner and they can make a good income. That then allows them to be more thoughtful about how they invest for 40 minutes.
Danny Lopez: That what you just said is the key, right? Because for a long time it's been this conversation with parents around, um, you know, it, you don't have to go to college and if your kid just get through high school and goes into this particular industry or whatever, you know, they'll come out of high school making $50,000. Okay. Which is great, but a lot of parents look at that and they go, yeah, but my kid's going to be 55, making $50,000. And so we, we've done a, a poor job I think of is demonstrating the career pathway, right? It's not that the advanced degree is not the ultimately the right way to go, it's that it's not right. It doesn't have to be right now, get yourself in, get yourself work experience. Here's what the career pathway, here's what it looks like if you're an entrepreneur, if you're entrepreneurial minded person, here's what it looks like. If you want to go into management, here's what I mean. Here are all the ways that you can take these technical certificates because a lot of parents and influencers as teachers as well struggle with that. They'll tell you, they'll tell the kids, you know, that's great, but I don't want you to make them 50 grand breaking your back forever when in actuality there's so many different ways you can take these technical certificates where you might start out in an advanced manufacturing setting on the floor, but that, that is not where you're going to end up. But we've got to do a better job communicating that.
Adam Scholtes: Last Thanksgiving, quick personal note. So I have a young seven month old son and um, I was talking to my, my father over Thanksgiving last year regarding the 529 plans and what we're setting up and when I was talking to about this podcast and some of the discussions we've had around, you know, is a four year degree right after high school. What you need to be doing. And you look at me as you're nuts. He's like, my grandson will be getting a four year degree and cope. You hit the nail on the head. We've got to educate the parents because I got a grandfather right now go and my son's grandfather going, now this is what you do. And I, we talked about it for about an hour and at the end he goes, oh, I get it. I have a younger brother who kind of jumps in the conversation too. And he goes, Dad, now like this is, this is what we need to be doing. We need to be getting them to think of there's other pathways. And I love how you talked about that.
Danny Lopez: That's it. It's not that there's any right way to do it, it's that we've got to make sure that the people, kids, their parents have the proper information to make the decision that's best for them. If that's Purdue, awesome, awesome. If that's Vincences and a technical certificate, awesome. Uh, you know, it's not an either or, it's just that we've provided a lot of really good information on, on the one hand that about all the opportunities that exist in the four year space and very little information about the pathways that exist, uh, with shorter term credentials.
Kofi Darku: I mean, your response at the beginning of this episode sums that up. And thank you by the way, for that great data you shared because for our first episode in 2019 were coming in strong with the data, but the reason why we have so much data about how we perform two year four year is because that has seemed like the silver bullet to help all of our communities get to that next level. But our times have changed. And I think what I'm saying is that we have to communicate to parents that college is not the silver bullet and there are many, many different ways to provide a great life for your child. But let's rethink how we can help them do that in shorter steps as opposed to this one very simple solution that's usually very costly and may not even put the student in a position that is going to help them with their future.
Danny Lopez: That's, that's, that's a very real issue, right? We've got employers who may not have robust hr functions, who, you know, who's, who struggle with, with, uh, with people and say there's a shortage and they can't. They can't tap into the pools that are available to them. And really when you do a little bit of digging and you guys as you've referenced, know this better than I do, you do a little digging and you come to find out that they're putting up sometimes artificial barriers because they may not know how to write a job description in a way that, you know, uh, clearly articulates what their actual need is, what the competencies, the skills that are needed as opposed to, I need a bachelor's degree. Well, no, no, you don't. No, you don't what you need or x, Y, and z. But that's easy for us to say. Obviously. I mean, you, like I said, you guys live it. It's easy for me to say. It's easy for us to say it's hard when, uh, you know, when you're a small business or a medium sized business and you're really just trying to get to what's next month going to look like our next year going to look like. So we understand that one of the blessings that we've had is that I think it's, um, it was a big deal. It was a big announcement for us last year, uh, in, in the fall of 2018 because of, uh, because it was a validation of the work that the governor is doing under next level jobs with this next level jobs initiative. Um, but it was also kind of a validation of where we're headed as a state. So the Markle Foundation, which is a big national foundation, uh, has an initiative called Skillful and Skillful, a named Colorado in 2015, 16. their skillful state. And what that really meant was they partnered with Microsoft, they partnered with Linkedin and they created these tools that they brought to employers, uh, to help them think differently about their, the needed skillset. So thinking more deliberately about competency based hiring and really hiring to what their need is. Uh, and, and Beth Colbert, who is their CEO on Colorado, you know, she used some pretty good examples when she was here in the fall and sin one of the most glaring, you know, they were, they were working with a contact lens manufacturer really needed a lot of people with a lot of dexterity in their hands, right. Was a really small tools and really kind of a lot of dexterity in the skillset and the manufacturing setting and they just could not find people to do this work and Skillful worked with them. They really thought about what they needed. They ended up going out and hiring Sushi chefs and, and, and now that's what they hire for that position and they, you know, they got past their shortage. So just thinking a little bit different, that's an extreme example, but thinking a little bit differently about what it is that you need and so skillful in the fall came to us and said, we want to make Indiana or second Skillful State. So Indiana is now the second Skillful State. We've partnered with Microsoft, Lumina, Walmart, um, and uh, and, and the Markle Foundation and so they're coming up alongside the governor, working with our local workforce boards all throughout the state to engage employers and really challenged them with a tool box to think differently about hiring for what they need, not putting artificial barriers in place. So the more that we can do that, help employers think through through that, I think there's so many talented hoosiers out there that can do these jobs really well, but who may not have the degree. Yeah. And if you're using that degree is an artificial filter and you don't really need it, then that's a problem. It's contributing to the, to the, to this perceived shorter the or the shortage that exists. I won't say perceived sort of put the shortage that exists in part because we're not aligning what businesses say they need with the skill set that's actually existing.
Kofi Darku: And something we see with our workforce development. I love the Skillful approach. That alignment is critical, but then from the potential employee perspective, we're trying to make sure that they're more coaches out there. And I, I see that Skillfull has a strong coach component so that we can hold their hand and get them through to that juncture so that once we get all this alignment lined up, boom, we got someone ready. So I'm so happy that you mentioned Skillful because they are inspirational.
Danny Lopez: We're excited about that. And like I said, you know, they've, they've, they've the Markle Foundation has put a lot of resources behind this. They brought the right partners to the table and when we began conversations and they started telling us we're coming to Indiana, then they made the announcement. I mean, I think sometimes I can, I can say this as somebody that moved here, is not from here originally, uh, you know, the, the, um, the Hoosier sort of humility is, it's got this charm, you know, it's nice, but like at some point we have got to get excited about the gains that we're making. It's not that we're batting a thousand, uh, but no state is, this is a global problem. This isn't even a US problem. It's a global problem or challenge. And we are making the right kinds of investments, we're seeing the right kinds of gains, we've got a long way to go, but we're making investments that other states, number one, uh, haven't thought to make a number two, can't afford to make, um, and we're, we're investing in our people. And so we're excited about the outcome so far. We're excited about what's to come in 2019.
Adam Scholtes: Danny, where would you say Indiana is ranked in, in your travels, and in terms of like you just said, like, we're making gains, we're doing this. We still have a road where, where do we rank in the country?
Danny Lopez: So for educational attainment specifically, we've got a goal which is to get a by 2025, it's 60 percent of adult hoosier's, um, uh, with or have 60 percent of adult hoosier's working age hoosier's, which is 25 to 64 is defined by the, by the, uh, census, uh, with a high value credential of some kind of badge or certificate, degree associate's, bachelor's beyond. Um, right now we're at 43, little over 43 percent were uh, we've inched up probably about three spots in the last or the last year and change again, like I said, through 2018, we probably saw more of that. We've got a long way to go. I mean, there's no doubt about it, but, but the gains comparatively speaking to where other states are, are, are, are making, we're outpacing every other state pretty much every other state in the country. Um, so. And again, because we're seeing it with, with younger hoosiers, I think that's really telling us that, that we're moving in the right direction. I mean from 27, from 2016 to 2017 in that age range, we had 50,000 more Hoosier's in that age range with a high value credentialed than the year before. Wow. So that's a big jump and that employers are going to notice that. And from 2017 to 2018, that number is gonna be even bigger. So, uh, so we're moving in the right direction. We're going to get there. There's no doubt. Now the question is, do we have the sense of urgency to get there in time. Right? Everybody's trying to beat the clock. We're trying to keep the, the, uh, the economy humming, and we've been blessed in Indiana. So, uh, you know, when you look around our surrounding states are contiguous states in the Midwest, there's, there's five, I think it's, well maybe six growth regions, metro metro regions that have experienced three percent or above employment growth over the last several years I have of them are in Indiana. So employment growth has been strong. Uh, obviously unemployment is huge here where we're ahead of the national average and labor participation. We're seeing that educational gains starting to happen, which is a big culture change for us. It makes you optimistic. I mean, I can tell you there's probably 40 something states that would love to have our stats right now. Again, we have got to instill a sense of lifelong learning and who is just, it's a, it's an economy that has been very reliant for very, very long time on low skill, uh, labor and, and with, you know, the growth of the tech economy. And Tech, not just sort of downtown Salesforce, appirio, Infosys type tech, which is an important component to the ecosystem here. Every, every manufacturer in the State of Indiana is infusing tech. Every agriculture outfit is infusing tech and so what does that look like for education? And that's why the stem mandate in the schools. That's why the graduation pathways, that's why workforce ready grants, that's really the underlying foundation behind a next level jobs.
Kofi Darku: Wow. That was like an extra Christmas present after the New Year. So this is great.
Danny Lopez: Well, I'm going to remember this more than even He-Man. Gives my castle grayskull this is the best Christmas ever.
Kofi Darku: Well, we always are proud to bring people into the room so that they can hear and learn about what promising practices are out there and I feel better about where we are as a state. But yes, the challenge is still out there. Over the next 10 years we got a lot of jobs to fill, but thank goodness the governor's workforce cabinet is thinking about ways we can be prepared to make that growth happen. Danny, thank you for being on the Skill Up Build Up podcast.
Danny Lopez: Thanks you guys. I appreciate it and I'm always available. So we'll talk to you soon.
Kofi Darku: Talk about an affirmation. There is validation that Indiana is on the right path due to the focus that we're getting from the Skillful push. We are the second state only to Colorado to have this initiative that is funded by some heavy hitters to make sure we do a better job of engaging our workforce and I take it seriously. Let's, let's continue with this momentum and this sign of validation.
Adam Scholtes: Yeah. And he didn't mention it on the podcast Kofi, but if you want more information on Skillful, go to a markel.org. That's M A R K L E dot Org. Um, you know, what struck out to me, uh, what was he talked about the leaky pipeline. 25,000 students graduate without postsecondary plans each year. Um, and just the need to create and educate our population on more pathways going forward. If you want to continue the conversation, follow us at skillupbuildup.com. Looking forward to another conversation next week.
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Sunil BENIMADHU
Darmanand VIRAHSAWMY
Senior Manager/ Head of Business Development
Vickram RAMFUL
Head of Listing
Pamela LI CHUN FONG
Manager, Finance & Administration and Company Secretary
Chaitanand JHEENGUN
Manager, Trading & Market Surveillance
Shalini GOKHOOL
Manager, Legal Affairs
Nishan AUBEELUCK
Manager, Marketing and Market Development
Sunil Benimadhu, joined the SEM as Chief Executive in May 1998. He was appointed Executive Director of the SEM in October 2008. He holds a M.B.A. in Finance and Investment from the University of Illinois, United States. He also holds a D.E A. in Development Economics and a Maîtrise in Macro-Economics from the University of Aix-Marseille, France. Sunil is the Chairman of Global Finance Mauritius, the apex body of private sector operators in the Financial Services Industry in Mauritius. He has been elected in September 2017 for a new three-year term on the Board of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), an association of the World's leading Stock Exchanges. Sunil was the President of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) an association of 28 Exchanges operating on the continent, from August 2010 to November 2014. From 2002 to 2004, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE), which comprises twelve Stock Exchanges of the South Asian region. From 2001 to 2003, he chaired the SADC Committee of Stock Exchanges (COSSE), an association of stock exchanges which includes ten exchanges of the Southern African region.
Darmanand Virahsawmy, holds a D.E.S.S. Economics of Information and a Maîtrise in Econometrics from the University of Montpellier, France. He joined the SEM since 1989 as Manager and currently holds the position of Senior Manager/Head of Business Development.
Vickram Ramful is a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He is also a holder of a BA (Hons) in Business Accounting from the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside (UK) and holds a MBA in Finance. He joined the SEM in 2005 and held the position of Corporate Finance Manager until 2016, and currently holds the position of Head Listing. He is a member of the MIPA and ACCA Mauritius Branch.
Pamela Li Chun Fong, is a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and also holds a Diploma in Accountancy. She joined the SEM in 1995 as Accountant and currently holds the position of Manager Finance & Administration, and is also the company secretary of the SEM. She is a member of the MIPA and ACCA Mauritius Branch.
Chaitanand Jheengun, is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and he also holds a M.B.A. He joined the SEM in 1990 as Administrative Officer and currently holds the position of Manager Trading and Market Surveillance. He is also a member of the ICSA Mauritius Branch.
Shalini Gokhool, holds a LLB (Hons) and she has also completed the Vocational Course for Barristers at the Mauritius Council of Legal Education in 1997. Having acquired experience in legal firms and in the banking sector, she joined the SEM in 2001 as Manager Legal Affairs.
Nishan Aubeeluck, holds an MSc in International Business (Finance) from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He joined the SEM in 2005 as Manager, Marketing and Market Development. He is member of the Australian Centre for International Business (ACIB), the Financial Services Institute of Australia, and the Finance and Treasury Association of Australia (FTA).
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admin July 9, 2019 July 9, 2019 Comments Off on What Did He Discover Alexander Fleming
It’s part of the original culture of Penicillium chrysogenum that led to bacteriologist Alexander Fleming’s 1928 discovery. have been in one of these living artworks that he made his most famous.
(Inside Science) — It’s often the case in science that things are discovered by accident. Alexander Fleming. he thought could be the toxin responsible for typhoid disease, he isolated and purified.
He is a member of the NICE Managing Common Infections. Penicillin is 90 this year. Discovered in September 1928 by Alexander Fleming, it was first used as a cure when George Paine treated eye.
What did Alexander Fleming discover that helped solve a societal problem? antibiotics bacteria infections mold Alexander Fleming discovered antibiotics that helped solve a societal problem. Log in for more information.
Alexander Fleming was the doctor who revolutionized medicine with his discovery of penicillin. Learn more at Biography.com. View Alexander Moschini s professional profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the world s largest business network, helping professionals like Alexander Moschini discover.
Rafael wasn’t _____ (good) enough to be on the team this year but he tried veryhard. good enough. 500. Form a question in the present simple passive:. Complete the sentence with the past simple passive: Penicillin / discover / Alexander Fleming. Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming. 500. To be creative, you need to ex_____ your.
wounded soldiers in the war, he noticed that in many cases the use of harsh antiseptics did more harm than good. By 1928, Fleming was investigating the.
Apr 14, 2017. In 1928, a chance event in Alexander Fleming's London laboratory. He determined that penicillin had an antibacterial effect on. In 1941 the United States did not have sufficient stock of penicillin to treat a single patient.
Alexander Fleming was a doctor and bacteriologist who discovered penicillin, receiving the Nobel Prize in 1945. experimentation, Fleming discovered a bacteria-destroying mold which he would. But I suppose that was exactly what I did.
But it was not until 1928 that penicillin, the first true antibiotic, was discovered by Alexander. 1928, Fleming began to sort through petri dishes containing colonies of Staphylococcus, bacteria.
Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin is outlined including his work. Not only did Alexander Fleming discover it by chance, but also he did not fully.
Consider how many lives Alexander Fleming. It did little to heal the horrors of war, but the discovery later drove him to pursue the therapeutic properties of penicillin. Returning from a holiday.
History Quiz / Where Did It Happen? (20th Century) Random History or Clickable Quiz Can you click the country in which each of these 20th century events took place? by bhenderson79 Plays Quiz Updated Aug 21, 2016. Popular Quizzes Today. Bad Movies by Description 1,413;
Alexander Fleming had been running tests using Staphylococcus and left some from BIOLOGY EN1 at Baltimore City Community College
Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish explorer who discovered an overland route across Canada to the Pacific Ocean. His crossing in 1792 was the first east-west crossing of the North American continent made by a European north of Mexico, predating the Lewis and Clark expedition by a decade.
A surgeon who served in the First World War, Fleming discovered the antibiotic penicillin in 1928 and received the Nobel Prize for Medicine. He did not patent.
Alexander Fleming. surprising: if he took a position as a surgeon, he would have to leave St. Mary’s. The captain of St. Mary’s rifle club knew that and was desperate to improve his team. Knowing.
In 1928, after returning from a countryside holiday and examining a stack of petri dishes that he had left in the sink, British chemist Alexander Fleming discovered a new type. How exactly did the.
Alexander Fleming Person-Info (Ich bin Alexander Fleming)London Darvel Scotland: Penicillin Scottish Lochfield Bakteriologe March Ayrshire Biomedical Sciences.
Sadly, Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming predicted this fate more than 70 years ago, soon after he made an accidental discovery in 1928 while experimenting. with the drugs we have today. "We.
Sir Alexander Cunningham KCIE CSI was a British army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861 he was appointed to the newly created position of archaeological surveyor to the government of India; and he founded and organised what later became the Archaeological Survey of India. He wrote numerous books and monographs and.
Who knows what CERN’s will discover? Alexander Fleming was just studying some bacteria. He ‘invented’ penicillin. Or consider the Vela satellites used to detect nuclear explosions on Earth, which ended up discovering the existence of Gamma-ray bursts. Even the most mundane of new technologies can have serendipitous results, and that’s why continued innovation and discovery is so important. But we’ve.
Apr 09, 2016 · Alexander the Great, the Greek King of Macedon and ruler of one of the largest empires in the ancient world died in 323 B.C. at the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon when he was only 32 years. But what exactly caused his death remains unknown. Alexander the Great had high fever for several days. He was unable to speak and walk.
Plant Pathology Concepts And Laboratory Exercises Pdf Jan 10, 2011. Geographic distribution of plant pathogens in response to climate change. PDF. Sections. Abstract; Introduction; Population processes setting. discussion of some examples of detailed projection exercises which have
Jun 11, 2019 · And Fleming picks up the story: “This model he’s created is really smart – it’s like an opera model, but you can perform every day.”. And as audiences will discover at the Royal.
Discovered in September 1928 by Alexander Fleming, it was first used as. But all is not well. Fleming was aware of the problem as soon as he discovered penicillin. Most bacteria were killed by the.
Returning to work after a month-long Scottish vacation in 1928, pathologist Alexander Fleming made a discovery. what I did.” New York engineer Wilson Greatbatch invented the world’s first.
He retained his affection for and relationship with Fleming right to the end, always maintaining that Sir Alexander was rightly honoured as the man who discovered penicillin. Only twice did he ever.
The bacteriologist Alexander Fleming. TIME noted. But Fleming recognized that this particular dirty dish could change the course of medical history. No one could accuse him of being fussy about.
A: Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish explorer who discovered an overland route across Canada to the Pacific Ocean. His crossing in 1792 was the first east-west crossing of the North American continent made by a European north of Mexico, predating the Lewis and Clark expedition by a decade.
Jacques Cousteau The Silent World 1956 Jun 11, 2010. Second in a three-part series commemorating Jacques Cousteau. The film he made there and released in 1956 as “The Silent World” is. The Silent World (1956) Cast
Stephen Hawking And The Big Bang Theory Time and space, according to the Big Bang Theory, began simultaneously about 20 billion years ago. It might last for another. The Big Bang Theory’s Co-Creator’s Touching Story About Having
Mar 11, 2016. 11 inspiring facts about Alexander Fleming who discovered penicillin. He was also a member of the rifle club at the medical school. 3. He earned a Gold Medal for his. But, I suppose that was exactly what I did." 10.
You’re on "Jeopardy," and the answer is Alexander Fleming. Your question is. American corporations would illegitimately benefit from the Britons’ discovery if the Dunn School did not seek to garner.
One of the most often told stories about innovation is that of Alexander Fleming and his discovery of. discoveries he made in his own field, he also helped establish new fields such as.
Did you know that the discovery of a way to make ammonia. a prick from a thorn or sore throat can easily turn fatal. Alexander Fleming generally gets the credit for penicillin when, in 1928, he.
Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish biologist, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard. 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer, But I guess that was exactly what I did.
Where did penicillin. a man called Alexander Fleming was a scientist working at St Mary’s Hospital in London, carrying out research into the influenza virus. One day, he went on holiday. When he.
Alexander Fleming, August 6, Alexander Fleming was born on 6th August 1881 to Hugh. money, his brother Tom suggested he study to become a doctor, which he did. Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin changed the world forever.
Charles Carr Linkedin Entomologist Chad Carr, whose fatal battle with brain cancer made headlines and captured hearts around the world, has helped researchers looking for a cure for his condition make a significant discovery.
While researching Influenza virus, made ground breaking discovery: penicillin, Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) was a Scottish scientist best known for the. It was here he met Sir Almroth Edward Wright who would further influence his. by replacing aggressive antiseptic treatment, which did more harm than good in his.
Sep 12, 2014 · Alexander Fleming. By: Layal Al-Meslemani. What did he discover?. Alexander Fleming’s well known and best/famous discoveries were: The enzyme lysozyme which was discovered in 1923 He was also famous for discovering the first antibiotic (penicillin) in 1928.
Bloom Taxonomy Powerpoint For Students Assignment: PowerPoint Presentation What is it PowerPoint is a presentation tool used to present information verbally, while including visual information. Mostly used during face-to-face applications, PowerPoint can also be used
Jun 27, 2019 · Over the last several years, consumers of various scientific literature may have read about an antibiotic resistance crisis. When Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin back in the late 1920s, it opened the door to a whole new realm of health care.
Worksheet On Florence Nightingale 8/3/2012 · Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale was born into a British noble family in an Italian city called Firenze in 1820 Although no one recognized her dream, Secretary of War, Sidney
I commented to my son, “Did you know that the guy who discovered the first antibiotic was Scottish? His name was Alexander Fleming and he won the Nobel Prize for discovering a thing called penicillin.
When Alexander Fleming. came into widespread use. Why did it take so long for the miracle drug of the 20th century to make a measurable impact? When Fleming published his results, in 1929, few took.
As well as the NHS turning 70 this year, another event which had an enormous impact on healthcare has hit a milestone: penicillin’s discovery 90 years ago. Discovered in September 1928 by Alexander.
Jun 24, 2019 · Be the first ones to discover Alexander Raskatov’s new opera GerMania onstage at the Opéra de Lyon. Do not miss the world premiere of Raskatov’s new creation, a macabre farce conjuring the ghosts of Hitler and Staline in a succession of dramatic scenes around the ever-relevant questions of power and totalitarianism.
Alexander Fleming was a Scottish physician and scientist who discovered penicillin in 1928. The impact of Fleming’s discovery changed the practice of medicine, and he was later knighted in recognition of his achievement. He also won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945.Source:PBS: A Science Oddesey–People and Discoveries–Alexander FlemingNobleprize.org: Sir Alexander.
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Charles Carr Linkedin Entomologist
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In devising the code consideration has been given to the particular needs and circumstances of this school. The aim is to ensure that the individuality of each child is accommodated while acknowledging the right of each child to education in a relatively disruption free environment.
Every effort will be made by all members of staff to adopt a positive approach to the question of behaviour in the school. The code offers a framework within which positive techniques of motivation and encouragement are utilised by teachers.
The school places greater emphasis on rewards than on sanctions in the belief that this will, in the long run, give the best results.
It is believed that a high standard of behaviour requires a strong sense of community within the school and a high level of co-operation among staff and between staff, pupils and parents/guardians.
The school recognises the variety of differences that exist between children and the need to accommodate these differences.
The overall responsibility for discipline in the school rests with the Principal Teacher. Each teacher has a responsibility for the maintenance of discipline within his/her classroom while sharing a common responsibility for good order within the school premises. A pupil will be referred to the Principal Teacher for serious breaches of discipline and repeated incidents of minor misbehaviour.
The following strategies may be used to show disapproval of unacceptable behaviour:
(a) Reasoning with the pupil.
(b) Reprimand (including advice on how to improve)
(c) Temporary separation from peers, friends or others.
(d) Referral to the principal.
(e) Communication with parent/parents/guardian.
Teachers shall keep a written record of all instances of serious misbehaviour as well as a record of improvements in the behaviour of disruptive pupils. Parent/Parents/Guardians will be involved at an early stage rather than as a last resort.
Here are our school rules which will allow all pupils to develop their full potential:
(1) Be kind and have respect for all other children and adults.
(2) Have respect for all property, your own and that of the school and others.
(3) Work hard in class and do not distract other children. Do all work given carefully and well.
(4) Keep our school clean and tidy.
(5) Do not run at any time within the school or its grounds.
(6) When entering and leaving the school use the side gates only and keep off the grass and railings.
To help implement the above rules we use “I Care rules”.
(1) We listen to each other.
(2) Hands are for helping not for hurting.
(3) We use “I Care Language”.
(4) We care about each other’s feelings.
(5) We are responsible for what we say and do.
Any incidents of bullying will be treated seriously in accordance with our Anti-Bullying Policy.
The Anti-Bullying Policy is available in the office on request.
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Basketball: Northside Has 10-Game Winning Streak Against Southside
Northside’s win against Southside in girls basketball Tuesday was the 10th consecutive time the Lady Bears have beaten their crosstown rival.
That streak stretches over four seasons and would tend to provoke thoughts of pure domination. But it’s been much closer than the simple numbers suggest.
Tuesday’s outcome wasn’t decided until late in the fourth quarter. Two of the games last year, including the showdown for the state championship that ended in overtime, were the same way.
Still, Northside is beating the best 7A has to offer time and again.
"We continue to take everybody’s best shot," Northside coach Rickey Smith said. "That’s part of it. We were lucky to win (Tuesday). Just mark it down, move forward and keep going."
The Lady Bears’ last conference loss came in the regular-season finale last year to Little Rock Hall. They’ll have a chance to redeem that Friday in the final game of the front-half of the 7A/6A-Central slate.
"Last one of these five in a row tough," Smith said. "Last one before we look at the second half."
Mystery Foul
Southside coach Sherry White was a little miffed at a last-second foul called at the end of Tuesday’s game against Northside.
The Lady Rebels (11-5, 3-3) were in the process of exchanging postgame handshakes with Northside following the game when one of the officials signaled Briana Jackson would be shooting free throws — even though there was no time left on the clock.
Players momentarily returned to their benches while Jackson made 1-of-2 free throws.
"It’s pretty crappy, but it’s over with," White said. "It will take care of itself down the road. Good things happen to good people, so I’m expecting good things from my team."
Southside will conclude the first round of 7A/6A-Central play Friday at Parkview, then start round two of conference play Feb. 7 against Little Rock Hall.
"They’re capable, which is the thing," White said. "I think we’ve come a long way. There are a lot of people who counted them out, and I don’t think you can count them out. We’ve got five players over there that can get the job done, and we’ve got a bench load of players that can make things happen."
Pointers, Springdale Play For Second
After Tereke Eckwood’s layup, it looked like Van Buren would be playing Springdale for first place in the 7A/6A-West. Bentonville sophomore Malik Monk, though, was given just enough time to ruin that potential matchup.
After officials added 0.8 of a second to the clock, Monk’s fadeaway, 30-foot 3-point jumper at the buzzer lifted Bentonville to a 57-56 comeback victory over the Bulldogs Tuesday.
So instead of a potential first-place showdown with Springdale Friday, the Pointers will instead be playing with sole possession of second place on the line.
"We would have liked to play them for first place, but a win gives us a chance to play for first place next week (at Bentonville)," Van Buren coach Randy Loyd said. "Any time you have a chance to be near the top of the standings at the midway point of the conference season, things are going pretty good."
Van Buren had its own survival story Tuesday in a 51-46 overtime win against Siloam Springs. After trailing for most of the game, the Pointers needed a Jason Harms’ layup in the waning seconds to force overtime. The Pointers, who played without 6-foot-9 Mitchell Smith in the extra period after he fouled out, then dominated and led by as many as six and never let the Panthers get close.
Perfect Chance
A 1-1 week hasn’t felt so positive at Northside in a long time.
The Grizzlies took the state’s overall No. 1 team Little Rock Parkview to the buzzer before losing by three points Friday, then dismantled rival Southside on Tuesday.
They were two steps in the right direction for a team trying to show detractors it belongs in the talk of elite in 7A after losing to Russellville earlier in January.
"This next one is real big because, one, it’s on the road. Two, it’s a team near the top. I told the guys I feel like we still have a chance at competing for a conference championship," Northside coach Eric Burnett said.
To do so, they’ll have to win on the road Friday against the four-time defending state champion Warriors, the No. 3-ranked team in the state.
After Friday the Grizzlies will have played the first-, third-, fourth- and sixth-ranked teams in Arkansas. Exactly what Burnett wants to toughen his team for a stretch run.
"(Hall) has won it the last four years or whatever, so it’s a good opportunity for us to out there and play a team like that and give us some confidence for the rest of the season," Burnett said.
Trent Loyd Winning At Pea Ridge
As pleased as Van Buren coach Randy Loyd was with his team’s effort in a victory against Rogers last Friday, it paled in comparison to his excitement after the game.
His wife, Laura, got a call that Pea Ridge had just upset previously unbeaten Lincoln, 47-42. Pea Ridge (11-10, 6-3 4A-1) is coached by Trent Loyd, Randy and Laura’s son.
Randy Loyd was giddy when he called his son.
"I could not be prouder of the job he has done there," Randy Loyd said. "At the age of 24, he stepped in at a good basketball place. It was great for them to give him a chance."
Last season, Trent Loyd was the junior high coach at Pea Ridge. When the high school coach left at the end of the school year, Trent (a 2007 Van Buren graduate) was elevated to the post.
"That win was big for him and his program," Randy Loyd said. "Hopefully, this will be the start of something good for him and his team. Certainly, I am pulling for him to be successful.
"They started out 1-7 and they played (7A/6A-West teams like) Rogers, Har-Ber and Bentonville. The tough nonconference schedule has prepared his team for the conference. His players have gotten better and are playing well for him."
With the district and regional tournaments next month, Randy Loyd said it will be another opportunity to watch his son’s team in action.
"Laura and I try to get up there as much as we can to watch his team play. It’s tougher now because (both schools) play on Tuesday and Friday," Randy Loyd added. "Hopefully, they can make a postseason run and we can watch some more games."
Kinsey Wins Title
Van Buren senior Dylan Kinsey won the 285-pound division of the Big West wrestling tournament last weekend in Springdale.
Kinsey, who is expected to sign a football scholarship with Arkansas Tech next week, beat Har-Ber’s David Garcia in the final match. That gives Kinsey, the defending state champion, the West’s top seed in next month’s state wrestling tournament.
Kevin Taylor and Walter Woodie contributed to this report.
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Data set: American Community Survey 2009 (ACS09)
Table: B24126. Detailed Occupation for the Full-Time, Year-Round Civilian Employed Female Population 16 Years and Over [499]
Universe: Full-time, year-round civilian employed female population 16 years and Over
B24126. Detailed Occupation for the Full-Time, Year-Round Civilian Employed Female Population 16 Years and Over
B24126001Full-time, year-round civilian employed female population 16 years and Over
B24126098 Psychologists
Full-Time, Year-Round Civilian Employed Female Population 16 Years and Over (ACS09:B24126001)
ACS 2009-1yr Summary File: Technical Documentation -> Appendix A. Supplemental Documentation -> 2009 Subject Definitions -> Population Variables -> Employment Status -> Worker
This term appears in connection with several subjects: employment status, journey-to-work questions, class of worker, weeks worked in the past 12 months, and number of workers in family in the past 12 months. The meaning varies and, therefore, should be determined in each case by referring to the definition of the subject in which it appears. When used in the concepts "workers in family" and "full-time, year-round workers," the term "worker" relates to the meaning of work defined for the "work experience" subject.
ACS 2009-1yr Summary File: Technical Documentation -> Appendix A. Supplemental Documentation -> 2009 Subject Definitions -> Population Variables -> Occupation
Occupation describes the kind of work a person does on the job. Occupation data were derived from answers to questions 45 and 46. Question 45 asks: "What kind of work was this person doing?" Question 46 asks: "What were this person's most important activities or duties?"
These questions were asked of all people 15 years old and over who had worked in the past 5 years. For employed people, the data refer to the person's job during the previous week. For those who worked two or more jobs, the data refer to the job where the person worked the greatest number of hours. For unemployed people and people who are not currently employed but report having a job within the last five years, the data refer to their last job.
These questions describe the work activity and occupational experience of the American labor force. Data are used to formulate policy and programs for employment, career development and training; to provide information on the occupational skills of the labor force in a given area to analyze career trends; and to measure compliance with antidiscrimination policies. Companies use these data to decide where to locate new plants, stores, or offices.
Coding Procedures
Occupation statistics are compiled from data that are coded based on the detailed classification systems developed for Census 2000 and modified in 2002. This system consists of 509 specific occupational categories, for employed people, including military, arranged into 23 major occupational groups. This classification was developed based on the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual: 2000, published by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget. Respondents provided the data for the tabulations by writing on the questionnaires descriptions of the kind of work and activities they are doing. Clerical staff in the National Processing Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana converted the written questionnaire descriptions to codes by comparing these descriptions to entries in the Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations. Some occupation groups are related closely to certain industries. Operators of transportation equipment, farm operators and workers, and healthcare providers account for major portions of their respective industries of transportation, agriculture, and health care. However, the industry categories include people in other occupations. For example, people employed in agriculture include truck drivers and bookkeepers; people employed in the transportation industry include mechanics, freight handlers, and payroll clerks; and people employed in the health care profession include janitors, security guards, and secretaries.
Editing Procedures
Following the coding operation, a computer edit and allocation process excludes all responses that should not be included in the universe, and evaluates the consistency of the remaining responses. The codes for occupation are checked for consistency with the industry and class of worker data provided for that respondent. Occasionally respondents supply occupation descriptions that are not sufficiently specific for precise classification, or they do not report on these questions at all. Certain types of incomplete entries are corrected using the Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations. If one or more of the three codes (occupation, industry, or class of worker) is blank after the edit, a code is assigned from a donor respondent who is a similar person based on questions such as age, sex, educational attainment, income, employment status, and weeks worked. If all of the labor force and income data are blank, all of these economic questions are assigned from a "similar" person who had provided all the necessary data.
Occupation data have been collected during decennial censuses since 1850. Starting with the 2010 Census, occupation data will no longer be collected during the decennial census. Long form data collection has transitioned to the American Community Survey. The American Community Survey began collecting data on occupation in 1996. The questions on occupation were designed to be consistent with the 1990 Census questions on occupation. American Community Survey questions on occupation have remained consistent between 1996 and 2009.
Beginning in 2006, the population in group quarters (GQ) was included in the ACS. Some types of GQ populations have occupational distributions that are different from the household population. The inclusion of the GQ population could therefore have a noticeable impact on the occupational distribution in some geographic areas with a substantial GQ population. Data on occupation, industry, and class of worker are collected for the respondents current primary job or the most recent job for those who are not employed but have worked in the last 5 years. Other labor force questions, such as questions on earnings or work hours, may have different reference periods and may not limit the response to the primary job. Although the prevalence of multiple jobs is low, data on some labor force items may not exactly correspond to the reported occupation, industry, or class of worker of a respondent.
Comparability of occupation data was affected by a number of factors, primarily the system used to classify the questionnaire responses. Changes in the occupational classification system limit comparability of the data from one year to another. These changes are needed to recognize the "birth" of new occupations, the death of others, the growth and decline in existing occupations, and the desire of analysts and other users for more detail in the presentation of the data. Probably the greatest cause of noncomparability is the movement of a segment from one category to another. Changes in the nature of jobs, respondent terminology, and refinement of category composition made these movements necessary.
ACS data from 1996 to 1999 used the same occupation classification systems used for the 1990 census; therefore, the data are comparable. Since 1990, the occupation classification has been revised to reflect changes within the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). These changes were reflected in the Census 2000 occupation codes. The 2000-2002 ACS data used the same occupation classification systems used for Census 2000, therefore, the data are comparable. Because of the possibility of new occupations being added to the list of codes, the Census Bureau needed to have more flexibility in adding codes. Consequently, in 2002, census occupation codes were expanded from three-digit codes to four-digit codes. For occupation, this entailed adding a "0" to the end of each occupation code. Data are otherwise comparable. For more information on occupational comparability across classification systems, please see technical paper #65: The Relationship Between the 1990 Census and Census 2000 Industry and Occupation Classification Systems. See the 2009 Code List for Occupation Code List. See also, Industry and Class of Worker.
ACS 2009-1yr Summary File: Technical Documentation -> Appendix A. Supplemental Documentation -> 2009 Subject Definitions -> Population Variables -> Usual Hours Worked Per Week Worked in the Past 12 Months -> Full-Time, Year-Round Workers
Full-Time, Year-Round Workers
All people 16 years old and over who usually worked 35 hours or more per week for 50 to 52 weeks in the past 12 months.
ACS 2009-1yr Summary File: Technical Documentation -> Appendix A. Supplemental Documentation -> 2009 Subject Definitions -> Population Variables -> Sex
The data on sex were derived from answers to Question 3. Individuals were asked to mark either "male" or "female" to indicate their biological sex. For most cases in which sex was invalid, the appropriate entry was determined from other information provided for that person, such as the person's given (i.e., first) name and household relationship. Otherwise, sex was allocated from a hot deck.
Sex is asked for all persons in a household or group quarters. On the mailout/mailback paper questionnaire for households, sex is asked for all persons listed on the form. This form accommodates asking sex for up to 12 people listed as living or residing in the household for at least 2 months. If a respondent indicates that more people are listed as part of the total persons living in the household than the form can accommodate, or if any person included on the form is missing sex, then the household is eligible for Failed Edit Follow-up (FEFU). During FEFU operations, telephone center staffers call respondents to obtain missing data. This includes asking sex for any person in the household missing sex information. In Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) and Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) instruments sex is asked for all persons. In 2006, the ACS began collecting data in group quarters (GQs). This included asking sex for persons living in a group quarters. For additional data collection methodology, please see www.census.gov/acs.
Data on sex are used to determine the applicability of other questions for a particular individual and to classify other characteristics in tabulations. The sex data collected on the forms are aggregated and provide the number of males and females in the population. These data are needed to interpret most social and economic characteristics used to plan and analyze programs and policies. Data about sex are critical because so many federal programs must differentiate between males and females. The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are required by statute to use these data to fund, implement, and evaluate various social and welfare programs, such as the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Laws to promote equal employment opportunity for women also require census data on sex. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs must use census data to develop its state projections of veteran's facilities and benefits. For more information on the use of sex data in Federal programs, please see www.census.gov/acs.
The sex ratio represents the balance between the male and female populations. Ratios above 100 indicate a larger male population, and ratios below 100 indicate a larger female population. This measure is derived by dividing the total number of males by the total number of females and then multiplying by 100. It is rounded to the nearest tenth.
Sex has been asked of all persons living in a household since the 1996 ACS Test phase. When group quarters were included in the survey universe in 2006, sex was asked of all person in group quarters as well. Beginning in 2008, the layout of the sex question response categories was changed to a horizontal side-by-side layout from a vertically stacked layout on the mail paper ACS questionnaire.
Beginning in 2006, the population in group quarters (GQ) was included in the ACS. Some types of GQ populations have sex distributions that are very different from the household population. The inclusion of the GQ population could therefore have a noticeable impact on the sex distribution. This is particularly true for a given geographic area. This is particularly true for areas with a substantial GQ population. The Census Bureau tested the changes introduced to the 2008 version of the sex question in the 2007 ACS Grid-Sequential Test (www.census.gov/acs). The results of this testing show that the changes may introduce an inconsistency in the data produced for this question as observed from the years 2007 to 2008.
Sex is generally comparable across different data sources and data years. However, data users should still be aware of methodological differences that may exist between different data sources if they are comparing American Community Survey sex data to other data sources, such as Population Estimates or Decennial Census data. For example, the American Community Survey data are that of a respondent-based survey and subject to various quality measures, such as sampling and nonsampling error, response rates and item allocation. This differs in design and methodology from other data sources, such as Population Estimates, which is not a survey and involves computational methodology to derive intercensal estimates of the population. While ACS estimates are controlled to Population Estimates for sex at the nation, state and county levels of geography as part of the ACS weighting procedure, variation may exist in the sex structure of a population at lower levels of geography when comparing different time periods or comparing across time due to the absence of controls below the county geography level. For more information on American Community Survey data accuracy and weighting procedures, please see www.census.gov/acs.
It should also be noted that although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, it is the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program that produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities and towns and estimates of housing units for states and counties.
ACS 2009-1yr Summary File: Technical Documentation -> Appendix A. Supplemental Documentation -> 2009 Subject Definitions -> Population Variables -> Employment Status -> Employed
This category includes all civilians 16 years old and over who either (1) were "at work," that is, those who did any work at all during the reference week as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession, worked on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers on a family farm or in a family business; or (2) were "with a job but not at work", that is, those who did not work during the reference week but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent due to illness, bad weather, industrial dispute, vacation, or other personal reasons. Excluded from the employed are people whose only activity consisted of work around the house or unpaid volunteer work for religious, charitable, and similar organizations; also excluded are all institutionalized people and people on active duty in the United States Armed Forces.
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US Air Force Launches Advanced Military Communication Satellite
By Meghan Bartels 2019-03-16T00:37:31Z Spaceflight
This article was updated at 9:03 p.m. EDT with successful satellite separation.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket took to the skies during an evening launch today (March 15), lofting a military satellite to become the 10th piece of a communications constellation.
The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 8:26 p.m. EDT (0026 on March 16 GMT) after a series of technical delays. It deployed the satellite just under 37 minutes into the flight.
The launch delays came due to a first stage helium bottle pressurization issue and an issue with NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, both of which engineers were able to address prior to launch.
This evening at 8:26 p.m. EDT, ULA’s #DeltaIV rocket lifted off from SLC-37 carrying the #WGS10 military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force. pic.twitter.com/9UEmRyrlDTMarch 16, 2019
The satellite will become the 10th Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) communications satellite in an Air Force constellation that supports military personnel deployed globally. Each of the WGS satellites, which formerly stood for Wideband Gapfiller Satellite, weighs about 13,000 lbs. (5,900 kilograms) and was built by Boeing.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV medium rocket launches the WGS-10 military communications satellites into orbit for the U.S. Air Force on March 15, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
(Image credit: United Launch Alliance)
The new satellite is classified as a Block II follow-on design and is the fourth of that group to launch for the Air Force; it can filter and downlink up to 8.088 GHz of bandwidth, according to ULA, which is nearly twice as much as older generations of the constellation's satellites.
Although the 10th satellite in the network is now on its way to normal operation, its recently announced successors are in doubt, reported Space News. They were added by Congress to the Air Force budget despite not being requested, but that money only covered the satellites themselves, not their launches.
Today's launch is the second of 2019 for ULA, its 133rd overall and the 383rd for the Delta family of rockets. ULA is targeting April for its next launch, which will be an uncrewed test of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew capsule to the International Space Station aboard an Atlas V rocket. The next Delta IV launch is currently scheduled for July.
The Most Dangerous Space Weapons Ever
The US Military's Secretive X-37B Space Plane: 6 Surprising Facts
Photos: Air Force Satellite Launch Lights Up the Night
Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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Spangler Subaru Blog
If you are anything like us then you have trouble keeping books in your to-be-read jar. The good thing is that there are a large number of books out there to choose from. Unfortunately, this also means that scanning through selections can make you lethargic, and no one ever wants to get stuck reading a book that is unenjoyable. So we create quarterly lists with recommendations on what we have read or are looking forward to reading. Here are this summer’s best reads.
Final Girls by Riley Sager
Stephen King dubbed this novel “the first great thriller of 2017”. Hot off the presses this summer is the landmark first novel by author Riley Sager. This suspense is not for the faint of heart, but it will keep you turning pages until the very end, promising to usurp your attention and devour your time.
But of course, that is never a bad thing when it comes to reading a book.
The backdrop explains how, ten years prior, Quincy Carpenter was the lone survivor of a murderous massacre when she and five friends went on vacation. Dubbed a final girl, the media grouped her and two other survivors of similar traumatic events and made arrangements for these three girls to meet. However, despite the overwhelming influence of popular culture, these three never meet, that is until ten years later when one of the Final Girls is found dead and the other shows up on Quincy’s doorstep. In an exhilarating rush, Quincy uncovers old truths and tries to understand why the other Final Girl, Sam, is now communicating with her, discerning her truths from her lies. If you are into suspense and horror, then this is the perfect summer read.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The prolific author never fails to impress readers, and those of us who manage to follow along to his vast compendium have been ceremoniously named the Constant Reader. But do not become discouraged from reading his works if you never have. The Gunslinger is a great starting point, especially because there is a movie out now based on The Dark Tower series.
The gunslinger is the eponymous name of the profession, or shall we say duty, given to Roland Deschain. He is in Mid-World, a place geographically similar to the United States, but appearing on a different plane of existence. He must follow the man in black on his quest to seek The Dark Tower, which separates the planes of existence among all of the different worlds. Along the way he meets a boy named Jake, and the story takes off with elements of action, adventure, tragedy, and a central mission.
The Gunslinger is the first installment and opens the door to a whole new fantasy world. While many people may be familiar with King’s writing in the horror genre, The Dark Tower series shows his ability to diversify and write across different genres.
Above Suspicion by Joe Sharkey
Above Suspicion was written in the 1990s by the New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey. He wrote several nonfiction novels that fit nicely into the crime genre. While his novels have not necessarily been best sellers, he does write compelling stories with a journalistic message in each. In Above Suspicion, he writes of a rookie FBI agent named Mark Putnam who is given an assignment in Kentucky.
Mark is living out his dream while not stationed in a desirable environment, he does his job as best as he can. However, state order meets scandal when a young female informant falls in love with him. This is not a typical love story, as the turmoil of her violent and capricious past plays out in her current state, culminating in the shocking act by Mark which will leave him in a moral challenge. This book asks the question of the role of private citizens in government affairs and is one you will not want to miss. Can’t get enough? Filming is underway for a release based on the book, starring Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston slated for a 2017 release.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, W.P. Inman is wounded and no longer wishes to fight with the Confederates. He deserts the war effort to return to Cold Mountain, North Carolina in hopes of finding Ada, a woman he knew briefly before the war. He hedges everything to find her again in hopes that she will accept his love and the two will become mates. His return trip is heavily influenced by the Odyssey, and Frazier explores the atrocious war morality adopted by many during this period during Inman’s exhausting trip home.
Cold Mountain was good enough to claim the National Book Award for Fiction the year it was published, and later was picked up by Hollywood and made into a moving starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. The movie also went on to be nominated for several Academy Awards. These reasons are all why this book rounds out our top summer reads.
Categories: Other
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Leila review: Prayaag Akbar's chilling dystopic debut novel
By Kerryn Goldsworthy
September 6, 2018 — 12.15am
Prayaag Akbar
Leila. By Prayaag Akbar.
Faber & Faber, $24.99
Shalini, the narrator-heroine of this accomplished debut novel, has had her little daughter taken from her and has been punished by the state, in a dystopian near-future. She has crashed from her privileged life as a young wife and mother to a solitary life among the outcasts of an unnamed city that seems a blend of Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Or perhaps the real point is that it doesn't matter, for global cities are becoming more alike. Prayaag Akbar uses the Indian caste system and builds on its hierarchical divisiveness to create a society in which everyone must be labelled by categories and sub-categories of race, religion and family, and movements around the city are strictly monitored. The story also incorporates the rise of populist nationalism, and its society has embraced the chillingly Nazi-flavoured slogan "Purity for all".
Most Viewed in Entertainment
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Furniture, Furnishings & Household Items›
Export: value of metal office furniture in the UK 2011-2016
Export trade value of metal office furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million U.S. dollars)
by Tugba Sabanoglu, last edited Jan 17, 2018
This statistic depicts the export trade value of metal office furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) between 2011 and 2016. Over the total time frame observed, the export trade value increased from 111.47 million U.S. dollars in 2011 to 121.71 million U.S. dollars by the year of 2016. The highest value was seen in 2014, accumulating to 130.22 million U.S. dollars following an increase of almost 20 million U.S. dollars between 2013 and 2014. The minimum value was recorded in 2012 at 110.13 million U.S. dollars.
Export trade value in million U.S. dollars
The data in this statistic has been rounded to two decimals.
Furniture, Furnishings & Household Items
Furniture purchase trend in the United Kingdom (UK) 2005-2017
Furniture Retail
Homewares market value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2010-2018
Bed and bedroom furniture market share in the United Kingdom (UK) 2015
Upholstery market share in the United Kingdom (UK) 2015
Statistics on "Furniture in the United Kingdom (UK)"
Furniture market overview
Furniture trade
Value of the homeware market in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010 to 2018 with a forecast up to 2020 (in billion GBP)Homewares market value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2010-2018
Turnover from retail sale of furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017 (in million GBP)Furniture retail sales turnover in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008-2017
Annual turnover of furniture, carpet and lighting equipment wholesalers in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017 (in million GBP)Wholesale turnover of furniture, carpets and lighting in the United Kingdom 2008-2017
Share of the living and dining room furniture market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by retailerLiving and dining room furniture: market share in the United Kingdom (UK) 2015
Share of the bed and bedroom furniture market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by retailerBed and bedroom furniture market share in the United Kingdom (UK) 2015
Share of the upholstery market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by retailerUpholstery market share in the United Kingdom (UK) 2015
Annual turnover of furniture manufacturers in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017* (in million GBP)Furniture: Manufacturing turnover in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008-2017
Sales from the manufacture of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2018 (in million GBP)Furniture manufacturing sales in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008-2018
Sales from the manufacture of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by product category* (in 1,000 GBP)Furniture manufacturers' sales in the United Kingdom (UK) 2018, by product category
Production value of the furniture manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)Production value of furniture manufacturing in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008 to 2015
Producer Price Index (PPI): Annual average output price of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2018**Furniture producer price index (PPI) in the United Kingdom (UK) 2003-2018
Producer Price Index (PPI): monthly output price of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from January 2015 to March 2019Furniture: monthly producer price index (PPI) in the UK 2015-2019
Number of furniture manufacturing enterprises in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017Number of furniture manufacturers in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008-2017
Value of furniture imported into the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010 to 2014 (in million U.S. dollars)United Kingdom (UK): furniture import value 2010-2014
Value of furniture imports into the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2018, split by EU and non-EU trade (in 1,000 GBP)Furniture import value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2003-2018, by EU and non-EU trade
Value of furniture imports into the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016, 2017, and 2018, by continent of origin (in million GBP)Furniture import value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2016-2018, by region
Leading suppliers of furniture imported into the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, based on value (in 1,000 U.S. dollars)United Kingdom (UK): leading furniture import partners 2014
Value of furniture exported from the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010 to 2014 (in million U.S. dollars)United Kingdom (UK): furniture export value 2010-2014
Export value of furniture from the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2017, split by EU and non-EU trade (in 1,000 GBP)United Kingdom (UK): furniture export value 2003-2017, by EU and non-EU trade
Value of furniture exports from the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016 to 2017, by continent (in million GBP)United Kingdom (UK): furniture export value 2016-2017, by destination region
Leading destinations of furniture exported from the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, based on value (in 1,000 U.S. dollars)United Kingdom (UK): leading furniture export partners 2014
Sales value of furniture, lighting and similar household furnishings in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018, based on index number of sales per week*Furniture and lighting retail sales value index in Great Britain 2010-2018
Percentage change in sales value of furniture, lighting and similar household furnishings in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018*Furniture retail sales value percentage change in Great Britain 2010-2018
Sales volume of furniture, lighting equipment and similar furnishings annually in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018, as index number of sales per weekFurniture and lighting retail sales volume index in Great Britain 2010-2018
Percentage change in sales volumes of furniture, lighting and similar household furnishings in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018*Furniture retail sales volume percentage change in Great Britain 2010-2018
Monthly retail sales of furniture and lighting equipment in household goods stores in Great Britain from February 2016 to March 2019* (in 1,000 GBP)Furniture retail sales in household goods stores in Great Britain 2016-2019
Average weekly retail sales of furniture and lighting equipment in Great Britain from January 2016 to April 2019* (in 1,000 GBP)Furniture and lighting average weekly retail spend in Great Britain 2016-2019
Number of specialized stores for the retail sale of furniture, lighting equipment and other household articles in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017Number of furniture and household retail stores in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008-2017
Consumer price index (CPI) of furniture, furnishings and carpets annually in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2018Furniture consumer price index (CPI) annually in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008-2018
Consumer spending on furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2005 to 2018 (in million GBP)*Expenditure on furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) 2005-2018
Annual expenditure on furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2005 to 2018, based on volume* (in million GBP)Furniture purchase trend in the United Kingdom (UK) 2005-2018
Number of people purchasing furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by expenditure (in 1,000s)Expenditure on furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) 2015
Average weekly household expenditure on furniture and floor coverings in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by type (in GBP)Furniture and floor coverings: weekly household expenditure in the UK 2018, by type
Average weekly household expenditure on furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by age of household reference person* (in GBP)Furniture and furnishings: weekly household expenditure in the UK 2018, by age
Average weekly household expenditure on furniture and furnishings, carpets and other floor coverings in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by gross income decile group (in GBP)*Furniture and floor coverings: weekly UK household expenditure 2018, by gross income
Net percentage of consumers spending more on furniture and homeware in the United Kingdom (UK) from 4th quarter 2011 to 4th quarter 2015UK development of consumers spending on furniture and homeware 2011-2015
Import value of metal office furniture in the UK 2011-2016
Export: quantity of metal office furniture in the UK 2011-2016
Import: quantity of metal office furniture in the UK 2011-2016
Herman Miller's gross margin worldwide from 2014 to 2018
HNI Corporation's net sales worldwide from 2015 to 2018, by business segment
Herman Miller's net sales worldwide from 2014 to 2018
Herman Miller's net sales worldwide from 2016 to 2018, by segment
Office, education and healthcare furniture market size in North America 2013-2017
Largest office furniture manufacturers ranked by sales in Europe in 2017
Office, education and healthcare furniture market size in Canada 2013-2017
Export: value wooden office furniture in the UK 2011-2016
Steelcase's revenue share worldwide in 2019, by region
Steelcase's revenue in the United States from 2016 to 2019
Export: quantity metal furniture in the UK 2011-2016
Retail sales of office furniture in Canada 2014, by type
Value of furniture exported from the Benelux 2017, by country
Americans who own West Elm furniture 2018, by income
Value of furniture exported from the Netherlands 2007-2017
Export: quantity of medical, dental, surgical and veterinary furniture UK 2011-2016
Value of furniture exported from Belgium 2008-2018
U.S. Furniture Retail
Mattress Retail in the U.S.
Office Furniture in the U.S.
Office furniture in the United Kingdom (UK)
Furniture market in Canada
Furniture market in Denmark
Furniture retail in the U.S.
Furniture industry in the EU
Furniture market in Austria
Furniture market in Sweden
Furniture in the United Kingdom (UK)
Furniture market in Norway
Furniture market in Italy
Furniture & home appliances e-commerce in the United Kingdom
Furniture manufacturing industry in Italy
Value of the homeware market in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010 to 2018 with a forecast up to 2020 (in billion GBP)
Turnover from retail sale of furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017 (in million GBP)
Annual turnover of furniture, carpet and lighting equipment wholesalers in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017 (in million GBP)
Share of the living and dining room furniture market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by retailer
Share of the bed and bedroom furniture market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by retailer
Share of the upholstery market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by retailer
Annual turnover of furniture manufacturers in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017* (in million GBP)
Sales from the manufacture of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2018 (in million GBP)
Sales from the manufacture of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by product category* (in 1,000 GBP)
Production value of the furniture manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Producer Price Index (PPI): Annual average output price of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2018**
Producer Price Index (PPI): monthly output price of furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from January 2015 to March 2019
Number of furniture manufacturing enterprises in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017
Value of furniture imported into the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010 to 2014 (in million U.S. dollars)
Value of furniture imports into the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2018, split by EU and non-EU trade (in 1,000 GBP)
Value of furniture imports into the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016, 2017, and 2018, by continent of origin (in million GBP)
Leading suppliers of furniture imported into the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, based on value (in 1,000 U.S. dollars)
Value of furniture exported from the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010 to 2014 (in million U.S. dollars)
Export value of furniture from the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2017, split by EU and non-EU trade (in 1,000 GBP)
Value of furniture exports from the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016 to 2017, by continent (in million GBP)
Leading destinations of furniture exported from the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, based on value (in 1,000 U.S. dollars)
Sales value of furniture, lighting and similar household furnishings in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018, based on index number of sales per week*
Percentage change in sales value of furniture, lighting and similar household furnishings in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018*
Sales volume of furniture, lighting equipment and similar furnishings annually in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018, as index number of sales per week
Percentage change in sales volumes of furniture, lighting and similar household furnishings in Great Britain from 2010 to 2018*
Monthly retail sales of furniture and lighting equipment in household goods stores in Great Britain from February 2016 to March 2019* (in 1,000 GBP)
Average weekly retail sales of furniture and lighting equipment in Great Britain from January 2016 to April 2019* (in 1,000 GBP)
Number of specialized stores for the retail sale of furniture, lighting equipment and other household articles in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2017
Consumer price index (CPI) of furniture, furnishings and carpets annually in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2018
Consumer spending on furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2005 to 2018 (in million GBP)*
Annual expenditure on furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2005 to 2018, based on volume* (in million GBP)
Number of people purchasing furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by expenditure (in 1,000s)
Average weekly household expenditure on furniture and floor coverings in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by type (in GBP)
Average weekly household expenditure on furniture and furnishings in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by age of household reference person* (in GBP)
Average weekly household expenditure on furniture and furnishings, carpets and other floor coverings in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018, by gross income decile group (in GBP)*
Net percentage of consumers spending more on furniture and homeware in the United Kingdom (UK) from 4th quarter 2011 to 4th quarter 2015
Import trade value of metal office furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million U.S. dollars)
Export quantity of metal office furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million kilograms)
Import quantity of metal office furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million kilograms)
Gross margin of Herman Miller worldwide from 2014 to 2018*
Net sales of the HNI Corporation worldwide from 2015 to 2018, by business segment (in million U.S. dollars)
Net sales of Herman Miller worldwide from 2014 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Net sales of Herman Miller worldwide from 2016 to 2018, by business segment (in million U.S. dollars)
Office, education and healthcare furniture market size in North America from 2013 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Leading office furniture manufacturers in Europe in 2017*, based on sales** (in million euros)
Office, education and healthcare furniture market size in Canada from 2013 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Export trade value of wooden office furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million U.S. dollars)
Revenue share of Steelcase worldwide in 2019, by region
Revenue of Steelcase in the United States from 2016 to 2019 (in million U.S. dollars)
Export quantity of metal furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million kilograms)
Retail sales of office furniture in Canada in 2014, by type (in million Canadian dollars)
Value of furniture, bedding, mattresses, cushions and other furnishings exported from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux) in 2017, by country (in thousand euros)
Share of household members in the United States who own furniture by West Elm in 2018, by income
Value of furniture, bedding, mattresses, cushions and other furnishings exported from the Netherlands from 2007 to 2017 (in thousand euros)
Export quantity of medical, dental, surgical and veterinary furniture in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million kilograms)
Value of furniture, bedding, mattresses, cushions and other furnishings exported from Belgium from 2008 to 2018 (in thousand euros)
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Human papillomavirus (HPV) in the U.S.
Statista dossier about human papillomavirus (HPV) in the United States
This dossier presents key facts and figures about human papillomavirus (HPV) in the United States. It contains figures on prevalence rates, rates of cancers associated with HPV, and the HPV vaccine.
1. Prevalence
Oral HPV prevalence rates in U.S. adults 2011-2014, by gender
Oral HPV prevalence rates in U.S. adults 2011-2014, by ethnicity
Genital HPV prevalence rates in U.S. adults 2013-2014, by gender
Genital HPV prevalence rates in U.S. adults 2013-2014, by ethnicity
U.S. college students that had been treated for select health issues fall 2018
2. HPV-associated cancers
Percentage of select cancers that were caused by HPV in the U.S. 2011-2015, by site
Number of cancer cases that were caused by HPV in the U.S. 2011-2015, by site
Percentage of select cancers that were caused by HPV in the U.S. 2011-2015, by gender
Number of cancer cases that were caused by HPV in the U.S. 2011-2015, by gender
HPV-associated cancer rate by U.S. state 2011-2015
3. HPV-associated cancers among women
HPV-associated cancer rates among women in the U.S. in 1999 and 2015, by cancer type
HPV-associated cancer rates among women in the U.S. in 2015, by ethnicity
HPV-associated cancer rates among women in the U.S. in 2015, by region
HPV-associated cervical carcinoma rates among U.S. women in 1999 and 2015, by age
HPV-associated cancer rates among women in the U.S. in 2015, by age
4. HPV-associated cancers among men
HPV-associated cancer rates among men in the U.S. in 1999 and 2015, by type
HPV-associated cancer rates among men in the U.S. in 2015, by ethnicity
HPV-associated cancer rates among men in the U.S. in 2015, by region
HPV-associated cancer rates among men in the U.S. in 2015, by age
5. HPV vaccine
HPV vaccine coverage among U.S. adolescents as of 2017, by age
HPV vaccine coverage among U.S. female adolescents as of 2017, by age
Share of U.S. teenage girls who had an HPV vaccination 2015, by ethnicity
HPV vaccine coverage among U.S. male adolescents as of 2017, by age
Share of U.S. teenage boys who had an HPV vaccination 2015, by ethnicity
HPV vaccination rates among U.S. adolescents as of 2017, by state
U.S. college students that had received select vaccinations as of fall 2018
Reasons for underutilization of the HPV vaccine in the U.S. 2016
Sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S.
LGBT health in the U.S.
Nursing homes in the U.S.
Allergies in the U.S.
Unintentional injury in the U.S.
Oral health and dental care in the U.S.
Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S.
Veteran health in the U.S.
Vaccinations in the U.S.
Hearing loss in the U.S.
Millennials and health in the U.S.
Men's health in the U.S.
Geriatric health in the U.S.
Back pain in the U.S.
Breast cancer in the U.S.
Hispanic health in the U.S.
Skin cancer in the U.S.
Children's health in the U.S.
Home care in the U.S.
Substance abuse disorder treatment and rehab in the U.S.
Cases of syphilis in the United States by by ethnicity and gender 2017
Share of U.S. teenagers who had an HPV vaccination 2017, by gender
Share of U.S. teenagers who had an HPV vaccination 2017, by poverty level
Italy: awareness of HPV & its link with cancer 2019
Italy: awareness of human papillomavirus among parents 2017-2019, by age
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The 8th Book of Tan by Sam Loyd
Continuing our analysis of the square, rhomboid, or other geometrical shapes which can be constructed by the seven pieces, we find a paradoxical demonstration that the same forms may be built from either six, seven, or eight pieces!
The first three figures show imperfect designs containing seven pieces each, which might be completed by the addition of an eighth piece, and yet we know that they can be made perfect with only seven pieces!
Strange to relate, the first of the figures is a famous puzzle, known as the Japanese Problem, the authorship of which has been claimed by several puzzlists and mathematicians. It is given in form of a square with one-ninth removed, and the conditions are to "discover how to devide the same into three pieces which will fit together and form a perfect square." It was a beautiful and difficult puzzle 3,000 years ago!
In Fig. 4 is given the answer to Fig. 1, showing how the same may be built with seven pieces, which would therefore require an eighth piece to complete, whereas we know that by a different arrangement the square can be made complete with only the seven!
The heavy white lines are given to show how to cut it into three pieces which will fit together and solve the Japanese problem.
In the same way in Fig. 5 is shown a perfect rhomboid constructed from the seven pieces, and yet in the next four designs are shown similar forms, each one containing the same seven pieces, although one of them appears to be missing, so that, as in Fig. 8, it would require nine pieces to make the form perfect.
We will now pry into the mysteries of the pyramids and ask the puzzlists and mathematicians to explain how it is possible to construct a perfect pyramid with seven pieces, or the imperfect ones, with one piece lacking, with the same number! it reminds one of the well-known story of the king who, in attempting to destroy one of the pyramids, removed one top stone, which the entire ability and resources of his nation could not restore. The encyclopædias say: "The Pyramids were built by the respective kings for their own tombs, and were begun at the beginning of each reign, and their different sizes therefore correspond with the length of the reign." In which case they must have been constructed by the Irishman who knew how to put up the chimney first and then build down to the ground!
Two of the designs are marked off with white lines so as to show how to make a complete as well as an imperfect pyramid with the same seven pieces.
An examination of the second book of Tan shows that every figure there given is susceptible of being represented in two other forms; one a contraction and the other an extension, and that the expended or extreme form produces the mysterious paradoxical principle of the missing piece.
Take, for example, the following shapes, to be found in all modern collections, and note the different rendering of the same subject, as well as the trick of the vanishing piece shown in the second figure. By this paradoxical way of building it can be shown that some figures which contain seven pieces might be made with eight, or might also be built just as perfect with only six, so as to leave a piece to spare of any desired shape.
Geometrical shapes
Tangram difficulty levels: Easy Medium Hard Expert
Usual objects
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« Newsletter Issue #333
Newsletter Issue #335 »
THIS WEEK’S TECH NIGHT OWL LIVE UPDATE
Here we go again: We made some more changes to our setups in recent weeks that should result in more reliable streaming, with fewer instances of stuttering. And all the shows have been re-encoded for superior audio quality, and to play properly on Podcast sites that use Flash players.
What does all this mean? Well, we switched to a provider that allowed us to crank up audio quality and reduce the bit rate somewhat. This means that those of you with dial-up models should find it easier to hear the show. At the same time, we needed to get a handle on a peculiar phenomenon where our shows would sound like an episode of “The Chipmunks” when heard through players that used Flash technology. That meant replacing our entire library of programs, which resulted in somewhat larger file size, but improvements are obvious.
It’s all part of an ongoing evolution, and more changes will come in time. We are also in the process of expanding the equipment lineup at the studio, and creating a mobile system, so we can broadcast on the road. Those of you who are audio engineers are welcome to make your suggestions about equipment and setups. We constantly strive for a professional sound and there’s always room to make things better.
On April 20th, we again talked about running Windows on a Mac, using booth Boot Camp and Parallels Work Station. We were joined by Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Jason Snell, Editorial Director of Mac Publishing. In addition, industry analyst Joe Wilcox, of JupiterResearch, gave a fast analysis of Apple’s sales during the last quarter, and then examined its outlook for the coming year.
Our April 27th episode will have some surprise guests, and we’ll let you know about them as soon as scheduling is nailed down.
As to our other show, “The Paracast,” on April 25th we’re bringing back Bill Birnes, publisher of “UFO Magazine” and co-author of “The Day After Roswell.” He’ll respond to some of the criticisms about the best-selling book that he wrote with the late Philip Corso and also deliver some surprising information on the subject that you’ve never heard before. In addition, Sean Casteel will speak about Biblical prophecies and what he calls the “excluded” portions of the Bible.
And don’t forget our weekly contests. So far we’ve given away such prizes as iPod shuffles, iPod accessories, memory upgrades, network music players, video tuner/recorders, software and books. More great prizes will be offered in the weeks to come.
If you haven’t heard our program, be sure to visit The Tech Night Owl LIVE Web site to listen to our archives or download the Podcast version. Enjoy.
THE NIGHT OWL REVIEW: XEROX PHASER 8550DP
Night Owl Rating:
It’s rare that I review a product twice, and that the review is based on two different samples of a product. But I felt that Xerox and its solid ink printing process deserve special treatment, particularly in an industry with so many me-too designs. I’ve evaluated a huge range of printers over the years for various publications, and, in the end, often found it difficult to tell one from the other except for the most minor elements.
Among dozens and dozens of inkjet and laser models, the Xerox Phaser 8500 and 8550 printers promise to bridge the gap between laser and inkjet in an affordable line that’s perfectly suited for the small to medium-sized business. I’ve already given an extensive first look at an 8500/DN, one of the cheaper versions, and, since then, I’ve stepped up to the 8550/DP, which, while nearly identical from the outside, offers speedier printing and superior output quality at its High Resolution/Photo print mode.
While preparing for this extended examination, I reviewed some of the published reports about the product, and ended up finding one, from InfoWorld, which managed to get most of the figures right, but just about everything wrong. I’ll cover that, however, in a separate article in this issue.
On the surface, the 8550/DP closely resembles a typical color laser. At the same time, it’s shorter and a little longer than most, but you have to open it up to see that this is a different animal entirely. At $1,149, after rebate, it is priced in the same range as many popular models from HP, Lexmark and others and you’re apt to evaluate it in the same breath. The features are similar too, with rated print speeds of up to 30 pages per minute, up to 2400 dpi resolution, and built in networking and two-sided printing. Unlike some of the competition, the main paper tray actually stores a full package of paper, with a rated capacity of 525 pages. Two costlier versions come with extra paper trays, more memory and an internal hard drive. If you want to save a few hundred dollars, you may want to consider the 8500/DN, which offers print speeds of up to 24 pages per minute, and lacks the higher print resolution for photos and high quality graphics.
But when you add up the cost of consumables over time, you might prefer to stick with the 8550/DP, which will eventually become cheaper to operate for reasons I’ll explain shortly.
Xerox, like Apple, understands that a smooth out-of-box experience can enhance the value of a computer peripheral. After taking the hefty beast, which weighs over 60 pounds, out of its shipping carton, I had it running its extended warm-up mode in just a few minutes. The latest Macs include drivers for the 8500 and 8550 series, so I was able to set it up on an Intel-based iMac in about a minute. Xerox’s own software package includes a XSupportCentre utility that lets you monitor printer settings and status on a Web-based interface, so you’ll get onscreen messages of the printer needs ink, paper or special maintenance.
Unlike many printers out there, I was also able to configure it with relative ease under Windows XP, as installed on the iMac with both Boot Camp and Parallels Workstation. If you’ve ever tried to configure a networkable printer on a Windows box, you know that’s no mean achievement. The standard hookup scheme is Ethernet, but there is a USB 2.0 port for installations where you just want a personal printer in a single computer setup.
When you first open the printer to install consumables, you know you’ve got something quite different. Instead of ink cartridges or toner, both the 8500 and 8550 series use solid ink, tiny wax-like sticks that are easily inserted into receptacles uniquely shaped for each color. You don’t have to wait for a for the ink to be nearly spent before replacing it either, as you can add several sticks to the ink loader and have the extra supplies in readiness when needed. If the colors are used up, it’ll automatically switch to black and white mode. That way you can keep on printing until you have a chance to replenish the color supplies.
Upon first starting the printer, you have to wait about 15 minutes for the ink sticks to melt and for various startup and setup processes to complete. Once the printer is ready for output, it’ll output several pages showing status messages and helpful instructions. Xerox recommends that the unit should always be left on, because a fair amount of ink is used in the warm-up process. However, there is a low-power idle mode for when the printer isn’t in use. The unit automatically configures its idle periods over the first few weeks of operation by calculating your usage pattern. Smart!
Once the first pages emerged, I knew I had something different. The 8500/DN delivers the first page of most documents in about six seconds; the 8550/DP does it about a second faster. Except for complicated graphics, print speeds are quite consistent, although you’ll sometimes encounter or pause of five or six seconds for some sort of internal processing or resetting.
The 8550/DP has four print modes, trading off quality for speed. Unlike many models, Xerox manages to come amazingly close to its speed ratings. The 30 pages per minute Fast Color mode delivers adequate text with serviceable graphics, and its great for proofing or just printing pages from a Web site that you want to keep around for research. The default print setting is Enhanced, which rates at 16 pages per minute, and it offers the best combination of speed and text and graphics quality. The High Resolution/Photo setting is the one that gets you 2400 dpi effective resolution, and at a rated speed of 10 pages per minute, gives you near photo-quality prints.
A solid ink printer uses a simple, relatively straight paper path, and the printing process is similar to offset, where a single roller receives the image, which is then transferred to paper. Since you don’t have to deal with multiple banks of toner cartridges, registration of color documents is essentially perfect. Print quality is extremely close to that of a laser printer, and you have to look real close to see just a slight spread of ink from tiny characters. This is something you won’t notice when you examine the output from any normal distance. Color photos and graphics are sharp and bright, and only a color inkjet will deliver superior results. Black and white photo can be a little grainy, but are still quite acceptable. If you don’t intend to print photos on glossy paper, however, you’ll be extremely pleased. But don’t forget that inkjets, which excel at photos, generally require expensive paper and consume large quantities of ink to do their best. Costs for page will be a lot less if you stick with a solid ink printer for most of your work.
According to Xerox, the 8500 and 8550 printers are often bought by real estate agents. Their superior text and photo quality is great for displaying home listings and they are also cherished for in-house business reports.
Any four-color printer isn’t exactly cheap to operate, but solid ink rates at the lower end of the cost scale when it comes to consumables. You can purchase single sticks, which are each rated at 1,000 copies. But you’ll do best with three-packs for colors and six-packs for black. Periodic maintenance requires emptying a waste tray at the side of the printer and replacing a special maintenance kit that contains a roller that keeps the surface of the imaging drum clean and oiled.
The standard maintenance kit is rated for up to 10,000 copies. There is an optional version for the 8550 series that costs about 50% extra, but yields up to 30,000 copies. Here’s where the more expensive model might end up being cheaper, if you find yourself printing thousands and thousands of copies per month.
Yes, it all adds up, but if you evaluate the price of keeping a color laser well fed, you’ll find these solid ink printers relatively economical to operate.
In addition to stellar print quality, the 8550/DP has been thoroughly reliable during my extensive tests. I’ve outputted thousands and thousands of copies, and it never missed a beat. Envelopes come through the multifunction tray clear and crisp, and all the pages sport a waxy sheen that gives them the look of class.
If you’re in the market for a color laser for your home or office, take pause. For many of you, a Xerox Phaser 8500 or 8550 is a much better solution and I will be extremely reluctant to return this product when the review product concludes.
THE TECH NIGHT OWL: ANATOMY OF A BAD PRINTER REVIEW
Reviewing computers and electronics gear is both subjective and objective, and opinions to a product may vary all over the place. So I am decidedly reluctant to criticize someone else’s reaction to a product. I wouldn’t be so egocentric as to say that my views are necessarily to be taken with greater authority that anyone else’s.
However, I’ve already weighed in on that strange review of a Xerox Phaser 8550/DX, which is identical to the 8550/DP I’ve reviewed for this issue, except for packaging it with two extra paper trays, extra memory and a 20GB hard drive.
Now that I’ve had plenty of face time with the 8550/DP, it has only made me more concerned about InfoWorlds’s review and their inability to make corrections when confronted with incontrovertible facts. In any case, I’m going to examine the key anomalies and deliver my comments. I’m doing my best here to stick with the facts, taking the article at face value as much as possible.
Grayscale photos are rendered in “a pinkish color composite.” Maybe this is peculiar to the unit they tested. I couldn’t find any symptom of this sort on either the 8500/DN or 8550/DP. When I asked one of InfoWorld’s reviewers about this, she said it wasn’t “pinkish” but “greenish,” which made the comment even stranger. One owner of one of these printers has suggested some sort of misconfiguration in the print driver, but I wasn’t able to see it with the default settings.
The printer “paused frequently to adjust itself.” This implies a period of long duration, such as you occasionally encounter with an inkjet printer. In fact, this alleged “pause” only happens periodically, and then it’s of brief duration, probably a few seconds at most.
Update: “The smell of melting ink can be unpleasant.” Maybe in their environment, but I can’t smell a thing in my home office even when my nose is placed near the printer, and I’ve been able to detect the odor emitted by printer toner. Mrs. Steinberg, who boasts a superior ability to sense strange odors, couldn’t smell the melting ink either. In fairness to everyone, some of our readers do smell the odor, particularly during the warm-up cycle, but find it pleasant, like crayons. But the flavor of incense would be nice.
“Despite a 30-ppm-rated engine, the Phaser 8550/DX’s fastest time when printing 10 copies of a 10-page, plain-text Word document was a paltry 15.4 ppm.” All right, InfoWorld is accusing Xerox of misrepresenting its test results. However, one of the authors of this review admits the test was not done in the speediest or Fast Color mode, but in the Enhanced mode, which is rated at 16 pages per minute. Under those circumstances, a 15.4 result is not “paltry” at all, but extremely close to Xerox’s claim. There’s nothing to indicate that the unit was ever tested at its speediest setting.
“You can’t write over the output with a ballpoint pen.” This is partly true. However, it works just fine if that ballpoint uses gel ink.
“Consumables costs are high.” InfoWorld rates the costs of consumables over 50,000 copies. When you compare it with a previous survey of color lasers, where printer costs were examined for an estimated 100,000 copies, and account for the differences, the Xerox solid ink printers actually rate at the lower end of the scale. When I asked the InfoWorld writer to explain this contradiction, she claimed the magazine had changed its method of calculating costs of operation, but I could never get her to explain what those changes were. I spent a little time examining the price of consumables of the Xerox against several popular color lasers, and the Xerox was more than competitive.
I do not pretend to understand why the obvious flaws in the article aren’t being acknowledged, even after I spent an extended amount of time documenting them. The fact that I didn’t see the review until several months after it was published, however, no doubt influenced the decision, since it’s probably just yesterday’s news. But it makes me concerned over the accuracy of other product reviews by the same authors.
No, folks, I am not free of errors, but I strive to correct them when I can, and that’s the advantage of Web-based publishing. Too bad others don’t look at the situation in the same way.
The Mac Night Owl Newsletter is a weekly information service of Making The Impossible, Inc.
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<a href="https://www.technightowl.com/newsletter/2006/04/newsletter-issue-334/" >Newsletter Issue #334</a>
This article was posted on Monday, April 24th, 2006 at 10:55 PM and is filed under Newsletter and tagged with: Audio Engineers, Audio Quality, Day After Roswell, Dr Mac, Editorial Director, Entire Library, Flash Players, Flash Technology, Jason Snell, Joe Wilcox, Levitus, Mac Publishing, Mobile System, Newsletter Issue, Night Owl, Peculiar Phenomenon, Professional Sound, Surprise Guests, Ufo Magazine.
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The Tech Night Owl Newsletter » Newsletter Issue #388 says:
[…] a few articles last year, I gave stellar reviews to the Xerox Phaser 8550DP solid ink printer. Indeed, over the ensuing months, I felt extremely positive about my decision. […]
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THE ROLE OF RAJYA SABHA MEMBERS IN THE INDIAN DEMOCRACY
Updated on November 4, 2017 by TopRankers
The Indian Parliament, which is bicameral in nature, comprises the Lok Sabha, i.e. the Lower House and the Rajya Sabha, i.e. the Upper House, which were established by the Constitution of India, whose basic structure propounds a federal principle of governance. The nomenclature of this house was changed from “Council of States” by the chair in the House on the 23rd August, 1954. The scheme of bicameralism, i.e., two Houses of Parliament was first incorporated in the Constitution of India Bill, 1895. The origin of this second Chamber can be traced from the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 which provided for the creation of a ‘Council of States’ as a second chamber of the then legislature with a restricted franchise which actually came into existence in 1921. Later in 1927, the Swaraj Constitution proposed by the Committee headed by Motilal Nehru advocated a legislature with two Chambers for independent India.
The Constituent Assembly, which first met on 9 December 1946 under the Indian Independence Act acted as the Central Legislature till 1950, when it was converted to the Provisional Parliament. During this period, the Central Legislature which was known as Constituent Assembly and later Provisional Parliament was unicameral till the first elections were held in 1952.
Extensive debate had taken place in the Constituent Assembly regarding the need for a Second Chamber in independent India and ultimately, it was decided to have a bicameral legislature mainly because a federal system was considered to be the most feasible form of Government for such a vast country with immense diversities. A single directly elected House was considered inadequate to meet the challenges before independent India. A second chamber known as the ‘Council of States’, therefore, was created with altogether different composition and method of election from that of the directly elected House of the People. It was meant to be the federal chamber, i.e. a House elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States and two Union Territories in which States were not given equal representation. Apart from the elected members, provision was also made for the nomination of twelve members to the House by the President. The minimum age of thirty years was fixed for membership as against twenty-five years for the Lower House, implying that this House would comprise more experienced members. The element of dignity and prestige was added to the Council of State House by making the Vice-President of India ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha who presides over its sittings.
The Rajya Sabha was thought to be a necessity for preserving the federal principle and to control the monopoly of the Lower House. It was created to prevent hasty legislation and serve as a dignified chamber representing the federal principle. As a federal chamber, it was to work for the unity and integrity of the nation and reinforce the faith of the people in parliamentary democracy. Although the Indian Parliament is based on the model of the British Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, as the name suggests, is more comparable to the American Senate than the British House of Lords. Thus, the reason why the members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the Members of the State Legislatures so that they can adequately represent the interests of their respective States. As per the expectations of the drafters of the Constitution of India, the members of the Upper House were supposed to be intellectuals who would be able to contribute to the functioning of the Parliament through their debates and discussions. And as a House comprising representatives of the State, it is provided with a special power to be able to uphold the interests of the State. There exist three Lists containing subjects of legislation according to the Constitution – the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List, and in case of Union and State Lists, neither the Centre nor the State legislature can legislate on subjects contained in the other list. It is only the Rajya Sabha which can empower the Parliament to legislate upon a subject in the State List in case it is expedient to do so.
In the recent times, a lot of reasons have led the masses to question the need for the Upper House in the contemporary political set-up of India. The Rajya Sabha, which was supposed to be a deliberative assembly to keep the narrowness and fickleness of the elected Lower house in check, has come far from that description. It has become the very picture of lack of decorum that was never expected from the intellectuals. In fact, during the discussion of the women’s reservation bill, marshals had to be deployed to evict protesting members.
Today’s Lok Sabha looks a lot like the Rajya Sabha that was perceived at the time of Independence. The fear of states not having enough representation in Parliament is not true anymore because the different regions and states are well represented in the Lower House by various parties that have no national interests but narrow regional agendas. Moreover, the chief ministers of the states are quite powerful and issues raised by them can be heard around the country.
The Upper House has also become a paradise for party fund-raisers, losers in elections, crony capitalists, journalists, retired CEOs and civil servants. Governments in the past took advantage of the Upper House to hire lateral talent. Individuals of repute who were either talented or had private sector experience were inducted so they could bring fresh ideas and knowledge in various ministries that desperately needed them. But, of late, political parties are exploiting the Rajya Sabha to reward power brokers who can raise funds for elections, journalists who support the party positions on various issues, etc., who in turn help the parties to gain influence and sway policy in the House. Thus, the Rajya Sabha has become an institution that serves vested interests than strengthen the people’s agenda.
Moreover, it has become a platform for parties to further their political agenda than to debate and improve legislation. Meaningful debates are rare and given the fragmented political environment of modern Indian politics, it is more of a hindrance to the speedy legislative process that the country desperately requires for economic growth and progress.
One can clearly see that the basic problem of the Rajya Sabha stems from the mentality of its members who work for furthering the interests of their respective parties than for the State which they represent, thus nullifying the very reason for the existence of the House.
Finally, the expenditure incurred on the functioning of the Upper House can be reallocated. Members of Parliament of both Houses are treated on equal footing as far as privileges and benefits are concerned. Savings of hundreds of crores from the abolition of the Upper House can be more gainfully deployed for either building infrastructure or enhancing social development or other meaningful projects.
On the other hand, the significance of the Rajya Sabha in contemporary Indian politics cannot be completely ignored. The importance of the Rajya Sabha is inversely proportionate to the strength of the ruling party in the Upper House. When the ruling party has an absolute majority in the Rajya Sabha it tends to ride roughshod over the house as the government is confident of getting its legislative proposals easily passed. However when the ruling party is part of a coalition that may or may not have a majority, the Upper House becomes strong and can openly criticise the actions of the ruling party.
The purpose of the Rajya Sabha is to act as an independent measure to the Lok Sabha. Members of the Rajya Sabha are, thus, representatives who are responsible to the public but not dependent upon them for re-election. This allows the Rajya Sabha to perform independent checks on the laws passed by the Lok Sabha without being affected by public opinion that determines the electoral success of the politicians in the Lok Sabha.
Moreover, the twelve members nominated to the Rajya Sabha are eminent personalities in their own fields of work and are supposed to contribute intellectually to the debates and discussions on the floor of the House. But this often does not happen as they are too busy to even attend the sessions of the House. But while we had nominated members like Lata Mangeshkar and Dilip Kumar who rarely attended sessions, we also had people like Bimal Jalan, Swaminathan, Kasturirangan, Jaya Bachchan and Hema Malini in recent times who come well-prepared and are heard with rapt attention. However, a member nominated to the House by the President, is allowed to join a political party if he/she does so within the first six months of taking seat in the House. This may create political bias in the minds of these intellectuals and adversely affect their participation in the debates and discussions.
Keeping the arguments for and against the Rajya Sabha in mind, we must examine the reason for the establishment of a second Chamber in the first place – to preserve the federal principle. This along with the fact that the Constitution does not allow for the abolition of the Rajya Sabha makes it imperative for us to realise that the Upper House is not a body that we can do away with. Since the Upper House is here to stay, it is better if some changes are introduced in its structure to make it a more effective contributor to the Parliament.
One useful reform step would be to have members of the Rajya Sabha also directly elected by the citizens of a state. Although this would adversely affect the independent check on the Lok Sabha laws, it will, on the other hand, reduce cronyism and patronage appointments. This step should be combined with equal representation for each State and/or one vote per State so that large states do not dominate the proceedings in the House. This streamlined Rajya Sabha should remain deliberative, but another reform should be deadlines set for responding to bills initiated in the Lok Sabha to promote a faster process of legislation.
Therefore, it cannot be denied that the Rajya Sabha has played a constructive and effective role in our polity. Its performance in the legislative field and in influencing the Government policies has been quite significant as can be seen in case of the present government not being able to push through the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill and the Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill which have been passed in the Lok Sabha due to the BJP majority. Rajya Sabha has, in this way, prevented hasty legislation and has long served as achamber representing the federal principle. Regretfully the Rajya Sabha today, does not reflect the rich cultural diversity of the states or the national perspective in its debates or discussions as it has become a victim to party politics. But since democracy is merely a trade-off between total chaos and tolerable confusion, it is essential for us to realise that the Rajya Sabha cannot be done away with and to reform it to suit the needs of our dynamic nation.
Posted in ArticlesTagged Rajya Sabha
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Jobs, Jobs Notification
Rajya Sabha Secretariat Recruitment 2017: Apply now for 115 vacancies
by TopRankers on July 26, 2017
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Chapman: I Miss Disney From the 1990’s
Kaiser Reviews… VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS
Kaiser Reviews… THE DRUDE VOL. 2
I’ve seen a lot of Disney related nostalgia pop up over the last few days: The live action Lion King trailer. The Disney princesses appearing in the new Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet movie. Even just a few days ago, I sat down and watched Warren Beatty’s lavishly colorful Dick Tracy film.
Movies and related media have always impacted my life. I can tell you where I was, and what I was doing from movies, games, or TV shows. And none have had more of a resonance for me than Disney.
But I will admit that Disney isn’t what it used to be these days in terms of “magic”. Oh certainly, its reach on entertainment is global and omnipresent. It’s getting to the point that, even if you’ve “never been a fan of anything Disney”, chances are, you’ve been well indoctrinated into their media empire, from ABC to ESPN. Liked Infinity War? Disney. Star Wars? Disney. Family Guy? Disney.
Disney today feels less like a creative studio and more like an IP acquisition firm. And that’s not to say that I enjoy some of their current product, but really looking at their current landscape of reinterpreting their entire animated film catalogue to live action, heavy reliance on specific properties instead of their bulk library of media and their growing monopoly of entertainment media at large….
I really miss Disney of the 1990’s.
Disney came a long way from the rough road that they traveled after the death of Walt Disney. The studio seemed directionless, and wasn’t creating new beloved films that it known for. However, when CEO Michael Eisner came along, he shifted the company’s direction into something far more successful.
The changes weren’t always ideal. For every George Lucas collaboration, Touchstone Pictures, theme park expansions,and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, there were also decisions that could have cost the company some of its most beloved properties. Eisner didn’t see the animation department as viable, and nearly axed the group entirely, but The Little Mermaid became the saving grace that led Disney into its “Renaissance” period.
The “Disney Renaissance” lasted from 1989 to 1999. The films produced during this time period elevated “children’s entertainment” into movies that well competed with any other movie in the theaters. Among the highlights were Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, each lavishing rich animation, Broadway style music (from notable composers and lyricists like Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, and Tim Rice), and new characters that stood equally alongside Walt’s own era of creations.
Disney’s live action films and studio/filmmaker collaborations brought new ideas to the general audience. Movies like Dick Tracy and The Rocketeer made their own comic book based impacts well before “cinematic universes” were ever conceived of. Other new properties such as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids hearkened back to those older quirky films. Other animated projects, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Pixar’s Toy Story showed the innovation and risks that the Disney studios were once known for.
This “new age” also extended to television animation. While Saturday morning and after school fare had usually been low budget, The Disney Afternoon featured shows like DuckTales, Chip “N’ Dale Rescue Rangers, and Darkwing Duck, that introduced or reinterpreted beloved characters, showcased a higher standard of animation (which Warner Bros. Animation upped their own standards to directly compete with Disney), and incredibly catchy theme songs that people can still recall by heart when prompted.
Disney even set new standards in video gaming. Working with companies like Sega and Capcom, Disney characters became “cool” to play on a home console, ranging from those Disney Afternoon shows, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, and even Disney animators lent their talents to games with titles such as Aladdin and The Lion King.
Disney in the 1990’s was inescapable. From Disney Adventures Magazine, to collecting the latest movie merchandise from The Disney Store, to even Walt’s Disney World’s growth into an actual “world” (introducing Animal Kingdom in 1998), Disney constantly made “new” properties without relying on any outside influences.
A lot’s changed since the 1990’s. In the 2000’s Eisner finally got his wish to axe 2D animation (though John Lasseter brought The Princess and the Frog and a new Winnie the Pooh film before fully transitioning Disney Animation into computer animated films). Disney leaned heavily into cloning out as many Disney Channel stars as they could. There were a few highlights, like Lilo & Stitch, and the early Pirates of the Caribbean films, but the flourish was largely gone. Disney has evolved from a creative powerhouse to an entity not unlike Star Trek‘s Borg Collective, Marvel Comics’ Galactus, or Transformers‘ Unicron.
Today, Disney’s primary goal looks to be collecting as many outside studios and licensed properties as it can, and leaning on those. Instead of focusing on a wide swath of animated fare or unique concepts, they double down on ones that make the most impact at the box office, and cling to it like nothing else exists (I’m looking at you, Frozen). That’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed some of their new films and ideas. The Marvel Comics films remain consistently enjoyable even in their weakest entries, and initial goodwill of the Star Wars acquisition won me over, until they ran the franchise like a juggernaut.
Don’t even get me started about the loss of the Disney Infinity video game, and backing out of the console market to solely work on mobile apps.
With the 2010’s nearly over, the next decade will undoubtedly bring yet another evolution to Disney’s business goals. I predict that future will be largely digital, but hopefully, Disney will look back on some of those creative processes that they found in the 1990’s, and look for new ways to expand those concepts, and not view it as how can they mine further nostalgia for profit.
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Sun., April 21, 2019
Reaction to Sri Lanka attacks
Debris is seen at St Anthony's church after explosions hit churches and hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 21, 2019, in this still image obtained from video. Derana TV/via Reuters
Sri Lankan military officials stand guard in front of the St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade church after an explosion in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
Damage is seen at St Anthony's church after explosions hit churches and hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 21, 2019, in this still image obtained from video. Derana TV/via Reuters
Sri Lankan military stand guard in front of the St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade church after an explosion in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
A police officer inspects the explosion area at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
Crime scene officials inspect the explosion area at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
Easter Day bomb blasts at three Sri Lankan churches and four hotels killed more than 200 people and wounded more than 400, hospital and police officials said, following a lull in major attacks since the end of the civil war 10 years ago.
Politicians and religious leaders were united in their shock and condemnation. Here are some of their reactions.
“I learned with sadness and pain of the news of the grave attacks, that precisely today, Easter, brought mourning and pain to churches and other places where people were gathered in Sri Lanka,” he told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square to hear his Easter Sunday message.
“I wish to express my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, hit while it was gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence.”
WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS PRESIDENT RONALD S. LAUDER
“World Jewry — in fact all civilized people — denounce this heinous outrage and appeal for zero tolerance of those who use terror to advance their objectives. This truly barbarous assault on peaceful worshippers on one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar serves as a painful reminder that the war against terror must be at the top of the international agenda and pursued relentlessly,” he said in a statement.
U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
“Heartfelt condolences from the people of the United States to the people of Sri Lanka on the horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels,” he tweeted. “... We stand ready to help!”
“It is shocking that people who had gathered to celebrate Easter were the deliberate target of vicious attacks,” she wrote in a letter of condolence to Sri Lanka’s president.
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON
“Deep sorrow following the terrorist attacks against churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. We firmly condemn these heinous acts. All our solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka and our thoughts go out to all victims’ relatives on this Easter Day,” he said on Twitter.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY
“The acts of violence against churches and hotels in Sri Lanka are truly appalling, and my deepest sympathies go out to all of those affected at this tragic time. We must stand together to make sure that no one should ever have to practice their faith in fear,” she tweeted.
SPANISH PRIME MINISTER PEDRO SANCHEZ
“Terror and barbarity will never defeat us,” he wrote on Twitter.
LUXEMBOURG PREMIER XAVIER BETTEL
“Even on Easter Sunday, there are those who sow hatred and reap death. The attacks in Sri Lanka churches testify to a real genocide perpetrated against Christians. Let us pray for the innocent victims and work towards religious freedom around the world,” he said on Twitter.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER
“It was with horror and sadness that I heard of the bombings in Sri Lanka costing the lives of so many people. I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims who had gathered to worship peacefully or come to visit this beautiful country. We stand ready to support,” he said on Twitter.
ISRAELI PRESIDENT REUVEN RIVLIN
“The attacks in Sri Lanka, including those at prayer celebrating Easter Sunday are a despicable crime. We are all children of God; an attack on one religion is an attack on us all,” he said on Twitter.
TURKISH PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN
“I condemn in the strongest terms possible the Easter terror attacks in Sri Lanka. This is an assault on all of humanity,” he tweeted.
IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF
“Terribly saddened by terrorist attacks on Sri Lankan worshippers during Easter. Condolences to friendly govt & people of Sri Lanka. Our thoughts & prayers with the victims & their families. Terrorism is a global menace with no religion: it must be condemned & confronted globally,” he said on Twitter.
“New Zealand condemns all acts of terrorism, and our resolve has only been strengthened by the attack on our soil on the 15th of March. To see an attack in Sri Lanka while people were in churches and at hotels is devastating,” she said in a written statement.
“New Zealand rejects all forms of extremism and stands for freedom of religion and the right to worship safely. Collectively we must find the will and the answers to end such violence.”
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Editing by Alison Williams and Nick Macfie)
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Books Author Maggie O’Farrell on 17 brushes with death: ‘Near-death experiences are, of course, universal, and shared by all’
Author Maggie O’Farrell on 17 brushes with death: ‘Near-death experiences are, of course, universal, and shared by all’
JADE COLBERT
Published February 22, 2018 Updated February 23, 2018
I Am, I Am, I Am is a memoir full of life from the vantage point of Maggie O'Farrell's brushes with death – 17 brushes with death, to be exact.
Born in Northern Ireland in 1972 and now living in London, O'Farrell is the author of seven novels, including After You'd Gone, The Distance Between Us, Instructions for a Heatwave and, most recently, This Must Be the Place.
O'Farrell's memoir, her first work of non-fiction, gives a strong sense of the author in various stages of life: the child "bolter," the impetuous teenager, the traveller in her 20s. Now, as the mother of a child with life-threatening allergies, she reflects on her own childhood illness. I Am, I Am, I Am is a generous read in that it gives readers a window from which to consider their own lives.
On reflection, maybe 17 brushes with death isn't all that many.
What moved you to write your life by talking about your near-misses with death?
It's a book I never thought I'd write. I've always been so wedded to the form of fiction and never planned to write a memoir. But this somehow demanded to be written. I Am, I Am, I Am is a response to living with my daughter's life-threatening medical condition. How does a parent absorb and explain the near-death experiences suffered by a young child? How best to reassure them, make them feel safe? The only way I have found to do this is to tell my daughter stories, to transpose what has happened to her into narrative. Only then can she comprehend the illnesses, the threat, the pain.
I wrote I Am, I Am, I Am to confront the brushes with death that we all have – and to help my daughter feel less alone.
Seventeen might at first seem a surprisingly large number. Was there something that surprised you in writing this book?
That I was writing it at all surprised me a great deal: I never intended to write about myself. I think that any brush with death changes you and becomes part of who you are. You come back from the brink altered and with a new awareness of your own fragility. You continue on with a sense of how permeable is the membrane between life and death. It's inevitable that certain experiences I describe in this book will have filtered into my fiction, in both literal and indirect ways. There are incidents, like the near-drowning in India, that are echoed in my novels. I don't often write autobiographically – I prefer to make things up – but there will be the odd scene that might be recognizable to the very eagle-eyed. I suppose that surprised me, in a way: The realization that I had already skirted around some of these incidents before, in my fiction.
Do people now feel compelled to share their near-death experiences with you?
They do. This has been an unexpected side effect of the book. People come up to me after events and share some very visceral, personal stories. I feel greatly honoured to hear them.
Many of these chapters describe complications around childbirth or threats disproportionately faced by women and girls. How aware were you of this gendered aspect when writing the book?
Not at all. I didn't plan it as a gendered book, in any way. I was writing about my own experiences and inevitably some of those would come across as female, since I am female. It isn't meant to be a book about women, for women, however. Near-death experiences are, of course, universal, and shared by all.
Your three children figure prominently in this book, especially the last chapter, about your second child. Does being a parent change the nature of these stories?
Becoming a parent changes everything so, yes, I think my attitude to death and certainly risk underwent a complete sea change when I had children. You are suddenly so aware of the fragility and dependency of these tiny creatures, and how important it is for you to keep them alive – and for you to stick around in order to do so.
The title of this book is from a line in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar: "I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am." Who do you most admire in writing about the brush with death?
That's a hard question. Obviously, the Plath quote takes on an extra poignancy when you take the way her life ended into account. I think James Joyce writes well about death – and our fear and fascination with it. Also, the Brontes, Alice Munro, Robert Louis Stevenson, Emily Dickinson, William Boyd, A.M. Homes and Annie Proulx, to name just a few.
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Iran must free the Bahá'í leaders who have been jailed for five years too many
A global campaign is under way to remind Iran that it has legal and moral obligations to treat its religious minorities with justice
Tue 14 May 2013 05.30 EDT
The seven Bahá’í prisoners before their arrest. Back row, left to right: Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi and Mahvash Sabet. Seated: Behrouz Tavakkoli and Saeid Rezaie.
Today is the fifth anniversary of the unjust imprisonment of seven Bahá'í leaders in Iran. They were jailed for 20 years for no reason other than their beliefs – the longest jail terms handed down against any prisoners of conscience in the country – and today I'm sending a message to Iran: even five years are too many.
A global campaign is under way to remind Iran that it has legal and moral obligations to treat its religious minorities with justice – the Five Years Too Many campaign. But for decades Iran has walked all over the human rights of its citizens. The persecution of religious minorities is at the heart of this violence.
Iran's religious minorities are arrested on fatuous charges, endure trials that violate the state's own due process, are jailed on unproven convictions and tortured in prison. Converts from Islam are branded apostates. Homes, businesses and places of worship are raided and torn apart. Students are kicked out of university because of their beliefs. And cemeteries are desecrated so not even the dead can escape.
And yet Iran is signed up to international treaties and covenants on human rights; the government has broken its bond. The abuse hits other religious minorities, too – the Yarsan Kurds; Gonabadi Dervishes, who are Shia Muslims; and Christians.
The seven Bahá'í leaders – Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm – were held for months without charge after their 2008 arrest and were finally subjected to a series of trials that made a mockery of justice. Ministry of Intelligence agents had cameras in the courtroom but international observers and family members were barred from the proceedings.
And yet the Bahá'í leaders have not languished in prison. Mahvash Sabet has written poetry inside her Evin cell, now published in English. Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist made famous in 2009 because of her unjust incarceration in Iran, shared a prison cell with Sabet and Kamalabadi. "They showed me what it means to be selfless, to care more about one's community and beliefs than about oneself," Saberi later said of the two women.
But the seven are living a daily grind of deprivation, overcrowded prison cells and exposure to the abuse of their captors. They have 15 years to go. The eldest among the seven, Khanjani, is 80 years old. His wife of more than 50 years passed away after his incarceration – he was unable to see her a final time or attend the funeral.
The plight of these seven Bahá'ís is emblematic of the state-sponsored persecution that has plagued the Iranian Bahá'í community for more than 30 years. More than 200 Bahá'ís were executed after the 1979 revolution. And the seven in prison are only the most well-known; there are more than 100 others behind bars. Bahá'ís are denied jobs in the public sector; their businesses are closed and property appropriated; and the entire community is subjected to waves of defamation and vilification in the state media.
A community is under siege: it is one of the most appalling examples of the persecution of religious minorities in Iran today. The Iranian government must respect the rights of all its minorities, release the seven leaders, and emancipate the Bahá'í community.
But the Bahá'ís have never been helpless victims of their tormentors. Iran's government abuses them and countless others; the Bahá'ís respond with a peaceful determination to serve their fellow Iranians and offer a hopeful vision of the future.
Five years too many: government officials, faith leaders, human rights activists, artists; people of good conscience across the UK and around the world are standing up to support the Bahá'ís and all religious minorities in Iran. Five years are too many and 15 more is barbaric. Five minutes may do; just enough time to unlock the doors.
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370 hindering JK’s development: Modi
‘Kashmir issue limited to just two-an-a-half districts’
Monitor News Bureau | 7 Mins Read
New Delhi, Apr 9: The people of Kashmir ‘want a change, including Article 35A and Article 370’ as they hinder development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
“The problem in Kashmir is largely due to the 50-odd political families there. They have been milking the issue. They don’t want any benefit to be given to the common Kashmiri people. They are using public sentiment for political gains. The income tax department has cracked down on such elements,” Modi said in an interview with News18 Network Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.
He said that people of Kashmir “want freedom from political families.”
“While stone-throwers are funded by Pakistan to protect militants, when there is crackdown by the NIA on terror operators, people stand outside their homes and clap. People of Kashmir want freedom from such political families who have been preying on their emotions for 50 years. The situation in Kashmir is such that people want change, whether it is about Article 35A or 370,” Prime Minister said.
Modi said it was the former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s policies which were an obstacle for the development in the Valley.
“There must be investment and job opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir. 35A, 370 have been standing in the way of development. No one goes there to invest. We can build IIMs, but professors are not ready to go there as their children don’t get admission in schools. They can’t find homes. This ends up harming the interests of J&K. Pandit Nehru’s policies stand as an obstacle for J&K today. It needs to be reviewed,” the Prime Minister said.
Blaming Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for the crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would have better handled the Kashmir issue and the Valley would not have remained ‘mired in controversy’.
Blaming Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would have better handled the issue and the Valley would not have remained ‘mired in controversy’.
He added that it was imperative that people in the rest of the country see ‘the progress’ in Kashmir. “Kashmiris have excelled in sports and competitive exams. Any top university today has Kashmiri students. We must encourage this.”
Modi also said the conflict in Kashmir valley “was limited to just ‘dhai’ (two and half) districts”, and the state largely remained stable under the BJP government. “There is no problem in Ladakh and Jammu. It is only two-and-a-half districts in Kashmir valley where there is a problem. We see these districts as the whole of Jammu and Kashmir. This narrative must change,” Modi said.
Modi claimed the BJP government had continued spending on development in the valley and had dealt with the state in a fair manner. “India has not done anything that should make Kashmir feel neglected or ill-treated. But we must treat this issue with sensitivity and understanding.”
In its manifesto, Sankalp Patra, the BJP has promised the abrogation of Article 370 if the party retains power in the Lok Sabha elections.
Targeting the Congress’s manifesto over its proposal of reviewing Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said revoking the Act would be equivalent to sending soldiers to the gallows.
“The government must have the power to protect its armed forces. Only then will they have the morale to fight. Revoking AFSPA would be like sending our soldiers to the gallows. I won’t let this happen,” Modi said.
Emphasising on the need for the Act in a disturbed area such as Jammu and Kashmir, Modi said the government must first create an environment where AFSPA is unnecessary before revoking or diluting it. He also gave the example of Arunachal Pradesh, where the government partially revoked the Act earlier this month.
“First, we revoked it from a few districts in Arunachal. We then revoked it from a few other states. We were the first government to take such a step since 1980. But we have maintained law and order,” Modi said.
The Congress election manifesto, released last week, proposed a review of the AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir. It also promised revocation or amendment of several other laws like sedition and defamation. This led to condemnation from BJP leaders. However, the Congress clarified it only intended to modify AFSPA in instances of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Following the release of the grand old party’s manifesto, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the vision document was full of “dangerous ideas” that could lead to the “Balkanisation” of India. Jaitley went on to say that it seemed the Congress manifesto was drafted by the “Tukde Tukde Gang”, an oft-used BJP euphemism for those whom the party felt were working against the integrity of the nation state.
Modi took a similar view on the matter and said the Congress manifesto was ‘soft on terror’. “We are at the crossroads of eliminating militancy. Militants are demoralised and we are winning a psychological war against them,” he said.
Modi also said the Congress party’s views on the army were akin to that of Pakistan. “No patriot will tolerate this language. Their manifesto talks about removing AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir. This amounts to removing weapons from a soldier’s hands,” he added.
The AFSPA provides special powers such as arrest without warrant, fire upon or use force against those acting against law and order, legal immunity, among others, to armed forces in a disturbed area. The Act has come under the scanner for human rights violations in regions of effect.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said there will be no option with the government other than abolishing the special status to Jammu and Kashmir in the Constitution if there is a demand for a separate Prime Minister for the militancy-affected state.
Earlier, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had said that his party would strive for restoring the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir that includes having a ‘Sadar-e-Riyasat’ (President) and ‘Wazir-e-Azam’ (Prime Minister).
“Someone who has been chief minister for a long time has said that there should be a Prime Minister in Jammu and Kashmir. If someone talks like that, we will have no option other than abolishing Article 370 and Article 35A,” Singh said.
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A Newspaper company in Kashmir
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Home News Environment
London’s climate could be more like Barcelona’s by 2050, study suggests
London could face the kind of extreme drought conditions that hit Barcelona in 2008, with severe implications for the Spanish city’s population and major economic costs from importing £20 million of drinking water.
by Joe Mellor
London’s climate will be more like Barcelona’s by 2050, according to an analysis which illustrates the impacts of global warming on major cities.
An evaluation of the world’s 520 major cities by the Crowther Lab indicates more than three-quarters will experience a striking change in climate conditions by 2050 compared with today.
It finds more than a fifth (22%), including Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, will experience unprecedented conditions that major conurbations have not seen before.
London’s climate in 2050 will be more similar to Barcelona’s current conditions, while Edinburgh’s will be more like Paris is now, and Cardiff will be more similar to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, it suggests.
The researchers say that pairing up cities in this way can help people visualise the impact of climate change in their own lives.
For example, London could face the kind of extreme drought conditions that hit Barcelona in 2008, with severe implications for the Spanish city’s population and major economic costs from importing £20 million of drinking water.
The research projects what the 520 current cities’ climate will most closely resemble by 2050, under an “optimistic” scenario where action is taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
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Jean-Francois Bastin, lead author of the research paper, said: “History has repeatedly shown us that data and facts alone do not inspire humans to change their beliefs or act.
“The intangible nature of reporting on climate change fails to adequately convey the urgency of the issue – for example, it is hard to envision how 2C of warming, or changes in average temperature by 2100 might impact daily life.
“With this analysis from Crowther Lab scientists, we want to help people visualise the impact of climate change in their own city, within their lifetime.”
The study, published in the journal PLOS One, suggests summers and winters in Europe will get warmer, with average increases of 3.5C and 4.7C respectively – equivalent to a city shifting 1,000km (620 miles) further south.
Commenting on the study, Professor Richard Betts, from the Met Office Hadley Centre and University of Exeter, said: “This study helps to put climate change in the context of human experience – and more importantly, shows that many places will see entirely new climates that are outside of current human experience.”
Professor Mike Lockwood, from the University of Reading, said the study was really useful in visualising climate change, but warned against overlooking huge infrastructure issues caused by changes to the climate of the world’s cities.
“For example, bringing Barcelona’s climate to London sounds like it could be a good thing – if you don’t suffer from asthma or have a heart condition, that is – except London clay shrinks and is brittle if it gets too dry and then swells and expands when very wet.
“The greater swings in ground moisture expected in a warmer world would cause massive subsidence problems.
“As ever, there is destructive and unforeseen devil in the details of climate change.”
Dr Grant Allen, atmospheric physicist at the University of Manchester, said there was also the issue of extreme weather events becoming more frequent, particularly in terms of intense rainfall for the UK.
“While the mean climate may well become much like Barcelona, which presents its own chronic challenges for UK ecosystems and infrastructure, the science concerning the changing chances of extreme weather events is much less certain and recent evidence is a cause for alarm,” he said.
Professor Gabi Hegerl, from the University of Edinburgh, said: “The study considers some aspects of extremes but doesn’t capture individual events like unprecedented heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall or flooding.
“Also, sea level rise will add to the difficulties faced by many of these cities.”
UK cities and places their climate could mirror by 2050, according to the study:
London – Barcelona
Edinburgh – Paris
Glasgow – Cardiff
Cardiff – Montevideo
Leeds – Melbourne
Birmingham – Paris
Manchester – Montevideo
Belfast – Cardiff
Climate change will cause great social unrest, Sir David Attenborough warns
Joe Mellor
Head of News & Social Media at The London Economic
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Bringing a quantum shift to Christian prayer and worship
In her new book, Christian author and writer Ann Shakespeare highlights the surprising similarities between quantum physics and biblical truth. It is the culmination of a decades-long personal search for spiritual meaning, and one that promises to bring a deeper understanding of the dynamic spiritual life in Christ that is available to those who would seek it.
by Jess Young
in Opinion
By Timothy Arden
In the past century there has been a revolution in science with the discovery and exploration of the subatomic world. Quantum physics—that branch of science that explains the nature and behavior of matter and energy at the subatomic level—may deal with the infinitesimally small, but at the same time it has done nothing less than shape our understanding of the entire universe.
While, historically, there has always been a tension between the spheres of science and religion, writer and author Ann Shakespeare believes that knowledge of quantum physics could also help bring added depth and greater comprehension to the Christian faith. Her new book, God’s Gift of Tremendous Power, is the first non-academic text to make this connection between the quantum realm and spiritual truth, drawing on the latest scientific discoveries to support the timeless biblical truth that God is omnipresent.
As a practicing Christian herself, Ann thinks that there is much to gain from contemplating these discoveries. In her book she sets out the idea of the ‘quantum field’, as she describes it, which can be understood as the underlying fabric of the universe; a field of energy which pervades all the subatomic particles and everything that exists. This field, she says, is the medium through which God created the universe and through which He manifests his works. Importantly, while this quantum field is neutral, it can, she believes, be positively influenced through prayer and meditation.
In writing the guide, which has just been published through Deep River Books, Ann hopes to help Christians look beyond a dualistic view of God’s creation to see the “truth of oneness and omnipresence that is conveyed powerfully in the letters of the New Testament”. This vision is underlined beautifully by the discoveries of quantum physics which shed light on the scriptures that describe the dynamic spiritual life that is “available to us in Christ, in our daily lives”.
God’s Gift of Tremendous Power contains the fruit of a lifetime’s enquiry into the fundamental existential questions such as ‘Why are we here?’ and ‘What is our purpose?’ Now aged 67 and based in Lincolnshire, Ann first became drawn to Christianity as an answer to these profound questions during her 20s, as she explains:
“A friend gave me a book outlining the historical evidence for the existence of Jesus and I was drawn to look deeply into Jesus’ life and teachings. The more I searched and questioned, the more convinced I became of the truth of Jesus—of his claims, words and actions –until one day I asked him to come into my life, although in no way did I feel worthy of it.
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“It was a simple prayer before going to bed; no complicated words or special phrases. The next morning, however, was an utterly amazing and life-transforming experience. Words could never truly convey the depths and heights of that experience but I can say that it was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes, mind and heart. An irrepressible fountain of joy replaced months of depression, and an extraordinary quality of peace and unconditional love pervaded my entire being.
“This all happened 36 years ago, but it remains as vivid as though it were yesterday. Since that morning, there have been plenty of sorrows as well as tragedy in my life, but the supernatural peace, joy and love of Jesus Christ that poured into my life has never left me, and I have continued to experience it working powerfully in my life – and in the lives of others – in increasing measure to this day.”
After that deep spiritual experience, Ann says that scripture—in both the Old and New Testaments—came “alive” to her in very real and practical way. She calls upon this familiarity with scripture throughout God’s Gift of Tremendous Power, using it judiciously to illustrate her observations on the link between Christianity and quantum physics and, more generally, in providing practical advice to readers on daily prayer and mindfulness that is inspired by scripture.
“Scripture, or the Word of God, is powerful and dynamic when mixed with faith, prayer and meditation,” she says. “I have seen its effects working in my life and in the lives of others, bringing healing and transformation in a way that cannot be explained humanly.
“This experience of new life is available to anyone who would allow the Spirit of Christ to pervade their life and live through them. It is not about being a ‘good’ person or earning it in any way. Rather, it is totally about believing what is revealed in scripture: that we have been reconciled (made one with) God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that now we have His power and His Spirit coursing through our own minds, bodies and lives. But God does not force it upon us, for Love does not force its way. It is a day by day choice to live by faith in Him.”
While it is her first book, Ann is a seasoned writer who cut her teeth in journalism as a reporter, feature writer and then assistant editor for The Daily Journal, a now defunct English-language national newspaper in Venezuela, during the 1970s. During this time she also worked as a freelancer writer, providing editorial for national and international titles such as Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and BBC World Service.
Bolstered by her faith, Ann pursued a new career path that would enable her to combine her writing skills and proficiency in foreign languages with sharing the Christian message. Relocating from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, back to the UK, she took up a position with the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), an international NGO promoting social justice. Here she served as an information co-ordinator and the editor of the association’s monthly journal, Action, for nearly a decade.
Having witnessed first-hand the huge social discrepancies between the rich and poor in Latin American countries such as Venezuela, this role allowed Ann to work alongside human rights activists from different parts of the world including South Africa, which at the time was still under apartheid, Burma, Mexico and Nicaragua.
“It was inspiring to meet these brave human rights activists,” she reflects. “They often risked their lives trying to improve conditions in very challenging areas. Burma, for instance, was extremely closed and my colleagues would risk entering the country with donations of money and resources strapped around their waists under their clothes.
“Another time I was fortunate to accompany human rights workers on a visit to Nicaragua. The terrible conditions in the slums of capital, Managua, were harrowing, and I was both humbled and amazed by the resilience of the people who lived there. At the time corruption was deeply entrenched in the bureaucratic system. So much so that I had to pay officials to be allowed to leave the country, which was quite an alarming experience.”
Another highlight of her time with the organization was running a press office, with a daily paper, in Manila, Philippines, during an international WACC conference, but her most abiding memory is of first meeting Neville Jayaweera, whom Ann credits as her “spiritual teacher and guide”.
Neville was, at the time, WACC’s director of research and planning, and someone with a “rare grasp of spiritual disciplines and of the doctrines of different faiths and philosophies”. They have remained in contact for over 30 years, and Ann says that Neville, who has provided a forward for God’s Gift of Tremendous Power, is to thank for first opening her eyes to teachings that would later help inform her concept of the quantum field.
She said: “Neville is a very special man of God who has patiently encouraged me to deepen my knowledge of, and relationship with, God the Father, Jesus Christ our Saviour, and the indwelling Holy Spirit. He has also opened my eyes to aspects of Buddhism and Hinduism that enrich my understanding of the Christian faith.
“One of his most powerful—and practical—revelations came through his teaching on the discoveries of modern physics that deals with the invisible forces of energy, out of which everything in the universe has been created. These discoveries have led many scientists to conclude that the universe is infinite, and because there cannot be more than one infinity, Neville logically concluded that the infinite Christ and the universe must be one.
“It is Neville who encouraged me to write ‘God’s Gift of Tremendous Power’. I kept dragging my feet until, finally, he actually instructed me to start writing, setting a non-negotiable deadline! The stern instruction was just what I needed to overcome my self-imposed blockages, and Neville knew that. The manuscript duly appeared and the rest is history. I cannot overstate the great debt of gratitude I owe to Neville for his wise, deeply caring and godly teaching over the decades.”
After leaving WACC, Ann moved to Tearfund, an international Christian relief and development agency, where she worked for several years as a translator and interpreter.
Ann continues to work as a freelancer editor and, amongst other things, maintains a website for Neville, www.from-the-unreal-to-the-real.com, editing and uploading his wealth of writings about Christian spirituality as well as international affairs.
For some 30 years, she has also been involved in prayer ministry in different churches and church-related organisations. Currently, she ministers in an ecumenical centre which offers prayer and pastoral support to people in the local community in south Lincolnshire.
As for the future, she says that there is a second book “in the pipeline” but for now she has been enjoying positive feedback from fellow Christians for God’s Gift of Tremendous Power.
“My hope with my book is that Christians gain a greater awareness of the quantum field and its relationship to its creator, God,” she adds. “Above all, I hope that the book will help us to gain a greater vision of the tremendous inheritance we have in Christ – to be lived out in our Christian lives, here and now.
“Both modern physics and ancient Eastern religions already comprehend the concept of oneness throughout the universe. This can also be found in Christian scripture but for various reasons the significance has not been properly considered in the Western Christian tradition.
“The discoveries of modern quantum physics, however, are vitally important for Christian faith and practice. By taking it on board, I believe that that each of us can gain a greater vision of the power and the majesty of God, leading to higher levels of worship and trust, and a deeper understanding of the power of prayer and meditation to bring healing and transformation in our own lives and in the lives of others.”
God’s Gift of Tremendous Power (Deep River Books) is available now from Amazon UK, priced £11 in paperback. For more information visit Ann’s website at www.annshakespeare.com
Jess Young
Jess is a writer at the UK's largest independent press agency SWNS. She runs women's real-life magazine Real-Fix.com, as well as contributing articles and features to all of the major titles and digital publications.
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Analyzing Oconee Federal Financial (NASDAQ:OFED) and Territorial Bancorp (NASDAQ:TBNK)
Oconee Federal Financial (NASDAQ:OFED) and Territorial Bancorp (NASDAQ:TBNK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.
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This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Oconee Federal Financial and Territorial Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.
Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Oconee Federal Financial 0 0 0 0 N/A
Territorial Bancorp 0 2 0 0 2.00
Territorial Bancorp has a consensus target price of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.84%. Given Territorial Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Territorial Bancorp is more favorable than Oconee Federal Financial.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
4.1% of Oconee Federal Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.7% of Territorial Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of Oconee Federal Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.8% of Territorial Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
This table compares Oconee Federal Financial and Territorial Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Oconee Federal Financial 18.60% 4.30% 0.73%
Territorial Bancorp 26.26% 8.86% 1.02%
Volatility & Risk
Oconee Federal Financial has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Territorial Bancorp has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Oconee Federal Financial and Territorial Bancorp’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio
Oconee Federal Financial $18.41 million 7.40 $3.03 million N/A N/A
Territorial Bancorp $76.46 million 3.78 $19.21 million $2.03 14.75
Territorial Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Oconee Federal Financial.
Oconee Federal Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Territorial Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Territorial Bancorp pays out 43.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Territorial Bancorp has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Territorial Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Territorial Bancorp beats Oconee Federal Financial on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
Oconee Federal Financial Company Profile
Oconee Federal Financial Corp. operates as a holding company for Oconee Federal Savings and Loan Association that provides various banking products and services in the Oconee County area of northwestern South Carolina and the northeast area of Georgia. The company's deposit products include demand, NOW, money market, savings, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises one-to-four family residential mortgage loans; home equity loans and lines of credit; nonresidential real estate loans; construction and land loans; commercial and industrial loans; agricultural loans; and consumer loans. Oconee Federal Financial Corp. operates through its executive office and seven branch offices located in Oconee County, South Carolina; Stephens County, Georgia; and Rabun County, Georgia. The company was founded in 1924 and is based in Seneca, South Carolina. Oconee Federal Financial Corp. is a subsidiary of Oconee Federal, MHC.
Territorial Bancorp Company Profile
Territorial Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Territorial Savings Bank, which provides financial services to individuals, families, and businesses in Hawaii. Its business consists primarily of accepting deposits from the general public and investing those deposits, together with funds generated from operations and borrowings, in one- to four-family residential mortgage loans and investment securities. The firm operates through the following portfolio segments: Residential Mortgage; Construction, Commercial and Other Mortgage Loans; Home Equity Loans and Lines of Credit; and Consumer and Other. It also offers deposit accounts, including passbook and statement savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, commercial, and regular checking accounts. The company was founded on November 3, 2008 and is headquartered in Honolulu, HI.
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Conn’s (NASDAQ:CONN) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Investment Research
Skyline Co. (NYSEAMERICAN:SKY) Director Sells $3,180,139.60 in Stock
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Daily Ratings & News for BR Malls Participacoes
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KuCoin Shares Market Cap Reaches $120.74 Million (KCS)
Caspian (CSP) Reaches 1-Day Volume of $69,709.00
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$296.43 Million in Sales Expected for PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) This Quarter
Shares of BR Malls Participacoes SA (OTCMKTS:BRMSY) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $8.88 and last traded at $8.88, with a volume of 268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.23.
The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $6.95.
BR Malls Participacoes Company Profile (OTCMKTS:BRMSY)
BR Malls Participações SA operates as a shopping mall company in Brazil. It also manages parking lot operation. As of March 16, 2018, it owned a portfolio of 39 malls comprising 1,445.5 thousand square meters of gross leasable area and 877.1 thousand square meters of gross leasable area. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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BitClave (CAT) Market Cap Hits $481,339.00
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Blue Jays exercise option on Darren Oliver, re-sign Rajai Davis
By Brendan KennedySports Reporter
Wed., Oct. 31, 2012timer2 min. read
Darren Oliver hasn’t decided if he will return next year for his 20th major-league season or retire and head home to Kansas City.
But if the 42-year-old does come back, it will be with the Blue Jays after the club exercised their $3 million option on the left-handed reliever Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Jays declined the $3 million club option on Rajai Davis, but then signed the speedy outfielder to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.
Oliver was the most dependable arm in the Jays’ bullpen this past season, posting the fourth-best earned run average among AL relievers at 2.06, while pitching in 62 games.
He could still retire by refusing the Jays’ option, but he cannot turn it down and then sign with another team.
At the end of the season he said he had yet to make up his mind whether he would return in 2013, adding that he needed to discuss it with his family in Kansas City.
The late-inning lefty specialist lived away from his wife and two children this season. His kids, aged 10 and 12, “are at the age where they just need their dad,” he said. “It’s all about my kids and my wife. I never played this game to be away from them. Family is important to me, as I’m sure it is with a lot of people.”
Before joining the Jays in 2012, Oliver had made the post-season six straight years with the Mets, Angels and Rangers.
By declining the club option on Davis, the Jays were forced to pay him a $500,000 buyout, so he still receives $3 million total but only $2.5 million will be counted against the team’s 2013 payroll, the club explained.
Davis, 32, has a .270 career batting average and can play all outfield positions, but his greatest asset is his baserunning speed. He stole 46 bases last season, second only to Mike Trout’s 49. Since 2007, Davis ranks fourth in the majors with 222 stolen bases.
He could compete for the Jays’ everyday left field job, but GM Alex Anthopoulos has previously said he would prefer to have Davis in a part-time role to utilize his speed off the bench late in games.
MORE:Toronto Star baseball coverage
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> Entertainment & Lifestyle
Avengers: Endgame to re-release as box office record looms
Avengers: Endgame has pulled in US$2.749 billion around the world – the second-highest haul of all time, trailing James Cameron’s Avatar by around $40 million. © Courtesy of Marvel Studios
MARVEL announced plans On June 25 to re-release Avengers: Endgame with bonus material in theaters, as the summer’s biggest blockbuster drew agonizingly close to breaking the global box office record.
Endgame has pulled in US$2.749 billion around the world, according to industry watcher Exhibitor Relations – the second-highest haul of all time, trailing James Cameron’s Avatar by around US$40 million.
But from June 28, Marvel hopes to entice die-hard fans back into theaters for one last viewing of Endgame with an “unfinished deleted scene” and a new video introduction by director Anthony Russo.
In Malaysia, participating cinemas will be holding a “Bring Back Event” on June 29 onwards for Avengers: Endgame and fans can enjoy the same “unfinished deleted scene” and introduction by Russo.
There will also be a special sneak peek of the upcoming Marvel Studio’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Fans attending the “Bring Back event” at specific US cinemas will also receive limited-edition Avengers artwork – a statement on the company’s website announcing the move featured a poster with Tony Stark’s catchphrase “We Love You 3000.”
“If they can get this re-release going and get enough interest and have it out there long enough, who knows – maybe it can get there,“ said Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian, referring to the Avatar record.
But the publicity from the re-release would also help to promote next month’s release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, he added.
The latest Spider-Man film is a collaboration between rival studios Sony and Disney-owned Marvel, and picks up the story after the events of “Endgame.”
Despite the buzz among Marvel fans about the re-release of its biggest hit, Endgame has in fact never been out of theaters – it was still playing in 985 locations across North America at the weekend, earning another US$2 million.
It already holds the record for the highest opening weekend, both in North America and globally.
But the chances of Endgame breaking the North American all-time box office record appear slimmer – it still trails Star Wars: The Force Awakens by more than US$100 million domestically.-AFP
US actress Vanessa Hudgens and US actor Austin Butler attend the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on February 24, 2019. © Jean-Baptiste LACROIX / AF
Austin Butler to play Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis
Back with second tribute
Singer-songwriter Ili Ruzanna wants to write about things that are close to her heart in her songs. — Sunpix by Asyraf Rasid
135,000 geeks and nerds will invade San Diego next week for the 50th edition of Comic-Con -- the world’s largest celebration of pop culture. — AFP Relaxnews
Comic-Con hits 50: from hotel basement to Hollywood hangout
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Treatment of Capitalized Costs of Intangible Assets (Part I)
By Larry Witner, LL.M., CPA
C Corporation Income Taxation
Regulations issued in 2004 require capitalization of six categories of intangible asset expenditures.
When Sec. 197 applies to intangible expenditures, 15-year amortization takes precedence over all other cost recovery rules
Intangible assets may be amortized under Sec. 167 when Sec. 197 does not apply and the asset has a limited useful life.
In 2004, the Service issued final regulations 1 under Sec. 263(a) on capitalizing the cost of intangible assets. While much has been written about this topic, 2 not much has been written about the aftermath of capitalization—i.e., once the cost of an intangible asset has been capitalized, how is that cost recovered? This two-part article:
Summarizes the new Sec. 263(a) regulations (as discussed below, otherwise known as the “INDOPCO regulations”);
Examines cost recovery possibilities, including, among other authority, Sec. 197 (amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles) and Sec. 167 (other intangibles); and
Examines how the INDOPCO regulations affect the treatment of certain start-up costs under Sec. 195.
Part I, below, summarizes the INDOPCO regulations, Sec. 197 cost recovery and general Sec. 167 amortization rules. Part II, in the May 2007 issue, will focus on the income-forecast method, lease acquisitions, options, computer software, and transaction and business acquisition costs.
In general, expenditures are deducted currently (expensed), capitalized and deducted over time or capitalized with no deduction. Under Sec. 162(a), expenditures are deducted currently if they are ordinary and necessary business expenses. Under Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-2(a), expenditures are capitalized if they result in benefits that extend substantially beyond the end of the tax year. Under Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-1(b), expenditures are capitalized if they result in permanent improvements or betterments, including materially increasing value, appreciably prolonging useful life or adapting an asset to a new or different use.
In 1992, the Supreme Court held in INDOPCO 3 that expenditures should be capitalized if they result in significant future benefits, whether or not they produce a separate and distinct asset. Unfortunately, the significant-future-benefits test raised more questions than it answered.
To clarify matters with regard to intangible assets, the IRS issued Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-4 (acquiring or creating intangibles) and Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-5 (facilitating the acquisition, restructuring or reorganization of a business). These regulations, commonly called the “INDOPCO regulations,” are effective for intangible asset costs paid or incurred after 2003. They are intended to provide bright-line rules 4 to make the INDOPCO-standards-based approach (significant future benefits) for capitalization more administrable.
INDOPCO Regs.
The INDOPCO regulations 5 require capitalization of six categories 6 of expenditures relating to intangible assets; they are numbered and summarized in the exhibit. Of these six categories, four pertain to direct costs and two pertain to indirect costs (otherwise known as “transaction costs”). In this article, reference is made, for example, to “category 1, 2, 3 or 4 intangible assets” and “category 5 or 6 transaction costs.”
Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-4(b)(4) provides that the INDOPCO regulations do not affect the treatment of amounts specifically provided for in Code sections (and regulations thereunder) other than Sec. 162 (ordinary and necessary business expenses) or 212 (expenses of producing income). For instance, the INDOPCO regulations do not apply to research and development costs, because Sec. 174 specifically applies.
If an expenditure does not fall into one of the six categories, or is not identified in subsequently published guidance, capitalizing is not required, and deducting is allowed. 7 In other words, under the INDOPCO regulations, listed categories of expenditures are to be capitalized; everything else is to be deducted. While this approach seems harmless, it reverses well-established principles. Before the INDOPCO regulations, capitalizing was the norm; deducting was the exception. After the INDOPCO regulations, at least with regard to intangible assets, deducting is the norm; capitalizing is the exception.
Cost Recovery (Amortization) in General
The INDOPCO regulations are capitalization provisions, not cost recovery provisions. For the latter, taxpayers should refer to:
Sec. 197 (15-year amortization);
Sec. 167, 8 in which the cost of an intangible asset is:
Amortized over the asset’s useful life; 9
Amortized over 15 years (safe harbor);
Not amortized; or
In some cases, amortized using the units-of-production method or the income-forecast method.
Sec. 178 (lease acquisition costs); and
Sec. 1234 (options).
Sec. 197 Amortization
For “amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles,” Sec. 197(a) allows amortization over 15 years (180 months), on a straight-line basis, with no salvage value, beginning in the month when such intangible assets are acquired. As described more fully below:
Some intangibles qualify as amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles only if obtained as part of acquiring a business;
Others qualify even though obtained separately;
Some intangible assets qualify only if purchased; and
Others qualify even though self-created.
Business-Acquisition Amortizable Sec. 197 Intangibles
The following intangible assets are amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles only if they are obtained as part of acquiring a business: goodwill, going-concern value, workforce in place, information base and know-how (including copyrights and patents), customer-based intangibles, supplier-based intangibles, interests in films, sound recordings, videotapes or books, and covenants not to compete.
Under Regs. Sec. 1.197-2(b)(4), “information base” includes, among other things, business books and records, technical manuals, training manuals and lists of current or prospective customers, subscribers and advertisers. Under Regs. Sec. 1.197-2(b)(5), “know-how” includes formulas, processes, designs, copyrights and patents. A “covenant not to compete” is a contract between, in general, a seller and a buyer, under which the seller agrees not to compete with the buyer for a certain period within a certain geographic area.
Example 1—goodwill: On April 1 of year 1, X Co. purchased all of the assets of Q Co., and paid $300,000 for goodwill.
Pursuant to the INDOPCO regulations, X must capitalize the $300,000, because the goodwill is a category 1 intangible asset. It is an amortizable Sec. 197 intangible, because it is goodwill obtained as part of acquiring a business. For year 1, X’s amortization deduction for goodwill would be $15,000 (($300,000/180 (months in 15 years)) × 9 (months in year 1)).
Example 2—customer lists: In year 1, Y Co. spent $60,000 to internally develop customer list #1. In the same year, Y purchased all of the assets of R Co., and paid $90,000 for customer list #2.
Pursuant to the INDOPCO regulations, Y must capitalize the $90,000 (customer list #2) because it is a category 1 intangible asset. Customer list #2 is an amortizable Sec. 197 intangible, subject to 15-year amortization, because it is a customer list obtained as part of acquiring a business. As for the $60,000 associated with self-created customer list #1, it is not a category 1 or 2 intangible asset. As long as it is not a category 3 intangible asset, 10 it would not be capitalized under the INDOPCO regulations. Consequently, for year 1, Y could deduct $60,000.
Separately Obtained Amortizable Sec. 197 Intangibles
The following intangible assets are amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles, even though they are obtained separately (i.e., not as part of acquiring a business): franchises and rights granted by a government (e.g., trademarks, tradenames, licenses, permits, liquor licenses, taxicab medallions, landing or takeoff rights, regulated airline routes and television and radio licenses). The cost to renew a franchise or a governmental right is treated as the acquisition of a new amortizable Sec. 197 intangible. Under Sec. 197(f)(4)(B), the renewal cost is amortized over a new 15-year period, beginning in the month of renewal.
Example 3—liquor license: For many years, A Co. did not serve alcohol in its restaurant. On May 1 of year 1, A paid $36,000 to local authorities for a five-year liquor license.
Under the INDOPCO regulations, A must capitalize the $36,000, because the liquor license is a category 2 intangible asset. Even though it is obtained separately, and not as part of acquiring a business, it is an amortizable Sec. 197 intangible, subject to 15-year amortization.
Example 4—license renewal: The facts are the same as in Example 3, except the date is May 1, year 5, four years after the five-year liquor license was purchased. A pays $27,000 to renew the liquor license for another three years, thereby extending its expiration date from April 30, year 6, to April 30, year 9.
Pursuant to the INDOPCO regulations, A must capitalize the $27,000, because the renegotiated or upgraded amount is a category 2 intangible asset. The cost to renew the liquor license is treated as a new amortizable Sec. 197 intangible, subject to 15-year amortization, beginning in May, year 5 (month of renewal). In addition, the cost of the original liquor license would continue to be amortized over its remaining 15-year period.
Self-Created Amortizable Sec. 197 Intangibles
The following intangible assets are amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles, even though they are self-created and not purchased: covenants not to compete and rights granted by a government (e.g., trademarks, tradenames, licenses, permits, etc.).
Example 5—trademark: V Co. pays $45,000 to develop and register a trademark.
Even though the trademark is self-created, it is an amortizable Sec. 197 intangible subject to 15-year amortization.
Sec. 167 Cost Recovery
Sec. 197(b) provides that when Sec. 197 applies, 15-year amortization takes precedence over all other cost recovery rules, including those under Sec. 167. If intangible assets are not amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles (because, for instance, they were not obtained as part of acquiring a business), they would be amortized (if at all) pursuant to other authority, including Sec. 167.
Numerous cost recovery rules are contained in Sec. 167. According to Regs. Sec. 1.167(a)-3(a), the cost of an intangible asset “known from experience or other factors to be of use…for only a limited period, the length of which can be estimated with reasonable accuracy,” is amortized over such period. Accordingly, with the exception of the 15-year amortization safe harbor discussed below, the cost of intangible assets is amortized under Sec. 167 only if taxpayers can show that such assets have limited useful lives that are reasonably ascertainable. Cost recovery is denied for intangible assets whose useful lives are not limited or cannot be estimated with reasonable accuracy. In such a case, the cost is recovered when the intangible asset is abandoned or otherwise disposed of, or when the enterprise that capitalized the expenditure ceases operation.
Example 6—covenants not to compete: In year 1, M Co. entered into two covenants not to compete (CNCs). In CNC #1, M purchased a bookkeeping practice from A; M paid $72,000 to A in exchange for A’s promise not to open a bookkeeping practice within a 50-mile radius for three years. In CNC #2, M terminated the employment of executive B, and as part of a severance package, M paid $360,000 in exchange for B’s promise not to work for certain competitors of M for three years.
Under the INDOPCO regulations, M must capitalize both payments ($72,000 and $360,000), because the CNCs are category 2 intangible assets. CNC #1 is an amortizable Sec. 197 intangible, because it was obtained as part of acquiring a business. Even though CNC #1 has a term of three years, it is amortized over 15 years. CNC #2 was not obtained as part of acquiring a business, so it is not an amortizable Sec. 197 intangible. Because the duration of CNC #2 can be estimated with reasonable accuracy (three years), the $360,000 would be amortized over that period.
Example 7—signing bonus: In year 1, Z Co. enters into a four-year employment contract with executive C. To induce C to leave his former employer, Z pays him a $240,000 signing bonus.
Under certain circumstances, 11 pursuant to the INDOPCO regulations, Z must capitalize the $240,000 because the contract right is a category 2 intangible asset. Because the duration of the employment contract can be estimated with reasonable accuracy (four years), the signing bonus would be amortized over that period.
Example 8—prepaid expenses: On Sept. 1, year 1, D Co. paid a $24,000 premium for a two-year insurance policy that will provide coverage from Sept. 1, year 1, to Aug. 31, year 3.
Under the INDOPCO regulations, D must capitalize the $24,000, because the insurance (prepaid expense) is a category 2 intangible asset. Because the duration of the insurance policy can be estimated with reasonable accuracy (two years), the prepaid insurance would be amortized over that period.
Example 9—purchase of ownership interest: R, an individual, paid $30,000 for stock in P Co.
Pursuant to the INDOPCO regulations, R must capitalize the $30,000, because the ownership interest is a category 1 intangible asset. Because the useful life of this intangible asset is not limited, there is no amortization deduction. R recovers the $30,000 when she disposes of the stock. For instance, if R sells the stock for $35,000, she would report a $5,000 gain ($35,000 – $30,000).
Contract Termination Payments
Contract termination payment issues arise in a number of situations, including a landlord’s payment to induce a tenant to prematurely terminate a lease and vacate the premises. Under the INDOPCO regulations, the landlord must capitalize the contract termination payment, because it is a category 2 intangible asset.
Example 10—lease-cancellation fee: A landlord, L, pays a $48,000 lease-cancellation fee, because it needs the additional space for itself.
Because the payment is made for the property’s use for the remainder of the lease term, L would amortize the $48,000 capitalized cancellation fee over the remaining term (four years) of the cancelled lease. 12 This is true even if the property is subsequently leased to another tenant in an independently conceived transaction. 13
Example 11—lease-cancellation fee: L, from the previous example, pays the lease-cancellation fee because it wants to construct improvements on the premises.
The capitalized cancellation fee of $48,000 is considered an additional cost of the improvements 14 and would be recovered through depreciation of the improvements, even if the premises are being constructed for a new tenant. 15
Example 12—lease-cancellation fee: L, from the previous example, pays the lease-cancellation fee because it wants to rent the premises to a new tenant who is willing to pay more rent than the current one. L enters into a six-year lease with the new tenant.
The capitalized cancellation fee of $48,000 would be amortized over the six-year term of the new lease. This result is reasonable, because the cancellation fee resembles a lease acquisition cost that, under Sec. 178, would be amortized over the term of the new lease. 16
15-Year Amortization Safe Harbor
When the INDOPCO regulations were issued, the Sec. 167 regulations were amended to clarify the amortization rules for self-created intangible assets (category 2 intangible assets) that are not amortizable Sec. 197 intangibles. New Regs. Sec. 1.167(a)-(3)(b) provides for a 15-year amortization safe harbor. In essence, it applies (1) to created intangible assets (category 2 intangible assets), (2) with unascertainable useful lives, (3) for which another amortization period is not prescribed by the Code, regulations or published guidance and (4) for which amortization is not prohibited.
Example 13—membership fee: In year 1, F Co. paid an initiation fee (membership fee) of $60,000 to become a member of a trade association.
Pursuant to the INDOPCO regulations, F must capitalize the $60,000, because the membership fee is a category 2 intangible asset. It is not an amortizable Sec. 197 intangible. If F can establish from experience or other factors that the membership has a useful life shorter than 15 years, it could amortize the $60,000 over the shorter period. If the membership is for an indefinite period, so that F cannot establish its useful life, the 15-year amortization safe harbor would apply.
Planning tip: The newly created 15-year amortization safe harbor under Sec. 167 is not mandatory. If taxpayers can support a shorter amortization period, through their experience with similar assets or economic life studies, they can accelerate their amortization deductions.
Part II of this article, in the May 2007 issue, will discuss other aspects of capitalizing and amortizing intangible assets, such as the income-forecast method, lease acquisitions, options, computer software, and transaction and business acquisition costs.
For more information about this article, contact Prof. Witner at lwitner@cox.net
Editor's note: This article was awarded The Tax Adviser's Best Article Award for 2007.
1 TD 9107 (1/5/04).
2 See, e.g., Melone, “Final Intangible Asset Regulations Modify and Clarify, but Conform in Most Respects, to the Proposed Rules,” 31 J Corp. Tax’n 15 (May/June 2004); Jagdman, “Final Regs. on Capitalization of Intangibles,” 35 The Tax Adviser (April 2004); Yale, “The Final INDOPCO Regulations,” 2004 TNT 207-29 (10/26/04); Conjura, et al., “To Capitalize or Not? The INDOPCO Era Ends with Final Regulations Under Section 263(a),” 100 J Tax’n 215 (April 2004); and Burnett and Pulliam, “IRS Provides Much-Needed Guidance on Capitalization of Intangibles,” 73 Practical Tax Strategies 68 (August 2004).
3 INDOPCO, Inc., 503 US 79 (1992).
4 For instance, there is a 12-month rule (Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-4(f)), a $5,000 de minimis rule (Regs. Secs. 1.263(a)-4(e)(4)(iii) and -5(d)(2) and (3)) and a date rule (Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-5(e)).
5 For an in-depth discussion of the INDOPCO regulations, see the articles listed in note 2, supra.
6 The term “category” is used in this article, not in the regulations.
7 See the preamble to TD 9107, note 1 supra, at II. A. and B.
8 Intangible property is not accelerated cost recovery system or modified accelerated cost recovery system property (Sec. 168 property), so it is amortized, if at all, under Sec. 167.
9 “Useful life” as used in Sec. 167 should not be confused with “recovery period” as used in Sec. 168.
10 It is not clear which payments constitute a separate and distinct intangible asset (category 3 intangible asset). Until guidance is issued, this category is an open question.
11 See Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-1(d)(6)(iv) and (vii), Example 8.
12 See The Trustee Corp., 42 TC 482 (1964), acq., 1966-2 CB 7.
13 Rev. Rul. 71-283, 1971-2 CB 168.
14 See Third National Bank in Nashville, MD TN, 2/16/71, aff’d per cur., 454 F2d 689 (6th Cir. 1972).
15 John W. Keiler, II, 285 FSupp 520 (WD KY 1966), aff’d per cur., 395 F2d 991 (6th Cir. 1968).
16 See the discussion in Part II of this article, in the May 2007 issue, under “Sec. 178 Lease Acquisition Costs.”
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Agent-Company Interface Still High On User Groups Wish Lists
Agent-Company Interface Still High On User Groups Wish ListsByAlthough agents are dealing with a host of technology issues, one that keeps coming up with user ...
By Caroline Mcdonald | May 18, 2003 at 08:00 PM | Originally published on National Underwriter Life & Health Magazine
Although agents are dealing with a host of technology issues, one that keeps coming up with user group experts is agent-company interface, or SEMCI as some still call it.
Roy C. Riley, president of AMS Users’ Group and chief operating officer of Peel & Holland Financial Group in Benton, Ky., said agencies face “a whole host of issues.”
One of them, SEMCI, is improving, he said, though “you still have many differences from company to company.”
“Companies that have enabled real time, through Web sites or from our management systems, do make it easier for us to do business,” he said.
Agents are still doing “a lot of logging in and out of company Web sites every day,” he said, which though negative in some respects, is “positive in that the carriers have enabled this ability for the agents, which is a great first step.”
Now, he added, it’s important to take the capability the carriers have built and “spin it out to a more efficient way for the agents beyond that–so that we can gain the information directly from our management systems.”
Currently, AMS is working to solve SEMCI issues with its own product, he said. “It’s going really well. We have eight carriers currently enabled for billing and claims inquiry.”
He explained that with the AMS product, agents can start within their management system, load up a particular policy, “click a couple of buttons,” and the information will be returned within their management system, “as far as the billing or the claims,” in real time.
This cuts out logging into multiple Web sites and multiple workflow. “It allows me to teach my employees one workflow for any of these eight carriers and I think they are hoping to roll out another set of carriers soon.
“The more carriers, the more momentum,” he said.
For Sallie Knighten, president of Applied System’s ASC-Net users’ group and operations manager of ISU Francis-Pinney Insurance Services Inc. in Roseville, Calif., agency-company interface encompasses more than SEMCI.
Ms. Knighten said, “The biggest concern to agents is using our management systems more efficiently.” To be efficient, she said, agents need “to tie as much together as we can within our management systems so that we can utilize that in all our workflows.”
She noted that company Web sites tend to pull agents out of their agency management system. “We get a lot of information at those Web sites, but for an agency to keep workflow consistent, to prevent errors and omissions and all the things that can happen,” the information needs to be pulled into management systems.
The issue differs from SEMCI, she explained, because SEMCI focused on rating and quoting, whereas agent-company integration is needed for all the transactions that occur, including claims, first notice of loss, billing inquiries and loss runs.
Agents get a lot of information at carrier Web sites, “but what we need to try to do with real-time interface is to try to pull as much of that as we can back into our management systems,” she said. “It’s a technology integration issue.”
The technology is there–in many cases built by the companies, she said. “They just haven’t built it out” to allow for integration, she said.
Steve Redel, principal of Redel Insurance Agency in Ballwin, Miss., and board member of Ebix Users Group, agreed that agency-company interface still tops the list of concerns.
The number of systems that users must access depends on the lines of coverage they offer and how the markets are set up, he said.
“In our little office, we have concentrated things to three personal lines companies. But with commercial, I might have to go to as many as five company sites to investigate a prospect or try to put a quote together,” he said.
Where he believes agent-company interface is heading, he said, is a “quote to issue” system where basic information is entered to get a quote. About 90 percent of the time, companies request standard information, he said. If the quote is acceptable, a detailed application is filled out, which is then processed. The quote is instantaneous.
To achieve SEMCI, Mr. Redel said, “I would think that you would have to step back and approach it from a different direction, because we’re not getting the job done year after year after year with having everybody agree to a single site.”
Mr. Redel said Ebix is working towards that goal with a product that is able to store company user names and passwords, “so that if you are in their agency management system, you can do a direct bill inquiry.” The system, he said, would log the user on and navigate him or her to a direct bill inquiry screen where the status of a customer’s direct bill could be accessed.
“The beauty of this [product] is that companies don’t have to do anything,” he said. “They don’t even have to give authorization because you’re already doing it manually. All this does is save you all the keystrokes.”
Pam Parry, immediate past president of AMS Users Group and executive vice president of GBP Risk Solutions in Tucson, Ariz., said the biggest issue for agents is still SEMCI.
“When I was president, I used [the term] SEMCI because agents related to it. But I had a lot of companies up in arms saying ‘that’s old.’”
“But if it looks like a duck, smells like a duck and walks like a duck, it sounds like a duck to me.”
The biggest problem facing every user is company interface, she said. “Web sites are a beautiful thing, but to have to leave our management systems and tag onto those Web sites to gather the information that we didn’t have before is an extra step.”
All those extra steps add up, she explained, creating a “workflow nightmare” and a “password management nightmare” that increases the agency workload. Currently, she said, user groups are focused on how to drive the industry to develop technologies that will streamline workflow.
Progress, she said, has been substantial.
“For the first time, everybody is working together to make it happencompanies, vendors and agencies,” Ms. Parry said.
How will it work? “You would be able to access a [company] Web site and never leave your management system,” she explained. Several products are in the works that would make this happen for agents.
“These technologies are starting to save bites of time within the agency,” Ms. Parry said. The technologies only handle certain transactions at this point, and utilization by agents will be imperative to continue the development of the products “to the point where you won’t have to leave your agency management system for anything that you can get off a company Web site.”
For example, she said, AMS Services Inc. has developed a product and so far has eight insurers on board for claims and billing inquiries.
“I just hit a couple of clicks within my management system when I’m on a customer file and I immediately get back claims or billing inquiry from those two companies,” she said. Additional transactions and companies are ready to come on board to provide more services to agents. “So it’s a beautiful thing.”
In general, she said, agents are struggling with the marketplace. “I think we’re right at the beginning of the information age and we don’t know what is going to happen,” she said. “I think a lot of agents are struggling with that.”
Mr. Riley said that another issue that agencies are struggling with is internal integration of agency management systems, document management systems and e-mail systems.
He said he is concerned that “the majority of agencies are not integrated to the point necessary,” which could lead to issues with the inherent exposures.
An example, he said, is e-mail, which is increasingly being used for communication by the carrier, the agent and the customer. Many agencies, he said, may not be properly documenting their agency management system.
“They may be depending on e-mail systems as backup. Yet many times if you haven’t done an adequate job, it’s hard to find that one e-mail you need out of the 10,000 that are in your ‘sent’ items,” he said.
“As the business environment around us changes on a rapid basis,” he added, “agents really need to take a hard look from an E&O [errors and omissions exposure] perspective. Are we really adequately documenting everything and covering ourselves?”
For agents, finding a solution can be as simple as working with their vendor to make sure they are taking full advantage of integration opportunities that currently exist. Most vendors, Mr. Reilly added, have work-around solutions where agents can cut and paste an e-mail into an activity log or utilize some other method to save and file. More than anything, he said, agents need to take full advantage of the opportunities that are already available to them.
For the most part, he noted, agents are becoming more technologically savvy “because it is a requirement to compete and remain viable into the future. You have to embrace technology because there are not a lot of other options.”
He added that agencies best poised for the future “are those that have their arms around technology issues.”
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, May 19, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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Lawsuit challenges a Hollywood pillar: Unpaid internships
Apr 7, 2014 / Media Coverage
The Los Angeles Times—By Daniel Miller and John Horn Melvin Mar's entrée to Hollywood was far from glamorous. As an unpaid intern for "Platoon" producer Arnold Kopelson, Mar was responsible for fetching his boss' lunch of matzo ball soup every day. Mar calculated to the minute how long it would take to walk from the production company's Century City offices to the Stage Deli nearby, buy the soup and decant it into a bowl on Kopelson's desk, still piping hot, at precisely 1 p.m. Mar parlayed his internship into jobs at DreamWorks and Scott Rudin Productions. * * * Uncompensated minions are as...
Unpaid Internship A Really Great Experience For Local Company (The Onion)
Aug 13, 2013 / Media Coverage
The Onion INDIANAPOLIS—Following the departure this week of their unpaid summer intern, executives at the marketing firm Purwin & Avery reflected on how the internship had turned out to be a really positive experience for their company. “Going into the program we weren’t really sure what to expect, but by the end we realized just how much we had gotten out of it,” department manager Dana Hughes said of the 10 weeks during which their summer intern, Erin, reportedly provided the company with more than 1,500 man-hours of free labor. “It was an invaluable opportunity for us, giving Erin a...
Adam Klein Discusses Unpaid Intern Litigation, Wage-Hour Issues Related to Remote Connectivity and Employer Misclassification
Aug 1, 2013 / Media Coverage
Bloomberg BNA—Katarina E. Wiegele Reproduced with permission from FLSA Litigation Tracker, (July 12, 2013). Copyright 2013 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com BLOOMBERG BNA: [Editor’s note: Adam Klein serves as lead counsel for unpaid interns in numerous wagehour class actions currently pending before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, including Xuedan Wang v. Hearst Corp., No. 1:12-cv-00793 (S.D.N.Y. June 27, 2013), Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc., No. 1:11-cv-06784 (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2013), Ballinger v. Advance...
Hollywood Interns' Lawyer: Cases Will Open Jobs to Less Privileged
Jul 18, 2013 / Media Coverage
The Hollywood Reporter—Eriq Gardner Justin Swartz, who represents the plaintiffs in several class actions on the internship front, says the litigation is about "social justice." This summer, many entertainment studios and media companies are re-examining their internship programs in light of a judge’s ruling that Fox Searchlight had misclassified two unpaid workers on the film Black Swan. Justin Swartz , a partner at Outten & Golden, spearheaded the groundbreaking litigation against Fox as well as more recent lawsuits against NBCUniversal, Conde Nast, Hearst Corp. and other media...
Unpaid Internships Under Fire
marketplace.org—Sally Herships Interns are making news. Unpaid interns are suing big companies. The latest is NBC. In some cases, the former interns were also students getting college credit for their work. But they've accused companies of not providing the educational experiences they were promised. In other cases, former interns are claiming they’re doing the same work as regular employees, except, well, they’re working for free. Unpaid internships are a touchy subject. What’s a company to do? Recently, I sent out a tweet which said, “Don’t throw anything at the screen, but any unpaid...
NBCU Slapped With Latest Intern Lawsuit
Jul 3, 2013 / Media Coverage
deadline.com—Dominic Patten A former Saturday Night Live intern and a former MSNBC intern are the latest unpaid workers to take to the courts. Monet Eliastam and Jesse Moore filed a proposed class action complaint today against NBCUniversal in federal court in New York. “By misclassifying Plaintiffs and hundreds of workers as unpaid or underpaid interns, NBCUniversal has denied them the benefits that the law affords to employees, including unemployment, workers’ compensation insurance, social security contributions, and, most crucially, the right to earn a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s...
More Unpaid Interns File Lawsuits Against Employers for Pay
latimes.com—Alana Semuels They’re a staple of tens of thousands of offices during the summer time – the lowly intern, asked to make coffee and shuffle mail for little to no pay, all for a line to add to their resume. But the unpaid internship is under assault, at least in New York, where employment lawyers are filing lawsuit after lawsuit against media companies over unpaid internships – and winning. Days after a New York judge ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures violated labor laws after using unpaid interns to do menial tasks on the movie “Black Swan,” two interns have filed a lawsuit...
Condé Nast Interns File Suit Claiming They Were Paid $1 Per Hour
huffingtonpost.com—Tyler Kingkade A former intern at W Magazine was paid less than $1 dollar an hour, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday against Condé Nast, The New York Times reports. Lauren Ballinger told the Times her summer 2009 internship at Condé Nast's W Magazine was worse than what was depicted in "The Devil Wears Prada," a film about a magazine editor's personal assistant, "because we don't get any makeover in the end." Ballinger claims in the suit that she frequently worked 12-hour days or longer, for a pay of $12 a day in W's accessories and fine jewelry departments. The Times...
Condé Nast Slapped with Intern Lawsuit
fashionista.com—Tyler McCall In the midst of Diana Wang’s ongoing lawsuit against Hearst for unpaid intern wages, comes news of another media intern lawsuit–this time against Conde Nast. Two former interns filed suit against Conde Nast on Thursday, alleging that the company failed to pay them minimum wage, the New York Times is reporting. Plaintiffs Lauren Ballinger, who interned at W Magazine, and Matthew Leib, who worked for the The New Yorker, are asking to move forward with a class-action lawsuit. What makes them slightly different from Wang is that each were paid–Ballinger a paltry $12...
Two Ex-Interns Sue Conde Nast Over Wages
The New York Times—Christine Haughney Two former interns filed a lawsuit against Condé Nast on Thursday, saying the company failed to pay them minimum wage at their summer jobs at W Magazine and The New Yorker, and asked that it be approved as a class-action suit. Lauren Ballinger, who worked as an intern at W Magazine in 2009, and Matthew Leib, an intern at The New Yorker in 2009 and 2010, said in the suit that Condé Nast, which owns the magazines, paid them less than $1 an hour. According to court papers filed Thursday morning in Federal District Court in Manhattan, Mr. Leib was paid $300...
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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Exemplifies Civic Duty
“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from new generations.” ~ Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
Solzhenitsyn wrote the above in his monumental The Gulag Archipelago, which details the history and horrors of the Soviet labor camps, published 45 years ago. The book was met with instant international acclaim; one review in the New York Times called its subject “the other great holocaust of our century.” In the wake of its publication, Solzhenitsyn became something of a pop-culture cold war hero in the U.S., where interest in militarism and interventionist policies had been fading in the aftermath of Vietnam. Solzhenitsyn’s belief that Russia should turn away from international military involvement and embrace the Church and its own rich cultural history was favorably received by conservatives, as was his view that the U.S. had capitulated too quickly in Vietnam. Liberals embraced him as a dissident and rebel, though he was criticized for his insistence that Lenin was as culpable as Stalin for the monstrous atrocities of Soviet totalitarianism, and that the political state is often its own end regardless of its founding ideology.
Solzhenitsyn’s unstinting criticism of Western materialism often made him a difficult figure. He spent nearly two decades in the U.S., yet never stopped railing against what he saw as its moral complacency and spiritual emptiness. In 1978 he shocked many with his commencement address at Harvard University, where he was given an honorary doctorate in literature. In it, he urged his audience to look beyond the material satisfactions of U.S. culture:
“If humanism were right in declaring that man is born only to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot be unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one’s life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it. It is imperative to review the table of widespread human values. Its present incorrectness is astounding. It is not possible that assessment of the President’s performance be reduced to the question of how much money one makes or of unlimited availability of gasoline. Only voluntary, inspired self-restraint can raise man above the world stream of materialism.” Link
Critics often shrugged off Solzhenitsyn’s social commentary while acknowledging the truth of the horrors he wrote about; one anecdote in his New York Times obituary recounts Susan Sontag’s conversation with Russian poet Joseph Brodsky:
“We were laughing and agreeing about how we thought Solzhenitsyn’s views on the United States, his criticism of the press, and all the rest were deeply wrong, and on and on,” she said. “And then Joseph said: But you know, Susan, everything Solzhenitsyn says about the Soviet Union is true. Really, all those numbers—60 million victims—it’s all true.”
Also included in the Times obituary is the story of how Solzhenitsyn managed to smuggle out writing under the harshest conditions of Soviet internment. Banished under Stalin to Ekibastuz, a camp where writing was routinely confiscated and which would become the source of his novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, Solzhenistyn used a special rosary fashioned for him by Lithuanian Catholic prisoners to commit 12,000 lines of prose to memory, using one bead for each passage.
Such conditions are almost impossible to fathom for Americans living today in a world of relative material comforts and freedom of the press. Yet his critique of our shallow moral standards and sense of entitlement is at least as relevant now as it was in 1978. Should we elect political leaders based on our satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our salaries, or the price of gas? Or should we also have a higher purpose in mind, a vision of somehow making the world a better place?
Solzhenitsyn was prescient about the effect materialism would have on the political landscape, seeming to forecast the yearning for what Ronald Reagan would articulate a couple years later as “morning in America,” the vision that rejected the economic and political uncertainty of the Carter years in favor of a nation characterized by plentiful goods, free enterprise, and military might. Now it appears we are in another 1978 moment, a moment characterized much as it was then, by economic fear, fear of international terrorism, and lack of faith in political leadership. In The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter’s Journey Beyond the White House, Douglas Brinkley describes the moment of Carter’s loss as one that seems on the surface very unlike our own, yet at bottom contains the same underlying fear and malaise. Carter’s era culminated in “inflation in the double digits, oil prices triple what they had been, unemployment above 7 percent, interest rates topping 20 percent, fifty-two American hostages still held captive in Iran, and unsettling memories of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.” Link
In contrast, the U.S. economy this October, just before the 2016 election, saw the biggest economic growth in two years, increased exports, and a shrinking unemployment rate, yet the economic insecurity of 2008 continues to linger eight years later, much as the effects of recession lingered throughout the 1970s. U.S. growth in October of this year was historically slow compared to historic measures, and our “gig economy,” where people drive their own cars for companies like Uber and Lyft, means that millions of workers are filling temp jobs because they can’t find stable, well-paying work. Link
Thus while we are not nearly as precarious economically as we were in 1980, we feel as precarious as we did in 1980. On the one hand, it is right to take note of economic conditions that leave too many people living in poverty, whether from the unavailability of any work or the availability of only the lowest-paying kind of work, and as a result choose to vote for better opportunities for everyone. On the other hand, faced with having too little, or thinking we have less than we should, or fearing we will lose what we have, some of us vote to have more, no matter the cost.
We find it hard to ask, whether in asking for more than we have, or more than we think we can get, if we are in fact asking for the right things. In the wake of a 2016 election defined for many by the fear of “falling behind,” of losing the material security promised by the American Dream, we need to think about how we define the contents of that dream and examine the entitlement behind the notion of “falling behind.” We now know that many more voters were galvanized this year by appeals to fear and entitlement than were moved by visions of social justice and equality. We need to address the appeal of fear and entitlement before we can go on to articulate a larger vision of a just society where there is opportunity for everyone.
Appeals to morality rarely win elections. We now know that “the unlimited availability of gasoline,” for example, while making certain economic sense, is not the best thing to ask for when electing public officials, especially given the devastating effects of carbon emissions on the global environment. Yet the virtue of self-restraint—temperance, really—called for by Solzhenitsyn in his Harvard commencement address is no more popular now than it was in 1978, when many Americans rejected it in favor of a 1950s-style domestic prosperity characterized by plenty of cheap gas and consumer goods.
President Carter, a famously moral person who spoke openly against violence and advocated daily prayer, was unable to effectively sell his vision that U.S. voters should cultivate temperate, self-transcendent characters. Solzhenitsyn’s warning in this era that human life must consist of more than “the search for the best ways to obtain material goods” vanished in a country weary of recession and fearful of international terrorism, and is similarly lost today in a nation where people fear slipping into poverty at home as a result of stagnant wages and vanishing jobs, and see only an unstable and violent world abroad. Yet Solzhenitsyn’s warning that Americans—humans—are prone to self-interest and self-indulgence is one we should still heed. His insistence that the human tendency to keep one’s head down in the presence of injustice proliferates injustice is especially urgent in our moment, when the temptation to retreat into private life can seem so seductive. In this dangerous world, getting involved is a necessary self-transcendence; “the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty” as Solzhenitsyn put it; a call to witness; a call to action.
Guest blogger Jaime Hovey is Associate Program Director for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life at the University of Chicago. She has taught literature, writing, and gender studies in Chicago since 1998, has a Ph. D. in literature from Rutgers and a J.D. from the University of Illinois, and is the author of A Thousand Words: Portraiture, Style, and Queer Modernism (Ohio State University Press, 2006) and other articles on queerness and literature. This article reprinted with permission.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn moral complacency moral standards morality self-interest and self-indulgence spiritual emptiness virtue and values
The Risks of an Open Mind
Ethnic Studies Courses for White Children
Robert Nozick Quotes: On the…
A hero is simply someone who rises above his own human weaknesses, for an hour, a day, a year, to do something stirring.
— Betty Deramus
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CRIME BRIEFS | March 2019
Mar 20, 2019 | Chris O'Neal, Crime Briefs, Moorpark, News, Ojai, Thousand Oaks | 0 |
Ojai’s Thacher School trustee named in college admissions scandal
Douglas Hodge, board trustee of the Ojai-based Thacher School, has been charged as part of the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal that has seen a slew of wealthy celebrities and power brokers accused.
The scandal began when the FBI announced that an investigation into college admissions fraud had found that 750 individuals were accused of paying bribes to get their children into top-rated universities.
The Thacher School is a private institution considered an elite boarding school.
Hodge, a resident of Laguna Beach, had been a trustee since 2011. He is accused of spending $500,000 for his two children to be accepted at the University of Southern California and has been charged with “conspiracy to commit mail fraud.”
On Friday, March 15, the Thacher School Board of Trustees asked for Hodge’s resignation, and Hodge complied.
LA Rams “get-back” coach charged with sexual battery
A Los Angeles Rams member of the coaching staff who became known for his designation as a “get-back coach” during the 2018 season has been charged with sexual battery stemming from an incident in Moorpark.
Ted Rath was arrested and charged with three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery on Jan. 15 and subsequently posted a $5,000 bail. The incident allegedly occurred in June of 2018 and Rath pleaded not guilty.
Rath was the subject of a video describing his technique of pulling Rams’ Coach Sean McVay back and away from the field of play during games, which allowed him to focus on the play rather than worry about colliding with a referee. In January, as the Rams made the NFL playoff run, the team issued a statement that Rath was on leave without going into further detail.
Following his arrest, the Rams released a statement from the team’s headquarters in Thousand Oaks.
“We are aware of the charges filed against Ted Rath. We take these allegations very seriously. Once the charges were filed, we decided Ted would take a leave of absence from the team as this matter works its way through the justice system.”
If convicted, Rath faces a maximum of one year and six months in jail and would be required to register as a sex offender. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 16.
Wave of theft hits Thousand Oaks supermarkets
As you step away from your cart to pluck an eight-pack of La Croix from the shelf, beware: Criminals are watching your unattended personal items.
The Thousand Oaks Police Department has warned area shoppers of an uptick in thievery taking place in city grocery stores. Since the beginning of the year, the Department says that thieves have begun working in tandem to distract shoppers. One thief will create a distraction while the other rifles through a shopper’s personal belongings, while at other times, a thief will simply lie in wait until an unsuspecting shopper steps away before pouncing.
To curb the threat, the Department is asking residents to keep personal items close, such as wearing a purse over the shoulder or carrying it at all times, and to never leave a purse or other items unattended.
To report suspicious activity, call the Thousand Oaks Police Department at 805-654-9511 or 911.
PreviousIN BRIEF | March 21, 2019
NextMarvel-ous
CONSTRUCTION ZONE | Over a dozen projects underway in Ventura
THE AMENDMENT PROJECT | The 23rd Amendment
IN BRIEF | Dec. 14, 2017
A LIFE WELL-LIVED | John Masterson left a legacy of service to his community
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Undoubtedly the biggest challenge for the project is actually raising the funds needed to cover the costs. These costs include design, procurement, construction and installation. A new design has been approved, the new location is agreed subject to revised planning approval. Phase Two, - the provision of suitable artwork telling the story of mine warfare and clearance diving by the men and women themselves is well underway. Now it is just a matter of sourcing the final funds to pay for it all!
Vernon Monument - Direct Donations
As a registered charity the Vernon Monument Project can benefit from Gift Aid. UK taxpayers who wish to donate and who qualify are encouraged to complete the form provided.that will automatically add 25% to every direct donation.
Portsmouth Lottery - The Vernon Monument
The fund can also be supported for as little as £1 per week by purchasing tickets in the Portsmouth Lottery. The campaign receives at least 50% of the proceeds and ticket holders have an opportunity to win cash prizes.
Vernon Monument Shop
Since project inception, the managing team has commissioned a number of items of merchandise including paintings, prints, miniatures and clothing, all available at the 'Shop'. It has also held a series of major, medium and minor events to raise funds through voluntary donation and commercial sponsorship.
Fundraising events to date have included 'outreach' promotions at Gunwharf Quays, public events in Portsmouth Naval Base, the British Military Tournament at Earls Court and families’ days at HMS Excellent and HMS Collingwood, often in conjunction with displays by the Fleet Diving Squadron, 22 Regt Royal Engineer divers and the Historical Diving Society's Working Equipment Group.
Sponsored individual and team events have included a cyclothon by mine warfare volunteers ending at Gunwharf Quays, swims around Portsea Island and the length of Windermere, the River Dart and Blackpool Sands in Devon plus a 24-hour kayak marathon in Horsea Lake and Devizes to London Canoe Races and an abseil down the Spinnaker Tower.
Formal fundraising events have included gala dinners held on board HMS Victory in Portsmouth Naval Base, at the Royal Navy & Royal Albert Yacht Club in Portsmouth and at Trinity House in London. Committee members have also given illustrated talks to RNA groups, yacht clubs, Round Table, Rotary and U3A (University of the Third Age.)
The fundraising dinner and auction on board HMS Victory was chaired by Admiral Sir Jonathon Band GCB DL (former First Sea Lord) with Admiral of the Fleet Lord Boyce KG GCB OBE DL (former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff) as Guest of Honour. The main after-dinner speaker was Sir John Scarlett KCMG OBE (former Head of MI6).
The 'Falklands 35' fundraising dinner and auction at Trinity House in London was honoured with the presence of Prince Harry, Commodore-in-Chief Small Ships & Diving. It was attended by Captain Roger Readwin RN (then Captain Minewarfare and Fishery Protection) plus many decorated veterans of the Falklands and descendants of Second World War veterans as well as more recent members of the Royal Navy minewarfare & diving community. Adventurer, naturalist, author and TV personality Monty Halls (an ex-Royal Marine) was present and popular entertainer Shep Woolley provided a witty after dinner speech.
A statuette of a previous design for the monument.
A dinner and raffle at the Royal Naval Club & Royal Albert Yacht Club in Portsmouth raised funds. As with the dinner at Trinity House, entertainment was provided by well-known personality Shep Woolley.
The project has also benefited from the fundraising activities of the AORNFCD (Association of Royal Navy First Class Divers), the MWA (Minewarfare Association), the MCDOA (Minewarfare & Clearance Diving Officers' Association), the TCA (Ton Class Association) and the RANCDA (Royal Australian Navy Clearance Divers' Association).
Illustrated talks have been given to such bodies as the Historical Diving Society, RNA groups, yacht clubs & sailing clubs, Round Table, Rotary and U3A (University of the Third Age). Many of these have resulted in donations towards the project's fundraising goal.
Future fundraising plans are likely to include:
Major – Black Tie Dinners, in Portsmouth and London
Medium – Great Mud Run or similar, fitness-based events
Minor – Prize Draws, held annually and at major events
If you would like to organise a fundraising event to support the campaign, please use the Contact Us form at the bottom of the Home page so that others can be informed via the project’s website, Facebook Group and Twitter account.
Donations will continue to be sought and all will go towards the construction and installation of the monument and its associated displays.. The small project team are volunteers, however, the project does incur expenditure on such items as the cost of merchandise for sale, maintaining this website and the auditing requirements as required by the Charities Commission.
Please visit the 'Shop' pages where Items such as mugs and Polo/T shirts are available for sale, along with prints of commissioned and donated original paintings - check out the print of 'Roughers off Port Stanley - 1982'. The original painting has been generously donated by the marine artist Adrian Thompson and will be offered for sale at auction.
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Last updated on June 27, 2019 in Japan Leave a Comment
Stretching endlessly towards the horizon, this massive metropolis is the perfect place for you to embrace and explore Japan’s unique cultural heritage and, with some of the best museums in the country, visitors to Tokyo will love all that there is to see and do. With amazing art collections scattered about the city and numerous institutions exploring the culture and history of Japan, you can be learning about some of the country’s amazing artworks one minute and wandering around a reconstructed old town the next.
A creative and innovative place, Tokyo also has its fair share of science and technology museums, which will leave visitors itching to see what future advancements are just around the corner. Whether it is beer that you are interested in or samurai swords and calligraphy, Tokyo’s museums have it all!
5 Best Day Trips in Japan
10. Miraikan
dreamstime/© Cowardlion
Known to many people simply as Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation is devoted to exploring, promoting and celebrating the latest cutting-edge technologies and discoveries that impact our world. Looking at the most recent advancements in science, visitors can experience how humans have impacted various environments; the creativity and innovation on show is breathtaking. There are loads of amazing exhibits for you to explore. Among the many highlights are the stunning Geo-Cosmos – a LED replica of Earth – and the ASIMO robot, which appears so human-like in its movements. Before heading off to explore the rest of what Tokyo has to offer, make sure to journey around the Shinkai 6500 – a research submersible which allows human to venture over two-hundred meters below the surface of the ocean. Needless to say, the cutting-edge inventions on show at Miraikan will surely wow you and leave you excited for what the future will bring.
9. Museum of Yebisu Beer
Located in Yebisu Garden Place, the former brewery was turned into a museum in 2010 and documents how Yebisu Beer came to be one of the most popular drinks in Japan, with posters and old advertisements on display. The company became so renowned that the name of the area around it – Ebisu – was derived from the famous brewery. Nowadays, visitors can enjoy walking around the well-thought-out exhibitions, with the tasting salon being the undoubted highlight. Here, you can sample some of the delicious Yebisu Beers on offer.
8. National Museum of Nature and Science
Located in Ueno Park, the National Museum of Nature and Science is a fascinating place to visit. Its extensive collections allow visitors to explore the natural world before looking at how technology has evolved over time to help create the exhibits present before them. A massive facility, there is so much to see and do in the museum, and the interactive installations really bring some of the displays to life. With lots of ancient fossils for you to peruse, as well as a huge range of fauna and flora on show, the museum is as entertaining as it is interesting and educational. Having explored the natural wonders of our planet, you can then journey through some of mankind’s achievements, learning about how various tools, instruments, and writing have helped create our world of today. After enjoying the wealth of exhibitions and galleries on offer, walking around the delightful Ueno Park is a relaxing way to cap off a lovely day.
7. Mori Art Museum
dreamstime/© Richie Chan
Located in the Roppongi Hills Mall, the museum’s stunning location on the 52nd and 53rd floors of the gigantic Mori Tower means that visitors can enjoy much more than the fantastic art collection; the views from up high offer some of the best panoramas of Tokyo in the city. Dedicated to contemporary art, the Mori Art Museum has a brilliant range of artworks on display; its rotating exhibitions are certainly worth checking out – they feature anything from Middle Eastern Art to local artist’s latest pieces and cutting-edge video art. It stays open late, so visitors can enjoy splendid views over Tokyo while relaxing with a drink in the Mado Lounge as nighttime falls over the city and the neon lights begin to flicker on. A great experience, the Mori Art Museum is much more than the artworks that is has on display.
6. Nezu Museum
dreamstime/© Pipa100
Named after the successful businessman whose extensive private collection led to its founding, the Nezu Museum is a wonderful place to visit. With seven rotating exhibits on offer, visitors will never get bored with the fantastic art on display. Home to over 7,400 artworks, the museum’s collection is so large that only some of its artifacts and art pieces are on show permanently, with the highlights being the stunning Buddhist statues and lovely Bronze figurines from ancient China. Focusing on pre-modern Japanese and East-Asian art, there is a wide range of art forms included in the galleries. Visitors to the museum can enjoy sculptures and ceramics, wooden and bamboo art pieces, or paintings and calligraphy, depending on what exhibition is on when they visit. On top of all that, the building in which the collection is housed is lovely.
5. National Museum of Western Art
dreamstime/© Origamiplanemechanic
A very unique museum to visit in Japan, this awesome institution is the only national museum in the country that is dedicated to the exploration and promotion of Western art. The collection on show is stunning for the breadth of artworks that it contains. Assembled by Matsukata Kojiro – a wealthy shipping magnate – the museum covers nearly eight-hundred years of Western culture. Visitors are able to enjoy many of Europe’s seminal art pieces that are exhibited in its galleries. Whether it is Monet’s iconic Water Lilies painting or Ruben’s masterpiece ‘Two Sleeping Children,’ the National Museum of Western Art will delight guests with all that it has to offer.
4. The National Art Center
Opened in 2007, the National Art Center is unlike most other museums in the world as it does not actually have its own permanent collection that it exhibits to the public. Instead, the center only hosts special exhibitions, which means that there is a constantly changing range of art collections for locals and tourists to enjoy. Featuring the largest exhibition space in the whole country, the National Art Center is well worth checking out; its ever-changing features mean that it is always a fun and fresh place to visit.
3. Samurai Museum
photo/Matthew Parsons
Full of amazing suits of armor and samurai blades, the Samurai Museum is loads of fun to visit and you can even try on the old costumes and wield the swords yourself! Offering a fascinating insight into the life of the samurai as well as their history and culture, visitors will love all that there is to see and do in the museum. On top of the fantastic exhibitions and panels that explore the lives of influential samurai and place them in their historical context, trained actors demonstrate how the samurai would have fought. The performances that feature such intricate sword-play are certainly entertaining to watch. An immersive experience, visitors can also try their hand at calligraphy and in doing so learn more about Japanese culture.
2. Edo-Tokyo Museum
Dedicated to the Edo/Tokugawa era, this huge museum offers an interesting look at the history and culture of Japan from 1603-1868. The vast models on show are certainly worth visiting for the amazing range of historic buildings that are displayed. Featuring life-sized models, wandering around the preserved and reconstructed buildings really feels as if you have stepped back in time. The old items on show are faithful to the epochs in which they would have been around in. With a stunning replica of the Nihonbashi Bridge among the museum’s many attractions, visitors of all ages will enjoy exploring this fantastic museum. In the process, they will learn about how Tokyo became the behemoth that it is today and how Japan came to embrace Western influences, among other things. On top of its wealth of artifacts, objects, and historical buildings, the museum also hosts music and entertainment performances which bring to life Japan’s rich cultural heritage.
1. Tokyo National Museum
flickr/Psicoloco
A lovely museum to wander around, the Tokyo National Museum is one of the oldest and indeed most popular in the whole country. As such, it is a must-see when in the bustling metropolis. With a huge collection of artifacts and artworks, the stunning range of paintings, historical objects, and archaeological pieces will enlighten you to various aspects of East-Asian and Japanese culture. Meandering around statues of the Buddha and exploring some of the other national treasures on display is a fascinating experience and, with over 100,000 items the Tokyo National Museum certainly is an entertaining and interesting visit for all.
10 Best Tokyo Hotel Deals
Where to Stay in Tokyo: Best Neighborhoods & Hotels
How to Spend 3 Days in Tokyo
7 Best Day Trips From Tokyo
10 Top Tourist Attractions in Tokyo
9 Most Amazing Hotels in Japan
5 Remarkable Volcanoes in Japan
15 Best Cities to Visit in Japan
10 Top Tourist Attractions in Kyoto
10 Top Tourist Attractions in Japan
10 Most Beautiful National Parks in Japan
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Home > News > Bank of England Looks To Protect London’s Financial Status
Bank of England Looks To Protect London’s Financial Status
29 Mar, 2018 by Clive Nelson
Bank of England Looks To Protect London’s Financial Status March 29, 2018 Clive Nelson https://plus.google.com/110107075468979879828/
The United Kingdom and the European Union announced last week that they had reached an agreement to move forward with the transition Brexit deal which is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
BoE Assures Financial Firms OF BAU
The Brexit move has caused a lot of market confusion in the last 18 months as some of the major financial firms have discussed the possibility of re-locating out of London and setting up their firms in the EU. The Bank of England (BoE) decided that it was in its best interests to send out a fresh assurance to financial firms in the City of London assuring them that while Brexit transition is implemented, it will still be business as usual for all financial firms.
This means that financial firms, lenders and clearing houses operating in London will not be affected by the Brexit deal till December 31, 2020 as their passporting rights will continue to be the same. They will be able to use their existing licenses to continue to operate in London and not have to apply for any new regulatory approval.
Bloomberg TV Markets and Finance
The current laws allow companies who have passporting rights to operate in the UK to also operate in the EU. Once Brexit is implemented, these firms will have to comply with the new regulations outlined.
EU Regulators Need To Provide More Info
Financial firms in the UK were happy with the assurance provided by the BoE which stops them from immediately pushing through with hasty and costly steps in the light of the Brexit transition. Now that the UK has clarified things from their perspective it will be up to EU regulators to release more information and make things a lot more transparent for financial firms.
In a statement, Stephen Jones, UK Finance CEO said
The impetus is now on EU regulators to follow suit, and for both sides to work together on cross-border models of supervision that businesses on both sides of the Channel can rely on throughout the implementation period. Without similar assurances from EU regulators, UK-based firms serving customers in the EU will be forced to continue implementing costly contingency plans
A new Reuters study published this week showed that the number of finance jobs expected to move out of London and be created overseas has halved in the last six months and fallen to 5,000.
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AustraliaSports TourismTourism
Adelaide targets Indian travellers with cricket film
By Mark Elliott On Dec 11, 2014
Adelaide is drawing on India’s passion for cricket to lure more travellers to the city.
The South Australian Tourism Commission recently released the second of three YouTube films targeted at the Indian market. The video is intended to drive interest in the city ahead of the upcoming cricket match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, which will be played in Adelaide early next year.
Ajay Jadeja visits the Adelaide Oval
And the Commission’s CEO, Rodney Harrex, said he expects the game to be a big drawcard for Adelaide.
“We expect significant visitor numbers from India coming to Adelaide for cricket and other events through the year, so we wanted to showcase what the city has to offer,” Harrex said.
The film shows Adelaide through the eyes of Indian cricketer, Ajay Jadeja, who travels around the city. Set to a soundtrack created by a renowned Bollywood composer, the video features the Adelaide Oval cricket ground, the city’s riverside, markets and food, plus other South Australian regions including Barossa, the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island.
CLICK HERE to watch the film.
“Adelaide and South Australia offer the true Australian experience, which you can enjoy in a short span of time. [It] is the only Australian city where you can swim with dolphins, cuddle a koala and feed kangaroos in one day and still have time to dine in world-class restaurants, feast on local produce and wine and watch a sunset by the beach,” Harrex added.
The one-day match between India and Pakistan will be played at the Adelaide Oval on 15 February 2015, marking India’s opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Adelaide and South Australia: Events and destinations for 2019
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Bush Calls for Freedom of Expression in Beijing Ahead of Games
U.S. President George Bush has made another appeal for freedom of expression in China, hours ahead of the start of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Mr. Bush made the comment Friday during a dedication ceremony for a new U.S. embassy complex in the Chinese capital. He said societies that allow the free expression of ideas tend to be the most prosperous and the most peaceful.
The U.S. president also said the massive new embassy complex reflects the solid foundations of U.S.-China relations. He noted that China opened a new embassy complex of its own in Washington last week.
Chinese State Councilor and Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo participated in the Beijing ceremony. He called for China and the United States to properly manage their differences on sensitive issues.
Dai also recalled the role that former U.S. President George H.W. Bush played in normalizing relations nearly 30 years ago. The former president and other members of the Bush family attended the ceremony today.
The embassy complex was built at a cost of more than $434 million, and is the second largest construction project in the history of the U.S. State Department.
President Bush will meet later with Chinese President Hu Jintao ahead of the evening opening ceremony for the Olympics.
The U.S. president arrived in Beijing Thursday, hours after bluntly criticizing China's human rights record. China's foreign ministry responded by saying it opposes "any words or acts" that interfere in the country's internal affairs.
Human rights activists and some U.S. lawmakers have criticized Mr. Bush for his decision to attend the Olympics' opening ceremony. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged the president to relay U.S. human rights concerns to Chinese leaders while in Beijing. Mr. Bush met last week with Chinese dissidents at the White House.
Mr. Bush will be the first sitting U.S. president to attend the Olympics on foreign soil. He is expected to attend Olympic sporting events over the next few days.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
Former Chinese Official Says Activists for Darfur Are Faking, Real Goal is to Smear China
A former Chinese official has said activists on the Darfur issue are using the Olympics as an excuse to attack China and that they do not really care about the situation in the Sudanese region. His comments came just a day after the Chinese government revoked a visa for a U.S. athlete who was planning to protest against China's support for the Sudanese government. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing. Former Chinese foreign ministry spokesman and…
Bush Rebukes China's Human Rights Record
President Bush heads to Beijing Thursday to become the first sitting U.S. president to attend the Olympics games on foreign soil. Speaking in Thailand hours before his departure, Mr. Bush delivered a major policy speech on Asia. He focused largely on China, praising its economic growth and its cooperation on terrorism, but called on Beijing to improve its human rights record. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from Bangkok. The U.S. leader says this is his last…
Bush Hails US-China Ties
In just hours from now, President George Bush will lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing. VOA White House correspondent Paula Wolfson reports from the Chinese capital.Mr. Bush will be the first sitting U.S. president to attend an Olympics on foreign soil. And he says he can not wait to go."I am honored to represent the United States at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games here in Beijing," said Mr. Bush…
Former 'Lost Boy' from Sudan Carries US Flag at Beijing Olympics
Sudanese-born Lopez Lomong led the U.S. athletes as they marched into China's National Stadium during the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics. VOA's Jim Stevenson has more on the 23-year-old track runner, who was one of the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan.Joseph Lopepe (Lopez) Lomong was kidnapped from his village in Kimotong, Sudan, at the age of six. He escaped by tunneling under the wire fence of his compound and spent three days on the…
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MLB: Yankees Wang Nears Perfect Game
Yankee star Chien-Ming Wang came within five outs of pitching Major League Baseball's 16th perfect game since 1900, leading New York to an 8-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Wang did not allow anyone to reach base until the eighth inning Saturday in New York, when Ben Broussard hit a home run.
Wang, of Taiwan, was trying to become the first pitcher in three years to not allow anyone to reach base ,since Arizona's Randy Johnson at Atlanta.
In another American League contest, Tampa Bay's Brendan Harris drove in the game-ending run in the 12th inning, giving the Devil Rays a 3-2 win over the Oakland Athletics.
National League slugger Barry Bonds moved within 11 homers of Hank Aaron's record when Bonds hit number 744 in San Francisco, leading the Giants to a 9-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The National League Houston Astros crushed the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, 13-0. The Chicago Cubs used three bases-loaded walks to beat the Washington Nationals, 5-3. The Los Angeles Dodgers doubled the Atlanta Braves, 6-3. The National League-leading Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3. The Colorado Rockies used two home runs by Matt Holliday to beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-7. The New York Mets got by the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-2. And, the San Diego Padres scored in the 12th inning to beat the Florida Marlins, 7-6, in Miami.
The Minnesota Twins edged the American League-leading Boston Red Sox, 2-1. The Chicago White Sox snapped a five-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The Baltimore Orioles downed the Cleveland Indians, 8-2. The Detroit Tigers won their sixth straight game with an eighth-inning rally to get by the Kansas City Royals, 7-5. And, the Texas Rangers thumped the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-4, scoring six runs in the third inning off Toronto ace pitcher Roy Halladay.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
New Baseball Stadium Takes Shape in Nation's Capital
These are the opening weeks of the 2007 Major League Baseball season, and by this time next year fans in the nation's capital will be watching their team in a brand new stadium. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer recently took a tour of what will be the new home for the Washington Nationals and has this report. For those who drive down Washington's South Capital Street they can see the new stadium for the
MLB: Tigers Crush Royals
In baseball's major leagues, the Detroit Tigers hit three, two-run home runs in the second inning Sunday on the way to trouncing the Kansas City Royals, 13-4. Former Kansas City pitcher Chad Durbin earned the win for the defending American League champion Tigers, who have won seven straight games. In another A.L. contest, Chicago's A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels, then drove home the go…
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European Parliament Wants to Ditch Time Change in 2021
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (C) delivers his State of Union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Sept.12, 2018.
STRASBOURG, FRANCE - The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a measure to abolish the twice-yearly time change in 2021.
The proposal now goes to European Union member states for further negotiations.
EU legislators voted 410-192 with 51 abstentions on Tuesday to scrap changing the clocks, which has been a rite of spring and fall for decades.
But lawmakers haven't yet decided on whether summer or winter time should be adopted as the standard since there are divisions within the EU as to which one should be chosen.
Many member states instituted the time change during the 1970s oil crisis as an attempt to save energy. Since 1996, all EU countries change their times simultaneously.
An EU consultation of the public last year showed that 84 percent were against changing the clock.
EU Centrists Fear British Participation in Euro-Election in May
The European Union appears set to agree to a delay on Britain's exit from the bloc, but officials in Brussels are anxious about the impact that might have on European parliamentary elections in May.They fear a wave of Euro-skeptics will be returned by British voters, if the country participates in the elections, reinforcing an expected strong populist showing across the continent.Some EU officials are already exploring legal ways to try to stop British participation on…
By Jamie Dettmer
British Lawmakers Vote to Seize Control of Brexit for a Day
British lawmakers voted on Monday to wrest control of Brexit from Prime Minister Theresa May for a day in a bid to find a way through the European Union divorce impasse that a majority in parliament could support.Lawmakers should now vote on a range of Brexit options on Wednesday, giving parliament a chance to indicate whether it can agree on a deal with closer ties to Brussels, and then try to push the government in that direction.The move underlined to what extent May…
Chinese Leader's Visit to Paris Seen as Test for European Unity
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been treated to a sumptuous dinner near Nice and an official welcome by his French counterpart at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris — not to mention a 17th-century French translation of Confucius.But Xi's three-day visit to France, which began Sunday, promises to be a much bigger challenge than his past two stopovers. The Chinese leader coasted on the first leg of his European tour, marked by getting Italy on board his "Belt and Road"…
By Lisa Bryant
Paris Catches Asian Tigers in Most Expensive City Race
Paris and Hong Kong for the first time join Singapore as world's most expensive cities to live in, a study revealed on Tuesday, with utilities and transport driving up the cost of living
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City Archives retain prestigious accreditation status
Wolverhampton City Archives has successfully retained its Archives Service Accreditation status following a review by the National Archives.
The City of Wolverhampton Council service continues to provide an excellent standard of customer service, preserves collections in line with national standards and is a robust, sustainable service which plans and delivers ongoing improvement.
Wolverhampton City Archives first received the prestigious honour in 2015 and the latest review recognises it has made further enhancements to its service, with the support of the Friends of the Archives and volunteers.
Melinda Haunton, Programme Manager (Archive Service Accreditation), said:
“The Accreditation Panel welcomed this positive update on the service’s position, which showed that the very real resource constraints on the service have not restricted its ambitions. They commended the hugely impressive partnership and collaboration work, particularly in enriching collections and meeting community needs. The Panel noted and, also commended the success of the service’s review of its onsite provision and opening hours, which showed a strategic response to user needs within existing resources.”
Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, added:
"Building on its Archives Service Accreditation status is testament to the excellent service Wolverhampton City Archives provides to our city, thanks to the hard work of the staff, Friends of the Archives and volunteers.
“It is a valuable resource, well used by people wanting to explore the rich history of Wolverhampton and its people."
Wolverhampton City Archives houses a wealth of material relating to the history of all parts of the city of Wolverhampton including Bilston, Bushbury, Penn, Tettenhall and Wednesfield.
Its ever-growing collection includes maps, books, census returns, newspapers, records from local schools, churches, clubs, societies and businesses, electoral registers, and indexes to births, deaths and marriages.
There are also over 30,000 photographs, plus films, sound recordings, memorabilia and much more.
It is based at the Molineux Hotel Building on Whitmore Hill and is open on Wednesdays from 1pm to 7pm, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 4pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 1pm. Admission is free.
For more information about Wolverhampton City Archives, please visit www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/visit/wolverhampton-archives or call 01902 552480.
Issued by the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Corporate Communications Team. For more information, please call 01902 555439.
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Three from Frans Hals
I'm going to start moving through these more briskly now. A pattern is emerging in the elements that make the Obama group portrait seem Old Masterish. Previously here. For now, three from Frans Hals. First, Regents of the Old Men's Almshouse -- as with The Anatomy Lesson, thematically strangely appropriate for the Chrysler-bankruptcy team.
If all but six people were removed from the Obama portrait, leaving only (from left) Geithner, Summers, Obama, Browner, Rattner, and Bernstein, they would match the positions and angles of the six Regents surprisingly well.* Though Carol Browner probably wouldn't be wild about the one matched with her.
Next, Officers and Sergeants of the St. Hadrian Civic Guard
And, the famous Meagre Company, apparently so named because the figures are all thin. On this basis, the Obama group portrait should be called Somber Company.
More coming.
* Geithner, Summers, and Obama you know. The woman is Carol Browner; Steve Rattner is behind her with round glasses; Jared Bernstein is just in front of him with gray hair.
James Fallows is a staff writer for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. He and his wife, Deborah Fallows, are the authors of the 2018 book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America, which was a national best seller and is the basis of a forthcoming HBO documentary.
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Politics March 31, 2016
Karl Knighton
America Needs Less Democracy
We were never meant to have a democracy. Progressives have only made us think we were.
(Karl Knigton)
We Americans have been fed the absurd notion that democracy is the pure representation of American government and that voting is central to our individual freedom.
Democracy is the passionate demands of a population motivated by anger, greed, and entitlement, but very rarely common sense. This is what democracy looks like. If you don’t believe me then you haven’t been paying much attention to American politics.
(Karl Knighton)
Just look at which presidential candidates are getting the most media coverage and think about the things they have been saying and where they stand in democratic polls. The top three (Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders) could easily represent anger, greed, and entitlement in that order.
So let’s get over this myth that democracy is the solution for all our social and political ills. In reality it’s little more than a fix-all elixir being sold by progressive political quacks. Regardless, it has been infecting every level of our constitutional republic for more than a century.
The motives of those shouting for democracy should always be suspect.
Our nation’s founders understood the importance of a limited amount of democracy within our constitutional republic. Even the Electoral College process is organized to prevent more populous states from maintaining a mob like control over the office of president. The Electoral College tempers true democracy in order to protect state and individual rights.
And although we were meant to democratically elect individuals from our own communities to the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate was never meant to be subjected to the mob rule of a popular vote.
The founders wanted to ensure our Constitution could repel “the hasty, intemperate, passionate desire of the people.” James Madison described the Senate as a governmental body to “protect the people against their rulers” and “to protect the people against the transient impressions into which they themselves might be led.”
In order to ensure these protections they gave the power to elect U.S. senators to the state legislative bodies. This is how they chose to insulate the Senate from popular transient agendas while at the same time tying the interests of the states to the federal government.
This insulation is ultimately what progressives despised about the system. They wanted an organization they could influence by manipulating the “passionate desire of the people” for their own purposes.
Near the beginning of the 20th century the progressive movement openly slandered our nation’s founding document as an “ancient and aristocratic constitution, changed once, away back before the middle of the last century, but still an archaic document for class rule.”
The progressive democracy camp was responsible for a 1906 Cosmopolitan series of articles entitled “The Treason of the Senate.” The articles were part of a major progressive initiative which ultimately led to statewide popular elections of senators in 1913 with the adoption of the 17th Amendment.
The change was based on the premise of getting money out of politics. Senate History outlines the change in this way:
As originally adopted, the Constitution provided for the election of senators by individual state legislatures. In the years following the Civil War, that system became increasingly subject to bribery, fraud, and deadlock. As Congress took on a greater role in shaping an industrializing nation, those with a major business stake in that development believed they could best exert their influence on the U.S. Senate by offering financial incentives to the state legislators who selected its members.
The progressives are still out there hyping the same arguments about the influence of money in government that they were making a hundred years ago. Judging by the amount of money being spent in politics today the change obviously hasn’t worked… at least not as it was sold to the American people.
The changes were in fact successful in making it easier for exterior forces to manipulate the “transient impressions” of voters in order to push an unconstitutional agenda.
You don’t have to look any further than Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, or Dianne Feinstein to find evidence the Senate is no longer the world’s greatest deliberative body it was intended to be. The Senate is now a reactionary body, driven by the democratic votes of a manipulated population.
Democracy is the reason progressives have been able to stack the Supreme Court with so many anti-Constitutional Justices. Democracy is the reason we have Obama-Care. Democracy is the reason we are in a constant struggle to protect our Constitutional rights from an overreaching Federal government. All this and more because the Senate was made into a democratic tool for the progressive agenda.
America has suffered enough from the problem of democracy; it’s time to repeal the 17th Amendment. We need to place the Senate back under the control of our State Legislative representatives as intended by our Founding Fathers.
America needs less democracy.
TheBlaze contributor channel supports an open discourse on a range of views. The opinions expressed in this channel are solely those of each individual author.
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Liz Klimas
Proposal in New Highway Bill Would Mandate Trackers on Semis -- and Some Truckers Aren't Happy
"mandatory recording of such information presents opportunity for abuse."
A measure in the Surface Transportation Extension Act requiring electric on-board recorders (EOBRs) has small business and independent truckers concerned they will be too expensive for them to implement and an invasion of privacy.
Some consider the the EOBRs a measure that would increase highway safety and ensure fair business practices.
But others call it "big brother" that could also be a tool of the unions to put small business truckers out of work.
EOBRs would replace traditional paper tracking of hours of service. These hours of service are monitored to help prevent fatigue-related accidents.
The Surface Transportation Extension Act expired in Oct. 2009 and has received nine extensions as Congress tries to reach an agreement on the funding legislation. The act will need to pass by June 30 or receive another extension.
Although the Keystone Pipeline may be the main focus of the Surface Transportation Extension Act, which needs to be passed by Congress by the end of June, another provision has those in the trucking industry truckers concerned. It's a measure that would require electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) on rigs, which some truckers say are burdensome, costly and do not improve highway safety.
(Related: Here's what you need to know about the gov't possibly mandating vehicle 'black boxes')
EOBRs are proposed in this highway transportation act as a measure that would help record hours of service, which truckers traditional report on paper.
Including these devices would cut down on violations of hours of service that could result in fatigue-related accidents. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration passed a rule that would require violators working too many hours to be outfitted with EOBRs. In 2011, it expanded this rule to include all trucks tracking their work hours in this manner.
That mandate, however, was overturned in August 2011 by the federal Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit because the "agency said nothing about the requirement that any regulation about the use of monitoring devices in commercial vehicles must ‘ensure that the devices are not used to harass vehicle operators.’"
The mandate reappeared in the highway surface transportation funding legislation, which has until June 30 or the current law and bill will receive another extension. The News-Leader describes the proposed mandate as a "little-noticed provision causing a big fight within the trucking industry." The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and drivers, is one such organization protesting this measure calling installation of EOBRs a move by "Big Brother." It also stated that "EOBRs are an unproven technology, providing no cost benefit or highway safety improvement."
“It’s exorbitantly expensive while providing no safety benefit whatsoever,” Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president, said in a statement in April. “This is being done under the guise of compliance with federal hours-of-service regulations, but it is actually a way for large motor carrier companies to squeeze more ‘productivity’ out of drivers and increase costs for the small trucking companies they compete with."
It is estimated the provision would cost $2 billion if enacted. The Heritage Foundation has more on the costs and how the mandate would affect businesses:
And these costs would be high, totaling more than $2 billion each year, according to an analysis by the FMCSA, making it one of the most expensive regulations in the regulatory pipeline. This new burden would significantly add to the already eye-popping $46 billion in annual regulatory costs imposed since the start of the Obama Administration. Overall, according to FMCSA, the proposed mandate would affect some 500,000 firms and close to 4 million vehicles.
Spencer said that EOBRs are no more reliable than traditional log books and don't as accurately account for time given that the "device only tracks when the wheels are moving, not taking into consideration the colossal waiting times spent by truck drivers at shipping docks." Heritage also points out the mandate requires the devices to have real-time tracking capability to record time and location data for the truck. It states, "mandatory recording of such information presents opportunity for abuse."
WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Fla., reports some independent truckers saying they consider the black box-like devices privacy violation:
Mary Waters and her husband have been driving big rigs for the past 28 years. They still use paper logs to record their driving times. They say if they use the electronic recorder it would be an invasion of their privacy.
"It just causes a hardship," explains Waters. "We're a team so there is nobody out there trying to get around as far of the driving hours, but they seem to think we have totally deep pockets out here."
The News-Leader reports Rob Abbott, vice president of safety policy at the American Trucking Association, as conceding there are some privacy concerns, but in reality it would only help to inform business owners of their driver's potentially unrelated work activity conducted while using the truck:
“If I’m at the casino or the racetrack, my employer will know that,” he said. But he added that the owner of a rig has a right to know where his equipment is.
In a more recent press release the OOIDA said it found the support of the provision by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters -- a labor union -- as further evidence that larger corporations were behind this measure in bill.
“But support coming from the Teamsters, who filed comments to the government in 2007 opposing EOBRs, proves that this is more about attacking independent contractors and small businesses than safety,” Spencer said.
The News-Leader reports some larger trucking companies who have already voluntarily installed the tackers into their trucks support the mandate because they hope it would encourage fair business practices. Don Lacy with Prime Inc., a company with 4,400 trucks, said those using paper logs can misrepresent how many hours they've actually driven and therefore get away with cheaper rates.
TruckingInfo notes if the budget is not passed by June 30 and it receives another extension, this will be its 10th. The program expired in Oct. 2009.
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Bush's Deadly Blunder
One of Obama's first acts must be to overturn Bush's ignorant ban on federal funding for stem cell research. Then American scientists can compete with the rest of the world to cure life threatening illnesses.
Jeffrey Hart
Nikolaevich
As we glance back at the gravest blunders of the Bush administration, let us ponder this one: In August 2001, Bush issued an executive order blocking federal funding for embryonic stem cell research except for some lines that were still in existence. “It’s wrong to destroy life in order to save life,” he explained. That required one to agree that a group of cells the size of the period at the end of this sentence is as important as a desperately ill human being.
Bush may have severely limited what research America could engage in, but he couldn’t build a cognitive wall around the United States. Scientific developments in other nations were written up in refereed journals and became universally available. And support for Bush’s position was crumbling within the U.S. In 2004, voters in California passed a resolution authorizing the state to spend $4 billion to support embryonic stem cell research. This immediately became the subject of litigation, but Governor Schwarzenegger enabled California laboratories to proceed by lending them money from state funds. With California now funding the research, American scientists who had moved to Singapore returned to work in California.
Private universities, Harvard and others, also went forward with their own funds. In 2004, Harvard created a multi-million dollar Harvard Stem Cell Institute, which will occupy prime real estate in the vast new Allston science campus. Since 2004, the HSCI has been a leading force in research, making dozens of new stem cell lines available for scientists nationwide.
Bush may have severely limited what research America could engage in, but he couldn’t build a cognitive wall around the United States.
One concrete example of what these efforts have wrought: A major problem has existed for the therapeutic use of embryonic stem cells. To prevent rejection of the cells by the patient’s immune system, they needed to be cloned. That is, a nucleus from the cell of the patient had to be substituted in a donor’s egg for the original nucleus. But in September, Rob Stein reported that in a major breakthrough, Harvard scientists have found a new way to reprogram cells backwards, turning them into embryos. Instead of using a retrovirus (as Japanese scientists had done) that can cause cancer, they are using an adenovirus which is safe. This would avoid the long-standing cloning problem.
Pluripotent embryonic stem cells develop to eventually create an entire human being. They also possess the capability of repairing damaged organs, and treating such conditions as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and spinal cord and other nerve injuries. Bush’s own bio-ethics committee, and its chairman Leon Kass, voted in favor of federal funding, though with minor qualifications.
No doubt Bush’s executive order reflected evangelical and Catholic support for his position, as seen with the evangelical leader James Dobson and the exponent of Catholic Natural Law, Prof. Robert P. George of Princeton.
But the following conservative publications also vigorously supported Bush’s position: National Review, The Weekly Standard, The American Conservative, Commentary, The Claremont Review of Books, and First Things. National Review editorialized, “A single embryo must not be destroyed no matter how noble the goal.”
None of these conservative publications reviewed Cynthia Fox’s important book, Cell of Cells (2007) Fox, a science journalist, described the vigorous embryonic stem cell research that was then going forward in Israel, Singapore (which was making a huge investment), South Korea, Japan, and China, in cooperation with the EU. Some scientists in Egypt tried to start up a program, but ran into problems from their government--not ethical, but because they were exchanging emails with Israeli scientists.
Meanwhile, large majorities of voters and their representatives in Congress support federal funding but could not muster the two-thirds vote needed to override the Bush veto. But the political landscape has been changing.
Barack Obama has long been a vocal proponent of embryonic stem cell research, voting in favor of it when he was in the Illinois legislature. He continued to support it as a U.S. Senator, where he joined 40 of his colleagues to support federal funding. As he said in his supportive speech:
This bill embodies the innovative thinking that we as a society demand and medical advancement requires. By expanding scientific access to embryonic stem cells which would be otherwise discarded, this bill will help our nation’s scientists and researchers develop treatments and cures to help people who suffer illnesses and injuries for which there are currently none.
John McCain voted for federal funding in 2007, thundering about thousands of frozen embryos. But during his successful run in the 2008 primaries, McCain, for obvious reasons, muted his support for the research with conditions, saying in answer to a questionnaire from a group of scientists that “clear lines should be drawn that reflect a refusal to sacrifice moral value and ethical principles for scientific progress.”
Obama is now president-elect. He has promised to issue an executive order that will cancel Bush’s 2001 order blocking federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. But how much damage has Bush already caused in the inevitable march toward stem cell therapy? The United States has the best scientific infrastructure in the world, and he probably has inhibited scientific work somewhat by blocking federal funding. Bush may have discouraged some of the best graduate students from going into the stem cell research field. He certainly has earned himself a footnote in the history of science for doing what he could to block medical progress for political and religious reasons.
In that respect, he joins the Catholic Natural Law advocates in the Vatican who sought to ban smallpox vaccination on the grounds that it is unnatural to mix human blood with cow serum.
All of this deserves a fifth book added to the four of Alexander Pope’s Dunciad.
Jeffrey Hart is professor emeritus of English at Dartmouth College. He wrote for the National Review for more than three decades, where he was senior editor. He wrote speeches for Ronald Reagan, when governor of California, and for Richard Nixon.
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Fashion Has a Big Problem With Cultural Appropriation, but Not Yet a Solution
Kendall Jenner’s ‘Afro’ hairstyle left her and Vogue accused of cultural appropriation. The familiarity of such controversies suggests a fashion world that doesn’t want to learn.
Alaina Demopoulos
Style Writer
Published 10.31.18 5:11AM ET
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
When James O. Young published his book Cultural Appropriation in the Arts in 2008, he believed it was too late.
The philosopher and professor spent the 1990s and early 2000s studying how artists and musicians took influence from minority cultures in their work. But as the aughts came to a close, Young felt that the once fiery debate over appropriation and appreciation had lost some of its fervor.
“I thought, ‘No one is covering cultural appropriation in 2008. No one is ever going to read this book,’” Young told The Daily Beast. “I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Fortunately for Young’s book sales, but unfortunately for anyone who doesn’t appreciate getting a Google Alert any time the Kardashians step out in cornrows, it feels like everyone in the fashion world wants to cover cultural appropriation.
Just last week, Kendall Jenner drew Twitterati ire for wearing her hair in what many described as an Afro for a Vogue photoshoot.
The magazine did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment, but it did release an statement to E! that read: “The image is meant to be an update of the romantic Edwardian/Gibson Girl hair which suits the period feel of the Brock Collection, and also the big hair of the ’60s and the early ’70s, that puffed-out, teased-out look of those eras. We apologize if it came across differently than intended, and we certainly did not mean to offend anyone by it.”
Dana Oliver, beauty director of Yahoo Lifestyle, believes that Vogue’s apology was unnecessary and stoked controversy rather than quelling it. “Just so we are clear: That wasn’t a ’fro, and everyone I know who is aware of that didn’t link it to cultural appropriation,” she told The Daily Beast.
While nothing unites our fractured republic quite like hating on Kendall Jenner, the model is hardly the only one to face viral eye-rolls. Remember the explosion of controversy around Karlie Kloss’ Vogue “geisha” shoot of 2017, for which Kloss apologized?
Whatever the nature of the perceived transgression, all cultural appropriation controversies now quickly blow up to a similar loud volume online.
Two weeks before Jenner’s snafu, beauty vlogger Jeffree Starr courted controversy by wearing green feed-in braids. This summer, Nicki Minaj was accused of fetishizing Asian stereotypes while promoting her single “Chun-Li,” which featured the rapper wearing red neon chopsticks in her hair.
Jenner’s half-sister Kim Kardashian West, who is frequently accused of capitalizing on black culture, was dragged for wearing Fulani braids to the MTV Movie Awards in July.
In late 2016, Marc Jacobs’ NYFW show featured white models in dreads, a move he stood by on Instagram, writing the tell-tale “I don’t see color or race—I see people.” (A year later, Jacobs backtracked, telling InStyle he might have been “insensitive.”)
Every controversy (or, when the Kardashians are involved, Kontroversy) follows a predictable news cycle: A celebrity, publication, or designer is called out for cultural appropriation. Cerebral wars are raged over social media, and everyone is encouraged to “do better.” An apology may or may not follow, and then fashionistas move on—until it happens again.
While Young isn’t sure what prompted the appropriation renaissance, he has a few theories. “We’re living in a time of pretty heightened political sensibilities, and I think the rise of concern over cultural appropriation is part and parcel of the deeper division in America,” he explained.
Plus, just about anyone can post their own woke fireside chat in 140 characters or less: “People are free to pontificate on these issues, and they don’t hesitate to do so before they do a little bit of research.”
Young believes it’s “impossible” for artists not to absorb a foreign influence into their work. “We live in a society where people are constantly bumping up against each other,” he explained. “You can’t help but notice what other cultures are doing and wearing.”
But noticing and paying homage are different from outright stealing and claiming it as new. Part of what makes cultural appropriation debates so contentious is that many view mainstream fashion attempting to “legitimize” or whitewash styles that existed long before Kendall Jenner showed up on set.
Given that the cycle of these controversies shows no signs of abating, what is the fashion world doing to address them, learn from them, or change its ways? And does it want to? Racism and a lack of awareness in the fashion industry, whether on the runway, at a magazine shoot, or in the experiences of people of color who work in fashion are long-ingrained.
Celebrity hairstylist Tym Wallace remembers that for most of his career, it was a liability to be known as a “black” hairstylist.
Wallace, who counts Taraji P. Henson and Tiffany Haddish as clients, recalled how “I was told that I needed a majority of white girls in my book [portfolio] to be considered a good artist. I thought for a long time that I had to shoot with white models and have the white girls show how great I am.”
Similarly, when Oliver was a teenager, she noticed how white girls at her high school would try out wearing finger waves or pin curls for prom, only to go back to their “fresh blowouts or ponytails” the next day. “They never, or rarely, endured the side-eyes or sly comments” that black women are forced to endure, Oliver said.
Years later, “Designers and hairstylists have culturally appropriated looks that are deemed ‘unkempt,’ ‘unprofessional,’ or ‘ghetto’ when worn by black women. Suddenly, these styles are ‘it’ or ‘trendy,’” she said.
“I was told that I needed a majority of white girls in my book [portfolio] to be considered a good artist.”
— Tym Wallace
Kyle Malone, a New York hairstylist and Fashion Week regular, said he’s observed art directors “cracking down” on appropriation and admits that he has rethought certain ideas that could be insensitive.
Two years ago, Malone styled a New York Fashion Week show. He considered sending white models down the runway in Afros but ultimately refrained because he “knew it was going to get weird.”
Instead, Malone “toned that down and did different shapes and textures so that it didn’t spark up any controversy. You don’t want to be perceived as the hairstylist or the makeup artist or the stylist who is trying to make people upset,” he said.
That said, stylists aren’t always willing to give up on their creative autonomy so quickly. “If I’m given the freedom to do something that might offend someone, I’m not going to do it unless I feel strongly that it’s the direction I want to take,” Malone said. “You can’t please everybody. It’s up to the the artist to do things in good taste, which I hope I do.”
It’s hard to imagine white editors of fashion magazines, or even the ever-polarizing Kendall Jenner, sitting around in plush leather seats trying to come up with egregiously disrespectful ideas.
So why does it keep happening? Could it be a mixture of insensitivity, ignorance, and a failure within editorial structures—especially when it comes to a lack of diverse staffers—to recognize problematic content?
The Daily Beast sought comment from editors at Teen Vogue, Vogue UK, Allure, Elle, Marie Claire, and The Fashion Spot, a news site that publishes annual reports on diversity in the industry. All outlets either declined to be interviewed or didn’t respond to repeated requests.
The fashion world is a notoriously elitist institution, where loyalty is valued and NDAs reign. For artists who have spent their careers vying for a byline or credit, fears of insubordination or coming off as difficult can make it tough to vocalize concerns.
“There are some [people] who just want to be at the table so badly that they don’t care,” Wallace suggested. “It’s a crab in a barrel mentality—everybody’s fighting to get to the top.”
Oliver said it’s her “mission” to teach junior staffers and interns to speak up when they’re uncomfortable, although it shouldn’t be down to the one black or LGBT or female member of staff to point out something suspect or not right.
Oliver acknowledged that white colleagues have passed responsibility on her to double check their work, just because she’s a black woman.
“It’s tokenizing and tiring, but I realize that I have an immense responsibility as a black beauty director to use my voice to educate my white colleagues,” she said.
Let's hope they’re listening, learning, and understanding, and not just waiting to get the OK from a minority co-worker before going on with their day.
“Afros are not a hairstyle—they were a movement. It was so much more than a cool hairstyle to us.”
Young thinks people who get loud about potentially insensitive editorials are missing the point. For him, what a model’s hair looks like on the cover of Vogue is much less harmful than the violence, bigotry, and institutionalized racism minorities face every day.
“Those are things to get upset about, to resist and fight,” he said. “Hoop earrings are so trivial.”
But what about when a look, such as the Afro Jenner may or may not have been channeling, is more than just a look? “Afros are not a hairstyle—they were a movement,” Wallace said. “It was so much more than a cool hairstyle to us.”
This is what fashion editors and taste-makers need to understand. Until they do, the cycle of cultural appropriation controversies will continue.
alaina.demopoulos@thedailybeast.com
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
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Regal Mess
How Real Is ‘The Royals’ Craziness?
With its cocaine-sniffing high-jinks, wicked Queen, and murderous intrigues, E’s ‘The Royals’ is nothing like the real thing. Oh, except…
Paul Blundell/E! Entertainment
The wonderfully silly new cocaine-and-coronets E! drama ‘The Royals’ is not a big hit at the real seat of the British monarchy.
“No, nothing from us on this,” says one courtier when the Royalist enquires whether there has been any reaction in the palace to E!’s first foray into the world of scripted drama.
While we imagine the Queen and Prince Charles may not be amused, it’s hard not to imagine Camilla nursing a fag and a G&T in front of the telly and cracking up with laughter at the carefree characterization of a fictional British royal family immersed in backstabbings, blackmail plots, and bad behavior a-plenty.
And while we’re not entirely sure how Prince Andrew would feel about the plotting, bisexual, drug-abusing Prince Cyrus or his two idiotic red-headed princesses, clearly (albeit very loosely) inspired by his daughters Eugenie and Beatrice, it’s a safe bet that more than one member of the extended royal clan has uttered a disloyal chuckle at the girls’ conversation about whether the funny smell is from their feet or their…well, let’s just say, from elsewhere.
It should of course be noted that the show’s producer—One Tree Hill’s Mark Schwahn—has been careful to emphasize in interviews that ‘The Royals’ is most definitely not a reality show.
“One of the biggest things for me that I really want people to understand is that we are not telling stories about the actual British monarchy,” he said. “This is completely fictional, it’s meant to be fictional. I think people might get confused because it’s modern day, so the references are actual real references but it’s not a biopic or a docudrama. If anything, it’s just ‘royal adjacent.’”
OK, so, it’s made up - we get it. As much as we might like to imagine the Queen played by Elizabeth Hurley, natch—picking up on her rebellious daughter’s slang and muttering to herself ‘FML’ (‘Fuck My Life’) this is a fantasy, pure and simple.
Or perhaps not. Because in many coincidental and circumstantial details, the producers’ knowledge of the life of the British upper classes is quite extraordinary.
One example is a scene where the Queen is surprised by her lover, an army captain, in her bedroom. When the captain leaves her boudoir, he departs via an invisible door, which has no frame and no doorknob, and melts back into the wallpaper when it is closed.
This is a really wonderful piece of verisimilitude, as every (really) big house in England used to have these small doors in the public rooms and bedrooms.
They were staff doors, and their purpose was to make sure that the staff had a different method of moving about the house and gaining entry to the rooms than the guests or residents of the house, who would hardly wish to be sharing corridor space with a butler or maid. These small doors—often no more than 18 inches wide—connected in turn to dark, narrow passageways concealed inside the walls of the house. Again, the purpose was that staff could service the rooms without cluttering up the throughfares or tripping over guests.
No doubt the secret door plot device is a happy byproduct of the fact that the series is being shot at Blenheim Palace (pronounced ‘Blennim’), the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough in Oxfordshire, which is about 90 minutes from London by car.
Baroque Blenheim—the birthplace of Winston Churchill and the largest private house in the UK—is said to have the finest views in Britain and is the principal interior and exterior location for the Royals.
There were other wonderful examples of aristocratic life that the E! show got more right than Downton Abbey. For example, the ludicrous heart-to-hearts that take place between staff and their bosses in Downton have no place in the Royals (other than hunky Prince Liam, clearly based on Harry, who seems endlessly to be badgering his security detail to have a pint with him).
Another major plot device of the E! show is the incognito public walkabout. The Queen is only believed to have gone out secretly without security once in her life—after the end of World War II when celebrations were taking place on the streets outside Buckingham Palace.
William still uses his motor bike trips (and helmet) as an excuse to escape his public profile. Kate goes shopping in Waitrose, and Harry is fiercely protective of his right to walk the streets of Fulham (with no more disguise than a baseball cap and shades can offer) where so many of his mates live.
There were of course several obvious plot points taken directly from real life—the embarrassing photo of the princesses’ ‘beaver’ taken on a phone when she falls off a table in a Paris nightclub recalls Harry’s Vegas debacle, and the womanizing, free-spirited and rebellious character of Prince Liam is clearly based on Prince Harry’s reported antics.
The central narrative of the series concerns what happens when Prince Liam’s elder brother dies, in a mysterious military accident which his father, King Simon, frequently and darkly hints was in some way caused by his royal status, resulting in his desire to abolish the monarchy.
The younger, roguish ‘spare’ heir becomes the scion set to inherit the crown. Prince Harry is of course spared this possibility in real life by the birth of his nephew Prince George who would now become heir in the unhappy event of William’s death. (The palace staying silent at Prince Robert’s death is a conscious echo of the official lack of reaction when Diana died.)
Fundamentally what the series really does capture correctly is the fact that although they may talk in funny voices and live in ancient houses with oddly dressed staff, at the end of the day the British upper classes—and I include royalty in that catch all term—interact with each other much like anyone else.
Sometimes they are kind, sometimes they are nasty, sometimes they are altruistic, sometimes they out for what they themselves can get, just like al the rest of us.
So in the very broadest sweep of its view of the Royals, ‘The Royals’ is oddly faithful for such an out-and-out fiction. The invented details, of course, are non-stop, and are one of the pleasures of the show. Where to start with these fictional embellishments would be anyone’s choice, but for many British viewers the biggest, boldest and most guffaw-worthy one of all might just be this; the head of security has his office behind the clock face of Big Ben.
You couldn’t make it up.
Oh, wait, they just did.
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The Secret Movement to Draft General James Mattis for President
Gen. James Mattis doesn’t necessarily want to be president—but that’s not stopping a group of billionaire donors from hatching a plan to get him there.
Tim Mak
Bryan Steffy/Getty
An anonymous group of conservative billionaires is ready to place their bets on a man dubbed “Mad Dog,” hoping to draft him into the presidential race to confront Donald Trump.
Think of it as a Plan B should Trump be nominated by the Republican Party in Cleveland: swing behind retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis and press him into service yet again as a third-party candidate.
Mattis is the former commander of Central Command, which includes the strife-afflicted conflict zones of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, and has developed a reputation among troops as a general officer who cares about the little guy. This reputation blossomed into the political realm during the 2012 presidential contest, when a Marine Corps veteran started an online campaign to write-in Mattis on presidential ballots—it ultimately lacked the backing to take off.
But this situation involves far bigger players: Close to a dozen influential donors—involving politically-involved billionaires with deep pockets and conservative leanings—are ready to put their resources behind Mattis. At their request, a small group of political operatives have taken the first steps in the strategic legwork needed for a bid: a package of six strategic memos outlining how Mattis could win the race, in hopes of coaxing him in.
The general has received the package of memos, according to two individuals involved with the project.
Mattis, who is also nicknamed the “warrior monk” for his contemplative devotion to the military arts, would be a fallback option for anti-Trump forces. But since the next series of GOP nomination contests heavily favor Trump, this is not exactly a fantasy scenario.
“Everyone is hoping that Ted Cruz pulls it out, but I think a great deal of Republicans would rally behind an American hero if the choice is between Mattis and Trump,” said John Noonan, a former Jeb Bush aide now involved in the project to draft Mattis.
“He’s a man of character and integrity. He’s given his life to his country. How do you ask someone like that to leap headfirst into this toxic mud puddle of a race? It’s damn hard. But Trump is a fascist lunatic and Hillary has one foot in a jail cell. That means the lunatic can win. I’d be first in line to plead with the general to come save America,” Noonan added.
The strategy would not be for Mattis to win, at least at first—the operatives behind this potential bid would only be seeking to deny Trump and Clinton the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the general election outright. And there is also the incredible logistical challenge of getting Mattis on the ballot in a large number of states.
“The process is actually quite simple, but it’s difficult,” one of the strategists concedes in a memo, and the chances of Mattis winning the White House outright as a third-party candidate are “very low.” But if the retired military officer could win several states won by President Obama in 2012, they might be able to block Clinton, thus forcing the incoming House of Representatives to make a decision on the next president of the United States.
With the House split, the strategists reason, Mattis could be the consensus choice.
“The theme of 2016 is ‘all bets are off’ and this is a cycle where the unexpected has become the defining characteristic of this election,” said strategist Rick Wilson, who is also involved in the project. “In a moment when American politics on the left and right has been upended, and where the frontrunners of both parties are compromised, the time may be upon us where a uniquely qualified, and uniquely credible third-party alternative like General Mattis can take the stage.”
Another limiting factor is Mattis himself, who is disinclined to run. These strategists hope he could change his mind if he were to feel compelled to serve his country.
Those close to him are skeptical that his mind could be changed.
“It is difficult—if not impossible—to see him accepting being drafted,” said a source close to Mattis.
Still, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol poured fuel onto the fire Feb. 22, after Trump victories in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Speaking at a fundraiser for the Hoover Institute, where Mattis is a visiting fellow, Kristol suggested—perhaps jokingly—that the former four-star general might be conscripted into the race.
“No way!” shouted back a jocular Mattis, from the audience.
Mattis, who declined to speak with The Daily Beast, has previously suggested that he could not endure the political correctness required to be a contender for the White House. But given Trump’s myriad controversies, this may not be a problem this year.
“I’ve lived a very colorful life and I’ve said some things,” Mattis told an audience last year, according to the Marine Corps Times. “But not once have I taken them back, and I’ve never apologized for them—and I won’t. I like the enemy knowing there are a few guys like me around.”
The pro-Mattis donors, who want to stay anonymous for the time being, have assembled a core group of seven political operatives, led by Joel Searby, a Republican consultant based in Florida. The group of strategists also includes lead attorney Mohammad Jazil; ballot access specialist Matthew Sawyer; and former George W. Bush pollster Jan Lohuizen, along with a finance team and a “top firm” that has been secured to lead the ballot access petition gathering, members of the team tell The Daily Beast.
Wilson and Noonan co-authored a memo on how Mattis might capitalize on the current media environment, arguing that Trump’s “fake-macho act falls apart” before a bona fide American hero like Mattis. The general’s overall bearing “immediately blows a hole into the central narrative of Trump: his toughness,” they argue in a memo obtained by The Daily Beast. “[A]nd the drama of watching it fall apart under fire would be amazing television.”
Comparing him to President Dwight Eisenhower, the memo concludes that Mattis has “all the iconoclastic, authentic style of non-politician Trump—and all the serious government service credibility of Hillary Clinton.”
Some conservatives, disgusted with Trump’s candidacy, have already warmed to the idea of a run by Mattis—including conservative commentators Erick Erickson and Kristol.
Kristol told The Daily Beast that he had “huge respect and admiration” for Mattis—and Gen. John Kelly, another high-ranking general.
“I don’t know whether they’re ideally suited for the presidency,” he said. “But I do know they’re a hell of a lot more suited for it than Donald Trump.”
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Daily Content Archive as of Wednesday, January 4, 2017
(as of Wednesday, January 4, 2017)
tussock
Definition: (noun) A clump or tuft, as of growing grass.
Synonyms: tuft
Usage: The chameleon hid in a colorful tussock of vegetation.
Phrasal verbs are verb phrases that have idiomatic meanings—that is, their meaning is not obvious from the individual words that make up the phrase. What parts of speech typically make up a phrasal verb? More...
Transient Lunar Phenomena
Transient lunar phenomena are short-lived lights, colors, or other changes in the appearance of the moon's surface. Reports of such events have been recorded for at least 1,000 years and range from foggy patches to major changes in the lunar landscape. Though some have been observed independently by multiple witnesses or reputable scientists, the vast majority of accounts have come from a single observer or from a single location. What explanations have been given for the phenomena? More...
Sofia Liberated from Ottoman Rule (1878)
Sofia was established as a Thracian settlement around the 8th century BCE and has since developed into a major world city and the capital of Bulgaria, due in part to its central position in the Balkans. Today it is home to attractions like the 6th century Church of St. Sofia and 15th century Banya Bashi mosque. During its long history, the city passed through the hands of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires. After nearly 500 years of Turkish rule, Sophia was liberated by what country? More...
Sir Isaac Newton (1643)
Widely considered the greatest scientist who ever lived, Newton was an English physicist and mathematician. His most famous publication, Principia Mathematica, regarded as the seminal work of modern science, includes his works on the laws of motion, tidal theory, and the theory of universal gravitation. Newton also worked out the fundamentals of calculus, though this work went unpublished for more than 30 years. How might Newton's study of alchemy have influenced his theory of gravity? More...
For an artist to marry his model is as fatal as for a gourmet to marry his cook: the one gets no sittings, and the other gets no dinners.
— To suddenly become very upset or intensely angry and make a big display of it. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. More...
Sakata Chauth (2018)
Hindu men and women fast on this day in honor of Ganesh, the Hindu god of wisdom with the head of an elephant, because it is believed to be the day of his birth. After being bathed first thing in the morning, the statue of Ganesh is worshipped with sweets and balls made of jaggery (a coarse, dark sugar made from palm trees) and sesame seeds. When the moon rises, the fast is broken, and the moon god is worshipped and offered water. The day-long fast observed on Sakata Chauth is believed to ensure wisdom, a trouble-free life, and prosperity. More...
Today's topic: platform
lectern, podium, dais, rostrum - A lectern is the stand on which the speaker's notes are placed, the podium is the platform on which the speaker and lectern stand, a dais is a platform for several people, and a rostrum is a platform for one or more. More...
pulpit - From classical Latin pulpitum, "platform, stage." More...
hustings - Its early meaning of "platform" led to its sense of "any place from which campaign speeches are made" and "political campaigning." More...
rostrum - Latin for "beak," it first referred to part of the Rome Forum decorated with bird beaks and used as a platform for speakers. More...
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Home > News > Head's Blog > Senior School Headmaster's Blog > Headmaster’s Blog – Monday 16 March 2014
Headmaster’s Blog – Monday 16 March 2014
Senior School Headmaster's Blog Uncategorized
Turnout at our recent Careers Convention was terrific and it was super to welcome pupils and parents from around the area including from local secondary schools such as Penair and Richard Lander. Of course, our own pupils also grabbed the opportunity with both hands and were a real credit to the school. It was good to witness such engagement with pupils deep in conversation with journalists, doctors, graphic designers, lawyers, brokers and psychologists, to name a few. We are blessed with a supportive network of current parents, former pupils and interested regional employers, to whom sincere thanks are due for the time and energy they give to the school.
A few months ago I met a former pupil who now heads up research and development at a company that designs cycling products for children. In his spare time he is involved in the development of Modern Pentathlon in the South West. When I reflected on our schools credentials and/or ambitions in fencing, cross-country running and swimming and the recent success of our show-jumping team, it didn’t take me long to figure out that if we could find a venue for pistol shooting, we were ideally placed to grow as a centre for Modern Pentathlon. So, I agreed to the proposal and last Saturday we took a small step in this direction, hosting a fantastic day for forty children from Truro School and the South West. The coaching line up was stellar, featuring several Olympic athletes and national coaches who came to share their expertise. Check the website for photos.
Whilst I write about impressive former pupils, Connie Schneider (CO95), has been selected by The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston to receive the School’s inaugural Fletcher Women’s Leadership Award. The award was developed to honour outstanding women graduates who are making a meaningful impact in the world in the private, public, and NGO sectors. Connie received her award on March 7, to coincide with International Women’s Day. If you visit one website today, then I recommend you read the profile on Connie and the humanitarian and rule of law work she has done in the Congo and Afghanistan.
Over the past week, the Lemon Street Gallery has been hosting the Combined Truro Schools’ Art Project, now in its 10th year. Our pupils produced some beautiful work, including some amazing ceramics which were hung alongside the work of other professionals. What a cracking opportunity.
This coming Saturday a large number of parents, teachers and friends are coming together under the banner of the Truro School Choral Society, and are looking forward to performing Faure’s Requiem in the Cathedral. Do come along. Chris Gray, the Director of Music at the Cathedral is brilliant, and with some help from his equally impressive choir, our own school choir, and several others, I hope that we make a really good sound.
Andrew Gordon-Brown
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TT Club Appoints German Business Development Specialist
Transport industry insurance specialist the TT Club has appointed Thomas Keller as Director, to drive the Club’s business development in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Based at the Club’s London headquarters, Mr Keller leads a specialist team servicing TT Club’s substantial existing customer base and developing new business opportunities in the German-speaking countries.
Mr Keller, 32, rejoins the TT Club following a five-year spell as Vice President at Nacora Holding AG, the insurance broking subsidiary of Kuehne & Nagel Management AG, at its headquarters in Switzerland. He previously worked with the transport insurance mutual as an underwriter for three years from 1994 to 1997.
“I have always firmly believed that it is only possible to achieve success in this highly complex and specialised market by fully understanding the particular transport market and its needs,” commented Mr Keller. “TT Club, as the market leader in transportation insurance, is fully engaged with the German-speaking region, has a clear understanding of its requirements and is well equipped to develop further growth in the area.”
Mr Keller highlighted the different liability limits and conditions enshrined in Germany’s unique ADSP freight forwarding conditions as an example of the specialised knowledge required to successfully write business in the country.
“But, of course, that is only one area where we will be better able to meet our members’ needs,” he added. “Our portfolio also includes proven products for our other business sectors such as ship operators, cargo terminals, ports and logistics operators – all areas where we can build on solid products and market knowledge.”
TT Club works with regional correspondents in Hamburg – Pandi Services – and the Basel-based Global Transport Consultants.
The TT Club is the international transport and logistics industry’s leading provider of insurance and related risk management services. Established in 1968, the Club’s membership comprises ship operators, ports and terminals, road, rail and airfreight operators, logistics companies and container lessors. As a mutual insurer, the Club exists to provide its policyholders with industry-leading benefits, which include specialist underwriting expertise, a world-wide office network providing claims management services, and first class risk management and loss prevention advice.
Photo Caption:
Mr Thomas Keller, TT Club Director for business development in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
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This article is about the original Agent 86, an American punk rock band. For the Australian DJ and Producer please see DJ Agent 86. Formed in Arcata, California in 1982, Agent 86 has been a part of the hardcore punk and political ska-punk scenes in Eugene, Oregon, Washington DC and most recently Seattle, Washington with time spent extensively touring the U.S. as well as two European tours in the early nineties. Agent 86, fronted and founded by Mike Briggs, guitar and lead vocals, is one of the...
This article is about the original Agent 86, an American punk rock band. For the Australian DJ and Producer please see DJ Agent 86.
Formed in Arcata, California in 1982, Agent 86 has been a part of the hardcore punk and political ska-punk scenes in Eugene, Oregon, Washington DC and most recently Seattle, Washington with time spent extensively touring the U.S. as well as two European tours in the early nineties.
Agent 86, fronted and founded by Mike Briggs, guitar and lead vocals, is one of the oldest consistently gigging punk bands to still write and record new, original material. While so many of punk's pioneers lost faith in the movement or moved on to supposedly bigger and better things, Mike has stood firm, and his socially and politically charged lyrics are today still as pertinent as the lyrics he wrote twenty years ago, while still maintaining a fun and youthful attitude. The term "rastacore" (also the name of Mike's record label), used today to describe many different bands and musical styles that borrow from reggae and ska, was coined by Mike at a Circle Jerks/Agent 86 show, and was later adopted by the legendary Bad Brains as a moniker.
Agent 86's sound, often described in reviews as a melding of Billy Bragg and The Dead Kennedys, has grown into a style uniquely their own over its twenty-plus year history. Agent 86 has been cited as an influence by many bands that today are themselves considered influential (Green Day and Calamity Jane to name just two) as well as earning recognition as being a backbone in forming the early framework of the pop-punk sound. Artists such as The Melvins, Horace Pinker and D.O.A. have thanked Agent 86 for their involvement in the punk scene; D.O.A.'s Joey Shithead even produced the bands third record "Apartheid American Style".
Accept no substitutes or impostors. This is the original Agent 86.
>Please note that the 2 live songs are from a fairly crappy soundboard recording...This is the only representation of our current sound until we can get something recorded Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Hell Is for Heroes
B, D, G, A, Bm, Em, E
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Women’s March in St. Paul draws an estimated…
OUR PICKS:
No more fudge puppies
Closs abductor moved
Frank Viola ejected
Local Jamaican eatery
New at State Fair
Summer books to try
Magic noodle is delicious
That’s one wacky shed
Women’s March in St. Paul draws an estimated 90,000 to 100,000
By Will Ashenmacher | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: January 21, 2017 at 12:47 pm | UPDATED: January 23, 2017 at 9:25 am
Couple indicted in fatal shooting of 18-year-old blocking them in at Minneapolis gas station
22-year-old on trial for causing traumatic brain injury in fight outside State Fair
Wisconsin congressman calls 4 minority congresswomen ‘anti-American’
St. Paul man accuses deputies of rape, is charged with false reporting
Jenessa Jensen, right, and Sarah Evert, center, of St. Paul cheer during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators hold a banner, leading the front during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators raise their hands in the air for a minute of silence during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights in light of the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators gather outside of St. Paul College before the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights in light of the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Carrie Allen of Red Wing, Minn. held her sign before the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights in light of the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators flood John Ireland Boulevard on their way to the Minnesota State Capitol building during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights in light of the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Lydia Paul of Mankato cheers atop her mother's shoulders during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
James Handtmann of Minneapolis waved an American flag as demonstrators passed by during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Carrie King of Minnetonka cheers from the dense crowd that gathered during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights in light of the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Protesters march Saturday in St. Paul during the Women’s March protesting the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Pioneer Press: Will Ashenmacher)
Andrea Newman, right, of Minneapolis hands out 24 home-crafted Pussyhats during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights in light of the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Six-year-old Violet Orcutt, right, and 5-year-old Evie Sebesta of Anoka hold signs up to a glass window at St. Paul College before the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights in light of the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Ten-month-old Annabell Koropchak of Edina sat with a sign during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
A crowd of demonstrators gathered during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Corinne Bulat of Des Moines, Iowa, cheers during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators gather outside of St. Paul College before the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Linnea Graffunder-Bartels holds up a sign during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators gathered on the front steps of the Minnesota State Capitol building during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators cheer during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Laura Pengra of Minneapolis is embraced by her husband Mike and son Joseph during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Demonstrators held a banner and wore hats to support Planned Parenthood during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Sue Ann Guildermann of Edina holds up a sign before the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Nancy Hart was pushed down John Ireland Boulevard in her wheelchair by Erin Hart, accompanied by Bonnie Schueler, left, and Jane Fallander, right, during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Mayor of Minneapolis Betsy Hodges, is embraced by her neighbor Lynne Larsen, who gifted Hodges a pink hat during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
State representative Ilhan Omar was one of several speakers during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, where an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people rallied in solidarity to stand up for women's rights following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Protesters line up in St. Paul on Saturday for the Women's March protesting the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Pioneer Press: Will Ashenmacher)
Demonstrators flood John Ireland Boulevard on their way to the State Capitol during the Women's March Minnesota in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan 21, 2017. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Liam James Doyle)
Officials now estimate between 90,000 and 100,000 people — up to five times the expected number — joined ranks to form a blocks-long protest from Cathedral Hill to the State Capitol on Saturday morning for the Women’s March Minnesota.
The event, which was the largest in St. Paul since the 2008 Republican National Convention, was one of hundreds held around the world Saturday, as people rallied to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump and express support for a variety of concerns, including women’s rights, protections for minorities, education, the environment and healthcare.
Early police estimates pegged the number at 60,000 — still far beyond the expected 20,000 — but by Saturday evening, a police spokesman said he agreed with organizers’s estimate of between 90,000 and 100,000.
For context, a sellout crowd at a Wild game at the Xcel Energy Center is a bit under 20,000, while the largest arena in Minnesota, U.S. Bank Stadium, reaches capacity at a little higher than 65,000. In 2015, the attendance for the final night of the Red Bull Crashed Ice event at the Cathedral of St. Paul was estimated at 140,000.The single-day attendance record for the Minnesota State Fair is more than 260,000.
Shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday, almost an hour before the march was due to start, participants were overflowing the parking lot at St. Paul College, the starting point for the march. As demonstrators waited for the march to begin, many expressed concern and anxiety about what they worry may happen under Trump’s administration.
“I am marching because ever since the election, I’ve just been fearful,” said Andrea Ellingboe, a special education teacher from St. Francis. “My primary concern is the future of our country — healthcare, education, the environment. It’s just scary.”
Jill Wagner of Minneapolis held a sign that read “I can’t believe we’re protesting this again.”
“We marched for women’s rights and civil rights in the 1960s and 1970s and we still don’t have them,” she said. “I’m trying to get past fear.”
Around 11 a.m., protesters began the march away from St. Paul College and the mood seemed to grow more upbeat, with drummers, dancers and a larger-than-life puppet lending an almost parade-like feeling to the head of the march. Participants chanted “Black lives matter!” and “This is what democracy looks like!” as they moved up the street.
At the intersection of Kellogg Boulevard and John Ireland Boulevard, demonstrators met with other participants who hadn’t been able to fit in the parking lot and formed a slow-churning throng that stretched almost all the way to the Capitol.
Among the demonstrators, women vastly outnumbered men, but several male protesters said they saw the issues at hand as ones that transcend gender.
“Women are leading it, but these things ought to bother everybody,” said Joe Nauerberg of St. Paul.
March organizers and police had been planning for a crowd of 20,000, but a police spokesman reported no major problems from the larger than expected turnout.
“We did a lot of work on the front end with the organizers,” said Steve Linders, a spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department. “We always put plans in place that allow us to staff appropriately should the numbers get bigger.”
He said one counter-protester was arrested after a confrontation with protesters. Marchers told police the man who was arrested had sprayed a chemical irritant into the crowd.
Linders said the crowd itself hadn’t caused any problems other than the expected traffic delays. At one point, Interstate 94 was gummed up with lines of cars waiting to take downtown St. Paul exits that stretched for nearly a mile.
Several protesters also remarked buses and Green Line light rail trains into downtown St. Paul were packed.
Metro Transit spokesman Drew Kerr said “every available train at our disposal” — Metro Transit has 86 all told — was put into service Saturday.
“All of our train cars were full. All of our buses were full,” he said. “We had known this was coming and we had planned for it.”
House condemns Trump ‘racist’ tweets in extraordinary rebuke
St. Paul, Ramsey County plan $250,000 legal defense for immigrants facing deportation
Minn. Congressman Pete Stauber won’t condemn Trump, calls controversy over Twitter remarks a ‘distraction’
St. Paul wasn’t the only Saturday march that turned into an in-place demonstration. Marches in Chicago and Washington were converted to rallies because of unexpectedly large turnouts.
With the entire planned route filled with hundreds of thousands of protesters, Washington organizers said they couldn’t lead a formal march toward the White House. So many people turned out for the Women’s March in Chicago that organizers there also canceled plans to march through the city’s downtown. Instead, they planned to extend the ongoing rally on the city’s lakefront.
Worldwide, there were 637 Women’s Marches on Saturday.
Will Ashenmacher
Will Ashenmacher was a part-time reporter at the Pioneer Press from 2011 to 2017.
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UCI Track Cycling World Championships presented by Tissot
UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships
UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships
UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships
Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup
Olympic Games - Track Cycling
Australia Wins Three Titles on Day 2 of Track Championships
"To break our own world record and leading into the Olympics next year is bloody awesome" Sam Welsford (AUS)
Australia dominated the second day of competition at the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships presented by Tissot in Pruszkow, Poland, winning three of the four titles awarded on Thursday. The Netherlands was the only other nation to win a rainbow jersey, their second of these championships.
Australia won both the women's and men's Team Pursuit titles, beating Great Britain each time. In the men's competition, the team of Sam Welsford, Kelland O'Brien, Leigh Howard and Alexander Porter shattered their own world record by an impressive 1.8 seconds, setting a new time of 3:48.012 . Denmark won the bronze medal.
"What can I say except thank you, I am so grateful to be a part of this team," said Howard. "I am fortunate that I have come back into the program with such a fantastic group, not just the riders but the staff has developed so much since I was last in the program and I couldn't be more thankful to everyone."
The women's Team Pursuit was a much closer competition, with the Australian team of Annette Edmondson, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Georgia Baker and Amy Cure beating Great Britain by a slim 0.204 seconds. New Zealand won the bronze medal.
In the men's Scratch Race, Sam Welsford completed an unprecedented double, when the Australian won his second world title of the evening less than 45 minutes after riding as part of the record-setting squad in the Team Pursuit. Welsford held off Roy Eefting of the Netherlands and Thomas Sexton of New Zealand to accomplish this remarkable feat.
"It has been a crazy thirty minutes, I am gobsmacked," a shocked Welsford said. "To do a forty-eight with my boys Kel, Cam, Leigh, Porter, that's the best thing I could ever imagine. To break our own world record and leading into the Olympics next year is bloody awesome. The icing on the cake is the win in the scratch race. It's a dream come true for us."
The men's Keirin title went to Matthijs Buchli of the Netherlands, the reigning World Cup champion in the event, and a member of the world champion Team Sprint squad a day earlier. Japan won their first medal of the championship with Yudai Nitta's silver, and Stefan Botticher of Germany took bronze.
"When I ended up in the final, I knew nothing was as important as winning," said Buchli. "I had wasted a lot of energy in the first rounds, so if I wanted to win, it would have to be through a late sprint. Matthew Glaetzer [Australia] went early and took Stefan Bötticher with him, which gave me the perfect lead-out to the line. I timed my sprint at just the right moment, and now I'm world champion."
Take a look back at the action from yesterday with our selection of photos 📷 from Day 2 of the 2019 UCI Track World Championships 🌈 presented by @Tissot
🔗 https://t.co/ovbbOMlRCd#Pruszkow2019 pic.twitter.com/kkJwVSAK5d
— UCI Track Cycling (@UCI_Track) March 1, 2019
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Working in Hollywood
How the Studio System Turned Creativity into Labor
By Ronny Regev
288 pp., 6.125 x 9.25
A history of the Hollywood film industry as a modern system of labor, this book reveals an important untold story of an influential twentieth-century workplace. Ronny Regev argues that the Hollywood studio system institutionalized creative labor by systemizing and standardizing the work of actors, directors, writers, and cinematographers, meshing artistic sensibilities with the efficiency-minded rationale of industrial capitalism. The employees of the studios emerged as a new class: they were wage laborers with enormous salaries, artists subjected to budgets and supervision, stars bound by contracts. As such, these workers--people like Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, and Anita Loos--were the outliers in the American workforce, an extraordinary working class.
Through extensive use of oral histories, personal correspondence, studio archives, and the papers of leading Hollywood luminaries as well as their less-known contemporaries, Regev demonstrates that, as part of their contribution to popular culture, Hollywood studios such as Paramount, Warner Bros., and MGM cultivated a new form of labor, one that made work seem like fantasy.
Ronny Regev is assistant professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
For more information about Ronny Regev, visit the Author Page.
"The book is an absolute pleasure to read--well organized, remarkably lucid, and with broad significance for labor and cultural history. As labor history and the history of capitalism are remaking each other, this book is a model study of the transformation of work in the twentieth century. It is simultaneously confident, careful, and convincing in its arguments--a rare combination."--Lawrence Glickman, Cornell University
"Written with grace and intelligence, this wonderfully engaging book fills an astonishing gap in the history of labor in the Hollywood film industry."--Saverio Giovacchini, University of Maryland
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Wendag > Forum > Artikels > Skandinawiese en Nordiese lande en kultuur > The Eddas - Sources
Thread: The Eddas - Sources
10th April 2009, 00:30 #1
Stefanus
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The Eddas - Sources
Norse Mythology for Smart People
CodexRegius.jpg Our current knowledge of the pre-Christian mythology and religion of the Norse and other Germanic peoples has been painstakingly pieced together from a large assortment of sources over the past few centuries.
The most significant category among these sources is without a doubt the literature concerning mythological and historical subjects written in the Old Norse language from about 800 to 1400 CE, a span that includes the epochs we now refer to as the Viking Age and the Medieval Period. The Scandinavians and Icelanders held onto their traditional religion far longer than the more southerly Germanic peoples, and the Icelanders in particular did a remarkable job of preserving their heathen lore long after Christianity became the island’s official religion in 1000 CE. Were it not for the body of poems, treatises, and sagas that they’ve handed down to us, the pre-Christian worldview of the Germanic peoples would now be almost entirely lost.
The Poetic Edda
Old Norse-speaking poets have left us countless valuable clues regarding their religious perspective, but the collection of poems known today as the “Poetic Edda” or “Elder Edda” contains the most mythologically rich and thorough of these. Two of these poems, Völuspá (“The Insight of the Seeress”) and Grímnismál (“The Song of the Hooded One”) are the closest things we have to systematic accounts of the pre-Christian Norse cosmology and mythology.
The name “Edda” has been retroactively applied to this set of poems and is a reference to the Edda of Snorri Sturluson (see below). The authors of the poems are all anonymous. Debates have raged over the dates and locations of the poems’ composition; all we can really be certain about is that, due to the fact that some of the poems are obviously written in a manner that places them in dialogue with Christian ideas (especially the aforementioned Völuspá), the poems must have been composed sometime between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, when Iceland and Scandinavia were being gradually Christianized.
The Poetic Edda is likely the single most important of all of our sources.
The Prose Edda
Among the prose Old Norse sources, the Prose Edda, or simply the “Edda,” contains the greatest quantity of information concerning our topic. This treatise on Norse poetics was written in the thirteenth century by the Icelandic scholar and politician Snorri Sturluson, long after Christianity had become the official religion of Iceland and the old perception of the world and its attendant practices had long been fading into ever more distant memory. The etymology and meaning of the title “Edda” have puzzled scholars, and none of the explanations offered so far have gained any particularly widespread acceptance.
Snorri made use of the poems in the Poetic Edda, but added to his account a considerable amount of information that can’t be found in those poems. In some cases he quotes from other poems that have been lost over the course of the centuries, but in other cases he offers nothing but his naked assertions. Some of these can be confirmed by other sources, and many of his uncorroborated claims are in keeping with the general worldview he describes, which makes scholars more inclined to accept them. Others of these assertions, however, appear to be simple rationalizations, attempts to reconcile the old mythos with Christianity, or other sorts of fabrications. Modern readers of Snorri have advanced widely differing appraisals of the value of his work.
While it would be rash to simply dismiss everything in the Prose Edda that the earlier poems haven’t already told us, it would be equally presumptuous to accept every statement of Snorri’s at face value. Unfortunately, the latter approach was common throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and as a result most popular introductions to Norse mythology uncritically rehash Snorri’s contentions and thereby present a skewed portrait of the old gods and tales.
The Sagas
Even though their definition of “history,” or at least what constitutes a reliable piece of historical information, might diverge considerably from our present understanding, the Icelanders of the Middle Ages have left us with numerous historical texts that add mightily to our knowledge of pre-Christian Norse religious traditions. While many of these, such as the priest Ari Thorgilsson’s Íslendingabók (“Book of Icelanders”) and the anonymous Landnámabók (“Book of Settlements”), don’t fit into the saga genre, the majority of these historical works are Icelandic sagas.
The sagas were written primarily in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and recount the lives of famous Icelanders, Scandinavian kings, and Germanic folk heroes. Their literary style is as stark as the landscape of Iceland; events are described in a terse, matter-of-fact way that leaves much to the imagination and intuition. When elements of pre-Christian religion are mentioned, it’s almost invariably casually and in passing, as opposed to the more direct manner of Snorri and the poets. The most notable exception to this is the first several chapters of the Saga of the Ynglings, which give a thorough exposition of the character and deeds of many of the Norse deities, albeit in a euhemerized (trying to rationalize mythology by casting it as an exaggerated account of ordinary historical events) context. This same technique is used in the Prose Edda, which should be unsurprising, since the Saga of the Ynglings and the collection of sagas to which it belongs, the Heimskringla or History of the Kings of Norway, were also written by Snorri. Virtually all of the other sagas, however, are anonymous.
Indispensable as it is, Old Norse literature isn’t our only source of information concerning the pre-Christian religion of the Germanic peoples.
The Danish scholar Saxo Grammaticus wrote a Latin history of the Danes (Gesta Danorum, The History of the Danes) in the twelfth century that includes variants of many of the tales found in the Old Norse sources and even a few otherwise unattested ones. As with Snorri, these are presented in a highly euhemerized form.
Late in the first century CE, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote a book on the Germanic tribes who dwelt north of the Empire. This work, De origine et situ Germanorum, “The Origin and Situation of the Germanic Peoples,” commonly referred to simply as Germania, contains many vivid descriptions of the religious views and practices of the tribes.
The literature of the Anglo-Saxons, another branch of the Germanic family, contains several mythological parallels to some of the narratives and themes dealt with in the Old Norse sources. The epic poem Beowulf is the most significant Old English source, and the Latin work Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (“The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”) by the eighth century monk Bede contains numerous pieces of information concerning the pre-Christian religious traditions of the Anglo-Saxons.
The continental Germans have also bequeathed to us accounts of their heathen traditions such as those found in the so-called Merseburg Charms, which are medieval prayers or spells composed in Old High German, and the Middle High German epic poem Nibelungenlied.
Medieval law codes from the Germanic countries are another valuable source; many of them describe, or at least reference, particular animistic folk traditions in the process of outlawing them for being “pagan” and “abominable.”
Archaeology is the most significant of our non-literary sources. A plenitude of archaeological finds have provided striking corroborations of elements from the written sources, as well as offering new data that can’t necessarily be explained by the written sources, reminding us of how incomplete a picture the literary sources contain.
The study of place-names has also yielded valuable evidence. Many sites throughout the Germanic lands are named after heathen deities, often combined with words that indicate a sacral significance such as “temple” or “grove.” This allows us to trace the popularity of devotion to specific deities across space and time, and often yields additional clues about the gods’ personalities and attributes, as well as those of their worshipers.
Finally, the study of comparative religion has illuminated our understanding of the pre-Christian religion of the Germanic peoples by intelligently filling in some of the gaps in our other sources by connecting the known themes, figures, and tales from the Germanic peoples with those of other, related peoples. For example, esteemed historian of religion Georges Dumézil has shown how the Germanic myths are in many ways representative of much older Indo-European models, and others such as Mircea Eliade and Neil Price have analyzed the profound similarities between Norse shamanism and that of other circumpolar and Eurasian societies.
The Present State of Our Knowledge
Based on the above, you might be tempted to think that we currently have a very full picture of heathen Germanic mythology and religion. But such is certainly not the case. As I try to make clear in various articles on this site, the knowledge provided to us on these topics by our sources is actually very fragmentary. We do, of course, know many things about the ancient Germanic religion, but there are also gaps in our knowledge that sometimes seem as vast as Ginnungagap itself. To fill in these lacunae, we can avail ourselves of the time-honored techniques of informed guesswork and intuition, but there will always be frayed and broken threads that dangle tantalizingly at the outer edges of our knowledge, reminding us of the missing pieces that might still be available to us today were it not for the intervening centuries of the more or less malign neglect of that information.
The Eddas
The term Edda (Old Norse Edda, plural Eddur) applies to the Old Norse Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, both of which were written down in Iceland during the 13th century. They are our main sources of medieval Norse mythology and skaldic tradition in Iceland. Some of the older poems included may predate the date of their recording by several centuries, establishing continuity with the Viking Age.
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends.
Codex Regius was written in the 13th century but nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643 when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt. At that time versions of the Prose Edda were well known in Iceland but scholars speculated that there once was another Edda—an Elder Edda—which contained the pagan poems which Snorri quotes in his Prose Edda. When Codex Regius was discovered, it seemed that this speculation had proven correct. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to Sæmundr the Learned, a larger-than-life 12th century Icelandic priest. While this attribution is rejected by modern scholars, the name Sæmundar Edda is still sometimes encountered.
Bishop Brynjólfur sent Codex Regius as a present to the Danish king, hence the name. For centuries it was stored in the Royal Library in Copenhagen but in 1971 it was returned to Iceland.
Völuspá (Prophecy of the Völva) is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology.
The poem is preserved whole in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts while parts of it are quoted in the Prose Edda. It consists of approximately 60 fornyrðislag stanzas.
THE ELDER EDDAS
OF SAEMUND SIGFUSSON.
Translated from the Original Old Norse Text into English
BENJAMIN THORPE,
YOUNGER EDDAS
OF SNORRE STURLESON.
I.A. BLACKWELL.
Benjamin Thorpe (1782-1870) was an English scholar of Germanic philology who notably studied under the Danish revolutionary historical linguist Rasmus Rask (1787-1832) and published widely on the topic of ancient Germanic studies. The appearance of Benjamin Thorpe's translation of the Poetic Edda marked the publication of one of the most 'complete' translations of the Poetic Edda as we know it today, and many translators no doubt owe a significant debt to Thorpe's approach.
Additionally, although first published in 1866, Thorpe's translation holds up to scrutiny better than its age would imply and remains an important translation for comparison purposes (as an example, Thorpe includes very rare translations of the non-Codex Regius poems Sólarljóð, Svipdagsmál, and Hrafnagaldr Óðins).
Translated from the Icelandic with an introduction and notes
Henry Adams Bellows
Princeton University Press: Princeton
American Scandinavian Foundation
Bellows's tome features a similarly pseudo-archaic style that some other translators of the Poetic Edda have also produced (see, for example, the refrain "I rede thee, Loddfafnir!", p. 53-59). Generally speaking, this style occurs when translators attempt to render Old Norse into English by using as many English cognates as possible, words with shared origins (the two languages are quite closely related), or by featuring obscure Old Norse loan words found in the English language. To do this, translators often reach into the Middle English lexicon. While dependence on cognates may yield a more concise translation and there's certainly no harm in learning new words, translations such as these alienate readers who lack a background in, say, historical linguistics.
Regardless of his rendering choices, Bellows's footnotes remain highly useful for obscure topics, as nary a stanza in the entire translation goes without some sort of commentary. Bellows's extensive footnotes are particularly notable in light of a tendency among recent translators to feature no notes at all.
"THERE is scarcely any literary work of great importance which has been less readily available for the general reader, or even for the serious student of literature, than the Poetic Edda. Translations have been far from numerous, and only in Germany has the complete work of translation been done in the full light of recent scholarship. In English the only versions were long the conspicuously inadequate one made by Thorpe, and published about half a century ago, and the unsatisfactory prose translations in Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus Poeticum Boreale, reprinted in the Norrœna collection. An excellent translation of the poems dealing with the gods, in verse and with critical and explanatory notes, made by Olive Bray, was, however, published by the Viking Club of London in 1908."
In the corpus of English translations of the Poetic Edda, Olive Bray's edition is something of an enigma. Not only is Bray's translation extensively and lushly illustrated by W. G. Collingwood (no other English edition is comparatively illuminated) but Bray chose to produce a dual edition.
The Elder or Poetic Edda.
Commonly known as
SAEMUND'S EDDA.
Edited and Translated with Introduction and Notes
OLIVE BRAY.
Illustrated by
W.G. COLLINGWOOD.
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How to Stop Smoking—Today
Discover motivating reasons and helpful resources for quitting cigarettes
By Abigail L. Cuffey
If you smoke and want to stop, there's no better time than now to quit. Roughly 18 percent of adult women in the U.S. (1 out of every 6) currently smoke. Although this rate has declined over the last 60 years, the reality is that lung cancer is now the leading cancer killer among women. And of those deaths, 90 percent are attributed to tobacco dependence, says Michael Fiore, MD, director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. Now for the good news: 40 million people have managed to quit smoking! "There are more ex-smokers in the U.S. than smokers," says Bill Blatt, director of tobacco programs at the American Lung Association. If you want to become smoke-free, there's no better time than this month: November 18 marks the American Cancer Society's 35th Great American Smokeout, which encourages people to make the commitment to a smoke-free lifestyle. Read on to find out why you should quit and how to go about doing it.
The health benefits of quitting start almost immediately after you stop puffing. Here are some of the best reasons to commit today:
Your fertility will increase. "One of the leading causes of infertility is smoking," says Dr. Fiore. This could be due to a number of factors, such as a reduced level of estrogen and lower blood flow to genital organs, which can result in sexual health issues.
Your blood pressure will go down. "Blood pressure rises acutely after you smoke, so the more you go smoke-free, the less you are putting yourself at risk," says Dr. Fiore.
Your kids will be less likely to smoke. "The number one predictor for teenagers and smoking is having a parent who smokes," says Blatt. They learn by example, so do them and yourself a favor by committing to quit as soon as possible.
Your chances of developing lung cancer will decrease. The Nurses' Health Study at Harvard University found that women who stopped smoking had a 21 percent reduction in lung cancer risk within five years of kicking the habit.
Your carbon monoxide blood levels will go down. According to the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, within a few hours of your being cigarette-free, the level of carbon monoxide—an odorless gas found in cigarette smoke that reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen—in your blood begins to decline.
Your heart attack risk will decrease drastically. "After just one year of [quitting], your chances of having a heart attack go down by 50 percent," says Dr. Fiore.
You will be less wheezy. According to the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, within a few weeks of quitting cigarettes, women have improved circulation, don't produce as much phlegm and don't cough or wheeze as often.
How to Quit
There's no shortage of resources to help you quit, so take the time to explore your options. And remember: It's important to try more than one, sometimes at the same time! "Trying multiple things at once, such as medication and counseling, gives you the greatest possible chance of success," says Blatt. Here's what's available:
Medication: There are seven FDA-approved medications to help you quit. Five of them are over-the-counter (patch, gum, nasal spray, inhaler and lozenge) and are a form of nicotine replacement therapy, which means they provide a reduced amount of nicotine to help your body wean off it. The other two FDA-approved options are medications (Zyban and Chantix) that you'll need a prescription for. Talk to your doctor about the right option for you.
800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669): This national phone number will connect you to the local smoking cessation line specific to your state. A local phone counselor will then assist you for free.
800-LUNG-USA (800-586-4872):This is a free service staffed by respiratory nurses and therapists who can advise you on all matters of lung health. When you first call, you will be matched up with a counselor whom you'll work with over the phone from that point on. The counselor can help you find resources in your area, guide you through the cessation process and discuss certain medication options.
Freedom from Smoking Clinic: The American Lung Association offers this face-to-face adult cessation program, where a trained facilitator helps you through the quitting process as well as your first few weeks of living smoke-free. Clinics are available throughout the country; some sites have fees, whereas others are free of charge. Visit LungUSA.org to find your local American Lung Association chapter.
Freedom from Smoking Online: If you're not able to make it to a clinic or prefer online support, try the Internet version of the American Lung Association's program at FFSOnline.org. For a fee of $15 for a 3-month membership (or $40 for one year), you'll get online counseling sessions, community support and access to online message boards.
UW-CTRI:The University of Wisconsin's Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention provides specific information about women and a great deal of research about methods of quitting. This is a great site to browse if you're interested in educating yourself about studies on smoking.
Alternative therapies: You may have heard of treatments like hypnosis or acupuncture to help you quit, but experts suggest approaching these with caution. "Although they might work for some individuals, the truth is that none of these options have been scientifically proven to work, nor are they backed by the FDA," says Blatt.
Common Quitting Mistakes
Don't let these easy-to-make blunders hinder you from stopping smoking. Learn what you need to avoid:
Mistake #1: Thinking it takes only one try.
"On average, it takes people seven to nine attempts before they successfully quit," says Blatt. That statistic isn't meant to discourage; rather, it's a reminder that everyone's process is different.
Mistake #2: Trying to do it alone.
Reach out and get all the help you can. In fact, some research has found that one of the most effective ways to quit for good is to combine one of the FDA-approved medications with counseling. Don't be afraid to ask for help and pursue the counseling options available. Visit Smokefree Women or the American Lung Association for resources and information.
Mistake #3: Assuming it's just a matter of willpower.
Tobacco dependence is a serious physical addiction, not just a matter of being strong. "If you were a diabetic, would you use willpower to control your disease?" asks Dr. Fiore. "No, you would use all medical tools available."
Mistake #4: Confusing a lapse and a relapse.
Just because you smoke one cigarette at any point after quitting doesn't mean you are relapsing and should then just continue smoking. "It's fairly common for smokers to quit and then have a slip-up here and there," says Blatt. "The key is to realize that you're not having a relapse and to just get back on track."
Mistake #5: Letting alcohol get in the way.
>Half the people who try to quit and end up relapsing have alcohol in their bloodstream. "Smoking and drinking are so intertwined because you start to let your guard down and have reduced inhibitions," says Dr. Fiore. Limit yourself to two drinks per day or fewer if you think this might be a problem for you.
Mistake #6: Ignoring small victories.
Remember that any time you spend smoke-free is a success, emphasizes Blatt. Even if it's been two days, remind yourself of the healthy benefits your body has already reaped, and jot down what worked for you on those specific days.
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Another Reason to Quit Smoking
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Notes from the Brooklyn Book Festival
After an hour-long Subway ride due to weekend delays, I emerged from the steps at Borough Hall station in Brooklyn to the plaza, where I was pleasantly transported from the dark inertia to the middle of a free, public, outdoor literary celebration. The annual Festival is one of New York's greatest features, and its success has inspired other cities to launch their own. The first annual Boston Book Festival will take place next month, and features Orhan Pamuk along with many others.
Polish Cultural Institute
The first table I saw was the Polish Cultural Institute's, and Bill Martin, director of literature programming, handed me a mini-reader on the late Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert, with tributes from Adam Zagajewski, Joseph Brodsky, Czeslaw Milosz, and Seamus Heaney, and over a dozen poems, sketches, and essay abstracts. There was a special emphasis on Poland this past weekend, with a feature in the Times Travel section on Warsaw and the novels of Alan Furst, as well as a round-up of Polish restaurants in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. The Herbert book was published by Poland's Department of Promotion, and the PCI table had no shortage of materials to give away, including a hardcover photo-timeline of Poland from the 20th to the 21st Century, and a full-color glossy program of the coming year's events. An encouraging reflection of what New York Rep. Charles Schumer would point out later in the day, that the arts are one of the only mainstays of our economy right now.
Words Without Borders will be partnering on at least two events with PCI, including a major two-day symposium on reportage at NYU, October 6th and 7th, to follow up on a previous panel that took place this past May (see our podcast. Also, on November 10th, they will co-present a book launch for WWB anthology The Wall in My Head, on November 10 at Idlewild Books.
Ugly Duckling and New Directions
Next I stopped at the Ugly Duckling Presse table, and picked up a copy of a St. Petersburg poet Aleksander Skidan's Red Shifting, which came out in early 2008. I stumbled into a reading back then at Pravda bar in lower Manhattan, where he read in Russian with descriptions in English. Skidan's presence was arresting, and his take on the recent history of literary movements in Russia was memorable. Bleak, but with guarded hope that a new generation of poets, perhaps with the St. Petersburg Review as their venue, will challenge the complacency of the politically and aesthetically right-wing poetry scene. For a trivial reason, I neglected to buy a copy of the book. Fortunately, UDP founding editor Matvei Yankelevich was able to point me to it, and I've been reading Skidan's poems obsessively since. Considering the subjects I recalled him speaking on, I'm delighted to discover the poet's intimate sense of the sublime, in the transformation from the familiar to the truly imaginary. I thought of the personal moments in Mayakovsky, which resonate so deeply in juxtaposition to his political engagement. In addition to editing Red Shifting, Yankelevich translated one of the great Mayakovksy poems, "A Cloud in Pants," for Michael Almereyda's Night Wraps the Sky (FSG, 2008).
As usual, New Directions, Archipelago, and PEN America had great tables for the festival as well, and at ND I got to see proofs of their forthcoming facsimile edition of legendary Swiss novelist Robert Walser's handwritten work, which will include corresponding translations. As editor Michael Barron shared with me, Walser would literally borrow paper while in the Waldau asylum, then return it, covered in notes, to his doctors.
International Stage
Unfortunately, I was only able to catch two panels on the International Stage. But they were both great, and tied together nicely. The participants of the first, The Naked City: Urban Realism and the Global City in Fiction and Non-Fiction, moved beyond the subject implied in the title to discuss the overlap and duality of fiction and nonfiction, and the factors that make one strategy more appropriate than the other. Hirsh Sawhney and Meera Nair discussed the possibility of invoking real-life, Calvino-esqe "invisible cities" that exist outside of everyday experience. Nair, who edited Delhi Noir (Akashic, 2009), claimed that in fiction you can enter people's minds even if you don't know them. This is certainly possible in creative nonfiction as well, but at times it may be more difficult that way to reach the truth of one's personal impressions. Novelist David Lida, whose subject often includes Mexico City, explained why he chose to fictionalize an experience of being kidnapped and robbed: it was the only way to understand the perspective of his assailants.
Next, WWB co-founder Dedi Felman moderated a panel on Secrets and Lies. Felman touched on the participating authors' play between autobiography and fiction, and the way that encoding devices structure the plots of their novels. Rivka Galchen explained that in her novel Atmospheric Disturbances, she found that fiction can be "truer than true," and that in her work, narrative secrets are merely MacGuffins that occupy the reader on the path toward a story's secret-secret. Both Galchen and fellow panelist Siri Hustvedt discussed the allure and the process of crossing boundaries, particularly in gender, though they also discussed their experience of growing up with another language before English. Hustvedt explained her motivation: "we live in a world of becoming the other."
Published Sep 15, 2009 Copyright 2009 David Varno
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Philip Levine’s Second Wave
The entrepreneur and new mayor of Miami Beach talks about success in business, politics—and life.
BY Richard Bradley | Life | Oct 7, 2014 SHARE:
5 years ago, Worth profiled Miami Beach businessman Philip Levine, who had stumbled into a job giving talks to cruise ship tourists and parlayed that into a company called Onboard Media, which created content—everything from magazines to in-cabin TV programming—for cruise lines. In 2000, Levine sold Onboard to Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy for a reported nine-figure sum. He lived well, invested in some real estate and acquired a reputation for dating models. The question our profile asked: What would Philip Levine do for his second act?
It took a while, but last year we finally found out: Levine ran for mayor of Miami Beach. Decrying the incompetence and cronyism of local government, Levine, who had never run for political office before, spent $2 million in his quest to govern a city of 90,000. In November 2013 he won with just over 50 percent of the vote.
To the surprise of some naysayers who charged that he was a wealthy dilettante, Levine threw himself into the job, bringing an energy and optimism to the mayor’s office that most residents seemed to agree had been seriously lacking in the prior administration. Why would a wealthy man change his life so dramatically, and what did the new mayor hope to accomplish?
It seemed a good time to return to Miami Beach and ask him.
Q: You’re the mayor of Miami Beach. How did that happen?
Well, I did two things since we last spoke. Number one, in 2011 I launched a company called Royal Media Partners, similar to what I did before, with one big client, Royal Caribbean, and all their brands.
Were you bored? Restless?
Every day had become a Saturday—I wanted more purpose. I love the cruise ship industry, and I saw an opportunity to get back into it.
In our original article, you said, “I never wanted to be the richest man in the world, I just wanted to be the most comfortable man in the world.” It sounds like comfortable wasn’t enough.
There are two ways to define “comfort.” There’s comfortable wealth-wise, which, thank God, I have been for many years. But there’s also comfortable in terms of feeling that you’re being a productive member of society. I was doing some real estate development, but real estate isn’t as fast moving. When you’re in the cruise ship industry, you get addicted to it.
Did it feel odd to return to a business you’d left?
It was starting from zero again. Hiring people. Negotiating an agreement with Royal Caribbean. Renovating our corporate headquarters. It was exhilarating. We did it during the great recession, which was a great time to hire people and negotiate deals. And it’s been incredibly profitable.
So if the business is fun and profitable, why run for mayor?
I just always thought it’d be something I’d like to do when the time was right for me. And then, of course, I have a tremendous friendship with former President Clinton. Being around him and around world leaders, and seeing all the good that he’s done with the Clinton Global Initiative, everything else that he’s done in his life….
So you talked to Clinton about running?
Oh, yeah. And he always said, when it’s right, you’ll feel it, you’ll do it.
Was it a difficult decision?
It’s a little bit like business. In business or in real estate I could look at 99 opportunities and say no to all 99. Then the 100th one, I don’t have to think about or analyze. I know it’s time. And in the beginning of 2013 in Miami Beach, I saw the opportunity.
Let’s jump back a bit. I’m imagining a conversation with Bill Clinton about running for office. Would Bill Clinton also say, ”Listen, there are some things about public office that aren’t so great?”
I will tell you the words of advice he gave me. Two things. Number one, do not run for office unless you’re prepared to lose.
Meaning?
That if you can’t handle a loss, don’t run. It makes you think about it. If I run and I don’t win, will I be OK?
And the second thing?
That you don’t win an election because they don’t like the other guy. You win an election because you inspire people to vote for you.
What I was really driving at was the personal life aspect of running for office. You’re a single guy with a reputation for dating beautiful women. Did that give you pause?
I’m not married, so for me, it’s not an issue. I don’t have a criminal record. I’ve got a great credit history.
You weren’t worried that someone would try to dig up dirt on you?
Well, before I ran, I not only did a full background check on my three main opponents, I also did an extensive background check on myself. Obviously, if you’re a reckless person and you do reckless things, then you’ve got things to worry about. But I’ve never been that way.
Other than Clinton, were any politicians a model for you?
[Former New York mayor] Michael Bloomberg. If I could be 10 percent as good as him, I’d be very happy. He’ll go down, in my opinion, as one of the greatest American mayors.
OK. So you’ve always thought about getting into politics. What made 2013 the time to do it?
Because I love this city and felt like it was going in the wrong direction. We had a government here that was a little like a mafia. An incestuous cabal that was staying in place and not getting things done.
What things?
Flooding is out of control, we have a terrible convention center, you can’t open a business because you can’t get a permit…
How many of these issues had you encountered in your own business career?
We saw it when we were developing real estate. I heard it from my friends. I’d read it in the papers. The chatter around the city was, “We have a broken government.” And I saw who was running and I thought, You know what? This is my time.
Who were your opponents?
I was running against a gay Hispanic commissioner named Michael Góngora, who was my main opponent. A comedian named Steve Berke. And an Israeli gentleman who’s very unique. [Frequent candidate Raphael Herman, who was notorious for claiming, among other things, that he once took on Osama Bin Laden in a knife fight.]
Was there a watershed moment for you in making the decision?
I was so sick and tired of seeing people run for office or people in office who have two characteristics. Number one, they’ve never been successful at anything in their lives. Number two, they want to run for office to help themselves. These are both horrible characteristics.
I understand that the salary of the mayor of Miami Beach is $10,000…
Ten thousand dollars and benefits.
That’s a bit less than you’re used to.
I immediately passed a resolution that all my money, all the benefits that come from this job, would go to seniors who have trouble getting meals.
Clearly, you don’t need the money. But how could any public office with a salary that low attract good candidates who aren’t wealthy?
I agree. When I said that people should have some accomplishments in their lives, I mean, someone who’s been a great teacher, a great doctor, who’s owned a great small business. People who have achieved something, so they have something to give back.
It’s been reported that you spent almost $2 million on the campaign.
For a job that pays 10 grand…
Absolutely. I was running against an entire government, not just one person. So I said, I’m going to run a different, unique campaign out of the box.
I said, I’m going to meet the voters. And when all my friends were traveling the world and having fun from February to November, having fun in Saint-Tropez, I walked and knocked—I knocked on 6,000 doors. Six thousand. I blew out two pairs of Nike sneakers, and I had my own custom Lululemon shirts made up, because a friend of mine said to me, Philip, if you’re going to do that kind of walking, you better get shirts that are real comfortable.
How long does it take to knock on 6,000 doors?
It took me about seven months. I went through cans of suntan protection spray.
Did you have staff with you?
I was solo. I’d knock on someone’s door and I would say, “Hi, I’m running for mayor of Miami Beach, I just came by to introduce myself and ask if there are any questions you may have about me.”
And what was the typical reaction?
They were taken aback. I just wanted to have that one on one eye contact. I would sneak into a condominium building, start at the top floor and go down the stairwells. I didn’t use the elevators because they had cameras and I would get thrown out. I got thrown out of many buildings. Talk about a humbling experience.
You must have had some interesting conversations.
I would go into little tiny apartment buildings where people were so economically challenged, and I would sit and listen. I had more Cuban coffees with people than you can imagine. I learned so much about my city, because I listened to my customers.
Your customers?
They’re paying the bills. They’re the customers.
You capped donor contributions at $100. What was your reasoning?
I didn’t want anyone giving me a check that felt somehow that their interests were above the interests of my other residents. The other reason is that I wanted people to feel included—for a nominal amount. And the third reason was that I’ve been very successful in my life, I wanted to give back to the city by investing in my own campaign. I spent $2 million running for office, and I would have spent more.
Your opponents charged that you were buying the election. How did you respond?
I don’t need to hide from success. I’m a self-made guy, and I made it legally and honestly. I had no desire to hide who I am.
You didn’t get a lot of union support during the campaign. Why not?
I knew I was getting no endorsements. What’s amazing about unions and media is, they love the status quo. The police union supported my opponent. The fire union supported my opponent. The AFL-CIO supported my opponent. The Miami Herald couldn’t have been more against me.
How do you explain that?
Failing businesses usually fail from the top. I used to laugh and say that when I started my new business, I made more money in my first year than the Miami Herald made in the last 10. But their editorial board was aggressively against me. They saw a rich guy.
You got Bill Clinton’s endorsement, though.
Two weeks before the election, President Clinton came down and did a press conference with me. The Herald was like, “Are you sure it’s President Clinton?” (Laughs.) These are fakakta companies.
In addition to knocking on doors, you started a novel fundraising campaign.
I coined a new term. I said we’re not going to have fundraisers, we’re going to have friendraisers. So if you wanted to support me, you would host a friendraiser and invite your friends. We would do a targeted mailing to everyone in your neighborhood. We’d bring the wine, the cheese—everything. I would give my stump speech. And we had about 70, 80 friendraisers.
I’m reminded of you starting out your career, on a cruise ship talking to rooms full of people, telling them where to shop and how not to get ripped off—winning their confidence. That experience must have been very helpful.
My experience of working on cruise ships, delivering presentations to people, connecting with them, and at the same time developing a company, learning how to execute and manage people, was the greatest background for leadership in the public arena.
What were your campaign issues?
Number one, our convention center needs to be renovated. It’s old, it’s stodgy, we need to get it done. You had two huge development groups bidding to do it, and elected leaders here that had no real business experience. Their plans were to build a massive convention center, blah blah blah, and by the way the city’s going to put a half a billion dollars into it, but the developer is getting a 99-year lease. I said, Why do we need something so big? We’re Miami Beach. We’re not Atlanta. We are Art Basel. We want boutique shows that are great for our economy. And we don’t need to sell our land. It’s our land, why are we giving it away?
So what was your plan?
They had a deal with a huge New York group already done, and I said, first thing I’m going to do when I’m elected mayor is cancel that deal, bring in the right architects and design a state of the art convention center.
Which you’ve now done. What’s it like to cancel a $500 million deal?
Huge pressure against you. Everyone thinks you’re out of your mind.
And once you’re elected?
Everybody wants to figure out how to get on your good side, even though they’re all against you in the campaign.
So your plan for a new convention center is happening?
It’s already been designed. But I hate the term convention center. I call it the center for creative collaboration. We’re not a convention town.
What comes to mind when you think of convention towns?
I think of Shriners.
You mentioned the problem of flooding—what’s the problem there?
Our streets have been suffering from flooding. We have flooding when we get heavy rains and the water can’t drain out fast enough. And we have another type of flooding which is more dangerous and scary—we coined a term here, “sunny day flooding.” Sunny day flooding is when it’s a beautiful, sunny day, and the next thing you know, there’s water on the road.
And why is that happening?
Because of climate change, the bay rises higher during certain tides. Our system drains water out of our streets through pipes. The water is treated and goes out into the bay. When the water rises to a certain level and those pipes are under the water level, the water can reverse and go up the drains, and we can have flooding on our streets, which is unsettling to everybody, as you can imagine.
Who was doing the best work in terms of cities on this issue?
Because in New York, Michael Bloomberg planned extensively for rising water levels.
Right—he was fortifying the city with sea walls. But New York is on bedrock; Miami Beach is on porous limestone. So he was concerned about water coming over. We have it coming up.
So what’s your solution?
We’re putting in major pumps all across the city at hot spots. When the water starts to come up, the pumps immediately pull it out and push it out of the outfalls. The first pumps will be in place by the end of this year.
That sounds expensive.
Three hundred million dollars, at least. But we did a survey that found that 87 percent of the people said they would pay more in fees to combat rising tides.
So you don’t have many climate change disbelievers here in Miami Beach?
As a mayor, I don’t have the liberty to debate climate change. I just have to fix the problem we’ve got.
The city has also had problems with police corruption, right?
The majority of our police officers are amazing, but we’ve had leadership issues. One of the campaign promises I made is that I’m going to do a full audit of the police department using a professional organization—and based on their recommendations we’re going to make the necessary changes.
You’re taking on some forces that have more tangible structural power than the office of mayor here does.
Well, that’s the beauty of being a Bloomberg-esque type mayor.
Is there any precedent for that in your business experience?
When I started my companies, I was the first to go on the cruise ships and bust up what was going on, when all the cruise directors were making their money. Not everybody loved me.
Policy goals aside, are you enjoying the job? Are you having fun?
I love every minute.
Every minute? There’s nothing about this that you don’t like?
I wake up every morning and I’m so happy I’m mayor.
Your term is up next year. Will you run again?
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ZIM Q3-2017-results
ZIM Q3 2017 RESULTS
23-Nov-2017|14:55
ZIM recorded adjusted net profit of $36.2M in Q3 2017, compared to adjusted net loss of $40.4M in Q3 2016
ZIM recorded adjusted net profit of $51.3M in the nine months ended September 30, 2017 compared to adjusted net loss of $151.3M in the comparable period of 2016
In Q3 2017, ZIM carried 688 thousand TEUs, an all-time record (reflecting a growth of 10.6% compared to Q3 2016)
Adjusted EBITDA of $89.2M in Q3 2017, compared to $10.5M in Q3 2016
Total revenues were $816.7M in Q3 2017, compared to $643.9M in
Q3 2016, a 26.8% increase
The industry is starting to stabilize after the major changes it has gone through, with reshaping of the alliances and M&A’s activities that took place during the last years. We saw a positive trend in the industry in the last four quarters, however, market conditions remained challenging and volatile.
ZIM continues to outperform the industry and achieve encouraging results. The results of ZIM in Q3 2017 and the nine months ended September 30, reflect a continuous improvement in the company’s performance.
ZIM reported an adjusted EBITDA of $89.2M in Q3 2017 compared to
$10.5M in Q3 2016, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.9%.
The carried quantities increased by 10.6% to 688 thousand TEUs in Q3 2017, compared to
622 thousand TEUs in Q3 2016.
Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, said: “ZIM’s encouraging Q3 results are a cause for optimism, and we hope they reflect a momentum that we can keep up in the coming quarters; however, we still face many challenges, including the uncertainty of market conditions, including freight rates & bunker prices.
I believe we are on the right track, as we continue to outperform the industry thanks to our unrelenting focus on profitability, efficiency and a customer-orientated approach.
We are currently in the process of finalizing our 2018 budget, designed at increasing the pace of our strategy implementation and embracing fresh technological initiatives, as part of our vision to offer our customers new and best-in-market services. “
Financial and Operating Highlights for the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017
Adjusted net profit was $36.2 million, compared to adjusted net loss of $40.4 million in Q3 2016 Operating cash flow was $46.4 million, compared to $12.7 million in Q3 2016
Total revenues were $816.7 million, compared to $643.9 million in Q3 2016, a 26.8% increase
Net profit was $25.2 million, compared to net loss of $37.6 million in Q3 2016Adjusted EBITDA was $89.2 million compared to $10.5 million in Q3 2016
EBITDA was $83.6 million compared to $17.7 million in Q3 2016
Adjusted EBIT was $61.8 million, compared to negative $14.4 million in Q3 2016
EBIT was $53.8 million, compared to negative $7.2 million in Q3 2016
ZIM carried 688 thousand TEUs, compared to 622 thousand TEUs in Q3 2016, a 10.6% increase
The average freight rate per TEU was $1,058, compared to $887 in Q3 2016, a 19.2 % increase
Financial and Operating Highlights for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017
Adjusted net profit was $51.3 million, compared to adjusted net loss of $151.3 million in the comparable period of 2016.
Net Profit was $21.1 million, compared to net loss of $168.1 million in the comparable period of 2016
Total revenues were $2,217.4 million, compared to $1,885.8 million in the comparable period of 2016, a 17.6% increase.
Operating cash flow was $169.2 million, compared to $15.7 million in the comparable period of 2016.
Adjusted EBITDA was $216.7 million compared to $2.8 million in the comparable period of 2016.
EBITDA was $197.7 million, compared to negative $2.9 million in the comparable period of 2016.
Adjusted EBIT was $136.2 million compared to negative $71.3 million in the comparable period of 2016.
EBIT was $114.8 million, compared to negative $78.1 million in the comparable period of 2016.
ZIM carried 1,945 thousand TEUs, compared to 1,816 thousand TEUs in the comparable period of 2016, a 7.1% increase.
The average freight rate per TEU was $1,008, compared to $898 in the comparable period of 2016, a 12.2% increase.
03-Jul-2019 | 10:12
ZIM is Launching two Direct Services between Asia and the US Gulf, Further Expanding its Strategic Operational Cooperation with the 2M Alliance
ZIM is pleased to announce a further expansion of its Strategic Cooperation with the members of the 2M Alliance, Maersk …
18-Jun-2019 | 02:05
ZIM Introduces myZIM Personal Notifications to Enhance Customer Experience
ZIM announced today the launch of its New Personal Notifications feature on myZIM Personal Area. This new myZIM feature …
Read All Recent News
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Wednesday, August 19, 2015 — 7:00 PM
What Is the Future of L.A.’s Transit?
Phillip Washington
The Plaza on Olvera Street
El Pueblo De Los Angeles
Parking information available here.
GO METRO
A Zócalo/Metro Event
Moderated by Conan Nolan, General Assignment Reporter, NBC4
What does Phillip Washington, the new CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), think is the future of transportation in his new home in L.A. County? Washington comes to Los Angeles after six years heading Denver’s Regional Transportation District in a period of rapid growth, particularly for rail. In the midst of the recession, he secured $1 billion in federal grants and completed planned rail expansion on time and under budget. Washington, who grew up on the south side of Chicago, is also a veteran of the U.S. Army, where he served for 24 years and earned the highest non-commissioned officer rank an enlisted person can achieve. In Los Angeles County, Washington will be presiding over major projects that include five new rail lines, the widening of the 5 freeway, and massive bike lane expansion. What does Washington think L.A.’s transit priorities should be, and what is his vision for the region? How does he see Angelenos getting around five, 10, and 25 years from now? Washington visits Zócalo to talk about how his experiences in Denver and the military have prepared him to run Metro, where L.A. fits into America’s larger transit landscape, and the politics of urban transportation today.
THANKS TO OUR MEDIA SPONSOR
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Climate change: UK government to commit to 2050 target
Prime Minister Theresa May said there was a “moral duty to leave this world in a better condition than what we inherited”.
Cutting emissions would benefit public health and cut NHS costs, she said.
Britain is the first major nation to propose this target – and it has been widely praised by green groups.
But some say the phase-out is too late to protect the climate, and others fear that the task is impossible.
The UK already has a 2050 target – to reduce emissions by 80%. That was agreed by MPs under the Climate Change Act in 2008, but will now be amended to the new, much tougher, goal.
The actual terminology used by the government is “net zero” greenhouse gases by 2050.
That means emissions from homes, transport, farming and industry will have to be avoided completely or – in the most difficult examples – offset by planting trees or sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere.
The government’s advisory Committee on Climate Change recommended the “net zero” target in May.
Its report said if other countries followed the UK, there was a 50-50 chance of staying below the recommended 1.5C temperature rise by 2100.
A 1.5C rise is considered the threshold for dangerous climate change.
Laurence Tubiana, an architect of the crucial Paris climate agreement, told the BBC: “This is a historic commitment that will reverberate right around the world.
“All eyes will now turn on the rest of the EU to match this pledge.”
Theresa May said the UK led the world to wealth through fossil fuels in the industrial revolution, so it was appropriate for Britain to lead in the opposite direction.
“We have made huge progress in growing our economy and the jobs market while slashing emissions,” she said.
“Now is the time to go further and faster to safeguard the environment for our children. We must lead the world to a cleaner, greener form of growth.”
Number 10 said it was “imperative” other countries followed suit, so there would be a review within five years to ensure other nations were taking similarly ambitious action and British industries were not facing unfair competition.
Scotland has already committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2045, five years ahead of the UK government’s target.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommended Wales should aim to cut emissions by a lower target of 95% by 2050 due to the importance of the farming industry to rural communities. But the Welsh government has since said it wants to go further – and will commit to net-zero by 2050, like the rest of the UK.
Northern Ireland is the only devolved administration which does not have its own climate change legislation and emissions targets.
How will it affect people?
If ministers decided to clamp down on meat-eating or on flying, that would meet serious opposition.
But the government will attempt to make the clean revolution as painless as possible. Technology improvements like LED light bulbs, for instance, save emissions without people noticing.
The same is true if people get hydrogen central heating instead of gas, or if they are obliged to drive electric cars rather than petrol vehicles.
But there will need to be a massive investment in clean energy generation – and that has to be funded by someone.
The government hasn’t yet spelled out if the cost will fall on bill-payers, or tax-payers, or the fossil fuel firms that have caused climate change.
And then there’s the international dimension. Prof Dieter Helm, from the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, said: “From the UK’s end, doing this unilaterally, we have to be very careful that we don’t simply say: ‘we’re going to reduce the emissions from our cars and our power stations here in Britain, but we’re going to carry on importing those emissions from overseas.’
“We don’t make very much in this country. Manufacturing is only 20% of the economy. Most of the stuff that you go and buy in the supermarket… it’s all imported.”
What will this cost?
Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned of a potential cost of £1 trillion by 2050.
The cash will have to come from somewhere, he said – maybe from schools, hospitals and the police.
However, Chris Skidmore, the acting energy minister, said the costs would amount to between 1 and 2% of the UK’s GDP – which was the same amount factored in to reach the previous 80% reduction target. Therefore it would not be the case that there would be less money to spend elsewhere, he said.
He added that the green economy would generate jobs and the cost of green technologies was coming down all the time.
The climate change contrarian Bjorn Lomborg, author of Skeptical Environmentalist, said: “Mr Hammond is right to highlight the cost – and in fact, he is likely to be underestimating the real price tag.”
Campaigners said Mr Hammond’s sums did not take into account the benefits of cleaner air and a more stable climate.
Will the proposal stick?
Following the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendations last month, scientists, campaigners and health professionals have been urging Mrs May to bring in a net zero target before she stands down.
The government will lay a “statutory instrument” in the Commons on Wednesday – a tactic that allows it to be fast-tracked through both houses of Parliament if other parties agree – which on this issue they generally do.
Like any government decision it could be overturned by future governments.
But the majority of Tory leadership candidates are backing it – and revoking the Act would need a majority Commons vote at a time when the public appear very concerned about the climate.
Mrs May has taken the unusual step of announcing that a group of young people will advise the government on priorities for environmental action. They will start their review in July.
This is seen as a nod towards young voters, many of whom have recently taken to the streets protesting that their environment was being destroyed.
What other problems stand in the way?
The magnitude of the task is clear. The UK is already slipping away from its mid-term carbon targets of cutting emissions by 80% by 2050.
“Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions is necessary, feasible and cost-effective,” said professor Phil Taylor, head of engineering at Newcastle University.
“But UK policy is still way off the mark and the foundations are not in place to be able to meet this target.
“Even with all the evidence before us we are still opening new coal mines, extending Heathrow airport and pushing forward with fracking.”We have unambitious building regulations, and our drive to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2040 is too late.”
Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, director of the Royal Institution, warned that the public might not support carbon-cutting measures such as turning down thermostats in the home.
And he questioned the ability of the government to insulate enough houses in time. “The prize for improving the efficiency of buildings is significant,” he said.
“However, there is a practical challenge in terms of the number of sufficient skilled workers to undertake the work, and then of course the barrier of getting homeowners to get the work done.”
There will be major difficulties, too, in supplying low-carbon heating to homes and industries as natural gas is phased out.
Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist, said it was a “big moment” for the climate but there were questions around plans to allow for international carbon credits which allow the UK to pay to offset its emissions elsewhere in the world.
Such off-setting had a history of failure, was not cost-efficient and shifting the burden to developing nations undermined the commitment, he told the Guardian.
Chris Skidmore, the acting energy minister, said the government did not “intend” to use international carbon credits but had kept it “as an option”. “We need to be able to decarbonise in the best possible way so we don’t want to rule it out,” he said.
Mrs May’s announcement indicates that she has taken notice of potential industrial pitfalls.
To assuage Treasury fears about competitiveness, she has stipulated that the net zero policy should be reviewed in five years to see whether other nations were taking similar actions.
That might prove problematic if US President Donald Trump – who denigrates climate change – is still in the White House.
Meanwhile, the radical green group Extinction Rebellion is warning that the climate is changing so fast that 2050 is far too late to eliminate emissions in order to ensure that temperature rise stays well under 2C.
Eat Less Pork and Help the Planet, Advocates Say Ahead of Chinese New Year
China consumes more meat than any other country.
Electric scooter networks charge up as Scoot drives into Barcelona
Scoot Networks launched an electric scooter and bike sharing network in Barcelona.
Fed Up With Plastic, This Man Got Kenya to Ban It
His story shows that individual activism can go a long way.
Can a $2.5bn eco-initiative save Florida’s beaches?
Florida suffered the worst outbreak of the toxic red algae in history, affecting more than 200 miles of coastline, last summer.
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Roach Multifamily Team with Colliers International sells two Phoenix multifamily properties for $3.1 million
Phoenix apartment properties attracting out-of-state investors
Phoenix, August 30, 2018 – The Roach Multifamily Team with Colliers International in Greater Phoenix closed two multifamily property sales totaling $3.1 million. These transactions represent a growing trend in out-of-state investors purchasing Phoenix apartment properties.
Summer Cove at 1941 W. Morten Avenue in Phoenix sold for $2.15 million. The property, which is 100 percent occupied, features 20 apartment units and was built in 1969. The community was purchased by Tenants in Common: Geiger Properties I LLC, Geiger Properties VI LLC, Sally Geiger, and Franklin 2000 Properties I LLC, based in Huntington Beach, California. They purchased the property from private investors based in Los Gatos, California. Chris Roach and Matt Roach of Colliers in Greater Phoenix handled the transaction.
“This transaction represents a continued trend of outside capital pouring into the Phoenix multifamily market,” said Chris Roach. “The Phoenix metro area is ranked second in the nation for 2018 year-end forecasted rent growth; and value-added properties in quality, infill locations are primed to capture that growth.”
Cypress Arms Apartments at 3141 E. Cypress Street in Phoenix, just north of McDowell Road, was also sold by the Roach Multifamily Team. The two-story property contains 12 units and was built in 1975. Private investors from San Jose, California, purchased the property for $950,000. The seller was AR-32nd St. LLC, a private investor based in Arizona. Chris Roach and Matt Roach of Colliers represented the buyers in this transaction. The seller was represented by Ryan Ash at Apartment Realty Advisors.
About Colliers International Group Inc.
Colliers International Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CIGI) (TSX: CIGI) is a top tier global real estate services and investment management company operating in 69 countries with a workforce of more than 13,000 professionals. Colliers is the fastest-growing publicly listed global real estate services and investment management company, with 2017 corporate revenues of $2.3 billion ($2.7 billion including affiliates). With an enterprising culture and significant employee ownership and control, Colliers professionals provide a full range of services to real estate occupiers, owners and investors worldwide, and through its investment management services platform, has more than $20 billion of assets under management from the world’s most respected institutional real estate investors.
Colliers professionals think differently, share great ideas and offer thoughtful and innovative advice to accelerate the success of its clients. Colliers has been ranked among the top 100 global outsourcing firms by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals for 13 consecutive years, more than any other real estate services firm. Colliers is ranked the number one property manager in the world by Commercial Property Executive for two years in a row.
Colliers is led by an experienced leadership team with significant equity ownership and a proven record of delivering more than 20% annualized returns for shareholders, over more than 20 years.
For the latest news from Colliers, visit Colliers.com or follow us on Twitter: @Colliers and LinkedIn.
Colliers International in Greater Phoenix has served clients locally and globally for more than 35 years.
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posted on Thu 27 Jun 2019 5:52 PM
Mali: Renewal of MINUSMA’s Mandate
Tomorrow (28 June), the Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for a year. The first draft was circulated by France, the penholder on Mali, early last week. There were two meetings among all Council members, a read-through and a round of negotiations. Following bilateral discussions, the draft was put in blue this afternoon.
Although the draft resolution does not significantly modify the mandate of the mission, it creates a second strategic priority for MINUSMA that focuses on the situation in the centre of Mali. In particular, MINUSMA is to be tasked “to facilitate the implementation of a comprehensive politically-led Malian strategy to protect civilians, reduce intercommunal violence, and re-establish State authority, State presence and basic social services in Central Mali”. (The primary strategic priority remains to support the implementation of the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali).
Council members have grown increasingly concerned with the deterioration of the situation beyond the north, which was the initial geographic focus of the mission. In late March, the Council’s visiting mission to Mali coincided with the massacre in the village of Ogossagou of 160 Fulani civilians, including women and children, reportedly by Dogon armed elements (Dozos). Since then there has been a spate of intercommunal attacks, some retaliatory in nature.
The draft affirms that support to the implementation of the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation should be given priority in decisions about the use of available capacity and resources. However, it also says that the senior leadership of the mission should be given sufficient flexibility to deploy MINUSMA contingents between sectors and ensure that sufficient mission resources are allocated to the implementation of the second strategic priority. It seems that there were some discussions among Council members on whether to distinguish between “primary” and “second” strategic priorities—or have two strategic priorities of equal significance—but in the end this distinction remained in the draft in blue.
Despite the addition of a new strategic priority, there are no changes to the troop ceiling. Although the US suggested lowering the troop ceiling by 800 troops, there was no support for this proposal. The draft requests the Secretary-General to conduct in six months “a thorough assessment of the situation in Northern and Central Mali and of the Mission’s configuration in regards to the implementation of its primary and second strategic priorities”.
The draft in blue specifies the progress that the Council is expecting to see in the next year in the implementation of the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation. The identified areas are: constitutional reform, decentralisation, security sector reform, development of the north and the full, effective and meaningful participation of women. The draft expresses the Council’s intent to respond with sanctions should these priority measures not be implemented by the end of MINUSMA’s mandate in June 2020. This follows a similar approach developed in last year’s resolution 2423, aimed at sending a strong political message to the parties, and to the mission, on the need to prioritise a particular set of measures within the overall objective of accelerating the implementation of the Agreement.
A controversial issue has been how to refer to the kind of support that MINUSMA can provide to the joint force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (FC-G5S). According to resolution 2391 of 8 December 2017, MINUSMA can support only those FC-G5S forces that operate on Malian territory (two of the force’s seven battalions). However, there have been calls for MINUSMA to support FC-G5S forces outside Mali as well. A request in this regard was made by the G5-Sahel during the Council’s visiting mission to Mali in March. In his 6 May report to the Council, the Secretary-General similarly recommended that the Council authorise MINUSMA to provide life-support consumables, such as rations and fuel, not only to FC-G5S units operating on Malian territory but to all FC-G5S battalions, on the condition that the joint force or other partners deliver this support outside Mali and that units receiving such assistance are in strict compliance with the UN human rights due diligence policy. Although early versions of the draft “clarified” that life-support consumables could be used by all FC-G5S contingents, this reference was opposed by the UK and the US. In the end, the draft expresses the Council’s support for this use on the condition that life-support consumables are delivered by the joint force or other partners compliant with the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy; the Council will assess the implementation of these provisions in a year.
Another issue in the negotiations of the draft was France’s proposal to include an annex to the draft resolution with new designations to the 2374 sanctions list. Several Council members maintain that designations should be addressed through procedures in the sanctions committee, and expressed a preference that designations not be tied to the adoption of the MINUSMA mandate. France accepted this request and may propose designations at the committee level once the resolution is adopted.
In addition to the regular quarterly reports, the draft in blue requests the Secretary-General to submit every six months to the Council a letter exclusively and thoroughly focusing on:
information on security challenges in Mali, progress in mission operations, troop performance and rotations, as well as an update on discussions in the Instance de Coordination au Mali—which includes all the security presences—on the coordination of security responsibilities; and
the implementation of the UN integrated strategic framework developed in early 2018 including a transition plan with a view to handing over relevant tasks to the UN Country Team.
The draft also requests MINUSMA, in coordination with the Instance de Coordination au Mali “to develop a long-term conditions-based transition approach to ensure a phased, coordinated and deliberate transition of security responsibilities”.
Reflecting broader trends in Council discussions, other issues negotiated bilaterally include how to refer to climate change and the Rome Statute. The US proposed to delete previously agreed language expressing concern at the adverse effects of climate change on the stability of Mali as well as references to the Rome Statute. Although an operative paragraph on climate change was eliminated, a reference in a preambular paragraph is retained. The references to the Rome Statute remained in the draft in blue.
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President Donald J. Trump’s Administration is Providing Support to Those Impacted by Hurricane Florence
Issued on: September 19, 2018
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Incredible job being done by FEMA, first responders, law enforcement and all. Thank you!
BOOTS ON THE GROUND: The Trump Administration mobilized thousands of Federal employees who are working to protect lives and restore power impacted by Hurricane Florence.
Nearly 20,000 Federal employees have been mobilized to assist with Florence recovery.
The Department of Energy is working with 40,000 individuals from 19 States and Canada to restore power to the region, and is seeing significant progress in its efforts.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has deployed 136 personnel, successfully installing or pre-positioning over 110 generators, with more expected.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has conducted over 2,000 rescues in the region and is sheltering nearly 15,000 people.
The Department of Defense has assigned approximately 13,000 personnel to support the recovery, including some 6,000 active-duty personnel and more than 7,000 National Guardsmen.
The Coast Guard has over 3,000 personnel in 27 helicopters, 11 fixed wing aircraft, 14 cutters, and 35 shallow-water craft. To date the Coast Guard has saved over 400 lives and 200 pets.
The National Guard has performed or supported more than 535 rescue and evacuation missions in North Carolina.
The Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control have deployed dozens of teams to the region to treat the sick or injured and prevent illness.
GOVERNMENT-WIDE RESPONSE: The Trump Administration is conducting an ongoing and Government-wide effort response effort in the wake of Hurricane Florence.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is beginning to assess more than 100 priority sites impacted by the storm.
EPA is deploying a Superfund reconnaissance team to conduct visual inspection of Superfund sites in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to open facilities that were closed by the storm.
The Small Business Administration has announced assistance for homeowners, renters, and businesses of all sizes, and is opening a business recovery center.
Federal authorities are working with private partners such as the American Red Cross, which has deployed 3,000 workers from across the country.
PREPARED FOR FLORENCE: President Trump and his Administration were prepared for Hurricane Florence, prestaging numerous resources and planning Federal assistance.
President Trump activated and prepositioned thousands of Federal employees, including more than 1,000 from FEMA, and worked with State and local partners to prepare.
President Trump approved emergency disaster declarations to allow for protective measures for North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
The President later approved Major Disaster declarations for North Carolina and South Carolina.
The Federal Government prepositioned huge amounts of resources in the area to help prepare.
FEMA forward-staged meals, water, cots, blankets, and other resources throughout the region ahead of Florence.
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Facebook’s Ad System Might Be Hard-Coded for Discrimination
Author: Louise MatsakisLouise Matsakis
Alyssa Foote
Civil rights groups, lawmakers, and journalists have long warned Facebook about discrimination on its advertising platform. But their concerns, as well as Facebook’s responses, have focused primarily on ad targeting, the way businesses choose what kind of people they want to see their ads. A new study from researchers at Northeastern University, the University of Southern California, and the nonprofit Upturn finds ad delivery—the Facebook algorithms that decide exactly which users see those ads—may be just as important.
Even when companies choose to show their ads to inclusive audiences, the researchers wrote, Facebook sometimes delivers them “primarily to a skewed subgroup of the advertiser’s selected audience, an outcome that the advertiser may not have intended or be aware of.” For example, job ads targeted to both men and women might still be seen by significantly more men.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, indicates that Facebook’s automated advertising system—which earns the company tens of billions of dollars in revenue each year—may be breaking civil rights laws that protect against advertising discrimination for things like jobs and housing. The issue is with Facebook itself, not with the way businesses use its platform. Facebook did not return a request for comment, but the company has not disputed the researchers’ findings in statements to other publications.
Discrimination in ad targeting has been an issue at Facebook for years. In 2016, ProPublica found businesses could exclude people from seeing housing ads based on characteristics like race, an apparent violation of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Last month, the social network settled five lawsuits from civil rights organizations that alleged companies could hide ads for jobs, housing, and credit from groups like women and older people. As part of the settlement, Facebook said it will no longer allow advertisers to target these ads based on age, gender, or zip code. But those fixes don’t address the issues the researchers of this new study found.
“This is a stark illustration of how machine learning incorporates and perpetuates existing biases in society, and has profound implications,” says Galen Sherwin, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, one of the organizations that sued Facebook. “These results clearly indicate that platforms need to take strong and proactive measures in order to counter such trends.”
In one experiment, the researchers ran ads for 11 different generic jobs in North Carolina, like nurse, restaurant cashier, and taxi driver, to the same audience. Facebook delivered five ads for janitors to an audience that was 65 percent female and 75 percent black. Five ads for jobs in the lumber industry were shown to users that were 90 percent male and 70 percent white. And in the most extreme cases, advertisements for supermarket clerks were shown to audiences that were 85 percent women and taxi driving opportunities to audiences that were 75 percent black.
The researchers ran a similar series of housing ads and found that, despite having the same targeting and budget, some were shown to audiences that were over 85 percent white, while others were shown to ones that were 65 percent black.
Facebook doesn’t tell businesses the race of people who see their ads, but it does provide the general area where they are located. In order to create a proxy for race, the researchers used hundreds of thousands of public voting records from North Carolina, which include the voter’s address, phone number, and their stated race. Using the records, they targeted ads to black voters in one part of the state and white voters in another; when looking at Facebook’s reporting tools, they could then assume the users’ race based on where they lived.
Examples of advertisements with stereotypical female and male images. The third ad image is nearly transparent and can't be detected by the human eye.
University of Southern California; Northeastern University; Upturn
In another portion of the study, the researchers tried to determine whether Facebook automatically scans the images associated with ads to help decide who should see them. They ran a series of ads with stereotypical male and female stock imagery, like a football and a picture of a perfume bottle, using identical wording. They then ran corresponding ads with the same images, except the photos were made invisible to the human eye. Machine learning systems could still detect the data in the photos, but to Facebook users they looked like white squares.
The researchers found that the “male” and “female” ads were shown to gendered audiences, even when their images were blank. In one test, both the visible and invisible male images reached an audience that was 60 percent male, while the audience of the visible and invisible female ones was 65 percent female. The results indicate that Facebook is preemptively analyzing advertisements to determine who should see them, and is making those decisions using gender stereotypes.
There’s no way to know exactly how Facebook’s image analyzation process works, because the company's advertising algorithms are secret. (Facebook has said in the past, however, that it has the capability to analyze over a billion photos every day.) “Ultimately we don’t know what Facebook is doing,” says Alan Mislove, a computer science professor at Northeastern University and an author of the research.
The study also found that ad pricing may cause gender discrimination, because women are typically more expensive to reach since they tend to engage more with advertisements. The researchers tested spending between $1 and $50 on their ad campaigns, and found that “the higher the daily budget, the smaller the fraction of men in the audience.” Previous research has similarly shown that advertising algorithms show fewer ads promoting opportunities in STEM fields to women because they cost more to target.
The study’s authors were careful to note that their findings can’t be generalized to every advertisement on Facebook. “For example, we observe that all of our ads for lumberjacks deliver to an audience of primarily white and male users, but that may not hold true of all ads for lumberjacks,” they wrote.
But the research indicates Facebook’s highly-personalized advertising system does at least sometimes mirror inequalities already present in the world, an issue lawmakers have yet to address. The study could have implications for a housing discrimination lawsuit the Department of Housing and Urban Development filed against Facebook late last month. In the suit, HUD’s lawyers allege Facebook’s “ad delivery system prevents advertisers who want to reach a broad audience of users from doing so,” because it discriminates based on whether it thinks users are likely to engage with a particular ad, or find it “relevant.”
Regulators may also need to examine protections granted to Facebook under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields internet platforms from liability for what their users post. Facebook has argued that advertisers are completely responsible for “deciding where, how, and when to publish their ads.” The study shows that isn't always true, advertisers can’t control exactly who sees their ads. Facebook is not a neutral platform.
It’s not clear how Facebook might reform its advertising system to address the issues raised in the study. The company might need to exchange some efficiency in favor of fairness, says Miranda Bogen, a senior policy analyst at Upturn and another author of the research. Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former chief security officer, similarly said on Twitter that the problem may only be solved “by having no algorithmic optimization of certain ad classes.”
But that optimization is a large part of what makes Facebook valuable to advertisers. If lawmakers decide to regulate its algorithms, that could have damning implications for the company’s business.
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Mark Zuckerberg House Testimony Highlights
Highlights from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
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I used to make up stuff in my bio all the time, that I used to be a professional ice-skater and stuff like that. I found it so inspirational. Why not make myself cooler than I am?
Our are deployed in some of the biggest
How to buy kinetics? who do we speak to in order to get pricing? you can visit the and .
An earlier version of the credit for the chart on U.S. defense misstated part of the name of the source. It is the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, not the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Spending.Tactical aircraft include fighter, attack and dual-role aircraft.
U.S. Department of Defense, Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 President’s Budget Aircraft Procurement, Navy, p. Volume 1-11. Like the other services, the Navy has had to dedicate readiness funding to its immediate needs of various engagements around the globe, which means that maintenance and training for those ships and sailors not deployed has not been prioritized.
In 2015, the Navy increased its battle force requirement to 308 ships, two more than the previous year. The additional two ships in the fleet requirement are an LPD-17 amphibious ship and a Mobile Landing Platform vessel. Congress added funding for the amphibious ship in FY 2013 and FY 2015 it had not been requested by the Navy. While this may seem excessive since the Navy did not officially request a 12th LPD-17 ship, the Navy’s amphibious fleet is currently well below the Navy and Marine Corps prog
We are working on a Presto user interface for our internal big data portal. Our algorithm team also built an interactive data clustering application by R with Presto via an open source Python Presto client.
navy amphibious ship requirement fleet
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