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Amitabha Path
Inspiration on the Vajrayana Path (if words too small, set browser to magnify to 125%)
21 Taras Commentary
Mani mantra teachings
Archive | March 2016
Heart Essence Prayer to Guru Rinpoche
Heart-Essence Prayer to Guru Rinpoche
Nying Zug Ma
A terma of Matrul Rinpoche
EMAHO / CHI NOD DAG PA GYAL WAY KYIL KHOR ZHING
External vessel of the pure realm of the Victorious Ones’ mandala
NYING WU’ ZANG DOG PAL GYI RI WO NAY
At its heart, within the Glorious Copper Colored Mountain
RIG PA GU RU PADMA JUNG NAY ZHUG
Resides the Guru of enlightened awareness, Padmasambhava
YE NAY DU DRAL MED PAR SOL WA DEB
Primordially there is no meeting and parting, I pray to you
RIG TONG ZANG THAL NGANG NAY JIN GYI LOB
Within unobstructed emptiness-awareness, please confer blessings
YER MED GONG LONG CHU WO CHIG TU DREY
Inseparable from ultimate wisdom, merged into one stream
THAR THUG NGA YAB PAL RI’I ZHING KHAM SU
In the ultimate realm of Chamara Auspicious Mountain
RIG DZIN DRUB THOB GYAL SEY DRANG MED KYI
Vidyadharas, accomplished beings and countless Bodhisattvas
DRAL DU KYE NAY TSHOM WU CHIG TU TSOG
Be born amongst this assembly and gather together as one
RIG DU PAD MAY KYIL KHOR ZHAL JAL NAY
Seeing the mandala of the embodiment of primordial wisdom, Padmasambhava
SUNG GI DUD TSI’I GA TON CHUD LA ROL
Celebrating the amrita of his speech and enjoying its essence
THEG CHOG YE SHE SA LA CHIN PAR SHOG
May we arrive at the state of the supreme vehicle of wisdom
This text arose naturally when the abbot of Siu-Gang monastery (one of the four great monasteries in the Nyingma Pai-yul lineage in Xi-kang) Shri-gang Matrul Rinpoche (Chokyi Nyima) saw the face of Padmasambhava in a Dzogchen state of primordial wisdom. Rinpoche stated that if any devoted disciple of the Triple Gems who has pure faith frequently prays with this text together with the recitation of 1 million Guru Rinpoche mantra (OM AH HUNG BENZA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG), he/she will received sublime blessings and increase his/her accumulations of merit and wisdom, ultimately attaining to the level of the original protector Samantabhadra.
This sublime practice was revealed by the Great Terton Chokyi Nyima (Matrul Rinpoche) in a profound pure state. This is an extremely concise and potent practice from amongst Rinpoche’s termas on Padmasambhava which has the power to liberate on hearing. Matrul Rinpoche has said personally that any sentient being who listens to this prayer, no matter whom, as long as he hears this prayer, his worldly fortune and merits will increase, he will receive inconceivable blessings, in the future he will definitely be reborn in Sukhavati (Amitabha’s pureland) or Guru Rinpoche’s pureland. This Guru Rinpoche prayer which liberates by hearing is extremely important and has very vast meaning. Therefore Rinpoche hopes that this prayer would be transmitted to the whole world so that everyone can receive the blessings of Guru Rinpoche and be liberated by hearing.
Matrul Rinpoche and his Dharma Heir Rigar Rinpoche has compassionately given permission that anyone who has seen this Heart-Essence Prayer to Guru Rinpoche can recite it according to its Tibetan transliteration even without having received empowerment or oral transmission. Later, when it is possible, it would be perfect and auspicious if they can receive empowerment or oral transmission from a teacher.
(Listen to the prayer here :
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjAwMDE0MDk2.html)
More about Matrul Rinpoche :
The precious Matrul Rinpoche Shri-gang Matrul Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche who lived to the age of 82 was widely recognized in Tibet as a genuine emanation of Guru Rinpoche. He was also the rebirth of one of Guru Rinpoche’s 25 disciples, Nubchen Sangye Yeshe. He was also the emanation of Black Zambhala (a wealth deity). His life was full of miraculous occurrences and he has been regarded as the son of the Machen Mountain God. Rinpoche is one of the older generation of teachers who transmit Guru Rinpoche’s teachings. We regard him as Padmasambhava in person who confers liberation on sight.
Matrul Rinpoche was the vajra brother of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and he both gave and received empowerments from His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. He was highly praised by His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok as someone who “did not need to be examined any further, he is a true Vajra Master,” and “he is truly Nubchen Sangye Yeshe’s true emanation.” His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok once said in front of the Chinese disciples, “Just like Achuk Lama of Yachen, Matrul Rinpoche of Shri-gang is the same, these are the true great Tulkus.” When Matrul Rinpoche was invited to Larung to attend the Amitabha Prayer Festival, His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok personally came down from his throne to offer a ceremonial scarf and invited Matrul Rinpoche to share his throne. His Holiness supplicated Matrul Rinpoche to give the Colleges’ students empowerments and to confer the Nyingthig Yabshi. Tenzin Gyatso Tulku of the Sertar Buddhist College who was also a disciple of His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok praised Matrul Rinpoche as being no different from His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok in terms of enlightened qualities.
When Matrul Rinpoche visited Yachen Monastery, Achuk Lama Rinpoche similarly came outside the door to received him, and frequently proclaimed Matrul Rinpoche’s wondrous qualities to the gatherings of monks and nuns. In addition, at the behest of Achuk Lama Rinpoche, Matrul Rinpoche performed practices to remove obstacles to Yachen Monastery several times. The parinirvana ceremonies of the great accomplished master Khenpo Chokyab was similarly presided over by Matrul Rinpoche. In Tibet, especially within the Nyingma tradition, Matrul Rinpoche is highly esteemed and he was approached by many teachers from other schools for teachings.
Events from Matrul Rinpoche’s life has spread throughout Tibet, as a great treasure-revealer, he has revealed so many termas that it fills an entire room. Sometimes Rinpoche would just sweep his hands in the air in front of him and his entire body and dharma robes would be filled with all kinds of termas. When Rinpoche was in Machen Mountain to retrieve terma, under the public view, his arm suddenly extended and he reached deep into the mountain and retrieved a Buddha statue. Even when Rinpoche was imprisoned, he retrieved many yellow terma parchments in his cell and benefitted his fellow-prisoners. In this way, he aroused faith in the minds of his jailers who released all the prisoners.
Once, when he was presiding over a large scale puja in Qinghai where many tens-of-thousands of devotees attended, due to the interference of non-Buddhist forces, the lightning flashed and there was tumultuous weather with rain and wind, causing much difficulties for the proceedings in the puja. At that point, Matrul Rinpoche displayed a wrathful appearance and threatened in a strident voice to bury the negative forces beneath the ground, then he brandished his Vajra implement and flung it into the space. A bluish cloud in the shape of a dragon descended and dissolved into the river and the obstacle was thus averted. After the completion of the puja, Rinpoche released the obstacle-maker. Events like this miraculous display, had it not been witnessed personally, are difficult for others to comprehend or accept. But this was witnessed by many devotees.
Rinpoche has given instructions for his disciple Rizeng Rigar Tulku to spread his terma on the Heart-essence Prayer to Guru Rinpoche to China and the rest of the world. On 24 November 2004, Rinpoche dissolved his rupakaya into the Dharmadhatu.
This entry was posted on 16161616, in Uncategorized.
Bodhicitta Teachings by Lord Jigten Sumgon
(Dear Dharma friends, I found this wonderful teaching on developing loving kindness. It has many benefits and is such an easy way to practice with the mind if one has no time to do much practice. Please do read and make a commitment to yourself to practice it. If more people do this simple practice, I believe there will be much more merit, kindness and happiness in this world.)
Lord Jigten Sumgon gave several volumes of teachings on Bodhicitta. They were compiled by Chenga Drikung Lingpa. Of these there are mainly works called “The Great Instruction.”
Generally we know loving kindness as the wish for all sentient beings to be happy, and compassion as the wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering as in the Four Immeasurables. Lord Jigten Sumgon’s teachings are summarized in two parts: how to recognize bodhicitta, and how to practice bodhicitta.
It is important to know how to recognize bodhicitta. In some traditions it starts with loving oneself, but in the Mahayana tradition, Bodhicitta is primarily directed towards loving others. We recognize it as a clear loving feeling. All living beings have this feeling – that of a mother for her child, or a child for their mother.
In Buddhahood, however, there is an absence of object. It is simply a joy to benefit and help others. In order to arouse bodhicitta, we should see all beings as if they were small children, perhaps as babies, with a feeling of liking or loving, the desire to carry them in our arms and such expressions of affection.
Lord Jigten Sumgon says that it is much more difficult to develop loving kindness, than it is to develop compassion. If loving kindness arises with respect to a loved one, it is considered impure loving kindness. If it arises for all beings as it would for the most lovable small child, strangers, insects, enemies, then it is pure.
How to practice loving-kindness has three parts: practice, accomplishment and application.
The body posture should be in the seven-point position of meditation, with a slight smile on the lips, legs crossed or in the lotus position, hands in “Touching the Earth” mudra as Buddha Shakyamuni, eyes half closed, back straight.
One usually begins by contemplating the loving kindness of one’s mother. Lord Jigten Sumgon predicted that in the degenerate times this might be difficult. In that future time, he stated, that if one cannot arouse a loving feeling by thinking of one’s mother, then use the thought of any other person who has benefitted you greatly, such as a good friend or your spiritual teacher.
Because loving kindness is more difficult to fully realize than compassion, one should spend one to two weeks concentrating on recognizing the feeling of loving-kindness. For a beginner on the gradual path, raising a strong feeling of loving kindness takes an average of fifteen days. Once loving kindness is perfectly developed towards our mother, who has been most kind to us since our birth, taking care of us unselfishly, feeding us, we then extend loving kindness to all those in our town or village.
When this is accomplished we spread Bodhicitta to all people south of Mt. Meru or the southern continent; then east, west and finally north of Mt.Meru, or the whole world. This one world is considered one to be one unit. we then extend bodhicitta to 1,000 worlds. This now also becomes one unit as we extend loving kindness to 1,0003 worlds. This, too, is one unit, or one world system. We now spread loving kindness to 3,000 world systems [note: 1,000 3 multiplies out to 1,000,000,000 and not 3,000]. This is the sphere of influence of Buddha Shakyamuni, the three great One Thousand World Systems.
There are still many other world systems. We extend loving-kindness to the innumerable infinite world systems of the East, South, West, North, Below us and Above us. Seeing all beings of the Ten Directions, without exception, as our mothers. We extend the heartfelt wish for all beings, boundless as the sky, with no boundary or limit, to experience the Four Immeasureables.Beginning with Bodhicitta extended towards our mothers, we gradually expand this feeling to include all sentient beings. If we cannot at first extend loving-kindness to all beings, stop and begin again with the pure feeling of Bodhicitta and then, step-by-step, extend until we generate Bodhicitta fully in all 10 directions, and to all sentient beings.
Lord Jigten Sumgon was meditating in a cave for seven years, when he contracted leprosy. He became very upset, because at that time in Tibet, leprosy was a terrible and incurable disease. He was preparing to leave his body, so he prayed and venerated his yidam, Chenrezig. While doing so, he compared his condition to that of other beings. In doing so, he developed great compassion for the suffering of others. By meditating on the condition of others, that night, he went into the samadhi of loving-kindness.
He felt his sickness leaving him in the form of serpents. By the morning he had attained Enlightenment and the Mahamudra state of Vajradhara. Later he composed a song about his experience, but said that it took a period of three days, because he thought people would be unable to believe that anyone could attain Enlightenment in one night.
He went on to cure innumerable people of leprosy, and became so popular that he was called “the one who dreams away leprosy.” This took place in an early part of his life. He called this period, “Loving-kindness with unfavorable conditions.” The remainder of his life was called, “Pure Loving Kindness.”
How to Practice Accomplishment:
Having recognized Bodhicitta and practiced accordingly, go to a lonely place and sit in deep samadhi. By this meditation practice, you will receive great powers. To practice application, you then use this power to benefit all beings, overcoming disease, famine, drought, war, etc.
If you see an area of the world with such unfavorable conditions, you sit in samadhi and develop love, not only for the human beings of that place, but for all living beings in that area. In this way, unfavorable conditions are overcome. By wishing that “in this area may disease, war, etc., be subdued,” the conditions are pacified.
At the time Lord Buddha was leaving the world, through his miraculous powers, all the weapons in Shawasti were transformed into flowers. By witnessing this, even a non-Buddhist attained Enlightenment. Also, once in the country of Shawasti a great sickness was spreading, and Ananda’s loving-kindness subdued the disease. In Lord Jigten Sumgon’s instructions it states that perhaps during the time of Guru Padma Sambhava, the Mongols attacking Samaye Monastery were pacified by loving kindness.
If you experience unfavorable circumstances caused by spirits, demons or curses, sit in meditation on loving kindness to ward off obstuctors. In this way, you can overcome your difficulties. There are many stories of the efficacy of loving-kindness meditation. If you want to accomplish something for yourself and others in a certain direction, you can focus loving-kindness in that direction. You develop loving-kindness for all beings in that direction, for humans and non-humans alike. You can thus fulfill your purpose. One can overcome spirits, demons and non-humans with loving-kindness.
Loving-kindness is also very important on such special occasions as when giving empowerments, teachings and consecrating statues. On these occasions you being by meditating on loving-kindness and then extending it towards all beings – human and non-human equally – of that particular area and then extend it to the whole world, and then to all worlds. Again to begin practicing, start with a small area and gradually spread loving-kindness, like unto the ripples caused by dropping a stone in a pool of water. In this way, your meditative concentration is not lost!
When consecrating a new statue of Buddha, sit in meditation on loving-kindness, develop Samadhi of Loving-kindness, then sprinkle the statue with flowers. This is the best consecration. Similarly, in doing pujas, if you do pujas in a state of loving-kindness, then the auspicious conditions and wishes are fulfilled. Loving-kindness is especially important for spiritual teachers. When leading rituals and giving empowerments, bodhicitta is indispensable. One cannot function without it. Even if you want to heal someone from sickness, or make a torma offering, you cannot do it without loving-kindness. What small amounts of realizations you do have might be lost in the process without loving-kindness. You can see the blessing power of loving-kindness in daily life. A physician who knows the four tantras, but has not developed loving-kindness cannot effectively heal, while someone who has less knowledge and cultivates loving-kindness does heal.
If a yogi wants to heal someone with a demon or a spirit possession, and if the yogi does not have the proper knowledge of loving-kindness, he may become sick or possessed himself. It is the same with Tantric knowledge. If a practitioner tries to heal without loving-kindness, someone else might become sick or possessed. It is also the case with yogis who practice in isolation in the mountains. Whether they have good karma or not, experience demons or not, have their wishes fulfilled or not, all of this depends on their knowledge of loving-kindness.
At the time of the application of the power of loving-kindness (when giving empowerments, healing, consecrating statues, etc.) you should be very careful. While you are in samadhi, if your state is disturbed by a negative thought, or if a person disturbs you, your meditation becomes useless. While sitting in meditation on loving-kindness, with a view towards the application or that power, concentrate on that application specifically.
If your attention shifts, for example, from war to famine then the famine might be relieved, but your main aim was not accomplished. Or if, for example, a new statue is in front of you and your eyes shift to a statue in the distance, then that far statue is consecrated, and not the one you intended to consecrate. At the time of the application, you must take great care not to break your meditation. If there is a sudden break your meditation power is scattered and the energy disperses. Rather than letting this happen, maintain concentration intensely to achieve your goal. At the time of application your body, speech and mind should be controlled and disciplined.
You should be in a state of mindfulness and awareness, not distracted for even a moment. Allow only positive thoughts to arise. In the case of a statue, never lose attention to the object, even as scattering flowers over it. In certain texts relating to consecration, it is said that a long ceremony or puja is only the outer ceremony of consecration.
When a person in a state of Mahamudra watches or gazes at the statue, only then is it really consecrated. It is the same with the state of loving kindness. In developing this state there are infinite benefits for oneself and for others. One achieves one’s aims and goals as well.
The benefits of practicing loving kindness are often mentioned in the sutras. They are summarized by Nagarjuna in his “Letter to a King.” One is respected by humans and non-humans alike. One is protected by these beings, and they will never harm you. Everyone is happy with you. Your mind is filled with joy. You will never be harmed by weapons or powers. Your fame will spread in all directions. After your death you will be found in the highest realm of Brahma. By practicing loving-kindness you accumulate much merit and wisdom leading towards Buddhahood. If you practice generosity three times a day for many days, you create much merit. But if you meditate for even a short moment on loving-kindness the merit is sixteen times greater. By practicing loving-kindness, one is not attacked by spirits or demons, nor does one experience such things as fighting or quarreling.
Lord Jigten Sumgon was once in an area of Tibet when a crop failed because it was afflicted by frost. he saw this and sat in loving-kindness. Since that time, in an area that can be covered by one person in a day, there has never again been a frost.
Practicing loving-kindness is important for our private lives as well. If we can sit in loving-kindness samadhi, we can spread peace and harmony to our whole families. It is a direct antidote to fear and hatred. Everything is interconnected. In society at large, loving kindness creates peace and harmony, which overcomes war, etc.
Why are there so many unfavorable conditions? Our minds are functioning in the state opposite to loving-kindness with thoughts of fear, hatred and aggressiveness. Subdue the mind! If our minds are pacified, then unfavorable conditions in the world can be pacified. If you consider Dharma practice, the main task is to subdue the mind, in order to be free from Samsara.
The main cause of enlightenment is bodhicitta. The seed of enlightenment is bodhicitta. Lord Jigten Sumgon states that enlightenment itself is the manifestation of bodhicitta, or embodiment of bodhicitta just as the manifestation of hatred is hell. Enlightenment is also dependent on loving kindness and compassion.
In the words of Lord Phagmo Drupa, “Bodhicitta is like a plant, the earth and moisture that nourish it are loving-kindness and compassion. Bodhicitta is the result.” The essence of all of Lord Buddha’s teachings are love, compassion and bodhicitta. If we practice these, there is no doubt that we will achieve Buddhahood.
Chenga Drikung Lingpa, main disciple and attendant of Lord Jigten Sumgon, compiled many of his teachings, referred to as Gong Chik meaning One Thought. Shortly before leaving the world, he declared that the substance of all the teachings are relative and absolute levels of bodhicitta.
Prayer for the difficult times by Chatral Rinpoche
The Rishi’s Maledictory Incantation
An Invocation of Wisdom Mind and Sacred Pledges for Reversing the Disturbances and Agitations of Dark Times In the Form of an Aspiration Prayer
Namo Guru Ratna Trayāya!
Guide for this fortunate eon, crown ornament of the Śākyas,
Second buddha, Lord Orgyen Tsokye,
Eight Close sons headed by
The supreme and noble Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, and Vajrapāṇi,
Twenty-one Tārās and the assembly of elders,
Root lineage masters, peaceful and wrathful yidam deities,
Ḍākinīs of the three places, wisdom Dharma protectors,
Guardians of the four directions and the seventy glorious protectors,
Great masters with powers of clairvoyance and miraculous activity,
In your wisdom, please turn your attention toward all beings engaged in conflict.
The shared negative karma of beings in this final dark age
Froths as a huge ocean;
Goodness is neglected whilst the demons of evil
Churns intensely the minds of the powerful and the influential,
Spitting out wars that could reduce this earth to dust.
Hurricanes of weapons hatched from perverse aspirations
Unleashed to turn instantly the entire universe and its inhabitants into ash.
The portents of these bad omens of our approaching total destruction
Appear clearly in the sights, sounds, and thoughts of our world.
Yet the ignorants remain in their webs of delusion and doubt;
Exceedingly stupid, they still do not feel alarmed at all.
Terror from just hearing or thinking
About transformation of our world like never before fills us.
We have no means or hope to reverse this,
Save the undeceiving Three Jewels and Three Roots –
To whom we are crying like small children wailing for parents.
Please hear our desperate prayers,
And remember your earlier commitments.
Extend your hands of compassion as swift as lightening
To hold and shelter those lacking protection and free us from our terror.
When powerful barbarians who plunder the happiness of beings in our world
plot their battles,
Please transform these leaders and their minions
– such ruthless malefactors –
Into proponents of peace, happiness and harmony.
Please extinguish the adverse circumstances of war right on the spot
And expel and destroy these demonic atomic weapons.
Then throughout our great earth
Please spread Dharma teachers, learning, and accomplishment in all directions.
Liberate the world from the claws of nasty gangs of human and non-human
Executioners of the teachings and sentient beings, until not even their names remain.
May vast happiness saturate the whole world,
And beings be elevated through the glory of the four pursuits to the Truly High.
(Notes — four pursuits : duty; wealth; pleasure; and liberation ; truly high : good rebirth as a god or human)
May the times become perfect without the harm of war and strife, as during the Golden Age,
With everyone constantly enraptured in the dance of bliss and joy.
Through the compassion of the ocean of the Three Jewels
And the power of the truth of the dharmadhātu endowed with all supreme aspects,
May the purposes of our pure prayers be fulfilled
And our hopes and aspirations accomplished just the same.
TADYATHA PENTSA DRIYA AWA BODHA NAYE SOHA
The use of the poison of atomic weapons that have the power to destroy in a single second the presence of the Buddha’s teachings and the lives of sentient beings on this great earth of ours, and every bit of goodness in the universe and its inhabitants, will destroy the human race. The time when these extremely lethal weapons never seen before will be used is not far off—signs and indications are growing each day. So, moved irrepressibly by insupportable sadness and intense fear, we must call out like children wailing for their mothers to the one who can stop this: Orgyen Padma.
Thinking of the tremendous need for and benefit of reciting and writing on silk to hoist on mountain tops and hang from bridges, a prayer such as this, which invokes the most important sacred pledges and wisdom of the ocean of the Three Jewels of refuge, I, the vagabond Buddha Vajra (Sangye Dorje), wrote this with a pure intention on the thirteenth day of the third month in the year of the female water sow. Those with faith in me should keep this in their hearts. May the merit of writing this purge the barbarian hordes who trample the sublime teachings.
Translated by Christina Monson, 2014.
(source : http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/chatral-rinpoche/rishis-maledictory-incantation)
A Buddhist Perspective of Global Environment
by Kyabje Sakya Trizin
(source : http://www.ecobuddhism.org/wisdom/interviews/kst2013/)
Life is not only precious to us. It is precious to every living being, from the tiniest insect to the highest god. Life is what is most precious to every single other being. When we experience our own feelings, we can remember how every individual also feels the same way.
We have to always remember how we need to protect the many forms of life, and also to protect the environment that harbours it. No one can live in a place where there is no water, where there are no trees, and so forth. Our lives are completely dependent on our environment.
We might say that the Buddha was the founder of environmentalism. His Vinaya– the code of behaviour that he instituted for monks and nuns – stipulates that “You cannot cut trees, you cannot cut leaves; you cannot cut flowers; you cannot disturb the forest; you cannot foul the river; you cannot foul the grass.” In his own time, the Buddha instructed his Sangha to observe the same guidance nowadays set forth by environmentalists.
Today, our world is experiencing serious environmental problems. Many of my friends are very concerned about this, and have concluded that the Earth will eventually become like a desert; without water, trees and rain. So we need to think about the future beings who will inherit our Earth; our children, grandchildren and everyone else. We need to consider the problems they will face, and ensure that the Earth will remain suitable for them to inhabit.
Buddhist teachings have much to offer in making this world a better place. Their reach somehow goes beyond ordinary human effort, however worthy the latter may be. They are deeper and all-inclusive. Environmentalists are to be highly praised for all the work that they do, for their marvellous accomplishments. Yet we cannot say their philosophy is all-embracing. The Buddhist view of love, compassion and the protection of all beings is deeper and wider than conventional thinking.
Most Buddhist practitioners do not actively help beings. On the other hand, many animal lovers or environmentalists neither pray nor meditate, yet they step in to help animals in any kind of pain or danger. Ideally, we could combine these two attitudes—the Buddhist and environmentalist practices of compassion. It would be enormously beneficial to our world. The Buddha, after all, was a forerunner of environmentalists. Buddhism teaches that we should make this world beautiful, free and clean; not only for human beings but for every living being that inhabits it. It seems to me that modern environmentalists could learn something from the Buddha’s teachings, especially the rules of the Vinaya. By incorporating them into their own philosophy, environmentalists might deepen and broaden its scope.
The work of protecting the environment cannot be simply left to a few individuals or organisations. It is now is everyone’s responsibility. It is essential that everyone become aware of how things might turn out to be on our Earth if we don’t take care of it. If many people make an effort, this will certainly make a considerable difference. Whatever we do, it is important to fully appreciate that life is precious and that we must all do something to preserve it, making it fruitful and long-lasting. We need to do this for our own benefit…all the more so for the sake of future generations. Our environment has already entered into a rapid process of change. Many of my friends in Tibet tell me how the climate there is changing dramatically. Great snow mountains are melting—some at a very rapid place.
We Tibetans believe that it’s not only the visible aspect of Nature that is affected. There is also an invisible dimension to it that we are not always aware of. In Tibet, every mountain has its own local deity that resides there. According to our ancient beliefs, these deities are affected by degenerative changes, and this makes them unhappy, leading to more natural disasters. Due to people’s greed, chemical refuse is thrown into rivers, forests are decimated and the ground is cut open to extract valuable minerals. All these natural environments are home to deities, and when they are violated in this way, so are their resident deities. Many people don’t believe in gods, local deities and other invisible beings. But I believe that they do exist and that they make a substantial difference to how things are.
The visible and invisible aspects of Nature are intrinsically linked to each other, and as a result of their being affected, many disasters arise. In order to remedy this state of affairs, I believe that we need to adopt a two-pronged approach. Not only do we need to follow the directives of environmentalism on how to physically take care of our world, but we need to perform protective and rejuvenating rituals. I truly believe that these rituals have a definite effect on things.
By trying from every angle, everybody in their own way, matters will definitely improve. It is very important that everyone plays a part in taking care of our Earth, not merely delegating it to a few individuals or organisations. Are we not all part of the human race? We have now to think of its future, and of those who will follow us. If we don’t act now, they will have to live in a sort of hungry ghost land.
The Buddha’s wisdom perceives the present and the future, just as we can see the palms of our own hands. He sees every effect to every cause, and every cause to every effect. That is why his teachings are authentic and wondrous. They lead us to work for the benefit of beings, the world and the environment.
A Message from His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche regarding the Rise of Environmental Challenges in the World
This is a message to all the Buddhists in the world. In general, anyone who practices a religion, any religion, needs love and compassion. This love and compassion is to be directed towards all sentient beings: “May all sentient beings have happiness and may they be free from suffering.” Therefore, when people anywhere suffer from heat and cold, you should pray to the one in whom you take refuge. Pray for the benefit of all countries in the world, for example, “May those without rain have rain; may those without water have water; may the fire that injures some be extinguished,” and so forth. You should make prayers that accord with your own tradition. As Buddhists we can recite the Prayer for World Peace or single-pointedly supplicate to Tara. This is the responsibility of every religious practitioner, even if you are the only one in the house. Such prayers will surely be of benefit. Even if only one or two people pray, it will surely bring benefit.
We should all pray together for the well-being of all countries. This will also benefit us. If we close ourselves up and only care about our own well-being, then of course, that will not be of much benefit. But if you pray with the intention to benefit the entire world, that will actually benefit yourself the most, and it will also benefit the world. This is called “accomplishing the benefit of others and oneself.” So everyone should supplicate his or her own source of refuge.
Buddhists, for example, can supplicate Jetsun Tara, Chenrezig, and so forth; recite Mani mantras; perform purification rituals before stupas, or even small statues; be generous to animals, and so forth. All these practices will benefit the world. Otherwise, hatred and jealousy will increase in this world, and love will decline. This will lead to an increase of heat in the world, and in the end the world will go up in flames. Thus, it would be good if everyone would consider this. We should all pray and take this to heart with great concern. If we remain unconcerned about the suffering of others as long as it doesn’t affect us personally, we are just paying lip service to our prayer, “May all sentient beings have happiness and may they be free from suffering.”
The single cause of all the misery in this world, such as floods on the outer level and conflicts on the inner level, is the ill will arising from the hatred and jealousy of the people inhabiting this planet. Instead of helping one another, people harm each other: countries go to war, people and religious groups fight with each other. In brief, love—the harmony of the inner elements—affects the harmony of the outer elements. The five mental afflictions and the five outer elements are profoundly related. Therefore, our efforts to give rise to love and compassion will be fruitful by virtue of three powers: first, the power of one’s own pure intention—one’s own good heart ; second, the power of the Tatagathas—all the buddhas of the three times have made aspiration prayers, but in addition, we must supplicate them. Just as with a wish-fulfilling jewel, unless one expresses the wish, it will not be fulfilled. If we supplicate, then we will receive the power of all the buddhas; this is the power of the Tataghatas. And third, the power of Dharmadhatu—samsara and nirvana have a single basis. The duality of samsara and nirvana is only a temporary appearance due to various karma and afflictions.
As a result of actions committed with an afflicted mind, we now witness a lot of suffering in this world. So how can we purify these afflictions? All afflictions arise from self-grasping, and the antidote to self-grasping is the altruistic mind. Altruism will benefit one in all circumstances: in this life, in the next life, and in the bardo. Everyone needs altruism. Even a tiny creature will experience happiness relative to the level of its altruism.
Thus we pray, “May beings possess happiness and the causes of happiness.” The cause of happiness is love. And, “May beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.” The cause of suffering is self-grasping. There is no other Dharma than that. The heart-essence of the Dharma is love and compassion. Apart from love and compassion, no other Dharma exists. What we call “the Buddha” is the wisdom-mind, the perfection of wisdom. The subtle wisdom of buddha-nature is the underlying basis of samsara and nirvana. Therefore, if one has love and compassion, wisdom will increase. If you understand this, you will discover the method to bring about happiness and liberation from suffering.
Thus, we should engender excellent aspirations. Since the world is currently in such a perilous state, I request everyone to pray well.
This entry was posted on 16161616, in Environment, Practices, Teachings, Uncategorized.
Omniscient Lamas
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Mani Mantra Monlam Total Count
Total Count as of 25 Jun 2019 : 75,954,576
You are welcome to participate in this ongoing Mani mantra accumulation by emailing your pledge count to vajrasattvadawn@gmail.com
https://bodhiactivity.wordpress.com/2015/12/29/mini-monlam-of-the-mani-mantra/
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Rainbow Body practitioner
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/ Cory Doctorow / 7:50 am Thu Jun 27, 2019
Hong Kong protesters repeatedly blockade police HQ, demanding release of people arrested at #612strike demonstrations
This month's #612strike uprising in Hong Kong achieved a provisional victory when the city's Beijing-friendly government shelved its plans to allow Hong Kongers to be extradited to the mainland to stand charges for political "crimes" -- but the protests, which are the largest in the island's history, are not over.
In addition to marching for the resignation of the city's top administrator, Carrie Lam, the protesters have repeatedly blockaded the police HQ, for hours at a time, calling for the release of comrades who were arrested in the #612strike marches. They have graffitied the building ("Hong Kong police dog headquarters") and hung banners from it reading "Release the prisoners."
Protesters are hoping to draw the attention of world leaders at the G20 summit in Osaka. The organizers of the demonstration from the Civil Human Rights Front have translated their materials into English, Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, Indonesian, Korean and Italian.
Freedom HK crowdfunded from Hong Kongers to run full-page ads in several international newspapers ahead of the event.
During the rally, protesters chanted slogans such as “Withdraw evil extradition law”, “Free Hong Kong” and “We want genuine universal suffrage”, as guest speakers took turns on the stage to address the crowd.
The rally was led by the Civil Human Rights Front, the pro-democracy group that organised two mass marches and other events this month against the bill which would allow the transfer of fugitives to mainland China and other jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has no extradition arrangement.
Siege of Hong Kong police headquarters ends without clashes after 6-hour drama by extradition bill protesters [Sum Lok-kei, Victor Ting, Ng Kang-chung and Kanis Leung/South China Morning Post]
(via Naked Capitalism)
#612strike / china / civil human rights front / hong kong
Huawei plans hundreds of layoffs at U.S.-based research subsidiary Futurewei
Some 850 people in research labs across America will lose their jobs.
China's AI industry is tanking
In Q2 2018, Chinese investors sank $2.87b into AI startups; in Q2 2019, it was $140.7m.
After poacher crackdown, Tanzanian endangered rhino and elephant populations are staging inspiring recoveries
Four years ago, there were 15 known black rhinos left in Tanzania -- "ground zero of the poaching crisis" -- and today there 167 of them; elephant populations (which dropped 60% between 2009-2014) are rebounding too, up to over 60,000 from a low of 43,330.
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[additional list items]
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(a) [by post, to [the postal address given above]];
(b) [using our website contact form];
(c) [by telephone, on [the contact number published on our website from time to time]]; or
(d) [by email, using [the email address published on our website from time to time]].
14. Data protection officer
14.1 Our data protection officer’s contact details are: [contact details].
Optional element.
“Personal data” is defined in Article 4(1) of the GDPR:
“(1) ‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person”.
The inclusion of this statement in your privacy policy will not in itself satisfy the requirements of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 as regards consent to the use of cookies. Guidance concerning methods of obtaining such consent is included on the Information Commissioner’s website (http://www.ico.gov.uk).
Section 2: Credit
Section: Free documents licensing warning
Optional element. Although you need to retain the credit, you should remove the inline copyright warning from this document before use.
Section 3: How we use your personal data
Article 13(1) of the GDPR provides that:
“(1) Where personal data relating to a data subject are collected from the data subject, the controller shall, at the time when personal data are obtained, provide the data subject with all of the following information: … (c) the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for the processing; (d) where the processing is based on point (f) of Article 6(1), the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party”.
Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR provides that:
“(1) Processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that at least one of the following applies: … (f) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.”
Article 14 of the GDPR, which applies where personal information is not obtained from the data subject, provides that information about “the categories of personal data concerned” must be supplied to data subjects.
Article 13 of the GDPR, which applies where personal information is obtained from the data subject, does not include an equivalent provision.
Nonetheless, we have included references to general categories of data in this document, because this facilitates the identification of particular purposes of processing and the legal bases of processing – information which does need to be provided under Article 13.
Section 3.10
Optional element. Use this form of provision to identify and provide relevant information about other categories of personal data that you may process.
Section 4: Providing your personal data to others
Article 13(1)(e) of the GDPR requires that where personal data are collected from the data subject, the data controller must provide the data subject with information about “the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data”.
Equivalent rules for data collected from someone other than the data subject are in Article 14(1)(e).
Section 5: International transfers of your personal data
Article 13(1)(f) of the GDPR requires that data controllers disclose to data subjects “where applicable, the fact that the controller intends to transfer personal data to a third country or international organisation and the existence or absence of an adequacy decision by the Commission, or in the case of transfers referred to in Article 46 [transfers subject to appropriate safeguards] or 47 [binding corporate rules], or the second subparagraph of Article 49(1) [limited transfers for compelling legitimate interests], reference to the appropriate or suitable safeguards and the means by which to obtain a copy of them or where they have been made available”.
Optional element. Will users have the opportunity to publish personal information on the website?
Section 6: Retaining and deleting personal data
Article 5(1)(e) of the GDPR sets out the storage limitation, one of the fundamental rules of the regime:
“Personal data shall be: … kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) subject to implementation of the appropriate technical and organisational measures required by this Regulation in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subject … “.
Section 7: Amendments
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How will users be notified of changes to the document?
Section 8: Your rights
Article 13(2) of the GDPR provides that, where personal data is collected from a data subject, certain information about data subject rights must be provided:
“In addition to the information referred to in paragraph 1, the controller shall, at the time when personal data are obtained, provide the data subject with the following further information necessary to ensure fair and transparent processing: … (b) the existence of the right to request from the controller access to and rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing concerning the data subject or to object to processing as well as the right to data portability; (c) where the processing is based on point (a) of Article 6(1) or point (a) of Article 9(2), the existence of the right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal; …”.
Similar provisions are set out in Article 14 in relation to personal data which is not collected from the relevant data subject.
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Resurrection Shuffle : GW2
Last night was re-linking in World vs World. It happens on the last Friday of every even-numbered month. The link system began in the Spring of 2016.
For North America that meant the elision of two dozen servers, then competing in eight tiers, into a dozen, fighting in four. The twelve most populated servers became "Hosts" while the rest became "Guests". All servers kept their names and behind the scenes the Glicko score of the guests continued to tick over but from then on Hosts got top billing and guests got to see their names in small print.
As with anything ANet has a hand in, the system has undergone numerous iterations since then. The way population is calculated has changed. We now use a two-hour Skirmish system with points to keep score rather than raw Glicko as we used to do. We also currently labor under a "one up, one down" promotion mechanic that makes everything a lot more predictable and a lot less volatile than it used to be.
For a long time the whole enterprise was wildly controversial. Prior to the linkings "Server Pride", while not as strong as it once was, still meant a good deal to many. For months after the change, the forums dripped with anguished threads about loss of identity, while more pragmatic players created server guilds to keep the flag flying.
At the time, many people - probably most people - felt it was the end for the dozen servers that had lost their ability to headline a match. The feeling was that after a decent interval those names would be quietly expunged and we'd have de-facto server merges.
Didn't happen. Instead the guest servers carried on, sometimes in more than just name. Crystal Desert, which missed the original cut, even managed to claw back Host status, replacing Darkhaven. That resurrection appeared to be the exception, however. Until recently.
Here I am this morning, thirty seconds after logging in, on my way to retake Hills. It never stops.
WvW has always been prone to bandwagons. Sometimes it happens when self-appointed Community leaders decide to rah-rah for a specific project, as when the attempt was made to drag the eternal bottom server, Kaineng, all the way to Tier One. Mostly it's more a form of self-interest as people try to attach themselves to a rising star.
With the announcement that WvW would be receiving a top to bottom revamp in which all existing worlds would be removed and replaced with a system of Alliances, a number of high net-worth individuals (aka Guild Leaders aka Wrecking Balls) took it upon themselves to game the existing system while it lasts, partly for profit but mostly out of pure devilment.
In addition, as Server Loyalty and identity continues to fragment and both guilds and individuals seek to ask not what they can do for their World but what they can do for themselves, the game mode moved into a period of high volatility, with guilds transferring at an ever-increasing frequency, often fracturing and splitting communities in the process.
The results have been spectacular. In the last round of links at the end of June, Kaineng returned from link purgatory to Host status, displacing Crystal Desert. Yesterday saw that process accelerate, with two switches as Anvil Rock and Sanctum of Rall regained their independence after two years in the shadowlands.
If that wasn't surprising enough (and it surprised the heck out of me when I logged in this morning and read the new linkings) then the Worlds that went grey most certainly were. Out of the Hosting business go Dragonbrand and... Jade Quarry!
Dragonbrand has always been a strong server, largely due to having the word "Dragon" in its name. Certain demographics have very strong affiliations to certain images and ideas and the mere use of a word that brings those to mind will strongly influence server choice.
I felt sufficiently motivated to put my Charr Warrior into full exotics. She's been in a rag-bag of Rares for the best part of six years.
Many Eastern players, as I understand it, find the Dragon an appealing banner to fight under. The same reason led to Jade Quarry attracting a large number of players from outside of the Americas. (This, incidentally, is why I replied to Keen's post on choosing a server with the opinion that the name of the server is the most important indication of its likely community, outside of the ruleset itself).
Jade must have been even more magnetic a draw than Dragon because Jade Quarry dominated the WvW rankings for years. For the first three years the server never fell out of the top three and it has remained a major force and title contender throughout the life of the game. Until now.
To see JQ drop to link status is akin to seeing Manchester United relegated to the National League (formerly The Conference). It's something that just can't happen. Only, in GW2, it just did.
In some ways this is good. I have a soft spot for Anvil Rock, who were Yak's Bend's very first link and who have partnered with us several times. They had great spirit, some strong commanders and were always good company.
One of the nicest commanders I ever ran with, Frozen, formed a server guild called Anvil Resistance to keep that spirit going. They're still around. I often see the tag. I hope Frozen is still playing and glorying in the well-deserved resurgence of his World, even though I imagine it's a very different place right now, stuffed to the gills with carpet-baggers.
Sanctum of Rall, which was famously named after a player who died before GW2 began, owes its resurgence to a campaign started by Foghladha to see out the final days of the old matchmaking system in some kind of glory. There were some doubts expressed as to the motives behind the move but the results are plain for all to see. Sanctum of Rall has its name back.
It all comes down to this in the end.
It's also good to see the whole bag of marbles shaken up once in a while. Earlier in the year WvW felt very stale. Now it feels unpredictable and chaotic. That suits me fine.
On the other side of the argument I can see some serious problems. The matchmaking system and scoring are already in disrepute. Many players don't see the point of keeping score at all when we know the whole system is going away and even those who do feel the current scoring method is deeply flawed.
Add instability on this level to the mix and you risk WvW turning into nothing much more than a free-for-all where everyone fights for the sake of fighting. Some people like that but I'm not one of them.
On balance, though, I like where we are now better than where we were a few months ago. No-one expects the proposed revamp to happen this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see it attached to the third expansion as some kind of feature, which would mean mid-late 2019 at the very earliest. Until it gets here we need some motivation and the current resurgence of certain World identities adds that.
It also puts the fear of Zhaitan into the rest of us. If Jade Quarry can fall, no-one's safe, not even mighty Blackgate, currently, unthinkably, languishing in Tier Three.
Yak's Bend is enjoying a mini-renaissance of its own right now. Half a dozen medium to large guilds left last month, which you might think would be bad news. As it happens, they were mostly "fight" guilds. They and a few others had had a fairly long run on YB, changing the culture from our longstanding siege meme to something less hated but also less interesting. I was happy to see them go.
Superstar Commander says "Look into my eyes..." Also "Get that cat out of the way"
Even before they left things were starting to change back. Not only did our own King over the Water return from another of his sabbaticals but he somehow persuaded his long-lost helpmeet and ally, thought gone forever by most, to return as well.
Those two, along with a number of others, some of whom have also re-appeared, were the foundations of Yak's Bend's infamous Golden Age of Arrow Carts. ACs themselves have been heavily nerfed and things right now do feel a little more like a re-union tour, where everyone just wants to hear the hits, but it's a huge improvement on what we had to put up with under the previous so-called leadership.
In a final twist, the other World I play on, Ehmry Bay, was linked with Yak's Bend for (I think...) the first time ever. For the next two months I have all my characters not just in the same match but on the same side! Seeing as how I chose EBay for my third account because of the famous alliance between YB and EB against SBI in the first WvW tournament Season, it feels like we've come full circle at last.
It's astonishing how WvW still manages to dominate my GW2 gameplay six years on, despite all its manifold faults and shortcomings. It's ridiculously addictive. I hate to think what it would be like if ANet ever managed to balance the combat and come up with a meanigful scoring system too...
Labels: Ehmry Bay, GW2, Mechanics, MMO, WvW, Yaks Bend
Purple Haze : GW2
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Soft Kitty: GW2
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In My Element : EQ2
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Easy Pieces
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Once More, With Feeling : Earth Eternal
East Goes West
Make Mine A Double - A Public Service Announcement...
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Cutaways banned
In the UK there have been a series of TV scandals. Scandals that pundits say have ‘eroded the public trust in television.’ These scandals range from people entering phone in competitions on premium-rate telephone numbers with no chance of winning to a documentary about Alzheimer’s that implied that the subject had died on camera when they went into a coma that lead to their death three days later.
The latest kneejerk reaction has been that a UK TV channel has banned the use of a majority of the cutaways regularly used in TV news.
At the moment news programmes are peppered with what Five’s news editor David Kermode describes as “rather hackneyed tricks”. He’s referring to interviewer ‘noddies’ and question asking shots that are recorded after the interviewee has left the scene. He also is banning the generic silent shots of interviewees walking down corridors and walking into offices. These are the shots that reporters usually add a voiceover to to provide story context. Kermode calls these “contrived”.
He said viewers “have a pretty good grasp of what an ‘edit’ is, so I think the time has come to be honest about signposting when we edit our interviews”. That shows that he doesn’t understand the need for storytelling techniques in communication.
This ban is supposed to restore viewers’ trust in TV news… However I’d be surprised if any viewers have noticed any of these ‘tricks’. They’ll notice interviews made up of interviewee shots crossfading from clip to clip.
It’s surprising that the general public’s trust in British TV has lasted this far into the 21st century. I think that TV companies should forget about trying to regain that trust with empty gestures and get on with making good TV.
The BBC’s Newsnight show is asking viewers whether this ban is a good idea. There’s a good set of responses to that question on their website.
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Story of the Day 2
New Editors in Kantipur, Kathmandu Post and Nepal Magazine
August 18, 2008 UWB 45 Comments
Narayan Wagle and Prateek Pradhan, the original reporters of Kantipur and the Post respectively, who rose to the helm of the papers signaling the new era in Nepali journalism, call it a day
Outgoing editor Narayan Wagle (second from right) addresses reporters in the newsroom of Kantipur. The newly appointed editor Sudheer Sharma, first from right, and Hari Bahadur Thapa (third from right), the newly appoint news editor listened. Pic by Suraj Kunwar
Sudheer Sharma has been named the new editor of Kantipur daily following the resignation of Narayan Wagle, one of the most charismatic journalists of Nepal.
Akhilesh Upadhyay was named the editor of the Kathmandu Post following the resignation of Prateek Pradhan. Upadhyay is a former reporter of the Post who had left the paper some five years ago when Pradhan was elevated to the highest editorial position in the Post. Upadhyay also opened an English language weekly magazine called Nation that was ultimately closed because of economic problems.
Both Wagle and Pradhan, who joined the papers as reporters from the very beginning when they were started 17 years ago, rose to the top positions of the respective papers signaling the arrival of new generation to the leadership in Nepali journalism. They are the first generation of Nepali reporters to reach the top positions of their papers. Both Kantipur and the Kathmandu Post are published by Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd, Nepal’s largest publishing house.
Sharma, a rising star of Nepali journalism, was the editor of Nepal Magazine, a weekly from Kantipur Publications, the publisher of Kantipur daily and the Post. Prashant Aryal, assistant editor at Nepal Magazine, also from Kantipur Publications, was promoted to the editor of the Magazine. Aryal is also a former reporter of Kantipur daily.
Sharma, the new editor of Kantipur, is an equivalent of Narayan Wagle in magazine journalism. Though he has never worked in a daily newspaper Sharma has done ground breaking reporting in several magazines and weekly papers. Sharma rose to stardom through his stories in Himal fortnightly magazine. He left Himal to join Nepal as an assistant editor. Within a year or so he was named the editor of the magazine. He resigned from the magazine only to join it again last year.
In the past several days five top editors and a senior cartoonist have resigned from Kantipur and the Post. News editor Ameet Dhakal and chief reporter D K Jaisi the Post and news editor Gunaraj Luintel of Kantipur and senior cartoonist Rajesh KC of the Publications have also resigned.
These resignations have come after the company saw a change in leadership and selling of shares from one of the owners to the other last month. The Gyawali family sold all of their shares- 50 percent- in the company to the Sirohiya family who had the remaining stakes. After the transaction, Sirohiya, the Managing Director, was named the Chairman and MD of the company. Hem Raj Gyawali was the Chairman and Binod Raj Gyawali was the director of the company before the change.
In a separate farewell program organized in Kantipur Complex a few days ago for the former chairman and former director, Binod Gyawali had announced that he would bring out new English and Nepali language papers (“Bhai Kantipur” or younger brother of Kantipur) soon. Reporters in the newsrooms of both Kantipur and the Post speculate that the resigning editors will join the new papers though Narayan Wagle didn’t give any hint about that in an informal farewell speech delivered in the newsroom of Kantipur this afternoon. Prateek Pradhan is not in the country currently. He is in the US and expected to return Nepal this week.
Wagle and Pradhan led the papers in some of the most difficult and tumultuous times in the history of Nepali politics and journalism. They firmly and courageously led the papers during the emergency of 2005 when the freedom of expression was severely curtailed by the then king Gyanendra who was ousted by the Constituent Assembly this year following the historic April uprising of 2006 and the election of CA four months ago. They both fought, through their strong leadership, against the autocracy and led the newsroom to report the pro-democracy movement vigorously.
Wagle, a celebrated reporter, rose to fame through groundbreaking stories from the hinterlands of Nepal and his semi fictional weekly column called Coffee Guff in the Saturday supplement of Kantipur. He is also the author of the best selling novel Palpasa Cafe that won Madan Puraskar, the highest literary award of Nepal.
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45 thoughts on “New Editors in Kantipur, Kathmandu Post and Nepal Magazine”
guyfromktm says:
Sad to see Narayan wagle leave– he kept getting better as days progressed- wish I could say the same about Prateek pradhan- he was a mediocre journalist to begin with and never rose to the occasion- however, despite Wagle, it was sad that Kantipur remains a very biased and hungry for sensational news media house bootlicking to the politicians. I hope it will improve under Akhilesh– congrats Akhleshji..
Masayo says:
OK ,what is going on at the Kantipur?
What is this all about– a huge shift in Nepali journalism?
New goverment,new news papers,new reporter,etc.
I can’t read between the lines,Dinesh
change (human right, prosperous nepal) says:
is mf bjp interfering in our internal matter.
it is really the true news………………. if madeshi parties work with bjp then we have to chase them away
Janajati says:
Newspaper should be biasless….and report the news of peoples’ voice without politicising….this is where Wagle and Pratik were failed….
Ponytailguy says:
Hmm then Kantipur will have only one Wagle left. 🙂
Or you to leaving?
It is sad to see best brains leave kantipur media. Sudhir sharma is no match to narayan wagle. He will do whatever it takes to please the maoist loonies. I hope gyawalis start new paper soon and give Sirohiya run for his money.
baluwater says:
I am sure all are good
dalitwomen says:
fair representation goes for the press as well, but not necessarily only other groups yet it must be done
Reality Bytes says:
Hope ! New Nepal beginning……
Ohh…High competetion in nepali journalism just started right now ….. . The right to information through one publication/channel has been changed to other more options….
Like The New York Times and Washington Post : 2 great newspaper from one country, nepal was faced with only one newspaper without competition …..but it’s not true all the times………
A new competetive daily paper will be launched soon may be representing the senior wagle as an editor….
I think the period of the Emergency-SANKATKAL might be difficult period for publishers of Kantipur publication……I don’t know ! How and why the need of Seperation !! Let’s hope for better ……
Kailash says:
I read in a newspaper that Kailash Sirhoiya met Prachanda, the question was Yub Raj Ghimire or Sudheer -both King’a men, prachanda said Sudheer not Ghimire?
United Voices says:
Looking at the recent developments at Kantipur complex and near around and all the rumors circulating in the market, one can assume that the break-up of the top management team is not as simple as it looked. It has a back untold story behind all this.
Also, given the fact that the top journalists leaving the “Kantipur” brand, the top artists like Rajesh KC and other too. Well, what does this all signify. Since they had been working @ kantipur for many years and now that they best @ kantipur leave it.
This certainly has a story behind. We would like to know about all the facts.
again, nepal lost in olympic in the same way like before……………………………………… it looks like nepalese can only kill or kick sitting ducks……………… whether it a nepalese athletes or terrorists who comduct terrorism in the name of politics……………. …………………… 10/12 terrorists with khukuris kill one unarmed nepalese and in sports nepalese cannot kick moving targer………………………… no doubt nepalese are dhides……………….. govt. should make rule to not to fail students till 9th grade ………………………………………… some form of education is better than no education. ……………………………………………….. and again khukuri is good for killing sitting ducks, goats etc but useless when we need to defend ourself or our family from 2/3 terrorists……………………… we need change …………………. and it better be now……………….. eradicate all dumbs from politics ………….. eradicate all dumbs who do not respect others ……………………………………….. dradicate all dumbs who have loud voice………………………………. …………………..
sudanrai says:
my sister in kirtipur has no job
These guys along with the parting publisher of Kantipur- Gyawali- are brining out two new newspapers- English and Nepali- soon. I hope to read quality newspapers. But the question remains: Will they be able to compete with Kantipur, Kathmandu Post and Himalayan Times? We certainly deserve better and qualitative coverage of issues that all of the aforementioned papers are lacking in one way or the other. Hoping for the best…
Major Sharp says:
If the new newspapers and magazines, can follow investigative journalism as shown by the rise of Ad Avenues TV (whose viewership is rising in competition to Kantipur TV whose Journalism is flat and too general), I am damn sure that the new newspapers from Gyawali group can outcompete Kantipur, Kathmandu Post and Himalayan Times.
It also depends on how much hidden finance the new newspapers can source. All the best!
sunil says:
i hope in coming days narayan wagle,prateek,ameet and DK come with more effort that will clearly boomed the era of journlaism sector in nepal.they contributed and create a milestone history crossing from the dark barrier.i have a deep respect to them and hope i will see them soon in the most changed proffessional journalism.hope for the best.
put american journalists to save nepal
sita says:
or ethnic groups
parth guragain says:
what i think that nepali journalism lacks depth.all the papers and television channels are obessed with olitical issues.due to this social issues ,sports,entertain news are laging behind.journlist what i think need to grow up and focus on other issues also.so unless these issues are dealt with it will never matter who will leave and who will join.all the journalist should know the changing taste of people.otherwise nepali journalislm will never grow.
Human interest is the central focus of journalism. Human interest of Nepal is more than politics only. It comprises of sports, social issues, lifestyle, entertainment, development, ethnic, cultural and local issues as well, as rightly pointed by Parth Guragain.
The perspective (angle) of Nepalese Journalism should be changed. Nepalese journalists should do more research, and the beats should be specialized. The priority should be other than politics. Because politics is only means to the end, it is not the end itself. The end (object) of political journalism should be exposing realities and corruption, finding shortcoming, changing perspectives, giving new agandas, informing on crucial issues, for the national priorities such as: development, poverty alleviation etc.
Of course journalism cannot be neutral, it should be biased towards welfare of people, and national agenda. Reporting only should not be the objective of Nepalese journalism. It should play the role of activism, change agent and missionary. This is of paramount importance in the underdeveloped country like Nepal.
what sports you talkin about? there is no local sport (of any quality) anyway. all foreign sports are covered by diff international mediums. our reality in this third world is POLITICS and the messed up drama that comes along.
‘Reality’ is what you make. There is no objective reality. Reality is always subjective. Media has power to ‘make’ or ‘break’ realities.
My concern is why not use this tool (media) to make/ create new reality. This approach is ‘normative’, that is what should be the case, not be slave of what you are offered.
If you sincerely as most of the normal Nepalese, they don’t care much about politics (dirty politics), above what concerns for the livelihood and social interest. Media is not paying much attention to this, due to one reason or another.
Media should inform and build opinions on other pertinent sphere of life, not only politics.
Rosyblue says:
All the best to you all.
All the best to you all. They should try thier best and not to be biased.
Raj Kanwar,Dehra Dun ,India says:
Chage is the law of nature.For better or worse,change is inevitable.I am do reason to doubt that the new management and editorial team at Kathmandu Post will not perform as well .if not better, than the outgoing team.
Chage is the law of nature.For better or worse,change is inevitable.I have no reason to doubt that the new management and editorial team at Kathmandu Post will not perform as well .if not better, than the outgoing team.
dear editor: sorry there was an error in the first comment sent at 12.02 pm ” I am do reason” should have read “I have no reason”
fadsfdâydhg says:
êàê äåëà ðåáÿòà
âàðàâðï
youporncocks says:
i new on this forum
iTashaLIL says:
I want to know how to load my Photo as avatar. But I have some troubles when try to upload my photo.
Some times it does not upload. Or when I upload it, the photo has deformation.
What should I do to fix that?
AllaFlardow says:
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 2008 science fiction film, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name.
Actually, after i’ve seen it, I was dissapointed. Perect cast, interest theme, but scenario doesn’t conform to modern world-view and lifestyle.
Interest ot hear other opinions, do you like this movie?
toad says:
TKP, THT,TNR- whats’ fun in writing when there’s hardly any readership. think broadcast journo is the job. btwn, have u seen any changes in tkp after ameetji, prateekji left? how all most of journos are fleeing Kantipur group? r they not getting paid? i guess not…..let’s discuss quality of Nepal’s english journo
Coenceder says:
Hi people
As newly registered user i just wanted to say hello to everyone else who uses this site <:-)
Lyncgoopy says:
As a fresh blog.com.np user i just want to say hi to everyone else who uses this site 😉
werf says:
Simply titled Big Brother & The Holding Company, the album is Janis’s one attempt to be part of a group ensemble instead of the…
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CypeDerefrivinype says:
Q. Why do black widow spiders kill their males after mating? – A. To stop the snoring before it starts.
नेपाली says:
नेपालीमा कमेन्ट गर्न मिल्छ यहाँ?
आबुइ, मिल्दो पो रहेछ त!
lapendra thapa says:
This is lapendra thapa from india (delhi), currently working as an online news editor. i really feel good to see the efforts which were made to make initial constitution of nepal. i want to give a comment in this regard. As the pages of constitution are going to be in order many things have to be keep in mind.I would feel very proud if the things will go on smooth and finally we will become an demoratic country soon.
with regards
Lapenra thapa
best of luck for new constitution.
Vinsent says:
If you want to display your nature and to show other people what you believe in avatars is your appropriate solution! Myspace avatars are excellent features to be added into profiles which make them bright, attractive and informative. That’s why a great number of people apply them. Moreover, cute avatars tell about themselves and do it in quite original way.
What are avatars? They are little graphic pictures, rather vivid and catchy. There are animated avatars and simple. But it isn’t their full classification! In fact there is a huge quantity of avatars kinds! It is possible for you to change your profile avatar every day during few years without been repeated. Talking about avatars categories we should mention such of them as, for example, animal avatars, cartoon avatars, fantasy avatars, funny avatars, anime avatars, games avatars, love avatars, avatars movies, music avatars, sports avatars and free holiday avatars.
To get know the popularity of this or that avatar you can enter “Top Ranked Avatars“. Here you will find some samples of the most popular avatars. It is possible for you to produce both animated and non-animated avatars, but animated avatars are much better. The most popular avatars are considered to be the so called 3D avatars. If you want to have an avatar of such kind you have to upload your picture, short pattern of your voice or any other sound you wish. After this you should enter all required features such as clothing, special effects, background and many other. At the end you select the option called “Talking Head” and receive the avatar which sounds like your voice and looks like you in reality.
There is a large variety of internet sites which suggest to its users the service of making 3d MySpace Avatars. Just click the links which search engine gives to you and search for. Dollie avatars are very popular too! They are quite humorous and attractive. It is possible for you to discover dollie which will look nearly like you.
nimesh shrestha says:
relly i am very unhappy to our new goverment because of when our poblic or folk get’s suitable’s with aliving In the nepal sitel they didnt make better joneral list i hate them really
nimesh shrestha
from dubai U.A.E
vik says:
why NRB is still quite regarding KASTHAMANDAP DEVELOPMENT BANK liquidity ? this bank has provided maximum loan in Real state and the worst thing is it has not made any proper documentation regarding 80% of loan they have been doing. chabahil branch has excess lending than deposit and the documentation is worst.i have seen bank cannot pay a cheque of 5 lakhs as well.who is responsible for this? NRB or the management of KASTHAMANDAP DEVELOPMENT BANK .they have been looting the deposit and investing for their own personal use for family, relatives and the most loan been given for commission.how can NRB be quite in this situation. i believe NRB very poor to do any action against this bank.. i urge to the depositor to withdraw all of their deposit and file a case against these poor and fraud management specially the CEO- MR. SRAWAN KUMAR RAJBHANDARI. he has been giving jobs only from his family member and giving them a good post and salary. i have studied lots about them , they are totally cheating people and need to be taken a serious action.. if you require any inquiry i can provide you the proof and document against those fraud . well there is a big fraud in ATM as well. but because the fraud is done by MR DIPAK BOHORA, and a family member of CEO MR BHANDAI named ROSHANA KACHHAPATY, and EROSE BHANDARI, the management is hiding it . it is about 2-3 lakhs short from ATM.Well in conclusion the management is playing a game and cheating people. any enquiry contact me-(viksann@yahoo.com)
Yogesh dhakal says:
yespali ko chunab kasle gitla?
Narender Singh says:
I amNarendersingh
As a work inGujarat gardean Newspaper .Surat.
Qualification 10th.
Technical Qualification. Fitter Maintenance.P.D.T.C. Okhala New Delhi.
Experience 15year.
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Browse: Home » 2005 » April » Bosley Medical Institute v. Kremer–Victory for Gripers
Bosley Medical Institute v. Kremer–Victory for Gripers
April 5, 2005 · by Eric Goldman · in Domain Names, Trademark
Bosley Medical Institute v. Kremer, No. 04-55962, 9th Cir. Apr. 4, 2005. Kremer launches gripe site at www.bosleymedical.com, using the trademark of his target (with no additional words/letters) in the domain name. The court’s response was a big victory for gripers everywhere: “the noncommercial use of a trademark as the domain name of a website — the subject of which is consumer commentary about the products and services represented by the mark — does not constitute infringement under the Lanham Act.”
On the critical question of whether the griper was using the domain name in commerce, the site generated no revenues and did not promote any goods or services. It did link to another website, which through a series of further links could lead to commercial advertisements. It would be ridiculous to collapse this chain of links into a conclusion that the domain name use was commercial, and the Ninth Circuit wisely rejected that illogic. (“This roundabout path to the advertising of others is too attenuated to render Kremer’s site commercial.”) The court distinguished Nissan Motor v. Nissan Computer because, in that case, the domain name owner put ads directly on his site.
Many courts have upheld gripers’ rights so long as do not use TM.com, so this case could be a turning point for letting gripers pick a domain name of choice. The court disagreed with the PETA v. Doughney case on the argument that registering TM.com blocks customers of the TM owner from obtaining the TM owner’s goods, because in this case the bosleymedical.com site was, indeed, about Bosley Medical. The court limits the doctrine to situations where the domain name registrant offers competing services. Thus, in a strongly-worded sentence, the court concludes “Bosley cannot use the Lanham Act either as a shield from Kremer’s criticism, or as a sword to shut Kremer up.”
(In a footnote, the court says that the initial interest confusion does not apply because the griper’s use was non-commercial).
The court reversed the griper’s summary judgment ruling on the ACPA claim, rejecting that the non-commercial determination under the Lanham Act insulates the griper from a bad faith determination under ACPA (citing the Coca-Cola v. Purdy case). Therefore, it’s still possible the trial court will find against the griper on ACPA.
(Disclaimer: I signed on to an amicus brief prepared by the Berkman Center supporting Kremer in this case).
UPDATE: Marty Schwimmer has a contrarian take on the case.
← Search Engines and Privacy
Data Mining and Attention Consumption →
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Games 4 Brains – Game Night
BOOK NOW If you missed out on the fun last time, great news GAMES NIGHT is back! Games 4 Brains and cafe Roux Noordhoek bring you something completely[...]
cafe Roux, Noordhoek
Arno Carstens
BOOK NOW Cafe Roux presents Arno Carstens – The Intimate Sessions Arno Carstens, platinum selling singer songwriter and front man for cult rock band Springbok Nude Girls, has released 6[...]
cafe Roux Noordhoek
Bongeziwe Mabandla, Crosscurrent and The Steezies (Mandela Day Show)
BOOK NOW Mandela Day show at Café Roux (Noordhoek) with Bongeziwe Mabandla, Crosscurrent and The Steezies – In collaboration with Up The Creek Music Festival. Join us as we help[...]
Xmas in July with Me & Mr Green
BOOK NOW Me and Mr Green are one of Cape Town’s most loved party cover bands. Clear your schedules for this mid-year jol and get ready to hear all the[...]
A Tribute to Bob Marley – presented by The Rivertones (Unplugged/Acoustic)
CLICK HERE TO BOOK NOW Rivertones were formed in Cape Town 2006 by founder member, Roland who made his stage debut at 12. Roland has performed in 15 countries[...]
Emrhys Stead – Album Launch
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HOT WATER – Charity Gig for TEARS Animal Rescue
BOOK NOW Get your crew together for a foot-tapping good night out in support of a worthy cause! With a truly unique South African vibe that gets the whole crowd[...]
The Show must go on – A Tribute to Queen
BOOK NOW A tribute to the music of Queen is truly a trip through various emotions and feelings. Come see, hear and enjoy a proverbial festival through the highlights of[...]
Jenny & The Jameses
BOOK NOW Jenny and the Jameses is an Original Celtic folk band formed in March 2015. The band comprises singer / songwriter Jennifer Eaves on lead vocals, guitar and piano, James Hall on violin and[...]
cafe Roux,Noordhoek
Finding your life’s purpose – A film by Eckhart Tolle
BOOK NOW Café Roux and Exploring Consciousness bring you Films to inspire living. Join us for an enlightening evening….pre-book your tickets online and sit back and watch an inspiring film[...]
Alas Academy – Inspire the Night
BOOK NOW ALAS Academy, local Performing Arts and Music Academy performs for their 3rd annual “Inspire the Night” Production, showcasing the academies top 25! Expect whimsical guitar, effortless piano and[...]
A Eva Cassidy Tribute Show presented by Tanja Storm
BOOK NOW Eva Marie Cassidy was an American singer known for her interpretations of Jazz and Blues. She was practically unknown outside her hometown, until her posthumous recognition… Somewhere Over the[...]
BOOK NOW Watershed – structured around singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Craig Hinds who has always felt he is a man with a positive message to convey and after teaching high school[...]
Andre The Hilarious Hypnotist
BOOK NOW After a very successful 6 week run at GrandWest’s Roxy Revue Bar, Andre returns to the Cape for an evening of fun and laughter at Café’ Roux, Noordhoek.[...]
Nik Rabinowitz – Work in Progress
BOOK NOW In WORK IN PROGRESS, South Africa’s finest isiXhosa-speaking middle aged jewish male comedian discusses mid life crises, the pitfalls of genetic testing, hair transplants and when to have them (never) and a variety of[...]
Children & Sexuality Talk presented by Linda Bruce
BOOK NOW This presentation addresses the importance of normalising and integrating sex Ed into a child’s everyday life, so that they are empowered and supported to move into and through puberty,[...]
Satori – Award winning big wave surf film
BOOK NOW The feeling of opening yourself up to the ocean is one of both beauty and fear. In that moment ‘satori’ is reached, a feeling of instant awakening.[...]
The High End Blues Band
BOOK NOW The High End Blues Band was put together by Lance Allam and James Kibby and consists of a group of seasoned musicians playing Blues, Roots & Americana music,[...]
cafe Roux , Noordhoek
Dan Patlansky Duo Electric Tour
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Nomadic Orchestra
BOOK NOW If topless, kilt wearing Tuba players is your thing, then have we got the right show for you. Even if it’s not and you’re just into fantastic live[...]
Deep South – Ronan Skillen & David Ledbetter
BOOK NOW Comprised of guitarist Dave Ledbetter and percussionist Ronan Skillen, world music duo Deep South is an instrumental collaboration that incorporates in their music sounds from across the globe.[...]
Night Sky Zombies
BOOK NOW “Night Sky Zombies is a local 5 piece, formed three years ago, with an inaugural performance at Cafe Roux in August 2017. The Zombies perform a limited number of[...]
HUSBANDS, BAD SEX & HOT FLASHES: A TRANSFORMATIVE NIGHT WITH DR EVE
BOOK NOW Women want Good Sex. Women want Attention Affection Acknowldegment. Women want visibility in the World and in their World of Relationships. Digital world, children, careers, lifestyle transitions and confusiing intimate relationships distract[...]
A Bee Gees Tribute Show presented by 1925 Band
BOOK NOW The incredibly talented Gericke brothers, called 1925 Band, who have received rave reviews for their Bee Gees Tribute, that has been enjoying sold-out and virtually sold-out performances at[...]
Rockerfellas
BOOK NOW “Quite simply put, the Rockerfellas are the love child (band) of both Spinal Tap and Steel Panther. In much the same way Andy Warhol screen-printed images to create[...]
A Tribute to Neil Diamond presented by Johan Liebenberg
BOOK NOW World-class, consummate performer, Johan Liebenberg, who has built a reputation for sounding like the “Sweet Caroline” maestro, Neil Diamond himself, will be back at Café Roux, The Farm[...]
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Bollywood movie review: Mastizaade
By HITEN TRIVEDI on January 29, 2016 • ( 1 Comment )
DON’T WATCH IT!!
Star cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Vir Das, Sunny Leone, Asrani (Yes you read that right!)
Director: (Unfortunately) Milaz Zaveri
Rating: Never Mind! But if you insist, *
This film should have been titled Mere Meh’boob’ because the only thing the director is crazily obsessive about and intends to show in this film is b**bs, b**bs and more b**bs. However, his idea of showing ‘assets’ of every possible girl in this film has turned out to be the biggest liability for this film.
For a film that stars Tusshar (yet again in a sex comedy), an unbearable (non) actor like Vir Das, an almost nude Sunny Leone in twin roles throughout the film, characters so irritating that you want to shoot them all, and to top it all, if the film has the filthiest dialogues ever written in the history of Indian cinema that would make even guys, who love crass humour, cringe, you know this film is nothing short of a non-bailable offence committed by a b**b-obsessed director!
Asrani is seen repeating, ‘You are sh*t’ in the film and that’s exactly what I would like to say about the film. IT IS SH*T!! You don’t need to know absolutely anything more about the film. I just have three golden words to say to the director – STOP MAKING FILMS! And I have three golden words to tell you, dear readers – DON’T WATCH IT!!
Categories: Bollywood, Is the movie worth your buck?
Tagged as: bollywood movie review, Mastizaade, Sunny Leone, Tusshar Kapoor, Vir Das
Actresses and their cricket obsession!
Bollywood movie review: Saala Khadoos
Masti-Zaade is totally adult movie and its fails to entertain the audience.
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Easy Love
The Boudreaux Series - Sexy. Intriguing. Easy.
Eli Boudreaux’s family has built ships and boats in Louisiana for generations. He comes from a hard working, wealthy family and his empire is growing by leaps and bounds. At thirty, he is the youngest CEO to ever head Bayou Enterprises, co-chairing with his eldest brother. His head for business and his no-nonsense work ethic is also quickly making him the best the company has seen in generations. His staff admires him, women adore him and Eli’s family is solid. But he’s recently discovered that someone on the inside of his business is stealing from him and he’s determined to find out who.
Kate O’Shaughnessy is hired by companies all over the world to slip inside and investigate every member of the organization from the CEO down to the custodial staff to find the person or persons responsible for embezzling. She’s excellent at blending, becoming part of the team, and finding the weakest link. She’s smart, quick-witted, and she’s now been hired by Bayou Enterprises, specifically Eli Boudreaux. The attraction is immediate and the chemistry is off the charts, but Kate has heard all about Eli’s playboy past and she has a job to do. Sleeping with the boss isn’t a part of that job, even if just the sound of her name rolling off that Cajun tongue and the way he fills out a designer suit does make her sweat.
Eli’s southern charms surprise Kate. The man whose reputation labels him as a ruthless, callous womanizer is not the man she’s coming to know intimately. He’s generous, protective and makes her smile,. Cracking through Kate’s cool, reserved demeanor and discovering her love of sexy, expensive lingerie is a challenge Eli can’t resist, but her sweet nature, love of family and sense of humor pull at him in ways no one else ever has.
But when the person responsible for trying to single-handedly dismantle Eli’s empire comes to light, and it’s time for Kate to move on, to what lengths will Eli go to keep the woman he he’s fallen in love with by his side?
Ampersand Publishing
Oohlala25 , 04/16/2017
Great love story no dull moments though I wish there was more details and dialogue about the investigation. Then the hydraulics issue at the end was just weird, came out of nowhere and had no purpose. Also no explanation of whether Hillary was caught.
DMS267 , 03/11/2019
Great series starter
Easy Love was a great start to the Boudreaux family series set in New Orleans. A hot & steamy love story with enough suspense and colorful characters to keep things interesting. This book also sets up much of the large family for future stories.
straighttalker198 , 09/19/2018
The book left me bored. I couldn’t even finish the book. The guy was a jerk to the girl! The guy promised not to hurt her like her ex husband but he did. He wasn’t any better than the ex husband.
More Books by Kristen Proby
Come Away with Me
Fight with Me
Tied with Me
Rock with Me
Easy Charm
Easy Melody
Easy Kisses
Easy Magic
Easy Nights
Easy Fortune
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Books Bücher 1 - 10 von 18 in Alas ! my lords," answered the queen,2 "is it now a question whether I be the king's...
Alas ! my lords," answered the queen,2 "is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful wife or no, when I have been married to him almost twenty years and no objection made before ? Divers prelates and lords, privy councillors of the king, are yet...
The Queens of England: A Series of Portraits of Distinguished Female Sovereigns - Seite 207
von Agnes Strickland - 1854
Vollansicht - Über dieses Buch
The History of England from the Earliest Period to the Death of Elizabeth ...
Sharon Turner - 1828
...was nearly overcome by the painful address. She paused awhile, and then said, " Alas ! my lords ! and is it now a question, whether I be the king's lawful wife or not? — now, when I have been married to him almost twenty years, and in the mean time, no question...
A history of England, in which it is intended to consider men and events on ...
Henry Walter - 1832
...that they had received authority to judge of the validity of her marriage, she said, " Alas, my lords, Is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful wife, or not, after I have been married to him almost twenty years, and our marriage undisputed all that while?''...
Life of king Henry the eighth
Patrick Fraser Tytler - 1837
...much overcome for a few moments, but soon recovered, and thus addressed them : — " Alas, my lords, is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful...have been married to him almost twenty years, and, in the mean season, never question was made before. Divers prelates yet being alive, and lords also,...
The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe: A New and Complete Edition, Band 5
John Foxe - 1838
...began, answering for herself.1 Queen Katharine's Answer to the Cardinals. Alas, my lords (said she), is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful...have been married to him almost twenty years, and in the mean season never question was made before ? Divers prelates yet being alive, and lords also,...
Lives of the Queens of England: From the Norman Conquest : with Anecdotes of ...
Agnes Strickland - 1842
...were about to hold a court of inquiry regarding her marriage. "Alas, my lords," answered the queen3, "is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful...councillors of the king, are yet alive who then adjudged our 1 Hall, p. 754. 2 These words, said Hall, (p. 756.) were spoken in French, and written down by Campeg,gio's...
Fox's Book of Martyrs: The Acts and Monuments of the Church, Band 2
...a little pausing with herself, thug she began, answering for herself. " Alas, my lords, (said she,) is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful wife or DO, when I have been married to him almost twenty years, and in the mean season question was never...
Lives of the Queens of England: From the Norman Conquest; with Anecdotes of ...
...were about to hold a court of inquiry regarding her marriage. "Alas! my lords," answered the queen,2 "is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful wife or no, when 1 have been married to him almost twenty years and no objection made before ? Divers prelates and lords,...
History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, Band 5
Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné
...mildly but firmly : " Alas ! my lords, is it now a question whether I am the king's lawful wife or not, when I have been married to him almost twenty years and no objection raised before? Divers prelates and lords are yet alive who then adjudged our marriage good and lawful,...
Lives of the Queens of England: From the Norman Conquest, Bände 4-5
Agnes Strickland, Elisabeth Strickland - 1852
...the same palace, to announce that they were about to hold a court of inquiry regarding her marriage. "Alas! my lords," answered the queen,* "is it now...lawful •, and now to say it is detestable is a great nervel to me ; especially when I consider what a wise prince the king's lather was, and also the natural...
Memoirs of the Queens of Henry VIII., and His Mother, Elizabeth of York
Agnes Strickland - 1853 - 420 Seiten
...were about to hold a court of inquiry regarding her marriage. "Alas! my lords," answered the queen,2 "is it now a question whether I be the king's lawful...now to say it is detestable is a great marvel to me ; especially when I consider what a wise prince the king's father was, and also the natural love and...
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Home News Land-based SGC builds on “strong foundation” for Q1 2019
SGC builds on “strong foundation” for Q1 2019
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Published in its trading statement for the three month period ending March 31, Scientific Games Corporation (SGC) has noted that it has continued to build upon its strong momentum in minimising company debts.
The US-headquartered company reported that its Q1 2019 revenues rose by three per cent to $837m, up from the $812m reported in the same period in 2018. SGC has largely attributed the growth in revenues to the development of its social and lotteries divisions, which have grown by 22 per cent and five per cent respectively.
Barry Cottle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scientific Games, said: “We are incredibly proud that we have continued to build on our momentum and are looking forward to the year ahead. We are focused on effectively operating our businesses, reducing costs and building upon the strong foundation for profitable growth that we see today.
“Last week, we successfully took SciPlay public as a new company, which accelerates our ability to pay down debt. All of these actions support our steadfast commitment to smartly grow our business, drive free cash flow and create meaningful value for our stakeholders.”
SGC has largely focused upon debt repayments over the last twelve months, with the company recording a flat Gaming Systems performance ‘reflecting fewer major site installations’ than during the prior year.
In its move to focus upon narrowing the company’s debt, SGC reported a solid growth in revenues for Q1 2019, with a bperiod adjusted EBITDA of $328m, up from the reported $320m reported in Q1 2018.
Group losses have dropped to $24 million, which marks a significant improvement from the $202m figure posted in the prior year – as SGC absorbed refinancing costs of $93 million.
The group has emphasised that the company paid $145 million of debt during the period as the technology group ‘accelerates its Path to de-leveraging’.
Supporting its debt initiatives this May, SGC completed its IPO of social gaming division SciPlay on the US Nasdaq exchange – with the group securing + $300 million in proceeds, which will be used on substantial debt repayments.
Barry Cottle
Scientific Games Corporation (SGC)
SciPlay
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Erin Gallagher
Ex-Aristocrat CEO Odell takes up SG advisory role
Global ambitions as Scientific Games drafts Stamstad
Scientific Games sets sights on a year of growth and deleveraging
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Phil Rucker; 'Indecent'; Remembering Jeanne Moreau
Discussion of the news that President Trump dictated a statement about the meeting between his son and a Russian lawyer. A look at the Broadway play "Indecent" with director Rebecca Taichman, actor Richard Topol, and producer Daryl Roth. We look back at the life of actress Jeanne Moreau.
Richard Topol Phil Rucker Rebecca Taichman Daryl Roth Jeanne Moreau
Entertainment Politics
Interviews from this episode
Phil Rucker
World, Politics
Discussion of the news that President Trump dictated a statement about the June 2016 meeting between his son and a Russian lawyer. 10:59
Remembering Jeanne Moreau
We look back at the life of actress Jeanne Moreau. 20:42
'Indecent'
A look at the Broadway play "Indecent" with director Rebecca Taichman, actor Richard Topol, and producer Daryl Roth. 20:40
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General Health /
Does Marijuana Cure Glaucoma?
Embedded Link:
Credit: Howcast
In this video Sumil Kumar Aggarwal, (M.D., Ph.D.) a physician scientist and medical geographer, talks about a brief history of using marijuana as a glaucoma treatment and how it actually works on a molecular level. He also talks about the current status of medical marijuana studies as well as how it is currently used in society today.
In today’s modern society it is widely known that marijuana can be used to help treat glaucoma. In the past certain movies would even use it as a joke when people are caught smoking pot by the police. The reason it is widely known is in part due to a federal lawsuit won by Robert Randall in the 1970’s. Robert was arrested because he had marijuana, which he used to treat his own glaucoma symptoms. However he was able to prove that the federal government had funded studies at UCLA into marijuana use for glaucoma. The results showed that when you inhaled marijuana the pressure in your eye would decrease when viewed using a medical measuring device. The lawsuit made national headlines and showed a man who had won the right to use marijuana for glaucoma.
Your Eye
Since then, scientists have begun to better understand exactly what was going on in the eyes of glaucoma patients who use marijuana for relief. In the eye there are two chambers (the anterior chamber and the posterior chamber) with fluid moving back and forth with a mesh (trabecular) that tightens and loosens to help with the flow of the fluid. When someone has glaucoma that flow is disturbed and fluid builds up causing pressure to press on the retina and optic nerve. In untreated cases people can become blind.
How Marijuana Helps
Within the trabecular mesh their are chemical cannabinoid receptors attached to the neurons that help to regulate the strength of that mesh. When someone inhales marijuana, the marijuana adds more cannabinoids to your blood and in this case your ophthalmic artery, which is the artery that supplies blood to your eye. Once the cannabinoids interact with the mesh they help it open a little more and as a result it reduces pressure within the eye.
Sumil continues to state that there are plenty of studies that show cannabis can reduce the pressure in the eye and patients have seen these benefits using prescribed medical marijuana. However he feels there needs to be more research conducted to create better delivery methods such as eye drops that have longer lasting effects for patients. Although he notes that with failed modern treatments, inhaling medical marijuana is a great alternative because it is the only thing stopping people from going blind.
Can CBD oil help support eye health? Research points to “yes.” Image Credit: By Nneirda on shutterstock.
CBD Oil and Your Eyes: What You Need to Know
| General Health
CBD capsules are a convenient, effective way to take the popular cannabinoid. Image Credit: By Valeri Potapova on shutterstock.
What Are CBD Capsules and Why Should You Use Them?
CBD oil has its benefits but there is not as much clear information about CBD water. Image Credit: By Alexey_Arz on shutterstock
CBD Oil vs. Bottled CBD Water: What’s the Difference?
Bruises caused by trauma could be treated with CBD oil due to its anti-inflammatory properties while also alleviating pain. Image Credit: By Dmitri Ma on shutterstock
Could CBD Help Your Bad Bruise Heal Faster?
CBD inhalers act as a natural alternative to open our airways compared to other steroids. Image Credit: By D K Grove on shutterstock
CBD Could Replace Asthma Inhalers Sooner Than You Think
CBD has strong analgesic effects for reducing pain, a main symptom of colds and flu. Could it be a new natural flu treatment? Image Credit: By Halfbottle on shutterstock
Should You Take CBD Oil If You Have the Flu?
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World’s biggest sovereign fund dumps oil, gas holdings
Norway's central bank is not hiding its grim view of the future of oil and gas
By Editorial Team / November 28, 2017
Norway’s central bank has advised the government to divest from its shares in oil and gas firms – and thereby protect the country’s $1tn sovereign wealth fund (the world’s largest) – from a permanent drop in oil prices. Whether Norway’s government will accept the suggestion will only be known by mid-2018, but the potential divestment of nearly $35bn from oil majors such as Shell, Exxon, BP, Chevron and Total caused a sharp drop in their share values.
The news shock comes at a time when the industry is already battling a future drop in oil and gas demand from China, India and Europe, which are investing heavily into electric mobility and renewable energy for power generation.
Curiously though, Norway’s oil and gas unions and industry lobbies are open to Big Oil drilling in Norway’s Arctic shelf, as that would protect thousands of local jobs and the country’s enormous income through oil and gas taxes. Environmentalists on the other hand are suing the government, saying that the drilling will be a direct violation of Norway’s Paris Agreement commitments and its constitutional obligation to provide a safe and healthy environment to its citizens.
Fresh problems for TransCanada
Last week’s 200,000 gallon oil spill from the Keystone pipeline – that connects Canadian oil sands to US refineries – has come as another setback to oil major TransCanada. The spill is the pipeline’s third in less than 10 years and has cast fresh doubts over the proposed (and highly unpopular) Keystone XL pipeline, the rationale behind which looks already highly doubtful on the back of falling global demand for crude oil and a near doubling of the US’ domestic oil production.
https://carboncopy.info
A team of handpicked and dedicated writers committed to fact check each climate-related statement. Go to the roots and intent of each policy implemented, internationally and at home to help you understand climate better
CEA says coal to power 50% of India, even in 2030
By Editorial Team / June 28, 2019
Trump rolls back Clean Power Plan, allows states to set own emission targets for coal plants
RBI revises stressed asset resolution guidelines
By Editorial Team / June 1, 2019
CERC allows pass-through of imported coal cost, could shore up 15GW of stressed assets
By Editorial Team / May 18, 2019
Diocese of major shipping nations pledge fossil fuel divestment
By Editorial Team / May 3, 2019
Climate disasters: Insurers faced most expensive losses in 2017
No ‘match’ for Delhi air: Players vomit, ICC takes up issue, Medical Association, Green Court furious
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Tag Archives: Derek Lance
NYSB Massachusetts Ministry Weekend
On the weekend of 16 – 18 November 2018, the New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) traveled to the Massachusetts Division for a ministry weekend that included stops in Worcester, Canton, Boston, and Brockton. Massachusetts Divisional Music Director (DMD) Matthew Luhn and his team organized the events of the weekend. Read more
Lancaster Weekend for New York Staff Band
On the weekend of 20 – 21 October 2018, the New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) was in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware (Pendel) Division, specifically visiting the Lancaster Citadel Corps. Read more
NYSB Launches New Signature and Heritage Series
The New York Staff Band and the USA Eastern Territory Music Department have launched two new music series, the Signature Series and the Heritage Series. The Signature Series replaces the Music Department’s current Triumphonic Collection. It will feature three new pieces each year. The Heritage Series will consist of reprints of popular pieces from the American Band Journal that are out of print. It will feature one piece per year. Read more
NYSB Starts Season with Welcome of Cadets
The New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) began their 2018-2019 season by supporting the welcome of the cadets of the Messengers of the Kingdom Session at Centennial Memorial Temple on 7 September 2018. Read more
New York Staff Band Begins 2017/18 Season
The New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) commenced its 131st season of music ministry by participating in the welcome of the cadets at the Centennial Memorial Temple in New York City. Read more
NYSB Composer Contest
The New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) has announced its first-ever Composer Contest. The contest is open to all composers except current members of the New York Staff Band. The composer of the winning piece will receive a $500 travel voucher and full accommodations for a trip to the premiere performance in New York City in 2018. Read more
God and Country Weekend 2017
On Friday, 31 March 2017, the New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) headed to Columbus, Ohio, to take part in this year’s God and Country Concert held at the Church at Mill Run, in conjunction with the Brass Band of Columbus (Musical Director Brian Stevens). Read more
Future All-Stars 2017
Friday, 17 March 2017, brought together 66 enthusiastic brass and percussion players, 30 members of the New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance), two incredible guests, two support staff, and three pastoral officers gathered at Star Lake Lodge in Bloomingale, New Jersey, for the 2017 Future All-Stars weekend. This year’s special guests were James and Thomas Fountain, two young cornet/trumpet soloists with British brass band and Salvation Army background. Read more
Staff Band Weekend in San Juan
The New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) arrived in Puerto Rico in the early hours of Friday, 17 February 2017, for a weekend of ministry. The weekend included an outdoor concert in Old San Juan shared with the Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Youth Band, working with young musicians at the Guayama Kroc Center, and Sunday morning worship at San Juan Central Corps. Read more
NYSB Weekend in Pennsylvania
On the weekend of 18 – 20 November 2016, the New York Staff Band (Bandmaster Derek Lance) found itself on the road once again, this time traveling to various parts of Pennsylvania. The weekend comprised a Friday evening concert in Wellsboro and Saturday and Sunday events in Williamsport, including a joint concert with Billtown Brass Band (Director Richard Coulter). Read more
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DB and DC secretarial and governance
Employee benefits design and management
Health and financial wellbeing
Employee and member portals
Trustee technology
Buck launches pioneering GMP equalisation solution, Square
New solution ensures efficient, accurate and cost-effective delivery of GMP equalisation for Defined Benefit pension schemes
Buck, a leading consulting, administration, and technology services firm specialising in pensions and employee benefits, has today announced the launch of its Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) equalisation solution, SquareTM .
The pioneering solution has been developed following a landmark ruling by the High Court in October 2018 (and an additional ruling in December 2018) mandating that UK DB pension schemes must equalise for GMP benefits between men and women.
Through Square, Buck is able to work alongside Trustee and Company advisers to provide a one-off, self-contained project to deliver GMP equalisation for schemes. The solution delivers a list of all member benefit adjustments, a clear and concise summary report for the Trustees and Company, as well as quantification of the financial impact for the scheme.
It also addresses the complex technical implications and uncertainties of GMP equalisation efficiently and at a low cost. Trustees and Company Sponsors will have access to resources such as a GMP Scorecard, providing a clear and concise explanation of the equalisation process, including a summary of the key aspects of GMP equalisation and any immediate actions which schemes need to address.
David Piltz, UK Managing Director at Buck, says:
“The landmark High Court judgement at the end of last year on the need to equalise GMP benefits for men and women was a defining moment for the DB industry. An overwhelming majority of pension schemes in the UK have GMP benefits, meaning the ruling on GMP equalisation presents a significant challenge for the sector to ensure schemes fully comply with this legal requirement.
“At Buck, we recognise that undertaking GMP equalisation has the potential to be a complex, costly, and time-consuming process, with some advisers quoting three years or more to resolve the issue. Through Square, and supported by a large, dedicated team of GMP equalisation specialists, we offer an accelerated standalone solution that allows us to work with existing advisers efficiently and effectively to resolve the GMP equalisation challenge and ultimately benefit all stakeholders, including pension scheme members.”
Jack Freker, Chief Executive Officer at Buck comments:
“Through the extensive experience of our UK team in providing actuarial consulting services and our strong heritage in delivering practical solutions, Square will deliver GMP equalisation to affected pension schemes in a flexible and cost effective way. With Buck, Trustee and Company advisers will benefit from an ahead-of-schedule resolution to this complex issue, quickly bringing their plans into compliance.”
About Buck
Buck is an integrated HR and benefits consulting, administration, and technology services provider. Headquartered in New York City, with global operations, Buck is focused on helping its clients realise the best organisational performance for their business while driving positive health, wealth, and career outcomes for their people. For additional information, visit www.buck.com.
Taneesha Pawar/Max Daniels
buck@rostrum.agency
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Ngubane says local coaches are ignored
Silver Sibiya 2019-02-02 19:15
SIDELINED Coach Mlungisi Ngubane
Coaches receive bursaries to fast-track careers
African football needs more local coaches: Cisse
Mlungisi “Professor” Ngubane says he can coach Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs – but he has not been offered a job in even their reserve sides.
Speaking to City Press this week, Ngubane expressed his wish to coach in the elite league, but said talented local coaches are not taken seriously.
“I can coach any team in the PSL,” said the 62-year-old. “But no one wants to give me a chance; maybe they are punishing me – not knowing they are punishing themselves – because I don’t own a club.”
Ngubane, who has coached in neighbouring countries including Namibia and Swaziland, said he could help struggling Maritzburg United and Free State Stars.
“I can help Maritzburg or Free State Stars, but I cannot compromise myself by allowing management to interfere.”
Although Ea Lla Koto are in 14th position on the log, The Team of Choice parted ways with Turkish export Muhsin Ertugral on Monday after he’d spent just five matches in charge. His last game was a defeat against NFD side Witbank Spurs in the Nedbank Cup Last 32 draw last weekend.
The club has since appointed Eric Tinkler.
“Why are they suffering while I am available?” Ngubane asked.
“It’s painful. They ignore talented South African football coaches. You can’t even get a job at the MultiChoice Diski Challenge [PSL reserve league].
“I’m even available for any NFD side that would like to get promoted to the Absa Premiership. If you are black and you can’t speak English well, they assume you can’t coach. Football is not about English, it is about man management and getting the best out of the players.”
In the past, Ngubane was known as a go-to coach for struggling clubs, including the Bush Bucks, Thanda Royal Zulu, Golden Arrows and Black Leopards. He saved most from being relegated.
Last year, he coached Swaziland’s Mbabane Highlanders, taking them from the bottom half of the league table to number five.
“We were doing well. We played cup semifinals and finals, but the problem came when we played Mbabane Swallows [in September], who were also playing in the CAF Champions League at the time and we had played only preseason games,” Ngubane said.
The encounter between Highlanders and Swallows is the biggest derby in Swaziland.
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Out of Tune at the Oscars
February 25, 2013 jesswelman
I think everything that can be said about this year’s Oscars ceremony is going to be said tonight and tomorrow. I can sleep well knowing Seth MacFarlane is going to be deservedly ripped apart for one of the worst hosting performances in recent Oscar memory. I certainly thought he was terrible.
Hatred for the host aside though, this was supposed to be an Oscar ceremony I could get behind. When I heard this awards show had a theme and that theme was an ode to music and movies, I thought this would be right up my alley. I am about as fervent a musical fan as you’re going to find, so paying tribute to them during the biggest awards show of the year amounted to lobbing a giant softball straight through the front window of my wheelhouse.
There was a period of time in my life where I kind of fell out of love with the movies. I didn’t see anything in the theaters that inspired me, the movies that were in vogue were of the genres and ilks of movies I just couldn’t get into, and I felt like I was at a disadvantage not being a 16 year old dude who loves comic books.
I kind of felt that way again tonight. The sophomoric host and his moronic jokes, the presenters fresh off Avengers rehearsal, and the montage devoted to Bond girls and retro-style editing wipes and splashes all felt tailor made to appeal to young guys.
The treatment of the musical was worst of all though. If there is one thing it is typically difficult to market to 16 year old boys, it is the musical. This is an old Hollywood genre whose best pictures most certainly came four or five decades ago. So, to see the Academy parade around MacFarlane as a song and dance man instead of Bob Hope or Frank Sinatra or last year’s solid Oscar host, Billy Crystal, was a knife to my heart. Treating the mediocre “Chicago” as our generation’s “West Side Story” was a series of painful twists of that knife. And Russell Crowe’s brief crooning on stage amounted to someone taking that knife and meticulously removing my aorta.
There were a few shining moments. I don’t think anyone can argue with the presence of Shirley Bassey and Barbra Streisand. I even thought the Channing Tatum/Charlize Theron tribute to Fred and Ginger and the Gordon-Levitt/Radcliffe ode to Kelly and O’Connor were charming. But the rest of this tribute to a genre I hold so near and dear to my heart was the most out of key component of a ceremony that tonally missed the mark on just about everything.
Thankfully, the winners made up for what the production team lacked. Christoph Waltz’s surprise victory kicked off the awards with a bang and there were surprises throughout the night. When Ang Lee took Best Director, I had a real “Oh shit” moment because, for the first time in years, Best Picture was seriously in doubt.
Lately I watched the Oscars because I was intrigued by the show and not the movies. If this year is really the year that I have fully given in to being a cinephile again, it is only fitting that this year the only good thing about the Oscars wasn’t the show–it was the films the show was honoring.
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Anarchy, Death, Deception, End Times, guns, Las Vegas, USA
Las Vegas Shooting – Less and Less Adds Up
by: Mike Adams
Um, excuse me for a moment here, but I have a really stupid question. I know you told me there’s no such thing as a stupid question, but this one seems really stupid anyway.
The media has released photos of guns and ammo magazines laying around on the floor of the supposed “sniper’s nest” hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, but there’s something totally wrong with these pictures:
#1) Where is all the expended brass? (bullet shells)
Now, maybe I’m just a moron who thinks automatic rifles discharge expended brass or something, because the last time I shot my rifle — which was yesterday — hot brass kept blasting out the right side port with every round. Very annoying. I wish I knew how to turn that off.
So, given that Stephen Paddock was firing full-auto rifles in a sustained 10-minute assault, at roughly the rate of six rounds per second, we should probably see massive piles of expended brass all over the place.
Let’s see: 6 rounds per second, times 60 seconds in a minute, times 10 minutes of sustained fire… that comes to 3600 rounds of ammunition. If you figure there were pauses in the automatic fire, you could discount that to maybe 3000 rounds actually fired.
Again, maybe I’m just stupid or something, but if Paddock fired 3000 rounds, there should be 3000 brass casings all over the floor of the hotel suite. (I know, I’m invoking logic and reason, both of which are banned in modern society and the mainstream media, but bear with me for a moment for the sake of appeasing a really stupid person…)
But what we see in the photos released by the media show only a tiny smattering of brass casings, almost as if they were thrown around to complete the staging of the scene:
Thank goodness the UK Daily Mail cleared all this up by stating there were, “Dozens of spent shells litter the floor… and a hammer.” Yep, DOZENS. In a mass shooting that supposedly involved the firing of thousands of rounds from this very location, the media proudly reports there are “dozens” of pieces of brass on the carpet.
Did the FBI sweep up all the brass out of the hotel before they took these photos?
Maybe they needed the brass for their own reloads so they can stage the next shooting…
I also wonder why the media isn’t calling for a nationwide ban on hammers, since they can clearly be used in mass shootings. #BanHammers
And ban hotels, too, since they provide elevated platforms for mass shooters. That’s right, ban all hammers, but especially full-auto hammers, as they can smash hotel windows at an astonishing rate.
#2) Where are all the carpet burns from hot brass and hot gun barrels?
I must be really stupid, because the other day when I was training with my AR-15, I was doing an exercise called “keyhole shooting” which requires you to shoot at targets through nine different holes cut into a large piece of plywood that’s positioned vertically in front of you. Some of these holes are cut near the bottom of the plywood, meaning you have to lay down on the ground to shoot through those holes. Silly me, I forgot to wear a long sleeve shirt, and when I laid down on the ground to shoot from the bottom holes, I found my arms laying across hot brass that was expended from my earlier shots through higher holes.
Not surprisingly, I received serious burns on my skin for the simple reason that — DUH! — expended brass is really, really hot.
And I don’t know if you knew this or not, but the hotter your rifle gets, the hotter your expended brass gets, too. It’s apparently due to physics or some such thing. If you’re firing a full-auto rifle, some internal parts can reach temperatures of 400 C, which is hot enough to either cook a frozen burrito or set Maxine Waters’ hair on fire at the merest touch.
Now, at 400 C, most of your rifle grease smokes off, making it hard to breathe. After just a few hundred rounds, the air in that hotel room would have been unbearably polluted. It might have even caused global warming, which is exactly why we have to ban automatic weapons (plus full-auto hammers, see above).
Given that Stephen Paddock was smoking through thousands of rounds of ammunition, he was generating not only very hot rifles but also extremely hot brass that would have left burn marks in any synthetic carpet.
Where are all the burn marks in the carpet?
Wouldn’t you know it, but the carpet in this room just happened to look like a pattern of burn marks, thereby obscuring the absence of additional burn marks from brass or rifle barrels:
(Bet you didn’t even notice the carpet pattern until I pointed this out, right? You were looking at the guns and the dead body, because that’s what the media told you to look at.)
#3) When seconds count, the police are only 72 minutes away… but why?
I’m not trying to diss the cops here. As you know, I’m an advocate of honest, local police, and it’s clear that the beat cops did a fantastic job helping people seek cover on the ground below. But I do have an issue with the 72-minute response time during a full-auto machine gun spree in a city where there are dozens of cops within a one-mile radius.
Seventy-two minutes? Really?
No, that’s not a typo…..
Was there a committee involved somehow? Why is it that the FBI’s former traitor-in-chief James Comey can decide in an instant that Hillary Clinton is innocent of everything, but all the cops in Las Vegas can’t breach a simple hotel door in anything less than 72 minutes?
No, wait. It must be Stephen Paddock’s white privilege. When you’re white, you get an extra 70 minutes to carry out mass shootings. But if you’re black, the cops shoot you in the first two minutes, you see. At least that’s what we’re told by the lunatic, deranged left-wing media which has declared war on cops (and war on the truth, come to think of it).
Just remember all this when you’re out in public next time: Even in a city that’s full of well-meaning cops who are doing their jobs, when seconds count, the police are only 72 minutes away due to the bureaucracy that runs everything. You might want to carry your own semi-auto pistol. And if you can find out where Stephen Paddock got his magical guns, you might even be able to find a pistol that doesn’t eject brass. (They’re also called “revolvers,” just sayin’…)
#4) Um, excuse me but I have another really stupid question…
So you know that rifle with the bipod they found innocently standing in front of the mini-bar? Yeah, I’m talking about this one, labeled #19:
Is it just me, or does this look exactly the same as the rifle shown in the photo with the dead guy, above? Same flared mag well, same bump fire stock, same bipod and even the same optics, it seems. If only we could see the serial numbers, we might know for sure, but of course they never release photos with that degree of resolution.
Can’t have the public looking too closely, you see, or we might keep asking really stupid questions like, “Hey, why were there originally just 10 guns reported, and now there are 27 guns being reported, but it really just looks like the same 10 guns re-staged and re-photographed to look like 27 guns?”
I mean, heck, why not make it 99 guns at this point? Clearly whoever set all this up really, really wanted to make sure we didn’t miss the guns. “Make it 10 guns! … No, wait. Hold on. Make it 20 guns! … Oh wait, why stop now? Let’s make it 27 guns! And then call for gun control!” Honestly, it seems the only person around here who lacks gun control is the police photographer.
#5) I swear this is my last really stupid question, but please…
This whole scene is being called a “sniper’s nest” by the entire fake news media, but I’ve looked and looked and I still don’t see a sniper rifle anywhere. What I see are a bunch of AR-15s that fire .223 rounds (or 5.56 mm for you metric heads). Sniper rifles are bolt-action rifles, not auto-loading semi-auto rifles.
Now, I’ve only fired about 100,000 of these rounds myself, so I’m still a newbie, but the last time I checked, these rounds are usually about 55 grains in mass, and they lose about 75% of their kinetic energy by the time they reach a 400-yard target (the distance from the Mandalay Bay hotel to the concert lot is about 400 yards). You can see the dope yourself at Gundata.org.
On top of that, the bullet drop is 32 inches, which is of course almost three feet of bullet drop. Now, given the elevated angle of the shooter, that bullet drop wouldn’t be quite as dramatic, as the coefficient of a 20 degree declination angle is, of course, 0.94. But the energy of this round at 400 yards makes it only marginally effective. It’s just at the outside boundary of the effective range of a .223 cartridge, as any good Marine will tell you.
Conclusion? All these casualties couldn’t possibly be caused by .223 rounds. Most likely, they were actually heavier rounds fired from something like a belt-fed AK system (7.62 x 39mm rounds), or perhaps even a belt-fed .308 automatic weapon. So where is all the brass, anyway? Did Stephen Paddock possess magical brass that can disappear after being fired?
I find it curious that ballistics details of the bullets that hit the pavement have not been released. All the evidence we need is all over the concert lot, yet the public will never be given access to details about that evidence. They also destroyed all the evidence immediately after 9/11, by the way. They called it “cleanup and salvage.” Really, it was a rapid evidence destruction exercise.
In summary, “mission impossible” could have only been carried out by a miracle Leprechaun who eats brass and makes bullets more effective than the laws of physics allow
In summary of all this, we’re told that a flabby 64-year-old senior citizen accountant with a gambling problem managed to expertly lay down highly effective fields of fire, killing 58 and wounding 500+ people by firing off thousands of .223 rounds well outside their effective range, all while producing merely dozens of pieces of expended brass that were magically cooled before they hit the carpet of his hotel room.
This was accomplished, we’re told, by one man firing 10 rifles… wait, no, 27 rifles all by himself, without any military training whatsoever. This same man set up a James Bond spy camera in the hotel hallway to monitor police in an attempt to defend himself against the inevitable police assault, then he just changed his mind and shot himself the moment the cops showed up… all for no apparent reason.
Oh, and one more thing: This same guy who meticulously planned the hotel room, the rifles hidden in the luggage, the huge collection of 100-round magazines, the window hammer smashing routine, the concert calendar dates, the monotonous lugging of ammunition to his room and even the guarding of the mini-bar when another assault rifle just happened to mindlessly leave a bag of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in his car even though it has no practical use in this scenario unless you’re growing Azaleas. (Yes, fertilizer can actually be used as fertilizer. It’s not all for making bombs as the media stupidly claims.)
So wait, millionaire gambling man who has no military training, no familiarity with automatic weapons, no James Bond super spy training, no political affiliations and nothing in the world to complain about just got tired of living in a $400,000 home, banging Vegas hookers and flying around his private Cessna? Instead of that rather well-off life, he wants to run a suicide mission, set up spy cameras in the hallway, shoot a bunch of innocent people he’s never met and then shoot himself in the head while going down in history as a flaming piece of s##t who will burn in Hell forever? Oh yeah, and before he does all that, he wires $100,000 to his girlfriend in the Philippines?
Call me stupid, but something doesn’t add up here. I don’t know if it’s the missing brass, the missing carpet burns, the wildly fluctuating rifle count, the staged police photos, the B.S. suicide story, the totally laughable ballistics miracles of .223 rounds or the magically disappearing evidence of all the rifle rounds that hit pavement but then seemed to be whisked away by law enforcement. But something smells fishy about all this.
Or maybe I’m just so stupid that I can’t quite understand CNN. Yeah, that must be it.
Follow more news on all this insanity at Shootings.news.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/236451077?api=1&player_id=player_1&wmode=opaque
assault riflesballisticsbrass shell casingsEvidenceMandalay Bay hotelquestionsRiflesroom
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LocalCoinSwap Makes P2P Exchanges Easy on the Community
Many P2P exchanges are operated with centralized bodies that help with operating certain functions. But LocalCoinSwap is a blockchain program that works differently. LocalCoinSwap works as a fully decentralized P2P exchange.
The most exciting thing about LocalCoinSwap is that it brings all of its profits back to the token holders. This ensures that the people who invest in LocalCoinSwap will get the funds that they are asking for handled properly.
What Makes LocalCoinSwap Work?
LocalCoinSwap has a special setup for use. With this, people can trade cryptocurrencies directly with each other.
This P2P program works in that people can trade cryptocurrencies directly with each other. A person can sign in to the site and then review currency ads. People can then agree with each other on deals for currencies and enter in appropriate trades.
LocalCoinSwap will hold the currency in escrow while a direct payment goes through. This payment works between traders to ensure the transaction will move through accordingly.
The focus is that people will reach each other for currency transactions. They will not have to worry about problems relating to centralized properties. It is exciting for people to see what can come out of this program.
The work that LocalCoinSwap has to offer will help people with managing an extensive variety of currencies. People can use more currencies here than on any other P2P exchange. The decentralized nature of the program ensures that such transactions can work without problems.
A majority of the funds are also in cold storage. This ensures that content will not be online all the time. The risk of such funds being stolen or lost in any form will be minimal. This is vital for ensuring that the content being traded and used will not be tough to work with.
Quick to Use
People can quickly get on LocalCoinSwap without hassles. Users can easily sign up and not have to go through any verification processes. There are no restrictions as to what people can do with the program either. The versatility that comes with the setup is worth looking into.
Each currency listing information ensures that people can do more with their content. People can exactly see the specific currencies they will trade and how much they are worth. This includes details on what the asking prices for these currencies are. Everything moves through in a trustless environment where it only takes a few moments for a transaction to move through. The simplicity of LocalCoinSwap makes it a special solution.
Transparent Solution
The transparency of LocalCoinSwap makes it a big deal as well. LocalCoinSwap works with a setup where people can use an open source contract code while public financial announcements are regularly made. These reports help people to ensure that they can get full details on what they are trading.
The efforts of LocalCoinSwap will help people with doing more for their currency trades. Additional details on what LocalCoinSwap is offering can be found online at localcoinswap.com.
Official Website – https://www.localcoinswap.com
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Making the Grade: Who’s Who, Vol. XII
Time once again to dive right into the fantastical, fact-riddled and frequently flatulent phenomenon of the 1980s known as Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. This week: Volume Ecks-Eye-Eye, from Jonny Double to Kong the Untamed.
The cover is your usual group shot of the issue’s lineup; I particularly enjoyed the images of the perennially unshirted Kamandi shivering amid all the ice generated by Killer Frost while Kid Devil bounces off an obviously startled Kalibak’s head. Those crazy kids.
As for the letters page, we find out that DC production staffer Todd Klein — the guy who would go on to win dozens of awards for his lettering work on Sandman and other titles — contributed anywhere from two to ten character logos for each issue. And that’s worthy of a shout-out, given how tough it must have been to come up with logos for the likes of Kalista, Killer Moth or Kanjar Ro. Oh, and there’s a short letter from T.M. Maple voicing his support for an annual Who’s Who issue. If you don’t know who that is (Ontario represent!), then you’re far less of a comic nerd then I am — and that’s probably not a bad thing.
Jonny Double
Jonny Double wears a white turtleneck under a suit jacket, which tells you everything you need to know about him. He hits all the standard private eye tropes — ex-cop, assorted noir stock supporting characters, office in shabbier part of the city — until we get to this bit of rather florid prose: “Jonny Double remains a downbeat Don Quixote in a society that frowns on windmills, searching for that one last dragon to slay, a once-white knight in rusty armor, the poor man’s Peter Pan.” Um… huh? C-
You know, guys, Superman had a mother, too. Just sayin’. Fun facts about Krypton, courtesy of this entry: (1) Jor-El’s cousin Kru-El went on to become the villainous black sheep of the family and boy, with a name like that who could have seen that twist coming? (2) Lara, Superman’s mother, was an astronaut, and all astronauts on Krypton were women. Sexy! (3) Jor-El was born on Norzec 1st, 9979 and Kal-El was born in Eorx 35, 9998, making Jor-El just 19 years old when he fathered Superman. Stud! (4) Before discovering the Phantom Zone, he came up with the idea of putting criminals into suspended animation, then launching them into orbit with “hypnotic tapes to reform them.” When asked why the orbiting part was necessary, Jor-El was heard to reply: “I just like shooting things up in space, is all. Hey, did you hear what I did with my son’s beloved puppy? Right in front of him, too! Cried like a banshee that night, he did.” B-
Judomaster
It’s cultural appropriation time, kiddies! The white guy from Connecticut is trained by a grateful Japanese sensei in the ways of judo, and he uses his new skills and colorful new costume to fight as a one-man commando unit operating in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Best part of this entry: his birth name is “Rip Jagger.” Second-best part: where it says his “new philosophy, derived from his teaching under the Sensei, allows him to avoid using guns in battle.” I’m sure all the Japanese soldiers whose necks he snapped like balsa wood really appreciated that. C-
Hell yeah, they put ALL the Justice League heavy hitters on this page! Superman! Batman! Wonder Woman! Flash! Hawkman! Gypsy! Steel! Vixen! Vibe! Wait… what? Yes, this Who’s Who issue came out not long after JLA chairman Aquaman, pissed at his fellow Leaguers for not showing up when a bunch of Martians invaded, formally disbanded the JLA and reconstituted it with heroes who were willing to give the League their full attention — and who were also willing to move to Detroit. “Whether or not this new Justice League will ever attain the legendary status of the original remains to be seen as of this writing.” Wager on “not,” readers. JLA Classic: A; JLA Detroit: D
As the “oldest and longest-lasting organization of super-heroes in history,” the JSA included pretty much every DC hero from the Golden Age that mattered, and a few who didn’t. The craziest part of this entry is how the team first formed, with Batman, the original Flash, and the original Green Lantern sent to Scotland by Franklin Roosevelt on a secret mission to fight Nazis, only to end up captured and sent to Berlin for execution and oh by the way some actual Valkyries under Hitler’s command show up to attack Britain while Superman is saving Washington, D.C., from a Nazi bomber plane. This is how they moved product back in the old days, kids. A-
JLA Headquarters/JSA Headquarters
I’m grouping these together because man, talk about compare and contrast. The JLA double-spread features cutaway diagrams of both the original mountain HQ and the more famous satellite HQ, both of them chock-a-block with such features as hangar deck, archery range, grapple beams, “amphibious life support,” “Thanagarian healing ray,” the withered husk of Starro mounted in a souvenir room, a room inexplicably labelled “arts/craft,” you name it. And then there’s the JSA HQ, represented by Todd McFarlane as the exterior of a Manhattan brownstone with two teeny cutaway bubbles: “Armory” and “Meeting Room.” Maybe there was a game on? Ah well, let’s get back to fun mental images of Batman and Flash playing with macaroni and glue. JLA: A-, JSA: D+
J. Wilbur Wolfingham
In between Superman’s radical socialist origins and his mellower, planet-juggling years was an endless parade of mad scientists, business-suited criminals who used toys and games in their crimes, and guys like J. Wilbur Wolfingham. He’s an old-school con artist who’s just trying to make a dishonest buck off the greedy and gullible, but his schemes never come to fruition thanks to Superman. And I must say, it’s nice to know all the super-villains, alien invasions and injustices of the world have been dealt with if Superman has the time to go dog some old dude who lists “cheats at pool and golf” under his Powers and Weapons. Look at the background art — Superman is even on the scene to stop this guy from pick-pocketing some guy’s wallet. I’m surprised Superman didn’t spin the Earth backwards to stop Wolfingham from taking the change from a payphone. I mean, come on, Big Blue. Everyone needs a hobby, sure, but now you’re just being a dick. C
Kalibak
A classic Kirby character rendered here by the classic team-up of Jack Kirby and Greg Theakston. Also known as “Kalibak the Cruel” and “The Scourge of Apokolips” for his savagery in battle and the horrors of his “torment chambers” (which I really hope refers to dungeons and not his sleeping quarters), the big K fills a valuable role in the Apokoliptian ecology by smashing whatever Daddy Darkseid aims him at. Not big in the brains department, granted, but a tougher customer is hard to find — to the point where you wonder why he even needs to wield his “Beta-Club” in battle. It’s like sticking a bayonet to the front of a Sherman tank. B+
Don’t panic, everyone. I know the answer you’re all dying to know, and I’m here to put your mind at ease. Yes, after all their struggles and separations and a “soul-searching confrontation,” Kalista and Primus are finally back together and are closer than ever. Whew. Wait, you have no idea who I’m talking about? Um… well, never mind. C-
Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth!
Blond, long-haired, clean-looking, bare-chested, cutoffs-wearing teenage boy wandering through a post-apocalyptic world full of upright-walking dogs, rats, tigers and killer whales. Nothing to see here, folks. Just keep moving. For the love of God, keep moving. D
I’m kind of torn here. On the one hand, Kana: Secret Shadow Warrior (as he’s called here) is as generic as ninjas can get, right down to the vow of vengeance and basic-builder ninja skills set. But he came out before characters like Storm Shadow and a certain quartet of turtles made ninjas only slightly less ubiquitous in comics than the homoerotic subtext in Smallville, so one could argue that at least he’s the definitive generic ninja. Meh, let’s split the difference and award him a gentleman’s C+.
So, no room for Superman’s mom but we can devote a whole page to Brainiac’s science project, huh? Alrighty, then. Lots of crazy history here about shrinking rays and tiny aliens and Superman moonlighting as Kandor’s masked defender, but hands down the weirdest part of this entry is the section that talks about how Krypton formed its first democratic government. After the last of the planet’s great wars was over, Krypton’s leaders couldn’t decide what form the new world government should take. So they decided to pick their leader by having the head of each of the political factions stand in the middle of a thunderstorm, with each person holding a lightning rod; whoever didn’t get hit by lightning would get to form the new ruling party of Krypton. So what happened? Well, the guy representing the scientist faction won by using a rod made of non-conductive material, and so the technocrats ended up ruling the planet. You know, this story doesn’t make Kryptonians sound very bright. Explains a lot, really. C+
Kanjar Ro
Another interstellar conqueror who tried to coerce the Justice League to do his heavy lifting. About the only interesting thing about him is his use of rods, gongs and “cosmic ships” to further his evil plans. He’s like the unfunny prop comic of bug-eyed alien dictators. D+
“Wax on, wax off.” If you squint a little, you can almost see Ralph Macchio’s likeness in the face Steve Lightle gives the only non-powered member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He has supposedly mastered every form of martial arts in the known galaxy and once “was able to fight Superboy to a standstill using physical powers only.” Sure, kid. Whatever you say. C+
She’s a Japanese woman who uses a soul-stealing magic sword to avenge the deaths of her husband and children, and then hangs out with the Outsiders. I’m thinking the writer of this entry left out a somewhat important part of her history, like how she made the transition from “vengeance-fueled widowed samurai in Tokyo” to “running an L.A. bookstore and hanging out with second-string vigilantes.” She’s one gal you don’t want to get angry, and I’d grade her higher just to stay on her good side. On the other hand, no one forced her to sign up for that execrable Beware the Batman show, so… C-
And lo, when Gardner Fox looked around his office in search of ideas for a new super-villain, he realized all the good ones — and even some that weren’t — were taken, so he reached into his pocket for inspiration. “Hmmm…. Corporal Lint? Nah. The Spare Change Gang? Think, Gardner, think! Wait! I have it! And I shall call him… The Key!” The Key tried to make himself the “key” man in the universe by using his “key men” and “keyboard” to kidnap “key” government officials. Sensing a theme here? We’re told he also “injected himself with various psycho-chemicals” — which is what I might do soon if I hear one more key pun. D+
Khunds
Every sci-fi/fantasy franchise needs them, the alien race of militaristic a-holes whose only purpose is to give the good guys someone to fight. Klingons, Cylons, Orcs, Decepticons… it’s not glamorous work, but it’s a living. The Khunds fill this role in the Legion of Super-Heroes universe. Let’s get out the trope checklist. Ruthlessly expansionist? Check. Homeworld in perpetual darkness and/or overpopulated and in any case an unpleasant place to be? Check. Totalitarian form of government? Check. Legal disputes settled by physical combat? Check. Considered useful cannon fodder by more devious antagonists? Check. All they need is their own guttural language and nerds dressing like them at Comic-Con and they’re all set. C+
Kid Devil
Oy. This is a kid who puts on a high-tech devil suit to become the sidekick for a very reluctant Blue Devil. And I know the Blue Devil book was part parody and the writers were purposely creating that stereotypical kid sidekick that makes no logical sense in the other comics, but… argh! We’re supposed to believe a 12-year-old whiz kid can cobble up a bulletproof, strength-enhancing suit on his own? And his parents are okay with him getting his education from a trio of professors who allow him to tackle super-villains for extra credit? And he’s pen pals with Robin? How would that last one work, anyway? Would he address the envelope to “Robin, c/o Gotham Gams Leg Waxing Emporium, Gotham City” and hope for the best? D
You kids today, you think you know twisted. Christopher “Kit” Freeman was the brother of Freddy “Captain Marvel Jr.” Freeman, and he was crossing the Atlantic with his grandfather when their ship was torpedoed by Nazis. Kit died, but at the gates of Eternity he learned he wasn’t supposed to be dead; apparently, a fat guy in a robe named Mr. Keeper screwed up and accidentally called Kit’s spirit to Heaven before his time. So to cover up his mistake, Mr. Keeper gave Kit the power to return to Earth in either spirit or mortal form, the ability to summon the spirits of other dead people to help him fight crime, and even the means to travel through time — all by saying “Eternity!” Oh, and he did all this while wearing a white turtleneck, purple pants and a red sash around his waist. Oh, sure, that’s the part you find far-fetched. C-
Wally West was the Flash’s biggest fan. His Aunt Iris — who just happened to be the Flash’s girlfriend — knew this and arranged for him to meet his hero. The Flash was showing Wally how he got his super-powers by standing with him in front of a cabinet containing the exact same chemicals that were in the cabinet next to the Flash when he was struck by lightning. And then — what a coincidence! — a lightning bolt struck at that precise moment, dousing Wally in the exact same chemical bath and giving him the exact same super-speed powers as his idol! And then he won the lottery eight times in a row! And then every supermodel on the planet got into a huge catfight over him! And then the writers of these books laughed their asses off at how dumb we all were for swallowing every bit of this! B-
Killer Frost was a rare gem of a super-villain for several reasons. Unlike most Firestorm villains, she’s someone with a set of powers that make her an actual threat to our hot-headed hero. And unlike most female villains, she didn’t go into super-villainy to steal diamonds or because she wanted to hump a hero; no, her life goal can be best summed up as DeathDeathAndMoreDeath to anything resembling a man. Plus, her “ice queen” ensemble and too-perfect name-as-destiny birth name (Crystal Frost) take her all the way past lame and circling back towards awesome again. Of course, someone at DC had to ruin a good thing by redesigning her to look like a flash-frozen Pamela Anderson during the actress’s Baywatch days, but that’s not important. What is important is settling who would win in a no-holds-barred fight: Killer Frost or Elsa from Frozen. A
Killer Moth
Annnnnnd then we’ve got this guy. Please understand, I don’t have a problem with the concept here; there’s a lot of storytelling potential in a Batman villain who sets out to become the same kind of costumed protector for criminals that Batman is for the law-abiding citizens of Gotham. It’s the execution that’s the problem here. Specifically: a moth??? The best this guy could come up with for a motif was an insect known for eating clothes and flying directly into porch lights? And then he compounds the idiocy by driving a “Moth-Mobile,” answering the “Moth-Signal” and wearing a lime green mask, purple shirt and orange-and-green-striped tights. A shame, really. D
Killer Shark I/II
The first Killer Shark was yet another Nazi-engineered super-soldier with enhanced strength but no notable shark-like attributes; the second was a costumed pirate with no super powers or apparent interest in Nazism. Ironically, the first one is presumed to have drowned after a battle with Blackhawk atop a submarine, so… yeah. A significant chunk of their bio is given over to a discussion about how it’s not known if either or both of these guys survived the “recent so-called crisis on infinite earths” — and you can bet almost no one who picked up this book in 1985 cared to find out. D+
Yet another Golden Age “wealthy man of leisure” who put on a suit and opera cape to fight crime. His gimmick: he’s a master of disguise and consummate actor, and he foiled criminals by pretending to be one of them. Oh, and his arch-nemesis was a female master of disguise whom he could never bring himself to turn in, because he was as attracted to her as she was to him. Sheesh, get a room, you crazy kids. I hope they hooked up and settled down somewhere nice. C
King Faraday
“Very little is known of the early life of King Faraday.” Damn skippy there isn’t — you don’t get to be a jet-setting spy without a little mystery about your past. Not much here to work with, just that he’s traveled the world doing “whatever he feels necessary” to protect the United States and he has a mutual grudging respect for Batman. Oh, and there’s a picture of him punching a guy holding some lit dynamite. Take that, Taliban Dan! Sure glad the artist thought to put in the dynamite; I was concerned about who I should be rooting for before I saw that. C
Knights of the Galaxy
Random thoughts while looking at this page:
(1) What, the chick is pretty enough to be in the picture but she’s not allowed to wear pants or sport a holster and jet pack? Sexists!
(2) So this legendary team of 25th-century commandos are sworn to protect Earth and its allied planets, and every last one of them wouldn’t look out of place at a 1941 “Up with Aryans” pep rally? Racists!
(3) So presumably Lyle is the guy out in front, but we somehow needed a second image of his giant head floating in space lest we forget which spit-curled hunk of manliness is running this show? Fascists!
(4) “Lyle”…? We get futuristic names for the other knights like Ora and Artho, and their square-jawed leader is named Lyle??? D+
This guy ain’t your average would-be world conqueror with fanatical followers ready to die at his command, in the sense that (a) he first appeared in his own title, also named Kobra and (2) he once had a twin brother, the “good” one, with whom he shared a psychic bond until he severed it so he could off his own brother. Kind of paint-by-numbers with the snake theme, the legions of cultist followers, and the whole “destiny to rule the world” thing, but you’ve got to admire the upside-down-devil-horns semi-goatee. Not a lot of guys have the confidence to pull off that kind of look. B-
Or, if you will, the anti-Kid Flash on the Teen Titans team. Talk about a hard-luck Harriet. Not only were her parents raving scientist loons who gave her crystal-weaving powers as part of their mad Dr. Moreau-like experiments… not only was she kidnapped by a mad Greek goddess as a teenager and forced to do her bidding on Mount Olympus for two years… not only did she escape from servitude only to learn her parents were madder than ever… not only was she snuffed out permanently during the whole Crisis on Infinite Earths thing mere months after her debut… on top of all that, she “was attracted to the mute hero Jericho.” Poor kid never had a chance. C-
Kong the Untamed
A slender, smooth-skinned, bare-chested, angel-faced, long-haired blond boy from the Cro-Magnon Age who ran around in nothing but furry swimming trunks, Kong would often trade Google alerts with Kamandi about sexual offender movements in the tri-state area. C-
Posted in Making the Grade: Who's Who
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Smash Bros. Pros Are Finally Feeling The Love From Nintendo
Filed to: e32018Filed to: e32018
Gonzalo “Zero” Barrios was the winner of the Super Smash Bros. Invitational at E3 2018.
Photo: Cecilia D’Anastasio (Kotaku)
LOS ANGELES—Paper streamers fluttered down on Smash champion Gonzalo “Zero” Barrios in the red light of a former burlesque theater in downtown Los Angeles. Barrios, the world’s best Super Smash Bros. Wii U player, winked at the camera and flashed a peace sign.
Nintendo had invited him, along with seven other pro Super Smash Bros. players, to showcase Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Switch, which Nintendo had just announced that morning. Smash is Barrios’ bread and blood, his means of employment. For him, this Invitational tournament wasn’t just a publicity stunt. As Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Smash Bros., handed Barrios his trophy, it felt like a promise to Smash’s scrappy, grassroots competitive community that Nintendo was paying attention.
“We used to have the perception he didn’t care. Obviously that’s just not true,” said Barrios when I met him in the hallway afterwards, still clutching the trophy. “Sakurai was literally on stage watching us play. What else can you ask for?”
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Screenshot: Nintendo
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s premiere during the Nintendo Direct presentation on Tuesday was full of details that seemed aimed at professional players. The 26-minute-long presentation painstakingly itemized the subtlest tweaks—directional air-dodging, a redesigned “perfect shield,” reducing intangibility on excessive dodging—that seemed custom-tailored for serious players’ ears.
The presentation felt like a sea change for a franchise that has in the past seemed most concerned with pitching itself to newcomers, casuals, and general Nintendo enthusiasts who love the fact that it brings together characters from the company’s 40-year history in games. But these games are also ones that pros break their backs to master. Unlike competitive games like Street Fighter, whose publisher sponsors a grand world tour, Nintendo doesn’t go to as great lengths to recognize its most competitive players outside of Invitational tournaments like yesterday’s. Behind the scenes at that tournament, the Smash pros I talked to said it feels like that might change.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s big hook is that it will include every character that has ever been playable in a previous Smash game. With 66 characters so far, that’s a lot of match-ups for Barrios and his peers to grok.
“Everyone’s just mashing buttons and hoping it works,” said another competitor, Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada.
The Invitational version of Smash Ultimate’s roster was limited: From its shortened list, Barrios and his final competitor Leonardo “MK Leo” Perez choose to recreate the 16-bit wars of the 1990s, pitting Mario versus Sonic the Hedgehog. It was a kinetic, quick, high-tension match full of surprise jabs and off-stage face-offs. Perez’s Sonic was slippery. And Barrios’ Mario stuck around a lot longer than expected, racking up damage after patiently waiting for the right openings.
“I think making the game more aggressive is a good marketing decision,” said Barrios. “The faster it is, the more exciting it is and the more people watch.” The back-and-forth was more nimble than what you’d see in a typical Smash 4 match on the Wii U. In fact, the viewing experience was almost—but not quite—like watching 2001’s Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube, which thousands of competitors still stubbornly cling to.
“This game is like Smash 4, plus Melee,” said Leonardo Perez, sitting in a VIP lounge following the final match. Perez was effusive about the new game and how high-stakes it felt to play. “Whichever player is the better is going to win,” he said. “Except for Bayo[netta]. If you play Bayo, you’re going to win. It’s bullshit.”
Perez was referring to a moment at the Invitational tournament that elicited loud boos and groans from the audience: He devastated Super Smash Bros. Melee pro Justin “Plup” McGrath in their semifinals match with Bayonetta’s near-inescapable, deadly combo that pushed him into the air and off the stage. In Smash 4, the use of this powerful technique is divisive. Smash Ultimate is still in development, so it might be toned down before it’s released, but yesterday, Perez did it, live and on air. But in retrospect, he wasn’t entirely happy about it.
“I could have gone Bayo in the Grand Finals, but even if I won with Bayo, it wouldn’t feel good,” he said. “Imagine if I killed Zero at zero percent.”
All the Smash 4 pros I spoke to during the tournament were confident that they would switch over to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as soon as it’s released for Switch on December 7. A few said that Nintendo representatives had asked them for their thoughts on the game that day, another potential indicator that the creator of Smash is ready to cater more to pros.
“They had this tournament. They really cared about the tournament. They treated us like gods. They’ve been super involved in the whole competitive process. They have a Twitter account dedicated to tournaments. They definitely care a lot more,” said Barrios.
“I feel like this is the best it’s ever been.”
Everything We Know About Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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Senior reporter at Kotaku.
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Musing about cities
Calcutta used to be called a city of palaces. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Not that long ago, Calcutta had views and vistas like the ones below, illustrated by the Daniells:
I love Calcutta. And it’s rare that I meet someone who’s lived there and who doesn’t share that love. Yet, as the city has evolved over the years, even the biased observer would be forced to admit that not everything is perfect.
I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in many great cities over the years; there’s something about them that continues to fascinate me.
The writings of two incredible people, Jane Jacobs and Christopher Alexander, if anything, served to accentuate and sharpen my interest. I would particularly cite The Death and Life of Great American Cities and A Pattern Language to those who are interested.
For many years now, I’ve wondered what it would feel like to build a great city from scratch. How to make sure it is alive, organic, adaptable, real. Now, thanks to friend Sabeer Bhatia, I have the chance to find out, albeit vicariously.
He thinks big. Very big. He’s taken on an amazing project, Nanocity. Here’s a quote from the web site:
To develop a sustainable city with world class infrastructure and to create an ecosystem for innovation leading to economy, ecology and social cohesion
Go take a look at the site and try and understand the scale of the project. 11,000 acres, the size of Manhattan, between two rivers. A stone’s throw from Delhi.
Sabeer thinks big. And I wish him well.
Author JPPosted on August 4, 2008 Categories Four pillars
11 thoughts on “Musing about cities”
Vijay Singh Riyait says:
Seems like it’s actually only 25 km from Chandigarh which itself is known for its architecture and urban planning with projects by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Matthew Nowicki and Albert Mayer. Nice to see this kind of venture happening in the Punjab.
Correction …Haryana not Punjab!
Zubin Wadia says:
Yup. Sabeer has certainly earned the right to think big.
He could have easily been a firewalled drone (albeit, a successful one) with no access to personal mail, but he went out and made a difference.
I am firmly of the belief that:
“Thinking big is the realm of many, but making it big is the vestige of the few & fortunate.”
Zubin.
http://zwadia.com
Declan says:
For many years now, I’ve wondered what it would feel like to build a great city from scratch. How to make sure it is alive, organic, adaptable, real.
Sounds like you should ask for a copy of SimCity this Christmas :-)
Declan, you’re asking me to sacrifice my traditional tie and cufflink for a video game? Im-possible :-)
Dominic Sayers says:
I recommend Dan Hill’s City of Sound blog as an occasional read.
from the desk of says:
they built milton keynes from scratch, its the worst place in the UK, how not to do it
Pingback: » NanoCity
China has a slightly less amibitious new city planned (target: a quarter the size of Manhattan by 2040).
Since when did Manhattan join Nelson’s Column and the London bus as a standard unit of journalese?
Frymaster says:
Um…wow? There is a lot of eye-opening stuff going on in Asia.
We muse about cities quite a lot at New Commons, and this project seems like it’s part of a cluster of new thinking in the planning/development community that stresses what they’re calling “resilience“.
In terms of NanoCity, their two principles of ecological sustainability and developmental flexibility join to form a resilience perspective that includes things like water use and natural disasters, as well as slowly shifting socio-economic factors. Resilience thinking expands the frame of reference for planning and development in the same way that A Pattern Language expanded ‘architecture’ to include everything from the relationship between a window and its trim boards to where to site a city’s red light district or what makes for a good playground. Resilience says ecology impact economy impacts built environment impacts ‘social cohesion’, etc.
The New Commons-aligned resilience thinkers are preoccupied with water in Western AU, but they’ll love to hear about this.
Lastly, anybody interested in expanding the possibilities of infrastructure should check out Michael Singer, a US-based sculptor who now makes things like airport terminals, electricity plants, water treatment plants and waste management facilities. Amazing, smart, practical, cheap, sustainable.
Brilliant quote from him when he spoke in Providence: Create infrastructure that celebrates the dignity of the people who work inside it.
“Create infrastructure that celebrates the dignity of the people who work inside it”. Love that quote, will read up on Michael Singer now. Thanks a lot.
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WHO’s afraid of vaping?
By Yaël Ossowski
For the second time in two years, I sat in the public gallery at a United Nations conference in Geneva as a senior UN bureaucrat told us that all members of the media and public were barred from the proceedings, writes Yael Ossowski for Spiked. This particular occasion was one of the UN’s biannual sessions to update the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The FCTC is the first global-health treaty enacted by WHO. It has been ratified by 181 countries and forms the basis of a number of national laws across the globe, such as tobacco taxes, advertising restrictions, and plain cigarette packaging.
Each biannual meeting is a taxpayer-financed talkfest, dominated by various health ministries and anti-tobacco organisations like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Framework Convention Alliance, who are not only granted ‘observer status’, but also intervene in the large plenary debates and use their platform to shame the delegates of any country that doesn’t adopt a prohibitionist attitude toward tobacco.
Though the conference claims to be about science and public health, it is anything but.
For instance, new vaping and e-cigarette technologies are the most popular stop-smoking aids in England, used by 1.2million Brits according to the latest government figures. A Public Health England report says that vaping can reduce health risks by 95 and can increase the chances of quitting smoking by up to 50%.
But the arguments for vaping are dismissed by WHO as ‘unfounded’ and ‘inconclusive’. One top NGO said parties at the meeting should ‘refrain from engaging in lengthy and inconclusive discussion’ on alternative nicotine products like vaping.
Vaping activists had tried to attend the conference to share their stories of how they quit smoking. Volunteers from the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations proudly blew clouds of water vapour outside the conference’s doors. Unlike the more prohibitionist NGOs, they were denied observer status.
The clear anti-vaping bias led to some absurd claims.
Anne Bucher, director-general of the EU’s Health and Food Safety Directorate, was adamant that, despite containing no tobacco, vaping and e-cigarette devices should be considered ‘tobacco products’, subject to all the same laws, restrictions, and bans.
The treaty itself sought to enforce the same restrictions on vaping and e-cigarettes as cigarettes and cigars. This could actually hamper people’s ability to quit smoking.
Another object of hate was the media. Delegates from countries including China, Zimbabwe, the Maldives and Uganda claimed the entire conference should take place without media or public scrutiny. ‘What we’re dealing with is the mafia’, said the delegate from Afghanistan, referring to the public sat in the gallery above.
A representative from Chad lamented that more people did not know about the FCTC meeting and its impact. In the same breath, he argued in favour of kicking out the public and media after the opening plenary.
It was a bizarre and Orwellian conference. The proposals that emerged in the name of protecting public health could seriously set back the improvements in public-health that have come about thanks to alternatives to cigarettes like vaping, e-cigarettes and snus.
One thing became clear: innovative products, new markets and the much hated ‘industry’ were doing more to bring about better health outcomes than the UN’s supranational health bureaucracy.
* Yaël Ossowski is a Canadian journalist and deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center.
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From “I Heart Coal” to The Case for Solar, Wind, and Efficiency
We are watching giant, coal-heavy, Rust Belt utilities pivot hard away from fossil fuels and towards renewables, and efficiency.
My jaw was on the floor after I interviewed Jessica Woycehoski, a forecaster for Consumer’s Energy, Michigan’s largest utility, and one I know well. Below, summary of a speech by her boss, Patti Poppe.
Simply by running the numbers, Utility execs are getting that renewables aren’t just a good idea, like eating more Kale – but the only way they can compete and survive going forward.
Midwest Energy News:
In a speech this week to a large, business-friendly crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Consumers Energy President and CEO Patti Poppe presented an economic case for solar power, electric vehicles and moving past coal.
The company closed seven Michigan coal plants in 2016, cutting carbon emissions 25 percent without hurting its workforce. As the company focuses on solar in the coming years, Poppe said electric vehicles will play a growing role in the company’s “triple bottom line” principle of serving people, the planet and prosperity.
It’s a big departure for a CEO who not too long ago had an “I love coal” bumper sticker on her car. Here are four themes of Poppe’s Dec. 3 speech to the Economic Club of Grand Rapids:
Solar is the future
Poppe conceded that Consumers previously “fought” solar adoption. Now the company is embracing it, planning up to 6,000 megawatts of solar in its portfolio by 2040.
“We can have cleaner, more modular energy that more closely matches demand,” Poppe said. “It saves everyone money.”
She said the build-out will be “a little bit of both” utility-scale and smaller distributed projects, but active farmland isn’t the company’s first choice for development.
“We should be finding ways to use otherwise unusable land for solar — parking lots, warehouse rooftops,” she said.
Electric vehicles are good for the grid
Before joining the power sector, Poppe worked at General Motors for 15 years. She also co-chairs the Edison Electric Institute’s EV Task Force.
“We can all agree emissions-free vehicles would be good,” she said.
Electric vehicles also have cheaper operating costs, better performance and a longer lifespan than traditional internal combustion vehicles. And by charging electric vehicles during off-peak demand times when the system has excess capacity, “Fundamentally it just reduces the unit cost of energy.”
Here, a representative of the other giant utility in Michigan, DTE, explains their plan to decarbonize.
And yes, 80 percent by 2050 is not fast enough – but given the rate of transformation we are seeing, and knowing that historically, everyone, and I mean everyone, who makes a serious play in renewable energy moves ahead faster, and more cheaply, than they predicted.
More from Consumer’s:
After Consumers’ coal closures, Poppe said all of the plant workers either qualified for retirement or took jobs elsewhere with the company.
Earlier this year, the company announced it would be coal-free by 2040 and reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent while also reducing water usage and waste sent to landfills. The company also does not plan large capital investments in a natural gas plant.
“It’s a win-win-win,” she said. “That’s why it’s not an economic risk to move away from a traditional energy source like coal.”
Infrastructure investments can still save ratepayers
Investing in electric and gas infrastructure while reducing rates “didn’t always go together, but they do today,” Poppe said.
Consumers — along with DTE Energy — is in the midst of long-term, several-billion-dollar infrastructure improvements for gas and electric. Yet Poppe says residential electric customers have saved 6 percent on bills over the past five years.
Big Think:
Indiana is a state ranked #7 in coal production and #3 in coal consumption across the U.S., but not for long. Some numbers just came out of that have spelled the end of coal, in favor of renewables. It wasn’t a political battles as much as it was a clear indicator that the market, in this case, wins out. Simply put, renewables will be far less expensive than continuing to burn coal.
The Northern Indiana Public Service Company, traditionally a coal dependent giant, announced that it will save electricity purchasers – that is, consumers and industries — $4 billion over the next 30 years. It will use a mix of solar, wind, energy storage, mixed with more efficient end-user equipment and “demand management,” to reduce its dependence on coal by 100% by 2028.
It’s also good for global warming: Just one of the coal plants it maintains generates over 8 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Mark Maasel, president of the Indiana Energy Association, made the findings clear: “There is no question that there are efforts out there to sustain the coal industry, but the reality is that economics are driving the decisions that these utilities are making.”
The ramifications for other states — indeed, for anyone else in the world still using coal — are huge.
PacifiCorp, which operates across six states and is one of the nation's leading coal-fired utilities, released a study on Monday reporting that a majority of its 22 coal units are uneconomical. Cue up more lectures about free market energy from the right. https://t.co/WCTtsBtJ1E
— Jerry Taylor (@jerry_jtaylor) December 5, 2018
14 Responses to “From “I Heart Coal” to The Case for Solar, Wind, and Efficiency”
That’s a great interview, Peter. Many thanks for that! It hits the nail into the coffin of the myth that natural gas would be needed as a “bridge fuel”.
Natural gas is no better than coal for the climate.
Also => US oil and gas methane emissions equivalent to 14 coal-fired power plants
The problem is that while gas is no better than coal for the climate, it’s sensibly better than coal in other areas, like local air quality and not having the ash residue problem.
J4Zonian Says:
It’s worse in some ways, too–groundwater quality that can’t be fixed for thousands of years, and because a significant part of its emissions are methane, which raise emissions on the short term especially, which is particularly dangerous for triggering near-term tipping points, for example.
If gas is better at all, it’s so marginally better it’s insignificant. Considerable investments that would otherwise be going to efficiency, renewables, and storage will go to gas instead, leaving brand new infrastructure to become stranded assets. That will intensify determination to stick with fossil fuels for decades, and create a fight over keeping gas burners going and subsidizing them like the administration keeps trying to subsidize coal and nukes that can’t compete any more. So much for their market religion, too; apparently they’re perfectly happy with socialism when it props up profits for their guys.
Two more articles on the issue:
=> Methane emissions from oil production up to twice as high as estimated
=> Fossil fuel methane emissions found to be 20 – 60% higher than previous estimates
All mainly due to shale exploration (fracking).
Global spike in methane emissions over last decade likely due to US shale
Have a look here and search for “air” and “water”, rhymeswithgoalie.
=> Shale Gas Bulletin Ireland
Further on, here is a database of more than 8,000 peer-reviewed studies that describe the impacts of fracking not only on air, water and health.
Natural gas is anything but a better alternative to coal.
Yes, 80% by 2050 isn’t close to being enough, and the fact that we keep hearing things like that is a sign (as if we needed one) that almost no one has made the transition yet to understanding that the priority here is not preserving the empire but keeping as many species alive as possible and causing the fewest people possible to die or migrate.
The speed with which all the corporate heads I’ve ever heard speak on this think we can move is entirely dependent on their unspoken and as yet unshaken assumption that capitalism is the bedrock principle on which they base everything else.
For me, underlying everything is a layer of democracy, under which there must be a layer of psychologically healthy humans-embedded-in-nature, without which, whatever political, economic, religious and cultural system we choose, we’re unsustainable and thus doomed. Since democracy and healthy people are incompatible with capitalism the sooner people can make this shift and start to embrace radical changes–including recognizing the psychological nature of our problem–the sooner we can fix it and begin to heal the damage our lives and the crisis itself have caused, the better our chances.
As usual, a bit wordy and overdone, but generally well said and on point. Is Jeffy moving toward a fuller embrace of the rational fatalism that will help him deal with his grief?
Well said indeed. Globalism has thrown all the eggs in essentially one basket and lo and behold, it was the basket that was meant to be composted; the totally wrong basket. But once the mistake was discovered, greed and psychopathy dictated that the eggs continue to be dumped in the wrong basket.
Reblogged this on jpratt27 and commented:
Stop Adani stop opening new coal mines they will soon become stranded assets
A Green Road Daily News Says:
Reblogged this on AGR Daily 60 Second News Bites.
Great article and while not enough, this is all great news and pointing to a real market sea change. We have gone a long ways from the 90s when SMUD and PGE were the only utilities taking solar serious and SMUD was the only utility trying to create a commercial distributed generation market. Most utilities thought PV (esp DGPV) was the enemy back then (if they even though about at all. When we said we would get to $3/W, they thought us crazy and multiple MWs were “unrealistic”. Now we are far below $3/W and multiple GWs and growing fast. “Love it when a plan comes together”.
Reblogged this on ~Burning Woman~ and commented:
Eat your heart out, Trump and your recidivist Repugnican sycophants…
DeSmog UK reporter Chloe Farand was denied press access to the fringe denier gathering, hosted by the Heartland Institute, which attracted a whopping 10 attendees for its five speakers.
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Polish Trade Union And Climate Science Denial Group Issue Statement Rejecting Scientific Consensus on Climate Change At COP24
COP24: Climate Science Denial, Disinformation and Fake News at the UN Climate Talks
Yet Another Benefit of Renewable Energy: It Uses Practically No Water Compared to Fossil Fuels
Decades of Denial and Stalling Have Created a Climate Crunch
Kochs Fund Study to Kill Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Via Same Group That Defended Tobacco Industry
Paris Agreement Fight Could Push US Out Permanently, Warn Top Obama Officials
Energy Transfer, Banks Lost Billions by Ignoring Early Dakota Access Pipeline Concerns
=> DeSmog weekly update
« Green New Deal: Making Climate Policy Inspiring
Trump’s Ambassador to Canada an Embarrassment on Climate »
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Paul Auster Novel ‘In The Country Of Last Things’ Gets Movie Adapt With Director Alejandro Chomski, Shoot Underway
Disney Sets Robert Stromberg To Helm 'Maleficent'
Mike Fleming Jr
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Film
@DeadlineMike
More Stories By Mike
Hot Project: Damien Chazelle Period Hollywood Script ‘Babylon, Emma Stone Circling; Will Lionsgate Leap?
January 6, 2012 2:05pm
EXCLUSIVE: Disney has tapped Robert Stromberg to make his feature directorial debut on Maleficent, the Linda Woolverton-scripted revisionist take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale that is being constructed as a star vehicle for Angelina Jolie to play the villainess. While Stromberg is new to the director’s chair, he is no stranger to dealing with big-ticket spectacle films. He has been production designer on Avatar and Alice In Wonderland, and Disney’s upcoming Oz The Great And Powerful. He also worked on visual effects for such films as 2012, Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End and Master And Commander. Joe Roth is producing.
This gives Disney feature heads Sean Bailey and Rich Ross another tentpole feature to complement the Marvel product, with A-list talent. Maleficent stacks up alongside Oz The Great And Powerful, and the Johnny Depp-starrer The Lone Ranger. Stromberg’s repped by UTA.
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CIO Insights and Analysis from Deloitte CONTENT FROM OUR SPONSOR Please note: The Wall Street Journal News Department was not involved in the creation of the content below.
Seize AMS Automation for Smarter Service Delivery
IT leaders seeking to make service delivery faster, cheaper, and more efficient may find substantial value in automating application management services elements and processes.
The application management services (AMS) function is rapidly incorporating robotic process automation (RPA) and other related technologies that can improve IT services workflows, analysis, and solutions. But AMS automation is about more than tools alone. It is critical that CIOs understand their organizations’ digital maturity and the ways automation can augment and enhance end-to-end service delivery—and, in doing so, fundamentally transform functions and processes.
Organizations have a range of reasons for pursuing AMS automation. Always-on chatbots can enable 24/7 customer self-service, for example, which may enhance user productivity and satisfaction. RPA can complete many processes, such as routing service tickets and conducting incident analysis, far faster than humans can. Properly configured bots may also be less error-prone than people, and can even be trained to learn from their mistakes so they are less likely to repeat them. Moreover, as IT service providers employ increasingly intelligent automation, employees are often freed from rote tasks and lower-value work (such as resolving repetitive incidents or responding to routine requests) and can instead focus on identifying opportunities to innovate and extend technology capabilities to other areas of the business.
Guided by these factors, organizations can develop a clearly defined rationale for why they want to automate application management elements. From there, leaders can explore the following deployment considerations.
What service elements can be automated? Automation has a range of uses in AMS. Organizations can automate service measurement (service-level agreements, for example) and reporting, and workflow steps such as password resets and ticket categorization and assignment. Automation can assist with or perform incident resolution and support software development testing, release, and rapid iteration. Business analytics operations such as extract, transform, and load (ETL), data cleansing, exception management, and performance tuning can be automated, as can the broader software platform operations environment, including application monitoring, batch management, security compliance, and provisioning.
‘AMS automation is about more than tools alone. It is critical that CIOs understand their organizations’ digital maturity and the ways automation can augment and enhance end-to-end service delivery—and, in doing so, fundamentally transform functions and processes.’
How can processes be automated? While emerging technologies such as RPA, machine learning, and AI get many of the headlines, traditional technologies can also be effective in automating AMS processes. For instance, many existing IT service management tools offer capabilities such as automated ticket routing and change management as well as advanced analytics to accelerate incident resolution and problem management. Many organizations can also use existing systems tools for automated monitoring and alerting.
Of late, emerging intelligent tools are increasingly leveraged to drive AMS automation. RPA is already being employed across a variety of functions; however, organizations are just scratching the surface of these opportunities. Other forms of automation such as chatbots, machine learning, cognitive analytics, and AI, while relatively less pervasive, could potentially address more complex use cases, including user requests, as well as analyze problems, recommend solutions, and possibly even resolve issues without human intervention.
Automation can also complement DevOps, enhancing quality, speed, and rapid iteration during the software development lifecycle. As the demand for new, more frequent releases grows, emerging automation tools can also simplify software testing processes.
How can automation be deployed? A strategy focused on increasing business value—rather than squarely on the tools themselves—is a good guide for AMS automation. Organizations are well-served to consider the importance of the following:
Assimilated information. Automating even simple processes requires clear definitions, specific inputs, and known outcomes, while using more advanced analytics and machine learning automation depends on clean and consistent data. Anything less could lead to unsatisfactory outcomes.
Demonstrated success. It is prudent to approach an automation initiative with proofs of concept and quick wins. For example, automating an AMS process such as service ticket routing can give the IT organization experience with the technology and generate productivity gains with relatively minimal risk and exposure.
Organizational support and governance. An automation road map can include implementation in areas such as process automation, machine learning-assisted analytics, automated DevOps, and, eventually, other business processes across the enterprise. It is critically important to establish the right processes and governance for improving data, modifying or enhancing technology, handling exceptions, addressing incidents, and measuring impact. Organizations are well-advised to create centers of excellence to govern, build, and manage automation initiatives.
Future prospects. Opportunities for continual improvement are almost infinite. For example, an RPA solution that automatically routes tickets to the appropriate IT professionals for resolution may be further enhanced with an analytics component that automatically recommends probable resolutions, or even by AI and natural language interfaces that resolve incidents unassisted.
Once IT organizations gain expertise in their pursuit of AMS automation, they can turn their attention to how best to leverage that learning to improve enterprise processes. An approach driven by the business case and expected benefits that emphasizes close collaboration across the enterprise can help CIOs continually enhance their organizations’ value, productivity, and efficiency.
—by Tim Boehm, principal; Ayan Chatterjee, principal; and Bob Sanchez, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP
“Transforming Application Management”
“A Strategic Approach to Software Asset Management”
“Putting Agile Methods to Work in AMS”
Questions? Write to deloitteeditor
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This communication contains general information only, and none of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, its member firms or their related entities (collectively, the “Deloitte Network”), is, by means of this communication, rendering professional advice or services. Before making any decisions or taking any action that may affect your finances, or your business, you should consult a qualified professional adviser. No entity in the Deloitte Network shall be responsible for any loss whatsoever sustained by any person who relies on this communication. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms. Copyright © 2018 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
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Many banks have employed modern development methodologies such as Agile in transformative “change the bank” efforts while leaving traditional maintenance activities largely unchanged. Through site reliability engineering, leading organizations are applying these practices to “run the bank” operations as well for improved efficiency and better business outcomes.
Until recently, software asset management was frequently viewed as a tedious task offering little payoff. However, many smart IT leaders are evolving to a managed services approach that can reveal hidden risks, uncover opportunities, and provide sizable financial returns.
How Broadcom Keeps the Lights on During M&A
Mergers and acquisitions are rarely easy on CIOs, but for Andy Nallappan, the Avago-Broadcom deal was particularly daunting. His mandate included integrating systems and decommissioning a massive ERP system on a tight schedule and with a strict financial imperative. His approach included heavy reliance on application management services.
As technology and business leaders consider the immense task of creating an environment in which innovation and value cocreation thrive, they can begin by reimagining technology as an opportunity to enable business disruption and create sustainable competitive advantage.
As the evolving role of technology blurs the lines between functions, business and technology leaders can benefit from viewing technology holistically across the organization and redefining technology work beyond IT. CIOs and other technology executives can aim to leverage and balance competing demands while collaborating with the business to reshape the future of work in technology. This is the first story in a two-part series exploring the future of work. Coming on Tuesday: “Imagine, Compose, Activate the Future of Work in Technology.”
As disruptive technologies continue to transform modern life, more diversity at the top of the corporate world could help put a fresh focus on tech ethics and social responsibility, according to veteran business journalist and pundit Kara Swisher.
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Sirius: the Scorcher
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky – its modern name comes from the Ancient Greek Seirios (“glowing” or “scorcher”). It is actually another one of those binary stars, a white star and a white dwarf. Like Procyon, its nearness to Earth makes it much brighter in the night sky than many other stars. It is brighter than our sun, but dimmer than Rigel and Canopus.
The double act of Sirius was originally two bluish stars but one burned through its resources and became a red giant before flaming out as a white dwarf. This is slowly stripping the other, larger star because white dwarfs are very dense, with much more gravity for their mass. The two also have magnetic storms when they come closest, once every 49.9 years. Alvan Graham Clark discovered Sirius B in 1862.
It is appropriate that the star that began the Egyptian New Year is most visible at our New Year, when it is at the meridian of the night sky. Its flickering, changing colour often deceives new observers into thinking it’s a UFO.
This flickering is one of the most mysterious features of this star, as descriptions of its colour have changed through the ages and with each writer, with some calling it red as Mars, some “sea-blue”, and some white. It can appear to change colour when near the horizon, especially to the naked eye. The astronomer David Lynch photographed it,
The main reason it seems to change colour is atmospheric interference, although a third star in the system might explain it. (While Sirius A & B have changed a great deal over their history, this would have taken far longer than the time between the ancient astronomers and us, washing out that explanation.)
Fever Star
The helical (dawn) rising of Sirius in the summer brought hot weather to the Greeks and Romans, and was known as the Scorcher. The Romans believed that during the “dog days” of July the heat drove dogs rabid. Humans could develop a fever called seirasis, from the Greek name for Sirius, Seirios, “scorching”.
According to ancient belief, the star itself gave off heat that made the 40 days following the helical rising of Sirius. The ancient Romans, who saw Sirius as red, sacrificed red dogs to it during the three agricultural festivals: the Robigalia in May to avert rust on the crops, then the Floralia and Vinalia, festivals of flowers and fruits.
Flooding Star
To the Egyptians, however, it was the sign that the fertile season was beginning. The annual flooding of the Nile, which deposited the rich black earth onto the fields surrounding the river, took place as Sirius was rising just before the sun, after having disappeared from the skies for roughly 70 days. (Before that it was too close to the sun to be seen.) This inundation took place in early July*, and was the beginning of the Egyptian year.
Because of its importance, the star was made a deity – the goddess Sothis. She was usually shown as a woman wearing the crown of Upper Egypt with a star on top, and her title was the “Bringer of the New Year and the Nile Flood”.
Her husband was the god Sah, or Orion, and their child was Sopdu, a falcon-headed god whose star was Venus. She achieved such importance that in the Pyramid Texts she is said to unite with the king and bring forth the morning star as their child. The king was identified with the constellation of Orion, which was setting around the same time as Sirius.
As the agricultural cult of Isis and Osiris grew in prominence, Sothis was integrated with Isis, and Orion was integrated with both Osiris and the pharaoh. (You can see how a star-goddess, kingly god and falcon-headed son would fit.) The identification is obvious in the Pyramid Texts:
It is Sothis, the daughter whom thou loves, who has made thy fresh plants in this her name of Fresh One or Year, who leads this King when this King comes to thee. This King has come to thee, O Lord of Heaven; this King has come to thee, O Osiris.
Flickering Star
One Inuit source from the Bering Straits told ethnographers that they called the star I-gha-lum-mukh-ti, “the Moon’s Dog”. When the dog is near the moon there are high winds. In the Coppermine area of the Yukon, the flickering colours of Sirius are the result of two foxes, one red and one white, trying to get through one foxhole.
The ever-changing colour and brightness of Sirius also gave rise to various stories. The Iranians gave their god Tishtrya the power to change his form every tenth day of the month. He became a cow, a youth and a horse in sequence each month. The Norse called the star Loki’s Brand, appropriately enough since he was a god closely associated with fire, trickery, and shapeshifting.
An Inuit myth says that when Moon and a woman were walking around, they passed a house with a lamp flickering from the breeze. The old woman in the house looked up at them and muttered “Passersby, Passersby” as she went back to her sewing. The flickering lamp was the star Sirius.
Faithful Star
In both Indian and Celtic myth, Sirius was the main star of Canis Minor. In India, it was Svana, the faithful dog of Prince Yudhistira. The prince and his three brothers set out to find the gates of heaven, but the other three gave up. Yudhistira persevered, and he and his dog finally found themselves outside the gates, but the gatekeeper, the god Indra, said Svana could not come in. Yudhistira protested that when everyone else had abandoned him, the dog had stayed. Indra was pleased, and both dog and master could enter.
In Celtic myth, the constellation Canis Major, which hosts Sirius, shares its mythology with Canis Minor and Procyon: the two being seen as the hounds of Annwn, or other mythical hunters, or indeed the Wild Hunt itself.
* Note that now Sirius’s heliacal rising is in early August, in case anyone should wish to recreate the festival.
If you like the image at the top, click here.
This entry was posted in Astronomy, Egyptian, Mythology, Norse, Stars and tagged binary stars, dogs, Indian, Inuit on March 18, 2015 by solsdottir.
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7 thoughts on “Sirius: the Scorcher”
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Jorja August 11, 2015 at 8:15 pm
A vibrant hallmark communicates confidence and also stamina.
A typical mark says you’re ordinary– among numerous in a
crowd.
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Parenting expert Aaliyah Noble shares his views of teenage pregnancy and parenting in the media, and how it should focus on the issues they face rather than glamorizing teenage pregnancy
Parenting Tips for Parents of Teenage Parents - Media | Kids in the House
Home » TEEN » Sexuality and Body Image » Articles on 1829 and Node
Teen pregnancy in the media
There are currently a lot of TV shows that glamorize teenage pregnancy and parenting. I think it's a good thing that the mainstream media has brought this to the public's attention, because teenagers are becoming pregnant and parenting at alarming rates. However, I think it would be more beneficial to everybody if more efforts were put into creating TV shows that help prevent teenage pregnancy. Teenagers need time to establish who they are in the world. It's very important for them to establish who they are, what they want, what their dreams and goals are. What they want out of life and relationships, before they bring a child into the world; so the child doesn't have to suffer as they learn these things. I really think that TV shows that glamorize teenage pregnancy, should take the time, step back and focus on the issues that they face; not being able to go to the prom, not being able to hang out with their friends, and not being able to have enough money to take care of the needs of their child.
Video Categories: ALL PARENTS, Family Life, Single Parents, TEEN, Sexuality and Body Image, Teen Pregnancy
What teen parents should know Aaliyah Noble
Advice for teen parents Aaliyah Noble
Being a supportive parent of a teenage parent Aaliyah Noble
Best way to prevent your teen from getting pregnant Aaliyah Noble
Riskiness of teen sexual activity Michael J. Bradley, EdD
Tips for talking about sex with your son Michael Gurian, MFA, CMHC
Managing the daily battles with your teen Michael J. Bradley, EdD
Explanation for parents of the landscape of teen dating today Wendy Walsh, PhD
Are teens likely to get pregnant if sister was a teen mom? Jeffrey Kluger
Understanding the food stamp program Aaliyah Noble
Meet Aaliyah Noble
Advice for teen parents
Being a supportive parent of a teenage parent
Best way to prevent your teen from getting pregnant
Family pet loss
Getting baby to sleep in a noisy environment
How to deal with preschoolers misbehaving in school
Importance of alone time as a single parent
Picky eater tips
Staying in touch with a long distance co-parent
Tips for finding the right daycare
Tips for single parents who are looking to date again
Tips on how and when to potty train
Understanding the food stamp program
What teen parents should know
Aaliyah Noble
Aaliyah Noble is the single mother of a six year-old son. Despite having her son when she was just a teenager, Aaliyah has had a successful career in the non-profit sector, helping to educate and empower teen parents, and also in production, spearheading a company that produces documentaries and short films.
Parenting expert on: Single Parents, Teen Pregnancy, Impulse Control, Picky Eaters
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Is the Peace Movement a Failure?, August 21, 1914
Many people at the present moment are doubtless saying that the movement for International Peace is a failure, and are challenging the enthusiasts who insisted that never in the history of the world had universal peace been so nearly attained.
The many advocates of peace will give widely different explanation of the present war, but certainly they will agree that [no one] <ever> ventured to claim that arbitration had, as yet, become firmly established as an international usage. Experiments in a higher type of living are seldom immediately [successful], there are sure to be many failures and throw backs before the new type is secure.
[Although] the Tribunal at the Hague gave a concrete and living expression to international law and precedent, war did <not> become impossible simply because international disputes might be adjudicated with honor and just dealing.
The question of international arbitration, at moments, seems to resolve itself into one of time. Its most ardent promoters could never do more than ask themselves if the resort to arbitration without compulsion, was psychologically possible for a sufficient length of time so that the custom could be built up between nations, as the resort to law between individuals has already been established in all civilized states.
The occurrence of this great war cannot stamp international arbitration as a failure. The mistake of judging such a situation too hastily may be illustrated from our national experience: When the thirteen original states united and each agreed to make no attempt to defend its own borders but to submit all differences to a supreme court of the federated states, the founders of our republic had every right to look forward to centuries of unbroken peace, although in less than [page 2] seventy five years, these states bound together by every tie of blood and <mutual> interest were engaged in a prolonged civil war. Yet no one on that account would call our federal government a failure nor the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United States a mistake.
Over and over again the Conferences at the Hague attempted without success to limit through mutual agreement, the huge standing armies of Europe, whose very existence means that the [maneuvers] of war become the daily business of thousands of men during the very best years of their lives. The officers see the men "running to seed" as they say because of the endless preparation for war which never takes place and the commanders themselves confess that they long for "a taste of the real thing". If, as the war adherents claim, it is impossible for the world to get along without war in man's present state of [development], may it not be because these impressive preparations have themselves made for war?
The advocates of peace have published elaborate calculations demonstrating that the armed peace of Europe was only less costly than war itself. Millions of idle men supported at public expense, interest on war debts and all the rest, during the current year, cost the various nations of [the] earth [$2,000,000,000] according to an estimate of David Starr Jordan, who also insists that the high cost of living all over the world is due to this senseless waste.
The tendency to hold Germany responsible for this present war may be quite unfounded when the facts in the case are sifted, but it is doubtless to be accounted for because Germany for years has led all the world in her military preparations and that she above all other nations has [page 3] constantly expounded the absurd doctrine that peace is best secured by constant and menacing [preparations] for war.
Many years ago I heard Prof James at a great meeting of the International Society urge the necessity for "moral substitutes" for war. It is doubtless true that "every man should some time in his life make a definite renunciation of ease and comfort for his country's good"; that he should have the stimulation of "fear nobly resisted"; that he should submit to an impersonal discipline and lose himself in "the heart of a people beating with one desire", but certainly it is possible to achieve all these without warfare, if we have courage to insist that the much of what the past forced us to accept is not good enough for the present. Certainly the increased moral sensitiveness to the outrage and wrong of warfare has been widely expressed in American newspapers and is evinced in cartoons published every day since the war began. Whenever we pick up a current publication we are poignantly reminded of the widows and orphans, of the intolerable burdens of increased taxation, of the destruction of property, of the irrevocable setback to civilization.
The rulers of the nations involved in the war have each carefully explained that there was no alternative for him, that [someone] else was responsible for the war. When even in the excitement of the first weeks the neutral nations condemn and the warring nations apologize, may we not say that public sentiment has at last turned against war and that the unconscious reservists of the army of peace, are reinforcing the vanguard.
Hague Convention (Second) (1907)
James, William (1842-1910)
Jordan, David Starr (1851-1931)
London Peace Society
United States Civil War (1861-1865)
World War One (1914-1918)
Addams argues that international peace is not a failed idea, and even though World War I is in the early stages of fighting it is not too late to stop war from continuing.
Addams, Jane, views on peace
Addams, Jane, views on war
Addams, Jane, writings
peace movement
PSC-P - Swarthmore College Peace Collections
GermanyInternationalismPeaceWarWorld War IWritings
Romano, Michael
McDermott, Stacy Pratt
Sciancalepore, Victoria
Typed document
Addams, Jane, “Is the Peace Movement a Failure?, August 21, 1914,” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed July 15, 2019, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/9760.
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Tag / Afghans
April 4, 2015 October 10, 2015 by Eddie
White Australia, I could be one of your kids
Afghans, Coolgardie, Frederick Vosper, Islam, Reclaim Australia, Sunday Times
Frederick Vosper, looking bohemian and not at all like a bigot
We in the Dodgy Perth office are in favour of people using their democratic right to protest against mosques. It makes organising dinner parties much easier when the bigots have outed themselves.
But before we get too smug and believe only the Victorians have a racism problem, a quick look back at the Anti-Asiatic League which was formed at Coolgardie in 1894 to ensure only white folk worked the goldfields.
All-round racist, and founder of the Sunday Times, Frederick Vosper explained to a public rally that the average Afghan had first come to Coolgardie as a mere camel driver. By working hard he had gradually become a storeman, then a member of the police force. Eventually, some Afghans had obtained work with the council.
Naturally such an evil could not be allowed to go unchecked, Vosper explained, so whites had been forced to found the Anti-Asiatic League to stop hard-working Muslims getting jobs.
Being a clever chap, Vosper had noted whites and Afghans had different religions. Therefore, he said, the two races could never be on friendly terms. Not only that, the buggers were so dirty they polluted the water supply just by using it.
Warming to his theme, Frederick explained that since dogs were quarantined to stop rabies, Muslims should be quarantined to prevent leprosy. And just like he would today, Vosper read a few out-of-context lines from the Qur’an to prove Muslims hated Christians.
Either the white man or the Afghan must go, he declared. The miners, at any rate, were determined that it should be the Afghan.
The Anti-Asiatic League roared its approval and this tolerant nation took one more step on the road to White Australia.
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Justin Ashley Racing to Make Debut at U.S. Nationals with New Sponsor
By Drag Illustrated | August 23, 2018
Last month Justin Ashley Racing announced it acquired a complete A/Fuel operation to compete in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster class. The team got off to a fast start and in just one month, opened its shop in Indianapolis, secured several important sponsors and prepared the car for competition.
A successful day of testing on Wednesday showed real potential for the newly formed team. In total the team made four runs, two planned half-track and two to the stripe. The car ran its quickest ET of the day on its first full pull right out of the trailer at 5.39 and its top speed of 269.68 mph on the last run of the day. The majority of the day was spent testing different clutch and tune-up combinations and a lot was learned.
“This test day showed the incredible synergy among this group.” explains Justin Ashley, new team owner. “This was the first day that our team worked together at the track and it went beyond expectation. We learned a lot from this test session and we are anxious to learn a lot more. This is a highly competitive class and I’m well aware that sustainable success cannot come overnight. But we are committed to going all the way with this program. Lance Larsen, Anthony Dicero, Tom Abbett, Mark Adkins, Kevin Anderson and Krista Baldwin are all unique, talented and genuinely special teammates. I’m very, very fortunate.”
The team will hit the track for its first official race at the US Nationals, the most prestigious event on the NHRA tour.
Along with the team’s debut, Ashley will be introducing its new primary sponsor, 1800CASHOUT, INC. The company buys distressed residential properties nationwide and is backed by Investor Licensees.
“I’m excited to introduce the 1800CASHOUT brand to the NHRA,” says Ashley, a New York native. “I guess the best way to explain it is: you’ve heard of 1800FLOWERS for flowers and 1800LAWYERS for lawyers – 1800CASHOUT is for real estate.”
Homeowners who want to sell a property fast anywhere in the United States can simply call 1-800-CASH-OUT and get an offer in 10 minutes and cash in 10 days. The company focuses on distressed properties like pre-foreclosure, or foreclosure sales, estate sales, divorce sales and short sales. Condition doesn’t matter either. Properties can be in poor condition, burned down, flooded, hurricane ravaged, occupied by non-paying tenants even just vacant land. Being a real estate investor, Ashley has tested the concept successfully in New York and now the company is expanding nationally its expansion spearheaded by this sponsorship.
Also, for the US Nationals the team has partnered with Dr. Price Pritchett—best-selling author, expert on self-directed change, and advisor to top executives on fast-growth strategies.
“Like my father, former NHRA competitor Mike Ashley, I believe that an important key to our overall success as a team on and off the track is in the mental game,” Ashley said. “My dad used the you2 book to instill a winning culture and mindset 15 years ago and now I am going to do the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re racing, building a career or raising a family. The information in you2 when studied and implemented is life altering.”
In addition to its primary and associate sponsors the team enjoys, marketing partnerships with the following winning companies; Lucas Oil, Manley Performance, Clevite & Mahle, and Noonan Race Engines.
← Previous Story NMCA Releases Parking Map for Honeywell Garrett NMCA All-American Nationals
Next Story → Wiseco Joins World Cup Finals as Presenting Sponsor
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Irish Cocktail: A Classic Drink for St. Patrick's Day
Nick Caruana
Published: March 12, 2014 Last Updated: August 9, 2018
Back away from the green beer and drink this classic Irish whiskey cocktail instead. [Photographs: Nick Caruana]
Get the Recipes
Irish Cocktail
Dutch Alps
We've got nothing against Guinness and shots of Jameson downed in honor of St. Patrick's Day, but we wanted to give you a few more options if you're celebrating at home and just don't feel like dosing your beer with green food coloring. How about a classic Irish whiskey cocktail? We think you'll really like this one.
I first stumbled across this classic drink in Patrick Gavin Duffy's Official Mixer's Manual. Perfect, I thought, not only is it an Irish whiskey cocktail, but it also comes from an Irishman. But it turns out that the drink was around long before Duffy's famous book, popping up in everyone's favorite, the Savoy Cocktail Book, among others. The oldest mention I've seen it in so far is in Harry MacElhone's 1927 Barflies and Cocktails.
The Classic:
Irish Cocktail Ingredients
In addition to Irish whiskey, the Irish Cocktail is made with maraschino, orange curacao, and a touch of absinthe, plus a little Angostura thrown in for good measure. So far it might sound a bit like a popular genever cocktail called the Improved Holland Gin Cocktail, but here's the kicker: in addition to a twist, it's also garnished with an olive. Weird, right?
Orange and anise scented, this odd combination is actually quite tasty. At first it's lightly tinged with citrus and malt, followed by a wave of anise and wormwood from the absinthe. The cocktail ends sweet and herbal with a touch of smoke and salt. It's a great pre-dinner drink, especially if you're serving salty snacks.
Get the Irish Cocktail Recipe »
The Variation
The Dutch Alps
One of the most striking things about the Irish Cocktail is the olive garnish (although it wasn't entirely uncommon for all sorts of drinks to get olive garnishes back in the day). For my updated variation, The Dutch Alps, I thought it might be fun to play with the briny taste without actually using olives.
A great way to get that savory flavor in a cocktail is by adding a bit of saline solution. If you haven't heard of it, you're not alone, but it is a trend that has gained a bit of popularity recently. Best used like bitters, a few drops of saline solution will add quite a bit of richness to a drink. Add too much and you'll turn almost any cocktail into a glass of seawater.
Before you go looting IV fluids from the local hospital, slow down: saline solutions are actually super simple to make. Take some water, drop some salt in it, and stir until dissolved. I use 1 part kosher salt to 15 parts water. Doesn't get much easier than that, plus you won't need to wear a ski mask to acquire "supplies."
Nonino, genever, genepy
Getting back to my variation, I went with genever as the base in place of the Irish whisky that's called for in the classic. It plays up the malty flavor of the original nicely. The maraschino and lemon twist stick around, but I switched the bitters from Angostura to orange, lightening the drink a bit.
While we're trying new things, I have a couple more ingredients to introduce you to. The first is genepy, an alpine liqueur flavored with herbs and wormwood that you'll see on the shelves of more and more bars these days. It comes in somewhere between the herbaceousness of Green Chartreuse and the anise and wormwood flavors of absinthe, but is a touch sweeter than both. Dolin makes a good version.
I swapped out the classic's curaçao for Amaro Nonino, a delicious Italian amaro that tastes like a lightly bittered Grand Marnier. It's a favorite bottle that you'll likely find yourself emptying much faster than you'd expect.
The result is a little lighter than its inspiration, thanks to the genever. It's all about the malty flavor, with bitter herbs and citrus in a very smooth package. The saline solution makes it a bit savory, without being too salty. The scent is really refreshing, like a breeze from a citrus scented ocean (but don't worry, it's not nearly as salty).
Get the Dutch Alps Recipe »
View Recipe »
Nick Caruana Contributor
Nick Caruana is the author of The Straight Up, where he shares his love of classic and modern cocktails, including a slight obsession with whiskey, bitters and amari. Stalk him via the usual social media outlets.
More "cocktail"
16 Vodka Cocktail Recipes for Sunny Weather Sipping
21 Make-Ahead Pitcher Cocktail Recipes for Memorial Day
How to Batch Cocktails for a Crowd
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Theses - Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering - Ph.D. / Sc.D.
Hierarchical layered-silicate-- lamellar triblock copolymer nanocomposites
Ha, Yung-Hoon Sam, 1975-
DownloadFull printable version (21.36Mb)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.
Edwin L. Thomas.
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
The fundamental role of the layered-silicates in a styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer (SBS) as a function of layered-silicate dispersion during deformation was investigated. Predominantly immiscible composites of mixed morphology provided the initial proof that dramatic alteration of the SBS deformation behavior exists, but a clear understanding of the nature of reinforcement was precluded due to the fiber symmetric orientation of the SBS and the mixed clay morphologies. Following the theory of Vaia and Giannelis, use of a more hydrophobic organically modified clay resulted in an intercalated morphology with a near single crystalline texture of the SBS due to roll-casting. Significant heterogeneous deformation was observed at ambient conditions as well as at elevated temperature as verified through Cohen's affine deformation model in combination with Kratky's scattering pattern model. The intercalated morphology shows little or modest mechanical property enhancements at all temperatures studied. Exfoliated nanocomposite was produced by functionalization of the clay surfaces with polystyrene, altering the enthalpic interactions. Entropic interactions were also controlled by varying the molecular weight of the surfactant and the grafting density and shows remarkable agreement with the theory proposed by Balazs et al. Due to the increase surface volume ratio of the clay, a flipping transition of the block copolymer morphology was observed during roll-casting producing a near single crystalline parallel/parallel clay/BCP orientation. The modulus was relatively unaffected whereas the toughness increased significantly due to an earlier onset of strain hardening.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, February 2003.
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Gene Pitney Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame - Fan Site
ELLE FAGAN'S UNOFFICIAL GENE PITNEY FAN SITE
THIS PAGE IS A MAJOR UPDATE COMBINING MY OLD WEBSITE'S FAN PAGE AND MY FORMER FACEBOOK PAGE....
YOU CAN VIEW OLD POSTS AND SEND NEW POSTS TO CONTINUE THE FACEBOOK-TYPE FOLLOWING AT THIS LINK.
This page began while I was staying at Rockville, Connecticut, Gene Pitney's hometown, where his was popularly known as "The Rockville Rocket" in the sixties.
You are most welcome to visit here, and/or link to
The Gene Pitney International Fan Club for the accurate and up-to-date data on our hero, Gene Pitney! Latest Opportunties to join in Fan Activities
Wikipedia shares a fine overview for newbies to Gene Pitney and his world-class contributions to the music world!
The Facebook page for some of his closest hometown fans Gene Pitney Commemorative Committee. Great for updates on memorials and more.
Discography - Albums and Singles
The best songs last! This poster, following, is from Gene's last show in the USA - and I was there and helping and backstage met OMG Gene Pitney! An unforgettable moment. Rest in Peace, Gifted and Faithful Servant!
Gene Pitney
Inductee 2002
Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame !!!
Early Days: Academy Award Show '62
"Town Without Pity"
BACKGROUND - EARLY DAYS
Mr. Pitney's music is a Rock Music Icon, and as vocalist for his own music, his songs often won the Top 40 spots.
His genius grew to include work as author/composer of many top songs for major recording stars, as well.
His fans may have been bewildered, when he almost it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a number
of times, but he won his place last year...a long overdue recognition for him a big treat for us !!!!!!!
Gene Pitney Song Titles: His Recordings:
Work for other recording artists:
Information for purchase of music, videos or membership in the Official Gene Pitney Fan Club via this e-mail link:
Email:pitneyfan@aol.com
This spot at the site will list Mr.Pitney's Available CD's and tapes,
and include the listing of songs on the tracks, and the year they became hits.
This early photo of Mr.Pitney hies back to days when his homestate Connecticut fans called him "The Rockville Rocket", referring to his hometown. Even today he is sometimes moved to insist that it was notthe place that inspired his big hit "Town Without Pity". However, the town may have inspired "Tower Tall" from its famous landmark on Fox Hill, and the downtown area has a block called "Mecca", another of his winning songs.
Mr.Pitney is internationally active today in concert and radio/tv appearances, and Great Britain is a favorite...his "home away from home". I hope his site may become a" home away from home" for his fans... an official site, and have enjoyed doing up my own unofficial site, so far, for many reasons :-)~~~~~~~ esf
Site contents will soon include a recordings list, news and gossip,
photos, show reviews, and more...and all about GENE PITNEY.
This photo is one of The Gene Pitney Caricature T-shirts, and similar merchandise is available, as well, at the Official Site. Featured for the first time at a Foxwoods Casino appearance at Y2K. Ask via the fanclub e-mail link, above.
Favorite Gene Pitney story~1966~
here, but this spot will also contain the Stories of other fans, friends and neighbors, with their permission. It is one of the extras of Life in Rockville. I hope you will find them entertaining.
A choral performer with a smattering of several musical instruments, my mind was a website for words and music of the times in Girlhood in Fairfield Connecticut. My "steady" and future husband, from Wethersfield/WestHartford and I were enjoying conversation about Rock and Roll: ME: "Connecti-cats are soooooo "Powder Blue", we never do anything exciting...all the Rock Stars are from Philadelphia!"
HE: "Are you saying that you have never heard of the 'Rockville Rocket'?"
ME:"who?"
HE:" GENE PITNEY, THE ROCKVILLE (CONNECTICUT) ROCKET!"
ME: "WOW! an actual rockstar from our boring little state...I know all his songs...but I didn't know he was from Connecticut!....maybe we're not so boring after all!"
Most-Recent Gene Pitney Story ~1996 ~ At my arts/helpingwork , as always, and home from fourteen honored years out-of-state, I was working at my art, and home from ODS with The Red Cross, widowed for over ten years, our children off and doing fine. But I was taking as much care as I was giving,due to an injury that kept getting worse instead of better. Finally, correct diagnostic tests and complete disability for a bit were prescribed, and this lady injured and frightened, found a heavenhome at a home for ambulatory disabled. Located in the airy hills of Northern Connecticut, I laughed for the first time in a while when the address of my new home was listed as "Rockville"! "Gene Pitney",I thought "The Rockville Rocket!" I had not remembered the name of town or rockstar for years! My spirits lifted - a good omen, and so far, it has held. The injuries are healed, I have sunny place again of my own, and fine new work and new friends to share with the old. A very lucky lady! There will be links here to other Gene Pitney Sites, but for now I can start with this one:~~~~~~~ an elle fagan artsite: My images and writings on the web,
And, of course, you are invited to drop a quick note with guest comment and
E-mail me with inspiring ideas for this site :-)
Email: esfagan@ellefagan.com
Earliest and silliest Gene Pitney story ~1956~, as told to Pitney Fan Club Co-ords, Dave & Guida, today, via e-mail:
Current Folder: INBOX Sign Out
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Subject: something reallllly crazy, but true! strictly for the fun,at the children's graduation time....
From: "elle fagan"
Date: Thu, June 19, 2003 11:38 am
To: pitneyfan@aol.com (more)
Priority: Normal
Options: View Full Header | View Printable Version
hi, dave & guida,
Pehaps only another Connecti-cat could appreciate this very silly, true story,
but I managed to get it into words, so I hope you will try:
Affianced to my late handsome prince, famous upstate Connecticut artists, at an afternoon, "school is out" party, suddenly got into praise for my knees...1966. Nineteen, and a good Fairfield girl, I tried to be gracious, thought they were just being normally oversexed, went for a walk with a friend....... and made a mental note to check into it one day, but forgot it.........
This morning, just as I awoke, celebrating graduation of the 9-year-old daughter of a very dear friend and arts client, the memory of it all, and its explanation unfolded, in a split second...
...only the silliness of little girl days could account for it......
In spring of 1956, I fell in the driveway at the home of a friend ....all of us were taking music training of some sort.....the friend was not Mr. Pitney, but performs at Foxwoods still today with his singing, though I will not name him here.
The fall was nothing, but a pebble from the pavement lodged itself in my right knee, and there was blood.....a lot of it.
My Father removed the pebble, and I healed fine, but till this day, I have a small "Pit-Knee", caused by a pebble or small rock(-ville).
.....this is profoundly silly, but it is still there on my personal knee....and I still had to be gracious while they celebrated the thing to the heavens, in Saugatuck, ten years later........the" Rock-ville Pit-Knee?"....Yipes!
Nowwwwww..........if we weren't all Catholic and musical....
...if my friend in that incident, had not been Italian, I would have thought nothing of it, but everything has meaning with those people,
and so I thought to share this precognitive experience and Connecti-kid memory.....
Pay up, Gene Pitney....sign my Guest Book! ....I am taking good care of this knee!.....happy summer!....
C'est moi!......... :-).........!
elle fagan
an elle fagan artsite
http://www.ellefagan.com
fine art and writings
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Posts Tagged ‘sherlock holmes’
Downton Abbey, sixth season: 1-2: the exhaustion of a reactionary sensibility
Posted in Costume drama, Edwardian drama, film studies, mini-series, political novels/films, politics, romance, soap opera, Teaching, TV, US social life, tagged Downton Abbey, Edwardian, Regency Romantic literature, sherlock holmes, wife abuse on January 11, 2016| 7 Comments »
Dowager Lady Crawley (Maggie Smith) to Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton), POV
Violet, Dowager Lady Crawley: “Dear old Lady Darnley. Always liked to stuff the place with royalty. She was addicted to curtseying! How we laughed. It’s sad to think about it. — Ah, Spratt (Jeremy Swift). Could we have some tea?”
Spratt: ” – Your Ladyship.”
Denker (Sue Johnston): “It seemed a little chilly, m’lady, so I’ve brought you a shawl.”
Dowager: ” – Oh, you are a wonder, Dencker.”
Dencker: ” – Thank you.”
Dowager: ” – I shall miss you.”
Dencker: ” – M’lady?”
Dowager: “Oh, I’m sorry. No, forget I said that. After all, nothing is settled.”
Dencker: “What’s not settled? I don’t understand.”
Dowager: “I thought you told Spratt about the staff being cut back here and at the Abbey.”
Dencker: “Well, I may have mentioned it.”
Dowager “Oh, well … As I said, nothing’s decided.”
Dencker: “But Your Ladyship couldn’t manage without a maid.”
Dowager: “Mrs Crawley does. Don’t you? ”
Isobel Crawley: “Indeed I do, but I don’t wish to upset poor Dencker.”
Dencker: ” But Mrs Crawley also manages without a butler, m’lady.”
Dowager: “That is true, but I don’t think I could break with tradition to quite that degree.
Shall we have some tea?”
Dencker: “Your Ladyship” [distressed, leaving the room]
Dowager: [Calling] “Miss Dencker? – (CLOSES DOOR) – [Louder now] Don’t worry, Miss Dencker. I’ve got a copy of The Lady upstairs.”
Isobel Crawley: “You don’t really mean to manage without a lady’s maid, do you?”
Dowager: “(SCOFFS) Certainly not!”
Isobel: ” – Then why did you — ?”
Dowager: ” – Sometimes it’s good to rule by fear.”
Far shot of Dencker unnerved, tottering off, Spratt, the butler, Spratt, supposed gratified)
The Sixth Season’s 1st & 2nd episodes make a telling parallel with Sherlock’s Third Season’s last episode: in both the originating material and ideas having been long exhausted, what emerges is raw actuating core: for Moffat and Gatiss a clever (modern, ever-so self-reflexive) gay subversion of a favorite hero series; for Julian Fellowes, a reactionary push-back by a male Mrs Miniver. I’m one of those who feels the first season was Fellowes at his (dreadful word) charming best: what more characteristic of the man than that flower show (a direct borrowing from Joyce Anstruther’s Mrs Miniver columns as well as the 1941 movie) and Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan) and her old suitor at the fair where she ever-so-delicately tells him no; and its analogy in a pig show and Mrs Hughes and her present suitor (Mr Carson aka Jim Carter) where she ever-so-delicately tells him (though an intermediary), well yes, but for once on her own terms:
“I just don’t want to be a servant on my wedding day.”
What is making this happen? ratings, advertisements, money. You don’t cancel or allow to go off-stage a cash cow. Which mini-series have been re-booted with great fanfare forty years on? The hits of the 70s.
For recaps I will be referring the reader to Anibundel (full disclosure, my daughter): The last days of Downton; March of the Pigs. For previous blogs over the 3rd, 4th, 5th seasons; the 1st through 3rd and miscellany and 4th, from my website.
Miss Rita Bevan (Nicola Burley) from on high jinxes Lady Mary
Downton Abbey has the advantage over Sherlock in that its mode is naturalistic (the term TV critics use for TV realism) so one need only follow the rhythms of how night follows day, probable consequence from action, and voila, you have your story’s structure. The difference between this year’s 1st and 2nd episode is that in the first it did seem as if Fellowes preening over his success (seen in a recent interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS reports which now acts as an advertising vendor for PBS programs); and having been grated on when it came to doing yet another — he decided for an in-your-face program. Stories circulate that he wanted out after the fourth season, as witness how he was at his wit’s end for matter in the fifth, resorting to repeated scenes of excruciation of our true heroine, Anna Bates (Joanne Froggart). This is alluded to by Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) with a solemnity that hides the ludicrous narrow perspective: “Anna, no woman living has been put through more of an emotional wringer than you.” As an hour it had all the spite of Violet Dowager Lady Crawley (aka Maggie Smith)’s insouciant threat of a dismissal to Dencker, who has replaced the misogynistic role of resident female bitch hitherto Miss OBrien’s. How Fellowes must’ve hated lady’s maids in his male childhood (little master’s thoughts: “giving themselves airs, who do they think they are?”).
In the first episode Fellowes incessantly punished all the servants. I do just hate how Fellowes punishes these people with continual humiliation and has them all so grateful for not being humiliated and punished yet worse. Not much comfort in Mr Carson’s “Nobody’s going to be flung into the road, I can assure you,” to Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) worried he will be fired since he has not been trained for anything but “service.” There was an increase in humanity in the second, in that a kindly solution seems in sight for Anna and Bates (Brendan Coyle) at last: now fully exonerated by the simple expedient of the murderer of Mr Green coming forward to confess (telling enough, one of his victims), our true heroine’s latest theme for self-hated and immiseration: she has an incompetent cervix (it’s almost comical). On the other hand, the solution for Daisy (Sophie McShea) having precipitated the new owner of her Mr Mason (Paul Copley), her father-in-law’s farm (Mr Henderson) into irrevocably throwing him out, because she dared, dared, to speak up against the systemic injustice of the private property system is to push out the Mr Drewes (the ever-patient all-heart Andrew Scarborough) with Mrs Drewes’s (Emma Lowdnes) happiness (!) as Lord Grantham’s rationalization and Lady Grantham’s (Elizabeth McGovern) surfacing plan to replace them with Mr Mason.
The Drewes, finally tenants turned out
Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville)’s remorse — the last stills of the 2nd episode; in the first season Grantham’s remorse led him to keep Mr Bates (Brendan Coyle), not now
It’s remarkable how these phrases all coming down to the same idea, echo and repeat with variations throughout both episodes: the break-up of the old hierarchy was unflinchingly destructive of all.
The key word being surviving (Lady Mary)
You sound like a governess in fear of dismissal … (Dowager to Isobel Crawley)
Miss Baxter (Raquel Cassidy): At least you know you won’t be asked to leave until you’ve got somewhere to go.
Barrow: I don’t know anything of the sort.
Interviewer: – Why are you leaving now? –
Thomas: It seems like the right time for a move.
Interviewer: Does it? Does it, indeed?
That’s from the work interview in the second episode, which Fellowes knows as much as anyone else is a form of suppliancy at best, hazing being not uncommon, where Thomas submits to sneers, mortification. What are the duties of an “assistant butler?’ he can ask; he cannot ask for how much on the first go-round. (The first.)
I mean who wants to work in Woolworth’s? Certainly not the Dowager who in the first season couldn’t get over Gwen wanting to go out of “service” to become a typist. Well, in real life my mother-in-law: she traded in a 7 day a week, 11 hour a day job (half day off every other week) for miniscule literal money as a lower governess in a great house for a 5 and 1/2 day week, with a wage that she could just about pay for a flat and her own food on in Woolworth’s. It was much more liberty and money, her own space to live in.
We must give them time to gnash their teeth alone (about the change in power structure of the hospital).
One servant to another: – Did you drink at luncheon? – No, I did not.
Reply: One wrong move and snap, you’re out on your ear.
Consider how Mr Mason grieves when he sees a box he contributed to for some wedding (where he contributed a small sum, so expensive was this box, that took him weeks to save from his income) now on auction. I will be told that I am to read this paradigm and all these utterances ironically, e.g., this is ironic:
Lady Mary: Don’t worry, Carson, your reception will be in the great hall if it’s the last thing I do.
Mr Carson: How reassuring, My Lady.
Edith (Laura Carmichael): How very reassuring .. (Edith was given a few good ripostes)
It’s impossible in context: in the first episode the continuous thread juxtaposed through (until we have our culmination in the auction) is the story of a seemingly smug, remarkably nasty, sneering financially aggressive female hotel servant who lies to intrude herself on Downton Abbey, in order to harass Lady Mary for money because she knows Lady Mary went to bed with the present married Lord Gillingham and can shame Lady Mary in the newspapers. No understanding is given this woman whatsoever. She is like some mean witch a glance at whom leads Lady Mary to fall off her horse. She is as weak though against Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) as — let us recall — an exactly analogous intrusive aggressive female was in the opening episode of the fourth season. Has anyone forgotten the sexually voracious Lady Ansthruther (Anna Chanceller, previously Miss Bingley, her name a perhaps unconscious allusion to Mrs Miniver) who sought to make Jimmy Kent (Ed Speleers) a kept man. In this former story an startlingly old (and some might hope) forgotten stereotype about the sexual appetites of thwarted (i.e., single) women came out.
The most scintillatingly alive moment of the second episode, the most pungently delivered line occurs when the Dowager Lady Grantham revels in a yet another moment of spite: yes her excuse is she is getting back at Denker for telling all the other servants they may be let go (Dencker has replaced Miss Obrien for resident female bitch) by carelessly letting her know she may be fired at any moment.
Sometimes it’s good to rule by fear, Maggie quivers with a spurt of glee. That says it all. Gives the game of inequality away: the 1% enjoy their power. It’s not enough to be rich, you have to be above others and how can you experience this?
But as to costumes, Maggie Smith won hands down.
Indoors – the dark red suits her very well
Light blues and greys were favored for her coloring
It seems to me a great effort was made to dress in her a series of exquisitely flattering dresses and place her in angle that favored the outlines of her face, her coloring, caught her body gestures and face. She had so many changes and so many lovely hats, it’s hard to pick. As in previous seasons, Fellowes’s control led to the camera making love to McGovern, so here our aging princess of great actresses. From her career and what I know of her life, Maggie Smith is stuff of the finest spirit.
Barrow walking into the new intimidating place (don’t miss those lions)
He of course goes into the servant’s entrance
Interviewee not making eye contact
The employer’s unashamed full gaze
So wherein was the 2nd episode superior to the 1st? It returned to the rhythms of the first season. The quiet diurnal feel of every day life. Yes in both of these latest hour concoctions, as he does everywhere, Fellowes slides over the deeper disquiet one should have over any number of incidents in both episodes. The man has an uncanny ability to put his finger on suppurating wounds in relationships and systems and then pull away to safety. It’s safe to dwell on Mrs Hughes’s shyness in marrying Mr Carson who loves her tenderly. Edith’s story and desire to go live in London is told blandly; I’d love to know what Rosamund (Samantha Bond) really does in London. We never do, only that she goes out to plays only when she has friends visiting.
Lady Edith emerging from her manager’s office where she has lost a round, Lady Rosamund Painswick waiting outside — Lady Mary says she and Anna have had so many moments together, so too Lady Rosamund and Edith (over Marigold) but they are kept superficial where we most want to know
In the first episode Fellowes uses the juiced-up faux crisis in thread after thread become so common in film stories (often disguised by having them linked up to some mystery-thriller conclusion). In the second he does not. There is no juiced-up crisis moment in the interview scene of Thomas Barrow. In both he depends on us caring for the characters and I do for a few: Anna and Mr Bates, Daisy and Mr Mason, Miss Baxter and Mr Molseley, and yes even Thomas, so that another of his gift’s — for plangent dialogue and aphorism were effective.
Anna and Mr Bates — camera on her
Some might say he overdoes this in the concluding incident of the Drewes — but then we are made to feel a real wrong is done them when from the car, clutching the child, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) and Cora, Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) smoothly agree ever so quickly with the removal of the Drewes: “it’s for the best.”
One of my commentators recently wrote in response to a couple of my blog remarks: “he refuses to develop his characters in more sophisticated adult ways and deal openly with complex politics”; “fan fictions and postings and blogs too expose the nasty undercurrents of his portrayals, his fatuity“)
Comment; He exposes the weaknesses of his storytelling. I thought the first series of Downton Abbey was brilliant, but I have been progressively more disappointed by subsequent series. As I continued to watch the show, I repeatedly saw him squander enormous potential for emotionally-resonant storytelling.
This emotionally resonant story-telling (thrown away or perverted in the final message or not) was given more play in the second episode. We saw some of it towards the end of the first when Lord and Lady Grantham go down to the kitchen and talk about the food they find in the new refrigerator. The scene quietly epitomizes the theme of changing times: I do not remember either hitherto coming down to the kitchen to grab a snack. Nothing was juiced-up here. After they ate, to bed upstair they retired. In the second episode Mr Molseley (Kevin Doyle) acquiring test exams for Daisy to practice with. For all its slithering cruelty, the way the Dowager handles Dencker is done without juicing the turns. Lady Mary’s reciprocating decent behavior helping Anna to bring a pregnancy to full term.
(Using my crystal ball I predict the birth of a child in the Christmas episode, one who like Lady Mary and Sybil’s child is legitimate with a loving father and mother and assured future.)
The development of the fight over who will control the hospital. Mrs Hughes’s stubborn resistance of a take-over of “her day” by the hegemonic order she has lived in all her life. Not that she escapes it much: I foresee the wedding will be in the schoolhouse (like everything else, as the Dowager would doubtless tell us, standing on the extensive property of Lord Grantham) during this moment of (for her) liminal transition.
The two continuous threads of the second episode concern the question of where the latest wedding (in the series) is to be held and the question of the hospital. I found the dialogues over the hospital improved as the characters (the way they do in soap opera structures) recurred and re-formulated their positions over and over, bringing in new aspects as they went. And will end on two of these from the second episode:
The first intertwined with the thwarted marriage of Isobel Crawley and Lord Merton (Douglas Reith):
Walking and talking
Isobel: ” – Do you post your own letters?”
Merton: ” – Ha! It was vital it went off today and I’m never very good at delegating. As a matter of fact, I’m glad to see you. I’d value your advice. I’ve had a letter from the Royal Yorkshire Hospital, asking if I’d head the new Board of Charitable Donors. We’d be working alongside.”
Isobel: “Well, that’s if I stay the almoner, once we’ve amalgamated.”
Merton: “Well, of course you would.”
Isobel: “When we combine, we’ll avoid duplicating our efforts. The whole thing would work a lot more efficiently than it does now.”
Merton: “So you don’t disagree with the plan? Well, don’t you see what it could mean? How old is our X-ray machine? Does Clarkson really know how to use it? What advanced surgery do we offer? None.
If a family at the Abbey has a cut finger, they go to London, – but what about everyone else? – I bet you’d go to London too. – (CHUCKLES) I probably would, but I shouldn’t have to. And what about people who don’t have that option? So the battle lines are drawn and now we must fight it out.”
Upon Lady Grantham visiting the hospital (she is leaning towards giving control to a larger authority): part of the context is Isobel and the Dowager’s on-going vexed relationship
Dowager: “I don’t want Cousin Cora to feel outnumbered.”
Isobel: “It isn’t friendly, you know, to stir her up into opposition.”
Dowager: “It’s not very friendly to squash her into submission either.”
Cora: “Excuse me, but I don’t need to be stirred or squashed.”
– The facts speak for themselves.
– Your facts or mine? – What’s the difference? – Mine are the true facts.
Dr Clarkson (David Robb): Shall we continue this in my office?
Dowager: “I wish we could persuade you to help us stem the tide of change.
cora: “I’m just not convinced it’s the right way forward, to go backward.”
Dowager: “I do not understand you, my dear. – Are you saying Dr Clarkson is a bad doctor?
Cora: ” – Certainly not.”
Dowager: “And the other doctors that use our hospital — are they no good either?”
Cora: “I’m sure everyone does their very best, but there are new methods now, new treatments, new machines. Great advances have been made since the war. – Can’t we share in them?”
Isobel: ” – Hear, hear.”
Dr Clarkson: “Of course. I intend that we should.”
Isobel: “- We haven’t got the money.”
Cora: “- I see I’m not needed to lend you strength.”
Dowager: “You’re fully in command of the argument. Have you no pride in what we have achieved with our hospital?
Isobel: “I don’t think pride comes into it.”
Dowager: “Well, I warn you, Dr Clarkson and I will fight to the last ditch.”
And so the Dowager will. So did the aristocrats as a group, including those who lost much property. But these super-rich people, they keep making a come-back. It’s a big deal when they come down to breakfast:
Cora putting together her own meal:
Sherlock, The Abominable Bride: the exhaustion of a gay sensibility
Posted in Costume drama, Film adaptations, film studies, soap opera, TV, tagged classic movies, male violence, mystery-murder book, sherlock holmes, the Abominable Bride on January 3, 2016| 8 Comments »
Cumberbatch in the 1890s costume (and the expression on his face in the contemporary scenes match)
Friends and readers,
Once more on these Sherlocks: my general assessment and a recap have been ably set forth by both my daughters (general assessment by Miss Izzy; perceptive recap by Anibundel). As Izzy says, the scenes were far too short, the lines ludicrously overproduced and action made over-melodramatic as movies and TV too are becoming more and more as a matter of course (or it would be not so oddly abruptly comic) aka script is crude. So far I agree. What interests me in Anibundel is the word “oddest:” “this was quite possibly, the oddest episode of Sherlock I’ve ever seen.”
I explore some of these odd elements in this exhausted reprise/coda of the third season of Sherlock (many months after the previous three, Last Vow, “Camp becomes Sentiment”). I suggest that at heart the series has all along had a gay sensibility, which, because the writers have now used up anything they had really to riff off of the original stories and films, faute de mieux came out very strongly in this coda. Rather like Alice in Wonderland everything else has shrunk or grown impossibly large.
First, as a retrospective on all we’ve had before (from A Study in Pink to The Reichenback Fall) this New Year’s special reduces the dazzling center of all of them to a drive to be super-clever, cleverer than any other costume drama on the block. As I think back I find the first season much better than that, and the second, especially actually having contemporary thematic relevance, though the obsessive repeating scenes of this and thus its overt central theme, hatred, fear, retreat, and paranoia have real purchase on what is displayed as news in public media this past year and enacted by the armies of many states.
But look at what that hatred is embodied in: an abominable bride herself, a dreadful creature, over-made-up, with dripping red lips, who appears to be a riff on one of the more memorable horror movies of the 1930s, sheerly on the basis of the bride’s appearance:
The team outdoes The Bride of Frankenstein, and Natasha O’Keeffe is given a camp opera diva name: Emilia Ricoletti. Remember Have Gun will Travel where Matt’s gun was all phallus? What an enormous one is here.
This is not just an outbreak of male insecurity (alluded to it when people refer to the misogyny run wild of this episode)? This mad image reappears several times, and is matched by Amanda Abbington as Mrs Watson turning up in a bridal outfit as elaborate and detailed and lacy as Diana Spencer’s, only she’s in black and with her head and utterly covered. No eyes to be seen even. Is this an allusion to the Muslim burka? Or is it fear of brides. Or, as in the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies book, a send-up of quintessential heterosexual sexual customs?
Open screen, all dissolving away
Structurally this is a time-traveling film which begins in the past, then fast forwards to now, then reverts, and then fast forward, revert, fast forward with a final revert: at first the 1890s are the reality, and then the 1890s are a dream/nightmare endured by a 21st century Sherlock, then the 1890s erupt again (like some Jekyll), take over for a while, and then suddenly Sherlock awakens, and we are to take this crazed past as dream, only the camera moves so swiftly and blends the time capsules so that when we end in the 1890s the inference is the contemporary age is the dream.
Periods twisting like a mobius strip
Within this moving remit, there are continual self-reflexive remarks about the events we are seeing, those remembered and those to come as written by Dr Watson, who is himself controlled (it seems) by an illustrator who has invented ludicrous hats and mustaches, as well as some inexorable material forcing him to keep Mrs Hudson to the margins of the text. Una Stubbs complains in the form of a caricature of her role in Conan Doyle’s stories:
Mrs Hudson: And I noticed you’ve published another of your stories, Dr. Watson.
Dr Watson: – Yes, did you enjoy it?
Mrs Hudson – No.
Dr Watson: Oh?
Mrs Hudson: – I never enjoy them.
Dr Watson: – Why not?
Mrs Hudson: Well, I never say anything, do I? According to you, I just show people up the stairs and serve you breakfasts.
Dr Watson: Well, within the narrative, that is, broadly speaking, your function.
Mrs Hudson: My what?!
Dr Watson: Don’t feel singled out, Mrs. Hudson, I’m hardly in the dog one.
Mrs Hudson: “The dog one?” I’m your landlady, not a plot device. Do you mean The Hound Of The Baskervilles? And you make the rooms so drab and dingy.
Dr Watson: Oh, blame it on the illustrator, he’s out of control! I’ve had to grow this moustache just so people will recognise me.
What she could complain about more cogently with respect to this episode and the whole of the third season is this: the inset story is though one dependent on mad femme fatales, with a crazed bride wants to murder her bridegroom and succeeds. None of this has any serious reality. Where there is some is in thee women at the margins of the film and they function as mainstream reassurance: they stand and wait for and on their men. That is the use of Mary Watson (as we all know, Freeman’s partner in real life). The film-makers use the recurring woman characters in this series for reassurance of emotional warmth and continuity, stability — a sop to the mainstream audience oddly out of place. I’ve read the Mary Marston will be killed off if this series ever recurs again. Because the shows don’t care in the least about women
One of her piquant gestures
This includes Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) as a woman in the 1890s living as a man, dressed, acting as a man (tranvestite anyone?) in order to have the active male career she was denied in 2015. it’s reassuring to recognize her. Remember how hard she was slapped, anyone? Some women viewers have kept asserting how the women in this Sherlock series are strong. If so, they are hardly ever there, getting 5% of a typical program (an exception was the episode which featured Lindsay Duncan as a Mrs Thatcher type), and continually as mainstream conventional as the males are individually questioning norms of all sorts.
There is also the attempt of Watson humanly to reach Holmes. To reach the depth of gravitas somehow conveyed by Bernard Cumberbatch now and again, and more frequently by Freeman (especially when he’s given lines from Conan Doyle as he is several times). This sort of thing could have been the heart of the story and given it some meaning, especially when because there are some telling stills and a dialogue between Watson and Sherlock at a still central point of the whirling:
Watson: Holmes, against absolutely no opposition whatsoever, I am your closest friend.
Holmes: I concede it.
Watson: I am currently attempting to have a perfectly normal conversation with you.
Holmes: — Please don’t.
Watson: — Why do you need to be alone?
Holmes: If you are referring to romantic entanglement, Watson, which I rather fear you are, as I have often explained before, all emotion is abhorrent to me. It is the grit in a sensitive instrument.
Watson: — The crack in the lens.
Holmes: — The crack in the lens.
Watson: Yes.
Holmes: Well, there you are, you see, I’ve said it all before.
Watson: No, I wrote all that.
Holmes: You’re quoting yourself from The Strand Magazine.
Watson: — Well, exactly.
Holmes: — Those are my words, not yours!
Watson: That is the version of you that I present to the public.
Holmes: The brain without a heart. The calculating machine.
Watson: I write all of that, Holmes, and the readers lap it up. But I do not believe it.
Holmes: Well, I’ve a good mind to write to your editor.
Watson: You are a living, breathing man.
– You’ve lived a life, you have a past.
Holmes: — A what?!
Watson: — Well, you must have had
Holmes: — Had what?
Watson: — You know.
Holmes: — No.
Watson: Experiences.
Holmes: Pass me your revolver, I have a sudden need to use it.
Watson: Damn it, Holmes, you are flesh and blood, you have feelings, you have You must have Impulses.
Holmes: Dear Lord, I have never been so impatient to be attacked by a murderous ghost.
Watson: As your friend, as someone who worries about you. Wwhat made you like this?
Holmes: Oh, Watson Nothing made me. (DOG YELPS) I made me.
In this still it would seem Sherlock is a figment of Watson’s mind
Their words suggest that Gatis and Moffatt have fallen for the shallow view of the Doyle’s hero that he is cold, inhuman, and somehow sick because not sociable. The cant of the last 30 years has been that people only come alive when socializing. So this moment is not developed into anything beyond the literal surface meaning at all. Yet the 1st and 2nd seasons of the series showed they were much more intelligent and aware than that. So they kept this superficial. If you can credit third grade psychology Sherlock is a horrible person, but the world has been filled with all sorts of people who lived and thrived and wrote and created mostly for long periods alone. Thoreau, anyone? Is he disabled? He denies it and this dialogue certainly gives us nothing to suggest he is. If it had been delivered less abruptly, it would have been witty.
The only depth of emotion permitted is fraternal: implicitly if it were allowed (as it was in the 1st and 2nd seasons) between Watson and Sherlock, between Rupert Graves as Lestrade (yes) and Sherlock, affection strong. We have two Mycrofts, and here is the core of this piece, the give-away. The startling reconfiguration of Mark Gatiss as the caring Mycroft in 2015 as the indifferent gross obscenely fat Mycroft of the 1890s. The grotesqueries of his hands, his face, his stomach are insisted on; we watch him eat like some spider and it’s made disgusting, the actor or computer image of Gatiss filmed so as to arouse recoil. I’ve seen this in Sondheim: the grotesque male or female body: made hugely large (as in Sally Potter’s lesbian Orlando out of Virginia Woolf’s book). He matches the bride’s overgrown gun. And he seethes with hatred of Holmes. Gatiss’ hidden nightmare self.
So the scenes with Moriarity seem oddly beside the point, not worked into any of the stories: Andrew Scott like some dead wax figure. The scene beside the falls can be seen as sheer contrast to all the concern (moving into the sentiment of the third season) the other characters display for the alienated Sherlock. Or its another hallucination, matching the crazed murderous bride. All coming out of whose mind? From where? in the third season we met quite a conventional pair of parents for Sherlock (the father played by Cumberbatch’s real actor father) and Gatiss as the caring brother (recurs here).
One obvious explanation for the existence of this curious on one level inexplicable travesty of all that went before is money and advertisers. I understand an enormous number of people tuned in to watch in the UK and US and wherever else the show reached. Appointment TV returns. It’s to be rerun on PBS and to be put on their website for 10 days (“only”) starting a week from now. The film-makers themselves invite us to see it this way. They tell us this was a chance to dress the actors up in Edwardian dress. They want to feel they made a crude, abrupt comic soup, ratcheted up by computer techniques, in the background the usual clanging music. Camp.
But if you watch and pay attention, Freeman as Watson has the same longing disquieted look he had in the first season. The key is to relate this to all the grotesque imagery found in many gay works, the gravity with which we are given bizarre camp images. The disability is not to be found in any character of this series. It could be located in the society around them, only the film-makers elected not to allow us to believe in any outside society (the way we do in Conan Doyle and most of the Sherlock films, including the most recent, Mr Holmes). So they are condemned to go ricocheting round and round because their target is closed off.
A typical expression of Watson not only in this episode but throughout the series, from his first psychiatric session on …
Mr Holmes — if this be not a summer movie …
Posted in 19th century novels, 20th century culture, Edwardian drama, film studies, historical fiction, literary scholarly work, Movies, visual art, women's art, tagged 19th century art, Edwardian, Jeremy Brett, mystery-murder book, sherlock holmes on July 17, 2015| 24 Comments »
‘What the deuce is it to me?”‘ he interrupted impatiently: ‘you say that we go round the sun. if we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.’– Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet
Mr Holmes has a couple of obstacles or problems to wide-spread acclaim. It is melancholy. Its themes include how to cope with aging and its losses, death, stigmatized class status (a no-no). For those brought up on the action-adventure of Robert Downey, Jude Law, Michael Strong and Rachel McAdams, it will not answer your expectations; for those still wedded to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (to say too little of the justified paranoia of WW2), it will make fun of the 1943 fanatical adherence to the deerstalker hunting cap and pipe (Holmes goes to a black-and-white simulacrum of such a movie and just cannot sit through it); it lacks the giddy pace and surrealism of the first 2 seasons of the BBC Cumberbatch and Freeman Sherlock concoctions; but to say it’s not Holmesian (as the New Yorker guru critic in residence, Anthony Lane means to insinuate) is just not so.
I concede fully that the perspective is post-modern (conventional thought and cant, especially about death and grief be damned), that there is something deliciously Jamesian (Henry) about it. Characters have deeply traumatic encounters on park benches while wearing impeccable hats.
Close-up of hat
They fail to understand one another, cannot bear one another’s emotions. It moves slowly, with shots that capture a poetry of stillness and costume drama in its green landscapes, seascapes, the sina qua non steam train rushing serpentine and noisily through. More than twice, though in one climactic instance it matters as someone is (reminding me of a Trollope scene in The Prime Minister) voluntarily smashed to smithereens.
But that it’s not Holmesian is unfair. Once you try to drill down to what could be the psychological or thematic or even political motive or moral explanation of at least two of its flashback and front story plots, you end up with ideas that will not bear any scrutiny. Convention defeats me here: I do not claim to be writing a consistently post-modern blog so allow me to explicate and show at least miminal story consistency.
There are three time frames: the present, 1947, Mr Holmes, aged 93, losing the last vestiges of memory from the past, living on the south coast of England, cared for by a housekeeper (natch) Mrs Munroe (Laura Linney) and her son, Roger (Milo Parker) who turns to Mr Holmes as father figure because his own father died in WW2: a bitter moment of memory has Linney as Mrs Munroe remembering how, like herself, her husband, was corroded by the stigmas of lower class status, and for his efforts to become a pilot in WW2, was blown to bits immediately (his mates, content to be menial mechanics all survived the war).
A story from thirty years ago is painstakingly put together (& dramatized as flashbacks) by Mr Holmes about Ann Kelmot (Hattie Morahan) who had two miscarriages or stillborn children, cannot accept this and whose grief is only moderated by lessons she eventually finds for the glass harp (Frances la Tour, the crook teacher), whose intensity bothers her husband to the point he cuts off her money-supply and refuses to set up stone monuments for the never-developed nor born children. It is not giving away the story to say she plots to kill her husband.
Holmes (McKellen) remembering (a difficult feat in the this story) Ann Kelmot (Hattie Morahan)
It’s not true though that there is no sense to this story. The moral is the husband was wrong; he should have allowed his wife to be deluded by the crook teacher — this reminded me of Woody Allen’s frequent defenses of fortune-tellers in many of his movies and there is a fortune-telling scene here.
The glass harp medium (Frances de la Tour, aka Mrs Western in the 1997 Tom Jones)
Another backstory told through interwoven flashbacks is set in Japan: Holmes has gone to Hiroshima (1946?) to obtain a promised solution of which is said to restore the memory, only to find himself confronted by a Japanese man who accuses Holmes of seducing his father away from him and his mother through the stories of Dr Watson (The Study in Scarlet is the culprit), all the while we know that Holmes now deplores Watson’s fictions a providing false gratifying endings and heroism, with many details so wrong they are embarrassing. Of course this story “falls to pieces in your hands” (as Lane says). Worse, the explanation is reactionary defense of “national” and family secrets, of absurd honor which one sacrifices one’s life for? What Conan Doyle story does not do something like this?
It is Holmes’s self-imposed mission in the film to retrieve: to retrieve the memory of who his Japanese man was (until near the end Holmes believes the man a liar, coward, and that he never met him — the man just deserted his family); to compensate for how inadequate, insensitive, absurd, selfish was his Jeremy Brett-like behavior to Anne Kelmot (the way this Kelmot thread is dramatized is closely reminiscent of the 1980s BBC Holmes movies), something which depends on memory and rewriting Watson’s story.
Much of this is done through the techniques of filmic epistolarity: voice-over with Holmes writing out new texts to replace Watson’s. Part of the fun of this is withholding. We do not see Mycroft (who explicates the Japanese story) until near the end of the film and it’s John Sessions (for me memorable as Henry Fielding, also in the 1997 Tom Jones); we do not see the bumbling inspector (played by Phil Davis, great in sinister, threatening roles in Dickensian film adaptations, now Jud in Poldark), until near the end. There is fun in recognizing these character actors from other costume dramas quietly semi-parodying the roles.
Indeed the uplift at the close is the same fantasy Dickens plays upon in A Christmas Carol. We are asked to believe that people can make up for what they did wrong in the past, find a new person like the one you so hurt now to do better by. We do come near searing calamity in the present, brought on by both Mrs Munroe and Mr Holmes. I can’t deny that sometimes people (as characters) are lucky. The film is as Dickensian as it is Jamesian.
Hattie Morahan was once again “emotionally aflame” — Lane talks of her in A Doll’s House in BAM, but she was astonishing in Duchess of Malfi and I still watch her as Elinor refusing solace. I felt bad for Laura Linney(unbeatable in Love Actually, unforgettable in Hyde Park on the Hudson) that she was given the howling role. I found myself crying at the close because I couldn’t believe in the self-reproach and better behavior of our principal trio: Mr Holmes and Mrs Munroe, to say nothing of the maturation of Roger.
If I had anything to object to in this film it was that both Ian McKellen (too many great films and plays to begin to cite) and Laura Linney could have been given much more deeply nuanced moments. She is literally kept behind bars, looking out from windows:
The film-makers were chary about releasing stills of McKellen showing the ravages of old age in the film, as he falls, eats, puts down stones for those who have gone before him. There was a pandering to the sub-genre of old man-and-hopeful worshipping-boy
OTOH, the beautiful loving feeling at the close of the film was authentic. Doyle’s ever-cool, ever witty, impatient Sherlock is now taking the risk of giving of himself; entering into loving relationships directly. Mr Holmes will leave the property to Mrs Monro and her boy when he dies. We see Mrs Munro and Roger in the garden working together and we see them walk off hand-in-hand too. The boy is now respectful of his mother under an eye of approval by Mr Holmes. He is 94, and we last seem him putting down stones (as Ann Kelmot did) for each of his friends now gone to the earth. He bows before them murmuring a lullaby. McKellen himself is very old now. It is a summer movie because through Jeffrey Hatcher’s marvelous screenplay McKellan as Mr Holmes is believable and comforts you.
A treat has been published: Upstairs and Downstairs: British Costume Drama from The Forsyte Saga to Downton Abbey
Posted in 19th century novels, Costume drama, Downton Abbey, Edwardian drama, feminism, Film adaptations, literary scholarly work, mini-series, novels of sensibility, Poldark, Trollope, TV, women's art, tagged Andrew Davies, classic movies, Downton Abbey, Edwardian, heroine's text, sherlock holmes, simon raven on December 16, 2014| 8 Comments »
If you are into historical films, costume dramas, mini-series, TV films, 19th to early 20th century classic and serious novels as adapted by British TV, this book should be just your thing.
I, for one, find Elizabeth McGovern as Cora, Lady Grantham’s outfit irresistible: that soft blue color, the light velvety texture of the dress, the pearls, the long white gloves, not to omit the pearls peeking out of her bun matching her long strand and her tiara and that worried consulting look on her face as she talks to Jim Carter as the eternal butler-steward, solver of all problems, Mr Carson — perfectly poised as epitomizing costume drama.
Yes mine is among the essays — on Andrew Davies’s adaptations of Anthony Trollope’s He Knew He Was Right and The Way We Live Now — but note this is a collection that begins in the 1960s, covers costume drama, British TV and thematic British issues generally across the second half of the 20th century; and the Edwardian and post World War I novel. It’s not just Poldark to Downton Abbey:
Jerome de Groot
James Leggott and Julie Anne Taddeo
Part I: Approaches to the Costume Drama
1 Pageantry and Populism, Democratization and Dissent: The Forgotten 1970s — Claire Monk
2 History’s Drama: Narrative Space in “Golden Age” British Television Drama — Tom Bragg
3 “It’s not clever, it’s not funny, and it’s not period!”: Costume Comedy and British Television — James Leggott
4 “It is but a glimpse of the world of fashion”: British Costume Drama, Dickens, and Serialization — Marc Napolitano
5 Never-Ending Stories?: The Paradise and the Period Drama Series — Benjamin Poore
6 Epistolarity and Masculinity in Andrew Davies’s Trollope Adaptations — Ellen Moody
7 “What Are We Going to Do with Uncle Arthur?”: Music in the British Serialized Period Drama — Karen Beth Strovas and Scott M Strovas
Part II: The Costume Drama, History, and Heritage
8 British Historical Drama and the Middle Ages — Andrew B. R. Elliott
9 Desacralizing the Icon: Elizabeth I on Television — Sabrina Alcorn Baron
10 “It’s not the navy-we don’t stand back to stand upwards”: The
Onedin Line and the Changing Waters of British Maritime Identity —
Mark Fryers
11 Good-Bye to All That: Piece of Cake, Danger UXB, and the Second World War — A. Bowdoin Van Riper
12 Upstairs, Downstairs (2010-2012) and Narratives of Domestic and Foreign Appeasement — Giselle Bastin
13 New Developments in Heritage: The Recent Dark Side of Downton “Downer” Abbey — Katherine Byrne
14 Experimentation and Postheritage in Contemporary TV Drama:
Parade’s End — Stella Hockenhull
Part III: The Costume Drama, Sexual Politics, and Fandom
15 “Why don’t you take her?”: Rape in the Poldark Narrative — Julie Anne Taddeo
16 The Imaginative Power of Downton Abbey Fan Fiction — Andrea Schmidt
17 This Wonderful Commercial Machine: Gender, Class, and the Pleasures and Spectacle of Shopping in The Paradise and Mr. Selfridge — Andrea Wright
18 Taking a Pregnant Pause: Interrogating the Feminist Potential of
Call the Midwife — Louise FitzGerald
19 Homosexual Lives: Representation and Reinterpretation in Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey — Lucy Brown
20 Troubled by Violence: Transnational Complexity and the Critique of Masculinity in Ripper Street –Elke Weissmann
About the Editors and Contributors
I could wish there were more here, more on the intermediary stages, the important film adaptations of the 1980s (Brideshead was typical of that decade), and the movement into TV at the time of serious cinema film-makers (e.g., My Beautiful Laundrette), but the way to read more books on this area, is by buying and or reviewing this one. I can’t as an interested party. But as I did for my essay on “Intertexuality in Simon Raven’s The Pallisers and other Trollope films” in Victorian Literature and Film Adaptation, edd. Abigail Burnham Bloom and Mary Sanders Pollock, I’ll keep an eye out for reviews and link them in as well as myself read this collection and report back anything which seems to call out for special attention.
Greg Metcalf: The DVD Novel
Posted in Edwardian drama, film studies, mini-series, Music, novels of sensibility, opera, Plays, political novels/films, soap opera, social criticism, Theater, TV, tagged classic movies, mystery-murder book, pallisers, sherlock holmes on October 5, 2014| 1 Comment »
I’ve been in the habit of treating the presentations I’ve heard over the last months at the Washington Area Print Group (a subdivision of the Sharp society) in rooms in the Library of Congress on my Sylvia blog (e.g., a talk on Writing with Scissors) as part of a diary, but thought the topic of this talk sufficiently germane to the terrain of this blog as it’s developed (see The Way We Watch TV Now) to warrant summary and commentary here.
Prof Metcalf developed an aspect of his book, the relationship of technology and economics with the kind of narrative that appears on TV. so the burden of his song was: Changes in technology and economics within TV have changed the way TV is made and how we experience it. He delivered his talk entertainingly — accompanied by many many stills.
He began with what TV was and had shots of older TVs in their wooden furniture. In the 1950s TV represented a central threat to the film industry, whose first ploys were teen films, big spectacles and 3-D movies. TV sold its product as one safe for a family in its private living room; the language was that the program was invited into this sanctuary. TV was radio with pictures and sought to reinforce culutral values of the family. In the US its purpose was to provide eyes and ears to watch and to see commercials.
A central writer for US TV at the time was Paul S. Newman who understood the particular format of TV programs meant characters couldn’t undergo transformation over a season as this would be disruptive and defeat the repeated expectation of sameness. He was superb at writing a structure not easy to do: you must produce a segment which moves to a peak at its end, yet at the same time be self-enclosed; you must avoid lulls because at any time the person can switch using the remote. Admittedly this structure does not necessarily make for great art (an understatement).
The BBC developed differently. It was paid for by millions of individuals who had licenses to watch TV, so it was commercial free. Its aims were education, elevation and entertainment. Traditional theater could appear on British TV much more easily; its purse was to question. There developed a tradition of challenging the audience. Programs were not meant to be re-used, re-run. In the US each program was developed with the idea of endless re-use. Total contrast.
The first long-form TV came from PBS and Masterpiece theater, which Metcalf thought unfortunate. He called British costume drama boring for most people, staid. He never mentioned any specifically after that. It was a commercial channel which offered a model others could follow: Hill Street Blues. Male soap operas. (
For myself I love the PBS costume drama format and disagree fundamentally with Metcalf: these have been influential for good art. What is the problem is Metcalf speaks for the male viewer without awareness of this.)
The cast of Hill Street Blues, all men but two and these women dressed to look like men
People (he should have said “men”) were invited to watch the suffering of men. A typical episode would have the on-going A story (over the arc of the season), within the episode a story which concludes, and 3 other shorter on-going stories (B, C, and D, generally taking 3 episodes). He named a series of male-centered programs — like so many film critics I’ve encountered (many of them men), most of what he then cited was masculinist, not to say (not admitted) misogynist stuff. He also cited Wise Guy, The Fugitive. You need the mythos (the ongoing myth) and free standing episodes within that. Like others he then credited Dennis Potter’s Singing Detective (Michael Gambon) as quietly influential ever after. It used the situation comedy of the hospital ward as developed in British TV. He mentioned The Sopranos. These are versions of instalment publication (began in Victorian era). I suggested that Breaking Bad had departed from this in having one long story with two parallel heroes for 42 episodes. That’s part of what made it powerful and great art.
He also talked of the influence of the “concept album,” where all the music centered on coherent themes. At the same time itunes and downloading enable viewers to select a segment or episode or single song to listen to. We’ve moved back from the album concept to the single. What happened in the CD world (especially MTV) influenced what happened in the mini-series TV and DVD worlds.
What changed this situation? First, the cable companies who offered good and recent movies (“premium”), and in the 1980s in both Hollywood and the UK films were transformed by new ideals, technologies, independence. Prof Metcalf thought the advent of remote control devices next pushed writers into writing segmented TV: the point is to allow switching back and forth. (Which I dislike; once I sit down to watch a program I mean to watch that program until it’s done.) Then the VCR player ($1389) which allowed people to tape say the HBO movie. But this cannot compete with the DVD — which allows the film-makers to market their product divided up into serving sizes. You can curate your own TV. Many people now have a movie screen on their wall for their TV watching so they are imitating a movie experience.
The talk became more original when he began to talk of what the DVD has done to movies. For example, what is the authoritative version of a movie? You can buy Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad in a huge box with the hour-long episodes with commentary on, with deleted scenes, with features showing how an episode was made, what were the aims of the film-makers, and an alternative ending. I mentioned that I had bought Michael Winterbottom’s 6 part Trip to Italy to discover that the film-maker had gathered all the deleted scenes and then arranged them thematically to provide another half-hour of programming. A DVD in effect can be seen as providing manuscripts of the programs as well as later polished versions. They are packaged to look like books, to sit on shelves in a bookcase. Prof Metcalf suggested that the DVD which provides the largest amount of programming is what is seen as authoritative. We are paying more attention to screenplays as these are published and we can gather the precise lay out and emotional structure, study dialogue and description, montage. Very gradually both US and UK TV began the practice of hiring stars to shore up long-form stories.
The way we watch TV changed the TV we watch. The mini-series are now manufactured with DVDs and DVD watching in mind.
To some extent the talk degenerated at this point because he and the audience began to talk of favorite mini-series, which (again) were mostly masculinist, most of them produced for commercial TV. This reminded me of how in other places I’ve been women are unwilling to criticize the violence and misogyny of computer games, will let the men take over discussing football — for there were as many women in the audience as men. Implicitly the BBC and PBS took a beating, which brought home to me how many of these sorts of programs are aimed at women or at least have the female audience at least as much in mind. Many of the series were clearly highly violent. Three aggressive looking males on the covers of the DVDs.
But as he talked the BBC and British programming emerged as centrally providing quality to imitate and modify to an American model. He differentiated between mini-series that had a single person controlling the vision, and that still happens in British TV where a single author or at most 3 authors will write the scripts and the script writer become the organizing linchpin of what is done) and one that was the result of a fluid team of people. He also talked of how now that the soap operas has become a province for male suffering, comedy is a place for women to vent and expose issues of concern to them (Sex and the City, Nurse Betty).
This promotional shot justifies Laura Mulvey’s famous paper about how film caters to the male gaze
American TV stopped in the 1950s but British TV continues to present live performances from the theater. The acerbic British TV sitcom may be regarded as dropped into melodrama to produce modern versions of say Sherlock Holmes. Someone mentioned how the rape story in the Downton Abbey fourth season outraged people; Metcalf was interested in how such an incident often covers but 3 episodes.
Some series especially praised and discussed: The Wire, for women and men, The Gilmore Girls (this appears to be a blend of screwball comedy and melodramatic romance, reminding me of Austen films). Clive Owens in Knick, a Steve Sodenberg product: Sodenberg did everything but write the screenplay and act in the series. Metcalf noted that again and again if you watch an individual episode it may seem funny, light, but when you watch the arc of the season, the series comes out as more serious, at times implicitly tragic (or explicitly as Breaking Bad). The good do win or if they go down to defeat we feel for them and there is sensitivity to beauty. These citations did bring out how often a Network or producer will cancel a mini-series that seems to be doing so well, getting so much praise. Why? the audience demographics are too old: they will not buy the products. The show is there for the commercials. The corporations making these are not content with modest or high profits; they want huge ones. (This is the sort of thinking that did in the rentals of books-on-tape and the choices of middle-brow excellent books not best-sellers nor high prestige old classics.) Lost leaders are programs which are made to attract people knowing they will make less money, but gather an audience who will remain loyal to the station for a while.
I enjoyed the talk though recognized the skewed nature of the presentation (of the examples). Afterward when a group of us went over to a restaurant to have dinner together the talk really did stay on the topic, on the TV people watch and how they watch. In this group many watched TV on their computers, as part of Netflix or streaming deals. When it did get down to what people really watched among this group, it was late night viewing (after all work was done and the person could do no more) of less avante garde popular shows. Metcalf said he watches all his viewing on his computer on some special channel where he can reach programs and movies made in a variety of countries across the decades.
What am I watching late at night just now? Ken Taylor’s Jewel in the Crown out of Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet, directed and produced by Christopher Morahan.
Susan Woolridge as Daphne Manners the raped heroine
Art Malik as Hari Kumar, the deeply betrayed unjustly treated hero – it made his career
Charles Dance and Geraldine James as our traditional white couple
These brilliant 1970s series didn’t make it into Prof Metcalf’s narrative …. This would include the 74 Pallisers (a Simon Raven product) and Poldark (written by several people and it departs a lot in sexual detail and the ending from the books, but directed and produced by the same men) — both ran on US TV in the same year. The book of essays coming out on BBC costume historical drama which includes mine on Andrew Davies’s two adaptations of Trollope novels credits the 1967 Forsyte Saga and its popularity with starting the long decades of making such films, recently fallen off here in the US because of lack of money — so one gets thrillers instead. Downton Abbey has not been enough to re-start the engine for making mini-series from classic books. It is itself not an adaptation after all. The Singing Detective actually belongs to this narrative too.
But it was nonetheless instructive to listen to (Prof Metcalf knows a lot about TV) and I wish I could afford the book.
The Gothic
Posted in film studies, Ghost stories, gothic, romance, Teaching, tagged Gaslight, gothic, heroine's text, male violence, sherlock holmes, suffering, teaching on September 17, 2014| 8 Comments »
A Syllabus for a Class at the Oscher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University
Exploring the Gothic
Day: 8 Tuesday afternoons, 2:15-3:40 pm, Sept 24th to Nov 11th
Tallwood, 4210 Roberts Road. Fairfax
Instructor: Ellen Moody
Description of Course:
This course explore varieties of gothic and its terrain which conform to recipe format. Take one labyrinthine or partly ruined dwelling, place inside murderous incestuous father or chained mother (preferably in a dungeon), heroes and heroines (as wanderers, nuns), stir in a tempest; have on hand blood, night-birds, and supernatural phenomena, with fore-, and back-stories set in the past. We’ll read short stories, three novellas and sample films. We’ll begin with ghosts and witches, move to vampires, werewolves, and end on socially critical mysteries and stories of the paranormal (e.g., possession). We cover terror, horror, male and female gothic. We’ll also view clips from two films considered the most powerful film gothics ever made and an Oscar winning short.
September 23: Origin, definition, history of genre, characteristics. I’ll show parts of DVD for The Haunting and The Woman in Black (if possible, otherwise substitute clip from “Afterward” from Shades of Darkness).
September 30: Stevenson, “Markheim, ” Wharton’s “Afterward” and Mary Reilly
October 7: Mary Reilly (possible clip) and F. Marion Crawford’s “For the Blood is the Life”
October 14: Stoker, “The Judge’s House,” Conan Doyle, “Adventure of Abbey Grange;” Wharton’s “Kerfol”
October 21: Vampire Tapestry (first 3 tales), LeFanu’s “Carmilla” and Oliphant’s “The Open Door”
October 28: Vampire Tapestry (last 2 tales), Stevenson, “The Body Snatchers,” Wharton, “Mr Jones”
November 4 : Dickens, “Signalman”’; M. R. James, “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedrale”; Bierce, “Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge”; A. M. Burrage’s “Smee.”
November 11: The Haunting of Hill House
Martin, Valerie. Mary Reilly. New York: Vintage, 1990. ISBN 978-0-375-72599-9. It’s available as a kindle, and there have been many editions: Doubleday 1990, Washington Square Press, 1994.
Charnas, Suzy McKee. The Vampire Tapestry. Albuquerque: Living Batch Press, 1980. It’s available as a Kindle and two newer edition: Orb Books, 2008; The Women’s Press, 1992.
Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House. NY: Penguin 2006. ISBN978-0-14-303998-3
Online short stories:
R.L. Stevenson, “Markheim”
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Mark.shtml
Edith Wharton, “Afterward”
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/ewharton/bl-ewhar-afterward.htm
F. Marion Crawford, “For the Blood is the Life” (scroll down)
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0605421.txt
Bram Stoker’s “The Judge’s House”
Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Abbey Grange”
http://sherlock-holmes.classic-literature.co.uk/the-adventure-of-the-abbey-grange/
Edith Wharton, “Kerfol”
R.L. Stevenson, “The Body Snatchers”
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/body.htm
Edith Wharton, “Mr Jones”
Sheridan LeFanu, “Carmilla”
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/carmilla.htm
Margaret Oliphant, “The Open Door”
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10052/pg10052.html
Charles Dickens, “The Signalman”
http://anilbalan.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/the-signalman.pdf
M. R. James, “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedrale”
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/james/mr/more/chapter5.html
A.M. Burrage, “Smee”
http://anilbalan.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/smee-by-am-burrage-_-scary-for-kids.pdf
Ambrose Bierce, “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/
YouTube for Oscar Winning Short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuP5kUQro40
For further materials on the gothic, see my website under Ghosts and gothics, vampires and witches and l’ecriture-femme; under Austen Reveries, the category “Gothic.”
New Sherlock: “Last Vow:” a multiplication of women
Posted in 20th century culture, Costume drama, Film adaptations, Foremother Poetry, political novels/films, soap opera, TV, tagged 19th century art, Edwardian, Lindsay Duncan, male violence, mystery-murder book, sherlock holmes on February 3, 2014| 11 Comments »
Lady Smallwood (original story Lady Blackwell, player Lindsay Duncan — one of my favorite actresses), politician
Nameless person calling herself Mary Morstan (original story, Watson’s wife, player Amanda Abbington), double
This was the best of this season’s films: the players returned to the guarded within anguish stride of the first season, only with a multiplication of women — in the original story blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton knows the sexual past of only one woman, Lady Blackwell, whom he will shame as well as the honor of the man, and the family she is planning to marry into; here she has metamorphosed into a sort of subMargaret Thatcher, woman politician with reeking perfume (Thatcher liked to be sexy with men). In this 2013 story where Milverton has metamorphosed into the amoral ruthless social media magnate who is supposed to make us think of Rupert Murdock but is dressed like Dr Strangelove (all but the gloves, thus evoking Kissinger) and could as easily be Roger Ailes of Fox TV, considering the immediate influence he thinks he has, this villain also is pursuing a second woman: our sweet Mary Morstan turns out to be one of these nameless heroines (so familiar to readers of women’s romance (Rebecca anyone?), only her past appears to be one of violent assassination and such shameful ugly behavior she fears John Watson will be alienated forever if he is already not blindsighted by discovering all she has told him or implied has been lies.
Far more usual of the previous seasons are the twists and turns of extra plot-design with matter from other Sherlock Holmes stories woven in: so we first meet Sherlock apparently under the influence of drugs (opium become heroin? cocaine?) in a filthy temporary open air ruin-space of addicts where Watson has gone to find the son of a grieving black woman who comes to him as a doctor who cares for addicts.
Black and white version of Sherlock (Cumberbatch) as we first see him (from Tumblr)
Now that Sherlock is blessed (to be pious about this) with a family, he and Mycroft and Watson and Mary too do some turns in the parental home at Christmas.
The brothers (Matiss as Mycroft) – “Aw shucks, mum!”
Modern motifs combined with older ones include the Sherlock in hospital and Sherlock as out-patient, hovering murderous helicopters over our heads (we are under the bombs), stun guns; lots of overlay of computer print-outs as someone’s inner thoughts. In her study of Holmes stories Emelyne Godfrey showed that weapons, weird, pizzazz ones, or merely cruelly wounding were central to many of the Holmes’s tales; Godfrey also showed that the core meaning of respected masculinity in the tales was not spontaneous wild violence as a means of expressing say disapproval: as when Louise Brealey as the indignant Molly is reduced to half-hysterically slapping Cumberbatch with all her might for “throwing away his gifts”; but rather carefully channeled effective violence aimed at the mindlessness (sorry to say this but it’s true) of the lower class vulgar and/or somehow inferior male. The recent spate of Sherlocks (in the cinema too) move against the grain of Doyle’s work where smart calculated “restraint is a index of modesty, reserve, manliness, professionalism.” But so anxious are these new shows to make women the equal of men, even the silliest behavior if men are thought to do it is enough to give us a woman doing it so she will be deemed admirable.
Molly worrying over Sherlock in a way that recalls Kitty (Amanda Blake) endlessly fretting over Matt (James Arness) in the 1995 Gunsmoke (‘Oh Matt! be careful.’ ‘I will, hon.’)
A recap.
I shall have to admit that Jim Rovira, one of the commenters of my last blog can make a good case for the thinness and feebleness of the original material in this case. “The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton” is deservedly usually ignored in studies of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock canon; it is just so cliched, down to the titillation and class snobbery of Sherlock disguising himself as a lower class man courting Milverton’s housemaid (unnamed in the original) to find out where Milverton is hiding the documents he uses to blackmail people and both he and Watson breaking the law (gasp!) in order to steal into Milverton’s lair (called Appleton Towers in both film and original story). Where in those Holmes stories that go deeper, family honor becomes a stalking horse for far more interesting social and psychological conflicts, not so here.
Perhaps they were attracted to the story for the same reason my husband Jim used to say the Sherlock canon has become cult stuff: it is so hollow you can pour anything you want into it. I think that’s unfair as I argued with Jim Rovira: there are some superb stories and lots of people (Emelyne Godfrey among them) have agreed with me the stories dramatize serious and important conflicts and themes then and since (through many film adaptations too). This one did allow for feminization (if I may be permitted the term) of the Sherlock material. Matiss and Moffatt took an opportunity to have yet another supposedly “tough” female about: the unnamed housemaid becomes a secretary/personal assistant who despite her Arab looks (the actress is Yasmine Akram) and name redolent of what Said called “orientalism” (Jasmine) sports a melodious Irish drawl and evening dress even in broad daylight.
If we count Mrs Hudson — Una Stubbs doing her best to be memorable —
and Mother Holmes (Cumberbatch’s mother also now employed), trying not to attact attention, the domestication (if I may coin another term) of the series I noted in Parts 1 and 2 is now seen in women women everywhere. One joke is to call Sherlock “Sherl” — feminizing the name to a diminutive of Shirley. The joke is made by Jasmine with the effect of bringing Sherlock “down” to her level; that is a woman — implicit is the idea that whatever are feminine qualities, they are not worthy.
I’ve no doubt Matiss and Moffatt did seize the doubling opportunity they hit upon to transform the apparently conventional female Mary Morstan character into a female action-hero who could also sustain a love interest: she emotes wonderfully well her love for “John,” and how she cannot stand to sit in the chair (per usual with the Sherlock material) and tell her tale as victim since her tale will make her beloved Watson reject her. And anyway we are against victims, are we not? there are no such things in the world any more, are there? they must be complicit, passive aggressive becoming a term of praise almost in this new anti-sympathy reactionary ethic preached up in popular media. She is very pregnant by the end and so happy to be so (photographed so as to emphasize this), but by the end of the tale there is real feeling between them:
John and Mary’s faces as they talk to one another in their final scene
even if John shows his love for her by throwing away her story without reading it: instead of a packet of letters he hurls a thumbdrive into the fire.
Why did I like it – or think it an improvement on the previous two parts. Not for the multiplication of women as only intermittently did Lindsay Duncan or Amanda Abbingdon have moments of genuine feeling. Nor their or anyone’s violence. Nor for the any post-modern working out of typical Conan Doyle themes as in the previous season where camp art and a strong sceptical disillusionment and depressive mentality made for intelligent entertainment. Rather because despite the overlay of superfluous sudden outbursts of violence, modern gadgetry and neon underlinings, the program managed to recreate a companionable rhythm of story-telling, to re-establish the central effective team friendship of Sherlock and Watson
ending in a rescue of vulnerable people from a genuinely horrible man in a way relevant to our era.
The omnipresent spy gathering all our documents, the murderous cold-hearted ambitious capitalist politician with his militarist thugs in tow is a creature we can’t have too many attacks on. What could be worse than a man spying on us all? eager to tell unless we pay him huge sums of money.
That is, I thought the program did what good relatively faithful or commentary (heritage) film adaptations usually do, even if it was an appropriation or modern analogy type. It did take a long time getting there.
The New Sherlock: camp becomes sentiment
Posted in 19th century novels, 20th century culture, Costume drama, Edwardian drama, Film adaptations, film studies, mini-series, soap opera, tagged Edwardian, Jeremy Brett, New Sherlock, post-colonialism, sherlock holmes on January 28, 2014| 13 Comments »
When I turned again, Sherlock Holmes was standing smiling at me across my study table. I rose to my feet, stared at him for some seconds in utter amazement, and then it appears that I must have fainted for the first and the last time in my life. Certainly a gray mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand. “My dear Watson,” said the well-remembered voice, ‘I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected’ — Doyle and Hawkesworth’s Empty House
I have heard you say that it is difficult for a man to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it in such a way that a trained observer might read it — Doyle and Hawkesworth’s Sign of Four, briefly paraphrased by Moffatt, Gatiss, Thompson
John Thaw as Jonathan Small being taken away to prison at close of Sign of Four
It is now Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) who walks off alone from the wedding gaiety (Sign of Three)
Well something like two years have gone by since the latest Sherlock mini-series was last aired, and as Episode 2 (Sign of Three, a total reconfiguration of the original story (see recap in I Should Have been a Blogger), Sign of Four) shows, there is something genuinely new attempted here; we have moved from sceptical and at times exhilarating camp to melancholy sentiment.
Nothing wrong in that. The real greatness of the 1987 filmic adaptation of Doyle’s Sign of Four was to have made the story turn on the perception that Jonathan Small has thrown away his life in his search for treasure and to have framed the inward story of this man (a kind of redoing of Marcus Clark’s For the Term of His Natural Life where the hero’s life is spent either in slavery or prison) with the grief on the one hand of Mary Morstan (played by the stunningly almost unreal beauty, Jenny Seagrove) for her father and on the other a coming perception of romance between her and Watson (Edward Hardwicke, as ever subtly plangent): inbetween half-mad melancholy bizarre twinned Scholto sons (played by Robin Hunter). Doyle’s story by comparison is a thin if exciting adventure chase, colonialist-drenched, also caught in the 87′ filming:
Jeremy Brett at the helm, on a dark river, passing under steel bridges, keeping the prey stealthily in sight
Jonathan Small, the pursued — scenes reminiscent or anticipating of Dickens’s text as seen in recent film adaptations (e.g., Sandy Welch’s Our Mutual Friend)
What’s awry is the melancholy sentimental figure is now Holmes himself and it’s not earned, there is no suffering, it’s egoistic. At the close of Sign of Four Small is the solitary figure, genuinely outcast; at the close of Sign of Three, Holmes walks away looking uncomfortable as everyone else gets on with the conventional wedding, but he is not exactly off to prison; at home will be Mrs Hudson and if he doesn’t keep his door firmly shut, his parents (Cumberbatch’s own parents have been secured) watching over him.
I thought it an intelligent idea to transform the original “Empty Room,” where Doyle brought Sherlock back and had to explain to Watson how he survived jumping over the falls so that the characters really emotionally involved in coping with Sherlock’s emotional manipulation of Watson’s depression:
Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock and Martin Freeman as Watson, together again in Empty Hearse
but when Empty Hearse (see recap) was done in such a way that Watson’s neuroticism has become wounded friendship (I had hoped the new title signaled an allusion to Orson Welles’s Third Man, where we have an empty coffin, but no such thing); and as opposed to the original story (and the Brett-Hardwicke enactment) a huge rigarmole put forward to explain how it was done (filler not camp), I became restless. As Freeman as Watson says, who cares how it was done? I reread the original story and found the explanation had been kept to a minimum.
Worse yet, our two buddies have obtained two emotionally attached female sidekicks, one whom I am not supposed to forget is in real life Martin’s partner (Amanda Abbington) and looks just too ordinary clunky to be lifted into another realm. I really couldn’t help feeling the crew had decided they might as well give another of their set off-screen a job.
The other is a girl so hopelessly smitten with Sherlock, Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey), that’s she’s willing to marry an inadequate simulacrum, rather like a doll; I’m told this character was in the original stories; if so who her open worship in the original stories was kept decently in the margins.
I admit the most touching scene in Empty Hearse was a quiet dialogue between Cumberbatch and Brealey, slightly sweet, which I wished had not been lost in the overblast of all the computer tricks both episodes are determined to cover the TV screen with.
As will be seen, any whiff of unconventional sex is erased this season. When Mrs Hudson’s (Una Stubbs growing so old) failed marriage is made to carry subversion we are in trouble — not that it couldn’t as she was an abused woman, but it’s made a sort of uncomfortable joke of. One can no longer complain there are no women in this series, though when they function in the way of Lucy Liu as Joan Watson in Elementary (Sherlock Johnny Lee Miller attempting to remain alienated by keeping to ragged clothing), I find myself wishing there were less of them. I don’t claim there was any feminism in the 1980s-90s Brett series, but there were strong lone women, and what was at stake often were versions of their integrity (as is seen in Jenny Seagrove’s performance as a daughter who in the end rejects how her father spent, wasted really, his life and hers).
Again to give the new series its due: The Sign of Three does eliminate the egregious (embarrassing) racism of The Sign of Four, both story and 1987 film. Doyle and Hawkesworth (screenplay writer in 1987) give Small a small (very) black man as a fierce (animal-like) servant with teeth that look like something from an early caricature of Darwin’s intermediate apes: his great quality is a dog-like loyalty to Small: he saves Small repeatedly by poisoned arrows. Of course Holmes has no problem simply casting these off with his hand, and shots the servant point-blank dead. By contrast, Gatiss, Moffatt and Thompson (three screenplay writers now needed) interpolate a new story about a black guardsman, more English, gentleman-like, courteous in his behavior than the guardsman in Winnie-the-Pooh (remember Alice bemused at him?):
This Anglo-, very well mannered, self-controlled guardsman is stalked by a white half-crazed man who looks very poor (hence suspicious); this stalker attempts to murder the guardsman by stabbing him in the shower (shades of Psycho?). This man turns up as the photographer at the Watson wedding and is easily unmasked. As will be seen though the writers turn to a new stigmatized group for ready blaming (the poverty-stricken). And they elevate an elite norm of the gentleman. I remembered how in Gaskell’s North and South (adapted as a mini-series), the manufacturer Mr Thornton tells Margaret, our heroine, that what matters in a man is not his manners, his gentlemanly surface, but his character within. In the new Sherlocks we are in Nancy Drew land where the English gentleman is the figure all men long to be, and all women to marry.
The New Sherlocks have succumbed to a pattern I’ve noticed in many of the large number of mystery series that now are found everywhere on PBS; often the detective figure is no longer to the side listening, intervening, with each week a new perspective on whatever the theme is, but develops a little family and friend group who become a central nexus, rather like a situation comedy (which is what Doc Martin feels like). The central figure is normalized, attached to a group of conventional or unexamined ideals. The effect today is to rob these series of whatever serious emotions each of the weekly deaths or anguished characters who walk off the screen provide. The ensemble camp art, the nihilism of the second season is gone.
The inversion of the early and mid-century mystery-crime stories reinforces the complacency of having detectives who go about solving who did what, meting out poetic justice, tidying up the world — Margaret Allingham knew she was doing that with her Campion series; this is not what was projected by the Holmes stories, so we end up with the Empty Hearse supposed rationale of mad chases a terrorist threat laughably unrealized — but laughably won’t do as inspired silliness when one or both of our two men are in an unguarded emotional stews.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock re-appearing in Empty Hearse
When Sherlock rescues Watson out of a bonfire for the Guy Fawkes’s night we are in a Perils of Pauline scene. (Again the female victims of old have turned male in the new Sherlock.) When the characters we are made to care about each time come back next week, and we are made to feel they will always be rescued in the nick of time, what’s to worry. Again we are in Nancy Drew land.
I am interested in this re-composing of the original materials: it represents a newly aggressive dislike of film adaptation that respects the source text’s terms and power. The justification is this will be more popular: it’s an elite group who knows the original books. Moffatt, Gatiss, Thompson may congratulate themselves that they’ve eliminated obsolete grating costumes and norms; but as we have seen, they end up substituting later 20th century ones.
Further, in the case of the Sherlock stories I think not. These are easy reading and still read. Hence the cult: you can pour into their relatively thin formats what you want. It seems to me no coincidence the last two PBS seasons other hit, when not sneered at because it’s a soap, Downton Abbey, gains more acceptability by not being based on an original novel. Gentle reader, have you noticed there are hardly any film adaptations of great books coming out of public TV in the US at least.
Here (like Austen’s Emma defending what she has hitherto seen no need to defend or herself questioned) I move somewhat in the opposite direction I usually take: I think there is something especially delightful and enrichening when you have a film adaptation that is faithful to the book. What makes people uncomfortable is the film in part does not live alone: you can watch it without reading the book if it’s long and subtle and well done enough, but reading the book enriches the experience immeasurably.
There’s a real prejudice against this — as there is against the art of translation. Since the development of copyright law which enables people to make money and perhaps lots of it dependent on the idea that the text as an idea even not made concrete in concrete books is a property there has been a strong development of the idea that secondary texts which are allowed but not private property in the same way are inferior. That does not go so much for films that make money and are copyrighted in their own right but the feeling does rub off. My feeling is the analogous adaptation, the appropriation is lauded on the wrong basis simply that they are different and so give us something new to talk about more easily — rather than the difference makes for a good film. It may; it may not.
The problem with the New Sherlocks is the material is resistant. They haven’t gotten rid of enough of it. In the originals typically a person who has been a victim comes to see Mr Holmes and sits down to tell Holmes and Dr Watson (standing by) his or her story. The narrator is this victim or another victim as the adventure gets going (in the Sign of Four, Jonathan Small). Colorful characters emerge with their stories (the Schioltos). In the first and second season although not explicit the narrating presence was Watson, blogger, man who visits his psychiatrist and spills his soul out. Now it’s Holmes himself, giving a long account of how he managed to fool Watson, and producing a tedious — and the writers know so try to deflect it by half-making run — wedding speech. The action such as it is is in flashbacks in the form of Holmes’s story. But Holmes does not bare his soul; that is part of the original material the writers haven’t dropped. Holmes listens, say in Sign of Four to Sholto:
Holmes listening
He and Sholto in a far shot of the house haunted by the treasure box kept within
Sholto
Inside the house, brother Bartholomew
The new Sholto (Alistair Petrie) is by comparison the man who listens; his face is horribly scared and he is so stricken by life that Holmes tells the story. Unlike Small and the half-mad Sholtos of the original story, this man has obeyed all traditional moral norms and been blasted; he comes to Watson’s wedding out of the same kind of sentimental friendship we see Holmes and Watson share:
The man broods, the present disappears and we are in some other time with everyone watching Mr Holmes explains how he’s doing this, what he’s thinking. Since we don’t have a chase as plot-design, we are left with a curious stillness in both episodes 1 and 2 of this new season. Superfluous torture scenes thrown in — where again we are watching and nothing happens — the joke (bad taste I think) is that going to Les Mis is worse — Mycroft (Gatiss) is forced to take the parents to Les Mis (of course he would) so he is forgiven for letting Holmes be tortured in Empty Hearse. Yet Holmes will not bear his soul: it would not be the masculine thing to do. So whatever inward life such a scene could have is gone; its new context of domestic sentiment precludes taking it as an imitation of Tarentino.
Watching a German film adaptation of Marlen Haushofen’s The Wall last night, meant to be the faithful type and meant for cinema, I knew it was richer for me having read the book and the real interaction and intertexuality between text and film. I know the older Poldark series, the 1967 Forsyte, many of the most praised type of the 13 episode transposition (the technical term for faithfulness) do need us to read the book. That’s true for Fortunes of War — then the experience is remarkable.
Next blog I’m going to argue that part of the richness of Downton Abbey is its original scripts are not written to the formula of Syd Field — moving ever forward in a simple pattern — but rather meander, work up a full world, have much that remains inexplicable rather like a novel. By contrast, the new Sherlocks stay with the assumptions, aesthetic and moral of the latest year. They are interesting, but (I think) fail because they too closely mirror the currents of 2013 in TV, on the Net, in recent unexamined norms in actual life too. Neither looks at the conservative political ideas both programs embody.
Godfrey: Masculinity, Crime and Self-Defence
Posted in 19th century novels, Costume drama, Edwardian drama, political novels/films, politics, social criticism, Trollope, tagged Edwardian, Jeremy Brett, male violence, mystery-murder book, pallisers, Prime Suspect, sherlock holmes on November 12, 2013| 6 Comments »
Some nine days ago I put Anthony Trollope’s satiric newspaper article, “The Uncontrolled Ruffianism of London” on my website and described its immediate context on my blog as preface to a review of Emelyne Godfrey’s Masculinity, Crime and Self-Defence … . It’s one of the many many intriguing documents Godfrey discusses in this, her companion volume to her earlier equally original Femininity, Crime and Self-Defence in Victorian Literature and Society (see Caroline Reitz’s review in Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net, 59-60 [2011]).
Both books, taken together, depict the era in which modern crime fiction (mysteries, police procedurals) developed as one of the responses to the growth of large cities where crowds of people unknown to one another live in close proximity; others are new permutations in norms for middle-class masculinity (as these are men who had to walk or today at least drive and take public transportation in said cities) and defensive tactics for women who feel themselves at risk or want to participate aggressively too. The root is the very paranoia that Trollope unerringly describes and partly mocks in his timely article.
“I struck him again and again” (from Femininity, Crime & Self-Defence)
In a nugget, Godfrey is looking at crime from the point of view of the city-goer, using popular writing and images and activities (clubs, educational groups), works of popular playwrights and texts by two literary geniuss: Anthony Trollope and Arthur Conan Doyle. Richard Sennett is an important source for her fundamental bases: Sennett (whom she quotes at key points) says modern cities are structured so as to have public spaces where the threat of social contact between upper, middle and lower classes is minimalized — they are planned to keep middling citizens from the “underclass” (the under- and unemployed, the poverty-striken, those driven into criminal and violent activites), but these breaches are easy to cross (p. 3). There are just so many pedestrians, commuters all higgedly-piggedly hurrying along. A fear of exposure emerges, a horror of injury.
Godfrey studies a popular movement then (and there is an equivalent one now), partly paranoic, of self-defense seen in the way male violence is depicted in the era. There is the question of what is a socially acceptable masculine behavior: self control and self-restraint were and still are part of the upper class gentleman ethos; the problem arises that men therefore may see themselves as potential victims as well as perpetrators of crime. When she looks at the interiority of male heroes you find a restrained flamboyancy; sartorial restraint is a index of modesty, reserve, manliness, professionalism. Godfrey has studied a slew of books on the history of respectable fear and where this comes from, on media panic, on figures she calls “men of blood” (violent men who yet stay within legal bounds, e.g., Trollope’s Lord Chiltern in his Palliser books. She looks at male anxieties and some of the weirder deadly instruments that were developed — like the truncheon Phineas Finn ill-advisedly carries with him (“the life-preserver”) in Phineas Redux.
Middle class respectable men were also supposed to protect women from men imagined on the attack. Novels in the era dramatize the maltreatment of women, e.g., Anne Bronte’s Tenant of Wildfell Hall; Trollope repeatedly uses trope of animal cruelty to depict a ruthless male; the most typical opening of a Conan Doyle Holmes story is a gentlewoman comes to Holmes for protection.
Everyone remembers John Thaw’s magnificent performance in the film adaptation of Sign of Four, but the story opens with the elegantly dressed Jenny Seagrove, all anxiety, come to Mr Holmes for help.
The later 19th century is a period of wide-spread investigations into methods of self-defense. She divides her book. Part 1 covers hitherto neglected plays popular among middle class audiences. Part 2 is a study of Trollope’s exploration of masculinity in the large political novels which take place in cities and show the importance of a measured response to aggression. Part 3 reveals the Sherlock Holmes narratives as a collection of lessons expressive of Doyle’s views on reasonable force in response to violent crime; they too promote the cause of measured self-defense for gentlemen. One new element emerged for me: I had not realized how frequently the Holmes stories focus on uses of weapons, many of them cruelly wounding.
Henry Ball’s belt-buckle pistol of 1858, Royal Armories, Leeds
Anti-garotte collar and advertisement
Part I (Chapters 1 & 2) tell of the xenophobia (“foreign crimes” hit British shores) and class fears that led to the build-up of myths around a phenomenon that did occur but not with the frequency claimed: the garrotting people. Godfrey begins her book with singularly cruel execution in Cuba in 1852: a man was strangled to death in a wooden chair while an iron collar passed around his neck screwed ever tighter; his windpipe is crushed (p 19). Garrotta was the name for this kind of capital punishment and in a twist became used by robbers; you threatened to strangle your victim to death. There were such incidents on London streets where people began increasingly relying on police protection: a 1st incident is recorded 12 Feb 1851.
Godfrey looks at the panic from a literary angle, and debates in texts about nature of middle class heroism. She discusses the 1857 play by C.J. Collins’s Anti-Garrotte, a farce which reveals how reports build an awareness of such crimes; in a later unlicensed play, The Garrotters by William Whiffles, a man feels dread reading about all these strangulation robberies (p 21). The 1853 Penal Servitude Act that allowed more convicts to be given tickets of leave helped justify paranoia; these were conditional pardons for good behavior, with the person released in the UK instead of Australia — such convicts became associated with garrotters. Descriptions appeared in magazines: a 3 people act; Henry Wilkinson Holland interviewed thieves; here were articles on house-breaking equipment which anticipate Holmes uses to break into residences (panel cutter, crobars, skeleton key, lanterns). Later American readers had Wm D Howells’ play The Garrotters (1890s). Anti-immigration and racial fears (terms like “thuggees”) feelings were stirred so for religiously-dressed motivated Indians who carried a scarf (a rumal) were called “noose-operators.” Mid-Victorian novel, Confessions of a Thug (189), our evil Arab, Ameer Ali robs and kills for gain, but he also takes life for sport and exploits and murders anyone showing him kindness. Murder by strangulation is part of the imagined point; in an interview a female thuggee takes pride in having killed 21 people. Fear that exhibit in British Museum teaches these criminal types how to perform such evil crimes
Misogyny plays into this too: a recent book by Neil Story concludes most garrotters were female (ex-prostitutes). A modern film, The world is Not Enough presents Pierre Brosnan as a James Bond tortured by a garrotting woman. (11 years earlier Nicholas Meye’s The Deceivers presented Brosnan as Wm Savage, a British thuggee hunter learning art of manipulating the rumal.) It should be said there were no statistics on female victims.
Tellingly Richard Sennett is quoted suggesting that the fear of exposure leads to a militarized conception of everyday experience as attack and defense. In Phineas Redux Trollope suggests there was a run on life-preservers The Times described a weapon called an anti-garrotte glove; this was a gauntlet fortified with claws, hooks, blades. Some of these show people felt immediate killing or maiming someone else in self-defense as personal protection just fine (p 46). Another recent book, by Rob Sindall (Street Violence in the 19th Century) argues the panic was self-induced and over-wrought. Tom Browns’ Schooldays presented the middle class male ideal and shows concerns over middle class young man’s ability to defend himself. Clerks felt in danger, and acted on norms of self help, independence, masculine self-control — victims becomes feminized (as in the rape in Kleist’s famous novel). Delirium tremens seen as shaming the victim. She notes that Emily Bronte’s novel has many weapons; Gaskell showed that the Rev Bronte kept arms.
[This is utterly germane to our world in the US today where it seems to be open season on young black men since Zimmerman got away with murder: or maybe it’s that those of us who were unaware of how black men are regarded as dispensable, attacked with impunity on the grounds the person was made anxious (really) are no longer ignorant. Trollope’s article remains sceptical, ironic: he does not say there are no ruffians in the streets, but the man who lives in terror of this as an epidemic, acquires a weapon, is perhaps more in danger from the weapon being taken from him (how modern this argument is, just substitute the word gun for truncheon).]
In Chapter 3 is ostensibly on the Ticket of Leave man, Godfrey studies Victorian
obsessions over middle-class (white) masculine fitness as an index to “the health of nation” and how such ideas stoked fascination with street violence. Images formed in melodrama were deployed to create a garrotter-villain on stage: he’d have a black face, wrinkles, would be degenerate. All in contrast to new middle class ideals of civilized behavior; the magazine All the Year Round insisted there was a link between crime and disease. In this context ticket-of-leave men are seen as belonging to an abject group, who also are involved in a “tide of sewage, disease, and cholera” outbreaks.
Trollope’s is not the only sane voice: Henry Mayhew interviews convicts to show their difficulties in finding work, how they suffer false re-arrests (Stop and frisk anyone?); and Mayhew gives an account of a garrotting supposedly from the point of view of the criminal; the problem here is his story implies garrotters and convicts are the same people (p 31.). Two 19th century plays, the well-known Tom Taylor’s Ticket of Leave Man reveals society’s prejudice to develop sympathy for the rehabilitation of Robert Brierly, duped into a forgery scheme; this play was broadcast in 1937, and revived in Victoria theater, 1966 — the archetypal heart of the story is a good character thrown into bad situation.
Another play, Ticket of Leave has good and bad ticket-of-leave men. One Bottles, disguised as butler plans to garrot and rob his master, Mr Aspen Quiver. A wrongly accused convict saves Mr Quiver; again the play does not address false misconceptions. One famous attack in 1862 on Hugh Pilkington (MP for Blackburn) helped lead to a call for the old system to be put back in place. A Director of Prisons, Joshua Jebb, tried to express his support for ticket-of-leaved men. but draconian security measures against violence were passed in an act of 1863 that stipulated flogging.
Part 1 ends with a chapter about the weapons people carried, how several publications, most notably Punch made fun of these and (like Trollope) suggested the person in more danger than the garrotter by carrying such a weapon. There are plays where farcically we see characters over-estimate the danger and react hysterically to information received in the papers. There really were spiked collars, with self-injury the most likely result. Godfrey suggests articles in magazines register a perceived reader’s reluctance to depend on a perceived incompetent police force. Urban heroes those who supported and aided the police; you were supposed to remain calm; you fight back with similar weapons. Gradually what emerged was a civilizing offensive, an adoption of violence adverse perspective; over-arming seen as form of hysteria, but onus on individual to protect himself.
“Life-preservers” (so-called), like the one Phineas carries and imagines himself threatening Bonteen with at their club door (see Ruffianism)
Part II: Anthony Trollope : aggression rewarded and punished, 1867-87
A dramatized scene from Phineas Finn
Chapter One is called threats from above and below, fighting for franchise and concentrates on Phineas Finn and Phineas Redux. Some notes: Phineas’s response to violence affects social standing and political career; the question of what is a gentleman important in the novels; Trollope puts forward Phineas as an ideal of gentlemanliness: social grace, innate goodness. Political action in Phineas Finn is complicated by the question of what is appropriate aggression and what shows one’s fitness to vote (Trollope not a democrat). While we see politically motivated violence, Trollpoe distrusts political violence because he suggests it uses political ideal as a cloak. This is placing the cart before the horse (p 65), but the Times agreed: the legitimate citizen was not a man of the crowd (p 66). While Trollope is looks at the problem of bellicosity in all its aspects (a duke can be as violent as a collier, e.g, Chiltern and Kennedy) and suggests women do not forgive blows (p. 67); it is the pedestrian’s encounter with crime that is the focus of the Palliser series as a whole.
Chiltern heading for the duel
Phineas waiting
Trollope in his earlier phases seems pro-duel (p. 68): Godfrey goes over the history of attitudes towards duelling swiftly: it was always at odds with rule of law, but the first successful murder prosecution of a duellist was in 1838 (p 71): the voiced Victorian objection was a man left his family destitute. Trollope‘s depiction does, however, throughout betray a nostalgia for outmoded code of honor. His Chiltern resists the new cultural changes, and we are asked to see that when he can channel his violence into hunting, it is a splendid gift for providing healthy and even egalitarian (so Trollope argues though he knew how expensive it was) sports for men. Phineas reluctance is carefully not motivated by cowardice; Trollope means to show us that a man’s bravery need not depend on weapons; Phineas shows bravery and coolness in the face of death; he shoots up into the air, no murderer. The duel in Trollope is also a male secret, a male rite of passage (p 75); but we see how Phineas leaves himself open to Quintus Slide, to blackmail and finally an accusation of murder as a man of blood.
Brooding Kennedy
Chapter 5: Lord Chiltern and Mr Kennedy are two violent poles. Chiltern is the unrestrained man of blood, he should exercise more self-control, there’s a lack of manliness in not being self-controlled; but violence in Chiltern stems from lack of purpose and frustration (p 78); fox hunting allows him to use and master his finer senses – there are fears here too of the over-sexed male; Anne Bronte’s Tenant of Wilfell Hall is anti-hunting. Godfrey points out that Children’s fiery temper does not harm him and men need physical confidence to survive.
Phineas too saves Kennedy, and the scene in Phineas Finn is based on a real life incident in 1862 sparking garrotting panic (pp.83-86). Trollope here seems for citizens arrest, and Phineas’s protection of Kennedy exemplary (by inference though Kennedy seen as impotent male who does not sexually satisfy his wife either). The norm here seems to be that the ideal (male) citizen does not actively seek confrontation, but exercises judgement (the right to bear arms is not the point). In Phineas Redux, he learns that you do not openly threaten, that weapons themselves are endanger people — he becomes too wrathful in his own disillusion and disappointment. His encounters with with Bonteen parallel encounters in earlier book; hunting scenes are parallel; this time Phineas hurts his horse, but this time frustration, his exclusion and feelings of inadequacy erupt. As ever Trollope is intrigued by what precipitates violent turn in human nature (p 108): what really unites all these stories is the male characters are driven into violence by a combination of what is expected of them as men (success) and what is thrown at them (scorn). Godfrey finds a parallel in the treatment of the cloak in Trollope’s Phineas Redux and one of Conan Doyle’s stories; more important is that Conan Doyle restricts his dramatization of males in psychological pain to the men Sherlock Holmes investigates and indites so that the latter series implicitly criminalizes what Trollope presents as part of his heroes’ behavior. (See my Heterosexual heroism in Trollope.)
Stuart Wilson endows Ferdinand Lopez with a pained humiliated expression on his face before breaking out into threatened violence against his wife
There is in Phineas Redux and The Prime Minister a fascination with the murderous life–preserver (as we shall see fascination in Sherlock Holmes with exotic weapons) and other more usual weapons (whips). Interestingly, Godfrey likens Phineas wounded by lack of status, rank, respect with Dickens’s Bradley Headstone’s hatred of Eugene Wrayburn (in Our Mutual Friend) — but not Ferdinand Lopez’s; of course both books are virulent with antisemitism in the portraits of the whip-threatening Lopez and Emilius who does cravenly murder Bonteen from behind. So finally, as opposed to his newspaper article (“Ruffianism”), Trollope takes a stern, not comic approach, to the wielding of deadly weapons.
The Adventure of Abbey Grange — beautifully brings all motifs together, woman needing protection, sadistic cruelty, flamboyant defenses
Part III: Physical Flamboyance in Holmes Canon (1887-1914): on Holmes and martial arts continued in comments section 3.
The conclusion and assessment of a change of norms in the era in comments section 4.
Trollope’s “Uncontrolled Ruffianism”
Posted in 19th century novels, political novels/films, Trollope, tagged history, Jeremy Brett, male violence, pallisers, sherlock holmes on November 3, 2013| 2 Comments »
Original illustration for Conan Doyle’s “The Solitary Cyclist” by Sidney Paget
As reading and reviewing a book on the subject of violence, middle class masculinity and more specifically (among other things) garrotting and paranoia in the street life of London in the 19th century: Masculinity, Crime and Self-Defence in Victorian Literature, I read, was delighted by and so put onto my website another article by Anthony Trollope from the political magazine he was first editor for, St Paul’s – on my website:
“The Uncontrolled Ruffianism of London — as measured by the Rule of Thumb”
As you will see when you read it, it’s a tongue-in-cheek satire in response to one of the 19th century waves of paranoia where people and newspapers were over-reacting to instances of garrotting by arming themselves and Trollope’s point is partly that by carrying a dangerous weapon you may endanger far more than help yourself. The full context is xenophobia (fear of poor people emigrating into London, sometimes not white); unexamined prejudice against those who had committed crimes and become prisoners and been transported (recently there had been an enlightened compassionate movement to free them of their past with “ticket of leaves” for good behavior; and a general feeling of insecurity among middle class males who identified as gentlemen that they were losing their ability to defend themselves against physical violence.
What is relevant here is we can see Trollope would see the absurdity of the argument that carrying guns (the right to) protects people walking in the streets. I suspect he would not be surprised that nowadays we read regularly how the police murdered this and that suspect and claim the suspect frightened them with a weapon — because police come armed like military people in a war zone. He would see the “Stand your Ground” laws for what they are: an incitement to in effect lawless murder.
A secondary topic is violence in political gatherings and there Trollope assumes a conservative stance casually when he suggests that attributing political motivation to public assembly scenes which turn violent is a transparent mask for mob scenes stirred up (inexplicably it seems) by trouble-makers. As an upper class gentleman who has no problem voting and participating in political life, Trollope values order more than he does any reform.
The piece is funny. The rule of thumb is Trollope’s own long experience as a gentleman walker in London and that of all the similar people he’s known. He includes his wife who (it seems) has a penchant for losing handkerchiefs and blaming someone else.
Its fictional context includes Trollope’s own Palliser (or Parliamentary) novels at mid-century –the two Phineas ones and The Prime Minister where we have instances of attempted garrotting with our heroes (including Ferdinand Lopez) to the rescue and political gatherings which in the case of Phineas Finn turn somewhat violent and led to Phineas’s labor-voting landlord, Bunce (a minor character Trollope sympathizes with) being put in jail when he was out on a march for genuinely political reasons. So Trollope takes the opposite tactic of his non-fiction piece: he empathizes with a person who gets caught up in a demonstration to extend the suffrage (though Trollope is against the demonstration and blames the politicians who stir it up as irresponsible). Trollope also genuinely imagines assaults.
Nonetheless, if you think about the whole novels (and other of his later books where he reverses his early pro-duelling position), the thrust is for caution and self-control as part of those reactions which are most “manly” and effective. In Trollope’s Phineas Finn Phineas does not succeed in freeing Bunce easily (in Raven’s film he manages to bribe the jailer to let Bunce go the next morning). Phineas does duel with a “man of blood” (to be explained in my next blog), Lord Chiltern, and this does not hurt his career, but partly this is due to his having shot in the air and refused to wound Chiltern, in other words exercised high courage, patience in the face of possible death.
In Phineas Redux, on the other hand, Phineas loses control: he seethes at the way his attempt to renewing his career is being easily wrecked by Bonteen (a rival for advancement) and Quintus Slide’s slandering him for his continuing relationship with Lady Laura Kennedy. He does wear a life-preserver, one of the many death-wielding weapons beyond guns of the era, and it’s when he brandishes this at the door of his club and threatens Bonteen that he provides one of the pieces of circumstantial evidence against him as murderer of Bonteen that almost costs Phineas his life.
In The Prime Minister Everett Wharton, Ferdinand Lopez’s silly but privileged friend, shows himself a drunken ass when he perversely and proudly (to show himself more courageous and thus a better man than Lopez) by insisting on walking in a very dark spot of a park very late at night. He is inviting trouble, and garrotters oblige him.
Godfrey discusses Trollope and Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes where we see the same kind of resolutions. In earlier Sherlock Holmes’s stories there is a quicker resort to guns and violence than in the later; there is a fascination in all of them with over-wrought cruel weapons (using projectiles like soft bullets which do much inward damage to the human body); and finally in the later stories, “The Solitary Cyclist,” for example, a move to non-violent self-defense. In the story the good and bad guys resort to deadly guns, where Holmes prefers to use martial arts (e.g., boxing) which may wound but rarely kill.
Declaring “everyone bear witness to my doing this in self-defense” Holmes prepares to box the violent cad Mr Woodley in “The Solitary Cyclist”
Alan Plater, the script writer had the original illustrations in mind (in other of the 1980s series, the DVD includes sets of the illustrations, e.g. The Sign of Four)
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Stanley Brinks & Freschard
Stanley Brinks began performing officially as André Herman Düne in 1999, sharing lead vocals, guitar playing and songwriting with his brother David in the band Herman Düne for a number of years. They released several albums and toured extensively in UK, gaining and owing a lot to great support from John Peel. He has used many monikers for various side-projects, but since leaving Herman Düne in 2006, he has been known solely as Stanley Brinks. Born in Paris, Stan has been living between New York, San Francisco, Malta and Berlin for about a decade, always on the move. He has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.
Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute. For this year’s “Boom Biddy Boom” she also plays the washboard.
Midnight Tequila by Freschard & Stanley Brinks
Freschard & Stanley Brinks - Midnight Tequila [12"]
Stanley Brinks & Freschard - Pizza Espresso [12"]
Stanley Brinks tour dates
Freschard tour dates
"On those long, sultry summer nights when you’re sitting outside, alone in the dark; when it’s all you can do to find the energy to crack open another cold beer from the fridge; when you’re musing on loves lost and found as you watch the tail lights of the distant traffic rushing by – this is just about the only soundtrack to your fevered dreams that you’ll need." Folk Radio UK
"The whole album Pizza Espresso offers relief, balm. It chugs along gently. It won’t intrude – and thus won’t make you happy, joyous – unless you let it. It blossoms with melody and personality. There is room to enough for you to stay and sup, if you want." Collapse Board
"a pleasant soundtrack to a lazy summer evening armed only with your favourite libation and, to quote Stanley Brinks himself, “time and nothing on your mind”." Drowned In Sound
"Listening to Pizza Espresso is as exciting as watching James Taylor tune and as soulful as The Captain and Tennille."
Having already released 2 of the best albums of 2014 (Gin on Fika Recordings, and Boom Biddy Boom on wiaiwya) Stanley Brinks and Freschard are releasing Pizza Espresso - an album of duets, and a collaboration between both labels – at the end of August. Pizza Espresso is an album of love songs about drinking and drinking songs about love. Picture Emmylou and Gram relocated to Berlin with a guitar, a pennywhistle and a washboard and writing ten gorgeous duets to be sung on lazy summer evenings.
“if you have time, and nothing on your mind, why, i’m free, for you and me”
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REPOST (May 15th): With 2019 ESL One Birmingham around the corner, with the desk talent now announced, we thought it'd be a good time to reshare this piece by Craig Robinson who toured the event last year. Hope you enjoy. Dom.
Craig Robinson attended the 2018 Dota 2 Major in Birmingham (eventually won by Virtus.pro), where he got to see behind the scenes, courtesy of ESL, and experience the first ever Dota 2 Major in the UK. Here are his thoughts on the venue and the experience.
The tour: What it was like backstage
We took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Arena Birmingham venue on day one of the Major, so we were able to see the best bits of what the Dota Major had to offer.
First up, the tour of the arena floor. Here, the stage, hosts desk and hundreds of seats (with spectators sat on them) an hour before the scheduled start time.
The stage was beautifully lit with ambient blue, and the overhead lights matched to fill the arena in that dramatic style that looks ever so familiar with esports events.
Moving on, ESL took us backstage to a corridor which housed the ESL management team responsible for the stage management, talent management and so on.
After that, they took us to the basement of the building, where the Facebook stream of the group stages took place. Down there, the stage had been taken down, leaving only several corridors of temporary wooden walls that gave the players their own spaces to practice and play. One empty room I peeked in had six computers, 5 for the players and presumably one for the analyst or coach that may have been spectating their matches.
There was also a lounge area for players to relax and chill out, with some fridges for refreshments.
Heading back up to the main floor, we got to see the production area. There were several booths and rows for PCs and laptops the ESL production crew were using, which facilitated the anti-cheat booth, spectators and other broadcasting elements. Other aspects of the broadcasting team were situated off-site in a broadcasting van.
The half an hour tour ended as we arrived back onto the site's concourse. But we were encouraged to see more of what the venue had to offer on the concourse and in the rafters.
Explore: The concourse
I came across several booths some of the sponsors and teams had set up for fan engagement.
Fnatic had their own stall with several PC booths set up and members of the public playing on them. Charity Special Effect were here, and Paysafe Card were also demoing their product with a local coop game set up. Intel also had their own area for people to explore and PCs to try out, as did Alienware.
In one section of the concourse, ESL was hosting a fan tattoo section, allowing visitors to get their favourite team's logo printed on their face to show their support.
One of the most populated areas was the player signing section. The queue for the Evil Genius signings was long, stretching around the organised zig-zag to queue for the players, towards the open concourse further afield. A mix of people were in the queue early for the same team they all support from across the globe, to get their favourite player's signature before the event went live.
Adore: Speaking to fans and watching the games
After finishing my tour of the concourse, I sat down in one of the fan areas in the upper rafters to speak to some of the fans. Next to me were several students from Malaysia, who are living and studying at university in London. They told me their favourite team at the event was Mineski, as they were the Asian multinational team. Unfortunately for them, paiN Gaming upset them with a 2-0 victory, but this didn't derail the fans' passion and commitment to the team.
Prior to that game starting, the production team put on a little light show, video screen and a pre-hype rave for us.
https://puu.sh/Av84l/ea67b2d8c3.mp4
(Volume warning! And sorry about my shaky hand)
As someone who has admittedly never really played Dota properly, the games I watched weren't that hard to follow. By paying close attention to the match, and being sat in a crowd where people knew what was happening, I quickly picked up how powerful and important certain plays were. Being sat in that position made the experience much more enjoyable.
In the Fnatic vs OG game, I sat next to a guy from London that came alone but was meeting people part of a community connected with a Dota personality. He told me how he had only been playing Dota for several months but had been watching Dota 2 online for a long time. As a super casual fan, he told me he came for the experience, the social aspect, and the atmosphere of live esports as it was his first esport event.
Although my chat with this fan was my final few minutes at the Dota2 event, I got the impression the crowd had the time of their lives throughout the weekend, not just the day I was there. It was a great occasion and ESL done us proud.
I dont think I've ever been prouder of my home nation than I have been these last few days.
You rocked Birmingham!
— Redeye (@PaulChaloner) May 27, 2018
Looking back on the ESI Birmingham esports business conference I covered the day before, ESL UK’s James Dean told us that the ESL HQ was not overly impressed by the original idea of a UK Major.
Perhaps now they can look back on us with much more enthusiasm.
Thanks to ESL UK for providing us with a press pass and access to the Dota 2 Major in Birmingham (image credit: ESL Dota 2 Twitter)
Dota 2, ESL, Features, Opinion, Tournaments, Videogames
Craig Robinson
Written by Craig Robinson
View all posts by: Craig Robinson
Event recap: UK's first CSGO Major a success as Astralis win big - Outside The Arena
[…] The FaceIT London CSGO Major finally came to Wembley last week. If the idea of hosting such an event in the UK had been proposed two years ago it would’ve been considered ridiculous (and we were blessed with two this year, the other being the UK’s first Dota 2 Major). […]
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Utah Royals FC
Equalizer Soccer
McDonald’s record goal lifts Courage to 4-0-0 start
Dan Lauletta
Players from both teams watch as Abby Dahlkemper’s corner kick comes in. Moments later the Courage had the only goal of the night. (photo copyright Linehan Photography for The Equalizer)
Jess McDonald’s 32nd minute goal sealed two pieces of NWSL history as it stood up as the only tally in the Courage’s 1-0 victory away to the Breakers on Sunday evening at Jordan Field. The goal was McDonald’s 33rd in NWSL regular season play giving her sole possession of the all-time NWSL lead over Kim Little. The Courage win puts them alongside the 2014 Seattle Reign FC as the only clubs to open a season with four consecutive victories.
The Courage returned to a 4-4-2 with Taylor Smith getting the start for the injured Jaelene Hinkle and dropping in to play right back. With the wind at their backs early the Courage came out on the front foot and spent much of the opening half attacking the Breakers goal—much to the delight of neutral observers who had to battle intense sun glare in front of the Courage goal in the 1st half.
It was Smith who got forward and won the corner kick that led to the game’s only goal. Abby Dahlkemper—making her 44th consecutive start—hit an excellent corner kick that Abby Erceg who headed it off the crossbar. McDonald was in position to file the rebound into the net for her 2nd goal of the season and 33rd all-time. Little has 20 fewer games than McDonald but also made a dozen penalties in her NWSL career. None of McDonald’s 33 goals have been from the spot.
McDonald puts the Courage up, 1-0. #BOSvNC pic.twitter.com/lWTJzSgo05
— Our Game Magazine (@OurGameMagazine) May 7, 2017
The goal was scored in the 32nd minute and it ended the Breakers’ and Abby Smith’s shutout streak at 254 minutes. The previous individual record was held by Jami Kranich.
The Breakers nearly equalized later in the half when Adriana Leon appeared to shoot wide but the wind combined with some intense spin sent the ball back in front of goal and Courage keeper Sabrina D’Angelo had to scramble over to knock it to safety.
The match included the first three picks from the 2017 NWSL draft and half of the 1st round. The Breakers started Rose Lavelle (No. 1) and Midge Purce (No. 9) and used Morgan Andrews (No. 3) and Ifeoma Onumonu (No. 8) off the bench. The Courage used Ashley Hatch (No. 2) as a late sub. The Courage also had the No. 7 pick but Darian Jenkins is still rehabbing a knee injury and has yet to play.
The Courage (4-0-0, 12 pts) end the week with a five-point cushion on the Thorns and are three wins from matching the Reign’s 7-0-0 start of three years ago. Next up is a Mother’s Day trip to Orlando to face the winless Pride. The Breakers (2-2-0, 6 pts) failed to win a third straight match for the first time in NWSL. They will attempt to open a new streak next weekend in Chicago, also on Mother’s Day.
Related TopicsAbby SmithFeaturedJessica McDonaldKim Little
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You are here: Home | National News | News | Uncategorized | Deployment of heavy security forces normal routine-Inspector General of Police
Deployment of heavy security forces normal routine-Inspector General of Police
Author: Alhadi Hawari | Published: 2 months ago
Inspector General of Police, Majak Akec Malok photo credit| Gurtong
The Inspector General of Police says that the heavy presence of organized forces in the streets of Juba is in preparation for the 16th of May SPLA day celebrations scheduled for next week.
The road from the Dr.John Garang Mausoleum to customs has since Monday been cordoned off as well.
On Thursday, residents of Juba questioned the heavy presence of the military around Juba causing panic.
Lt.General Majak Akech, told the national TV that the organized forces are responsible for the security and stability of the country hence people should not panic.
“Concerning the presence of the organized forces on the streets of Juba yesterday, it will continue as a normal process to us as organized forces like police, army and national security as people who are responsible for the security and stability of the country. Yesterday some people took it negatively and others took it positively, the purpose of these forces is for security of the 16 May which is the anniversary of SPLA/SPLM and it will continue.”
Meanwhile, the Spokesperson of the Sudan’s People Defense Forces, Lul Ruai, said that the presence of the organized forces has nothing to do with insecurity in Juba.
He said it is to ensure that there are no disruptions during the 16th May celebrations to be held next week.
SSPDF Spokesperson, Major General Lul Ruai visiting the army’s cantonment site 25KM outside Juba, along Nimule Highway in 2017.
“Regarding the increased presence of the security forces on the streets of Juba, we would like to inform the people of South Sudan that, the increased presence of joint security forces at the strategic places especially around Dr. John Garang’s Mausoleum and joint night patrol have nothing to do with any insecurity. It is aimed at beefing up security in preparation for May 16th 2019. We are in preparation to mark that day next week as in order to ensure that we do celebration in a peaceful environment to increase our night patrol we have deployed to strategic places to ensure that, irresponsible citizens do not interrupt our preparations when that day come”.
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Under the cloak of liberalism America slides to Fascism
Larry Kummer, Editor America, Politics 20 October 2012 2 June 2015
Summary: Today’s post shows that another American has become aware that our two major parties have broadly similar policies, differing mostly in the speed with which they’ll take us to oligarchy and empire. That’s not to say that the choice is unimportant. Speed is deadly for us, allowing less time to resist.
This is the 7th in a series of posts about the possible death of the Second Republic, and the evolution of a new political regime.
“Under the Cloak of Liberalism – America on the Cusp of Fascism“
By Norman Pollack, CounterPunch, 12-14 October 2012.
It’s well worth reading in full. This excerpt looks at the choice offered us in 2012.
Obama is unassailable, enjoying the protective cloak of the state secrets doctrine (which, also as the National Security State, he invokes constantly), the liberal glossing on all policy matters, thanks to the extremely able spinmeisters Axelrod and Rhodes, and an adoring, submissive, uncritical base, in deep denial and for whatever reasons unwilling to examine the administration’s record. That record confirms the long-term political, economic, and moral bankruptcy of the Democratic party, whose differentiating character setting it apart from the Republicans lies in the magnitude of skilled evasion and/or deception surrounding policies which themselves replicate the central elements in those of their opponents.
Republicans sincerely criticize Obama because they are too ignorant to recognize, in their rush to antigovernment rhetoric, that he takes the same position as they smoothed out to please a base at best composed of pretend-radicalism and, equally, to ward off criticism from those who desperately want to believe his earlier promises. This comes down to political theater at its cruelest.
The list of actual betrayal is long and virtually covering his public policy without exception. (A good start can be found in the critical essays in Hopeless, a true icebreaker for the uninformed prepared to listen.) Let me select several obvious examples.
Health care, in which Obama savaged the single-payer system, thus preparing the way for the same on the public option, meanwhile silencing, or rather, delegitimating all dissident voices, at the same time as exempting health insurers from antitrust prosecution and favoring Big Pharma;
Civil liberties, a good litmus test of democratic governance, in which Obama’s Department of Justice argued against granting habeas corpus rights to detainees, invoked the Espionage Act against whistleblowers, carried surveillance beyond that of previous administrations, with the National Security Agency one of the culprits practicing the black magic of eavesdropping, while renditions and “black holes” continue and even agencies like FDA spy on its employees;
militarism, from which foreign policy, including trade policy, cannot be excluded, in which the drone – as Obama’s signature weapon–terrorizes whole populations reeking destruction from the skies, naval power displayed from the South China Sea to the Mediterranean, a whole new generation of nuclear weapons in the pipeline (exempt from potential budgetary sequestration), a military budget itself second to none, and what appears to be a permanent state of war;
the omissions, which by their absence speak volumes about the purposes and policies of his administration, in which job creation and foreclosures have not been addressed, climate change, wholly disappeared, gun control, nonexistent, poverty never, never mentioned, and business and banking regulation the compounding of phoniness on phoniness, not unexpected considering Obama’s belief in deregulation and bringing in the Clinton-Rubin crowd of free marketeers.
How much more or worse damage can Romney and the Republicans do? They might fuss about same-sex marriage and contraception, while Obama, in his Pacific-first geopolitical vision and concrete strategy, wants to encircle China, and press for an economic agenda promoting further corporate-wealth concentration.
———————– End excerpt ———————–
Norman Pollack is a Harvard Ph.D. and the author of The Populist Response to Industrial America (1962), The Just Polity: Populism, Law, and Human Welfare (1987), and The Humane Economy: Populism, Capitalism, and Democracy (1990). He is a Guggenheim Fellow and professor of history emeritus at Michigan State University.
(a) To see all posts about this go to the FM Reference Page Obama, his administration and policies.
(b) About our journey to fascism:
America is the new Rome. Late Republican Rome (not the best of times), 13 October 2011
Important: What will replace the Constitution in Americans’ hearts? Let’s check for Fascism., 29 March 2012
A look at the future of the Republic: we will choose leaders that we trust, 14 May 2012
A look at the future of the Republic: we will choose leaders that we trust, not the ones we need (part 2), 15 May 2012
More evidence that the military is slowly cutting itself off from civilian control, 15 July 2012
Gallup’s polls show who we trust, pointing to a dark future for our Republic, 15 August 2012
(c) Posts about change following the hope:
American history changes direction as the baton passes between our political parties, 18 May 2008 – Importance of the November 2008 political landslide.
“Don’t Let Barack Obama Break Your Heart” by Tom Engelhardt, 21 November 2008
Obama’s national security team: I hope you didn’t really believe in change?, 26 November 2008
Obama supporters mugged by reality (and learn not to believe in change!), 9 December 2008
Change you should not have believed in, 10 February 2009
Quote of the Day, 20 May 2009 — Connect the dots between Bush and Obama to see the nice picture.
Stratfor looks at Obama’s foreign policy, sees Bush’s foreign policy, 30 August 2009
Motto for the Obama administration: “The more things change, …”, 5 September 2009
Change, the promise and the reality, 11 October 2009
Another bold action by the radical leftists of Team Obama, 9 September 2010
new america
Published 20 October 2012 2 June 2015
Previous Post Putin’s ads today are those of America’s future
Next Post Examples of America’s broken vision. Here’s why we cannot clearly see our world.
75 thoughts on “Under the cloak of liberalism America slides to Fascism”
Drake West says:
20 October 2012 at 12:14 am
Sensational Hogwash!
Fabius Maximus says:
West,
Could you be more clear about your reasoning?
I think it is clear that we are legally already a fascist state, and also if by that is meant the amalgam of corporate interests and government.
Our government is there for corporate interests — commonly called “the economy”, which has precedence over everything, and which in fact finances the political process to suit their purposes. Add to that the militarization of the police and their behavior in relation to the ordinary Americans and to Americans who gather to protest anything, the various aspects of a national security state, which again, justifies anything, the quasi-dictatorial powers assumed by the Executive branch, the use of torture and arbitrary imprisonment, the immense prison population, and the loss of basic rights ever since the Bush administration, and last but not least the extortionist tactics of the large “banks,” which have consummated the largest theft from the public treasury in history–Bill Black has exhaustively investigated the fraud in all this.
Nine eleven was the watershed. The gov’t has been effectively hijacked by a species of mafia, who engage in criminal actions without fear of reprisal. The neocons in the Treasury and in key positions of influence regarding foreign policy are the same as under Bush. The linkage with extremist Zionism is also intact, whatever the appearances.
It has taken Americans a good decade to figure out that their country has been taken from them — although even now a large portions remain totally propagandized. The unspeakably vulgar and degenerate media have a lot of blame in this, but they became thus in proportion to their concentration in just a few corporate hands.
If history is any guide here, the empire will fall through overreach and loss of its moral qualities, and the US Union may very well unravel.
(1) “I think it is clear that we are legally already a fascist state”
Great point! It’s difficult from today, deep in the weeds, to determine such a thing. You might find the other posts in this series of interest; links are in the For More Information section at the end.
(2) “If history is any guide here, the empire will fall through overreach and loss of its moral qualities, and the US Union may very well unravel.”
While all that lives dies, including Empires, they often last for centuries. Oligarchies are quite stable. History suggests that they are more stable than democracies.
Yes, oligarchies have lasted for centuries–possibly you have in mind Italy during the Medicis and certain ancient Mediterranean plutocracies, but this is neither the ancient world nor even the world of the Renaissance; nor what is in question are city states but a vast and increasingly heterogeneous country with global hegemonic ambitions and, like the rest of the modern world, utterly dependent on non-renewable energy sources. Moreover, the modern world is the creature of its technology and its industry, not to mention its fantasy-ethos of eternal growth and “progress.” The rate of change of the modern world is very rapid and it is accelerating, and it has a tremendous and in large measure negative impact on the environment and on human culture.
As for the US, which on the whole comprises a clearly decadent and increasingly even degenerate culture, I give it no more than 5-10 more years of existence as such. But, as the Moslems say, “God knoweth best!”
“I give it no more than 5-10 more years of existence as such. ”
I have heard people saying that since my years in college 30+ years ago. They’ve all been wrong, and I expect Sam’s prediction will be wrong also. Large organizations change slowly, and decay even more slowly.
“The rate of change of the modern world is very rapid and it is accelerating”
Agreed. And mostly good, especially in the economic growth freeing the world’s people from lives of poverty and pain.
“on non-renewable energy sources”
Agreed. We have a century to manage the transition to new energy sources. Many alternatives are under develeopment in labs around the world.
“a tremendous and in large measure negative impact on the environment”
In the emerging nations, certainly. In most of the developed nations pollution levels have declined a lot, and probably will continue to do so. For an example see Good news: air quality in the US has improved!
“and on human culture.”
Perhaps according to your values. In mine the progress freeing slaves, women, gays — and many other aspects of life — tilts the score very heavily to the positive.
In fascism, the state controls the corporations/big business. In America, it is the corporations/big business that control the state. That’s makes Americans ‘reverse fascists’.
FP says:
I would be cautious in overuse of such labels as ‘fascism’. Re big F fascism (ie Italian) – Even a cursory glance at their history in 1920’s Italy would reveal how little there is in common (the Fascists economic trump being the curious ‘class collaboration’ concept).
As for small f fascism, that has been a generic socialist slur, usuable against virtually any opponent for a good 80 years. This practice has apparently spread to the respectable left since the end of the cold war.
The other posts in this series discuss this in greater detail. But fascism, like democracy, is a broad classification. Such systems can take many forms. They need not look like 1940s Italy any more than democracies must look like Athens in 500 BC.
“In fascism the state controls the corporations/big business. In America, it is the corporations/big business that control the state”
I think that overstates the nature of both. Both are partnerships. Fascism involves a strong partnership between large businesses and the State. Clearly the US is moving in that direction, but I think it an exaggeration to say the State is controlled (or a puppet of) businesses in the USA.
Marcus J. Ranum says:
20 October 2012 at 9:00 pm
Reminds me of old Russian joke, goes like this:
“Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s the opposite!”
There is a more recent joke (coming from Eastern Europe, obviously) about this:
Everything the Communists told us about communism was a complete and utter lie. Unfortunately, everything the Communists told us about capitalism turned out to be true.
Thanks for posting; I had not heard that one!
Regarding fascism, one could perhaps find more appropriate comparisons closer in time and in space than the usual ones dealing with Italy, Germany or Spain.
What about Latin America?
There are several examples of countries with two entrenched parties monopolizing power (often called “liberals” and “conservatives”), always at each other’s throat, but in fact serving an oligarchy with marginal differences in their policies; with a sprawling police apparatus that blithely violates law, spies on people, abducts them, tortures them, judges them in show processes, and even sends assassination squads to foreign countries; with a lionized military always hailed as the bulwark against subversion, lavished with budgets and privileges; with a plutocracy living from rents on natural resources, mining, agriculture, and state-granted commercial or service monopolies.
What about looking at, say, Uruguay 1972, instead of Italy 1922 or Germany 1932?
Guest raises an important point, but one beyond my ability to discuss. Can anyone point to books or articles discussing Latin America’s affair with fascism?
All that we have on the FM website is this March 2010 article about the rise and fall of Argentina. From a time when people said “rich as an Argentinian” to today’s sad story.
Duncan Kinder says:
America ( as a geographic expression ) may very well be turning rotten, but its becoming fascist would be inconsistent with the broader contemporary decline of the nation-state.
“broader contemporary decline of the nation-state.”
Agreed. But the decline of the State is a theory, nothing more, so far.
There are some very non-theoretical events going on in Catalonia right now. See, eg: “Spanish Prisoners“, Ricard González and Jaume Clotet, op-ed in the New York Times, 3 October 2012.
The important thngs to know about the social unrest in Europe taking place:
It’s small, relative to that of past events during the past 50 years in both Europe and America.
It’s small relative to that expected by many people (including me), considering the long severe economic stress.
It’s difficult to determine the depth and magnitude of these protests.
Guessing, the protests in Spain and Greece are far smaller than we’d have in the US under similar circumstances. Their social cohesion is very high!
I, myself, on Facebook, have expressed my surprise that there is not already a guerrilla uprising in Greece. But for present purposes note that 1 million in Barcelona have demonstrated for Catalan independence, which evidences weakness of the Spanish nation state. And the Basques apparently are beginning to act up.
Meanwhile, the south of Italy, and Sicily in particular, have been harder hit than the north.
Meanwhile, drug cartels are pushing up into Europe not only into Spain, Portugal, and Italy but also into the Balkans, which grow increasingly Balkanized. Greece used to be a bedrock of stability for the Balkans. No more;
And Angela Merkel is being booed even in Germany.
I too have been astonished at Europe’s fantastic social cohesion under years of economic stress — with no end in sight. Some attribute this to their low ethnic diversity; some to their relatively low levels of income and wealth inequality; some to their willingness to suffer today in pursuit of unification.
It’s difficult to assess the seriousness of the protests Kinder mentions. Small sparks of little consequence? The start of wildfires?
True, but not the big picture. She remains the most popular major politician in Germany; and the German public remains committed to unification. Her coalition remains committed; and the opposition is even more so.
See also this: “Amid the Echoes of an Economic Crash, the Sounds of Greek Society Being Torn“, New York Times, 20 October 2012.
Note, however, that Golden Dawn, mentioned prominently in this article, is neo-Nazi, fascist. But that hardly defines things.
WTF says:
I spent two weeks in Catalonia/Andorra, end of July 2012. My children are dual citizens (1/2 catalan), and we needed to attend to inheritance issues. this involved visits to “Spanish” government offices (guarded by heavily armed SWAT teams), local/catalan government offices, lawyers, banks. Most of the city was normal, but there were big protests around Barclay’s Bank along the discordancia (Passeig de Gracia). My late wife’s relatives are all in favor of independence. The family elders are conservative “CiU” (Convergencia i Unio) types, businessmen. They told me that most conservative Catalans now see Madrid’s incompetence (either socialist or PP/conservative) at managing the national economy as the tipping point toward supporting independence.
Most people are resistant to the radical-left elements of the independence movement, but the RadLeft are a vocal minority, and after independence (the first vote will be 2014?) will probably drive everyone crazy.
Almost everybody I met has someone in their immediate family that is now unemployed. If not, then certainly many in heir extended families. Many elderly grandparents are having to support their adult children who are unemployed, or pay for the grandchildren’s education. Family businesses are frequently in trouble, or are worried about when the recession will hit them. Credit is almost nonexistent.
Background: The first thing that my late wife told me she remembered as a small child in Barclelona was watching public executions on TV. The “fascist” dictatorship was still publicly executing Catalan dissidents by firing squad (mid to late 60s). On the other hand, when he was young (just before the civil war, 1930s), her grandfather was targeted for execution by a radical anarchist cell for being a business owner.
Unlike the USA, wild swings in politics are not unknown in Spain or Catalonia. Since and long before 1492.
(1) I’ve long wanted to write about the power of assassination as a tool to shape a society. It has a long history. Extensively used during the French Civil War, by the Japan’s military during the 1930s, by Fatah to gain control of the Arabs in Palestine, and in a thousand other times and places. It works best when opposing moderates, gentle people who will not reply in kind. When the other sides does respond in kind, the conflict can gut a society — as it did the late Roman Republic.
(2) Why does WTF describe Spain’s fascist dictatorship as “fascist” (in quotes)?
The Basques are also making noises:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/21/pro-independence-basque-elections-spain
LI have also read a report somewhere that Andalusia has more social unrest than Spain generally.
Yes, but quietly. Some protests are inevitable for a nation in a long recession like Spain’s. But the big picture is that so far conditions remain stable, with the EU unification project retaining strong support on both ends: Germany, and the peripheral states.
Here’s an article about the Chinese mafia’s “State within a state” in Spain right now:
“… But this migration, dizzying in its evolution in countries like France, Italy and Spain, has not come with full social integration, but too often has been limited to strictly business contacts. It is precisely this failure to integrate into the host societies – expressed by the concept of “Chinatown” – that has helped give rise to “states within a state”, in the words of several police inspectors, to a kind of Chinese extraterritoriality where justice or working conditions, for example, are determined by the Chinese and not by the state.
Operation Emperor has exposed a web of money laundering and tax evasion of gigantic proportions. Two elements stand out in the police operations over recent years against human trafficking, exploitation of workers and tax fraud….”
http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/2927801-chinese-mafia-s-state-within-state
epagbretonBreton says:
Fascinating info Duncan. Almost laughable that at the end his solution is to ask the Chinese to assimilate more. Goodness.
SDW says:
“Under the cloak of liberalism” Obama is a classic neo-liberal or New Democrat. When I first heard Bill Clinton say he was a New Democrat, I thought good!, new is good. But New Democrats are pro-corporate, pro free trade and off shoring jobs, and anti-union. In other words, they are way to the right of Richard Nixon. Worth looking up wikipedia definition of neo-liberal.
SDW makes an important historical comparison. Nixon and Obama advocated many similar domestic policies as shown in this post, with Nixon being the more radical. The similarity is even closer in terms of civil liberties and foreign policy.
This shift to the Right is the big story in America’s political evolution. Like so many aspects of America, we close our eyes to avoid seeing it.
epagbreton says:
Fascinating to arise and see the Headlines of this Post. Quite strong talk inside this, folks. Most will dismiss it and that is some proof of its truth.
Americans are in serious trouble, no matter how you choose to structure or wordsmith the expose. Many simply see that they have few choices and willingly or unwillingly go along….its a job, I have bills to pay and a family to feed. They slink off everyday, seeking respite somewhere, cursing under their breath, if so inclined. Openly dismissing the Dream as a nightmare now. Mention it and see the response.
As mentioned above “legally” we are already shackled by some very dangerous fascistic tendencies and so far the Enforcers are ready to implement these. And many want the jobs designed to stymie any naysayers or interlopers. T’ s very clear if you wish to see.
America is in a sobering-up phase. A time of reflection interspersed with denial. Few fully recover for life. Most eventually go back to drinking. The seeds of its demise are very old: Look up Engine Charlie and his heartfelt statement: “…because for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa.”
This will go on a long time absent an exogenous event or series of events There is simply no will to change course and such changes will be very difficult.
Visit any affluent areas’ Regional Mall and witness the incessant consumption enabled by the credit/debt Econ. It is all so normal for these people and they have no sense there is anything amiss nor will they listen to any alternative voices. But that alone is a very old life choice, generational actually.
This is an Engine that must go on. Tinkering? Silly people, move along.
jacksmith says:
“Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!”
— Patrick Henry on 23 March 1775 to the Virginia House of Burgesses (full text here)
What a brilliant ruling by the United States Supreme Court on the affordable health care act (Obamacare). Stunningly brilliant in my humble opinion. I could not have ask for a better ruling on a potentially catastrophic healthcare act than We The People Of The United States received from our Supreme Court. If the court had upheld the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the commerce clause it would have meant the catastrophic loss of the most precious thing we own. Our individual liberty. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Supreme Court.
There is no mandate to buy private for-profit health insurance. There is only a nominal tax on income eligible individuals who don’t have health insurance. This is a HUGE! difference. And I suspect that tax may be subject to constitutional challenge as it ripens. This is a critically important distinction. Because under the commerce clause individuals would have been compelled to support the most costly, dangerous, unethical, morally repugnant, and defective type of health insurance you can have. For-profit health insurance, and the for-profit proxies called private non-profits and co-ops.
Equally impressive in the courts ruling was the majorities willingness to throw out the whole law if the court could not find a way to sever the individual mandate under the commerce clause from the rest of the act. Bravo! Supreme Court. Thanks to the Supreme Court we now have an opportunity to fix our healthcare crisis the right way. Without the obscene delusion that Washington can get away with forcing Americans to buy a costly, dangerous and highly defective private product (for-profit health insurance).
During the passage of ACA/Obamacare some politicians said that the ACA was better than nothing. But the truth was that until the Supreme Court fixed it the ACA/Obamacare was worse than nothing at all. It would have meant the catastrophic loss of your precious liberty for the false promise and illusion of healthcare security under the deadly and costly for-profit healthcare system that dominates American healthcare.
As everyone knows now. The fix for our healthcare crisis is a single payer system (Medicare for all) like the rest of the developed world has. Or a robust Public Option choice available to everyone on day one that can quickly lead to a single payer system.
Talk of privatizing/profiteering from Medicare or social security is highly corrupt and Crazy! talk. And you should cut the political throats of any politicians giving lip service to such an asinine idea. Medicare should be expanded, not privatized or eliminated.
We still have a healthcare crisis in America. With hundreds of thousands dieing needlessly every year in America. And a for-profit medical industrial complex that threatens the security and health of the entire world. The ACA/Obamacare will not fix that. The for-profit medical industrial complex has already attacked the world with H1N1 killing thousands, and injuring millions. And more attacks are planned for profit, and to feed their greed.
To all of you who have fought so hard to do the kind and right thing for your fellow human beings at a time of our greatest needs I applaud you. Be proud of your-self.
God Bless You my fellow human beings. I’m proud to be one of you. You did good. See you on the battle field.
jacksmith – WorkingClass :-)
Adding to my remark about Obama being a neo-liberal, my average Democrat friends are suffering from a cognitive dissonance as they say with a hurt or quizzical look, “Yes, I’m for Obama but . . .
The press does its usual job of obfuscating the ground swell to the right and classifies Obama as a liberal. The right calls him a socialist. As a result, I doubt one Democrat in a hundred understands what a neo-liberal or New Democrat is.
(1) “Today’s post shows that another American has become aware that our two major parties have broadly similar policies, differing mostly in the speed with which they’ll take us to oligarchy and empire. That’s not to say that the choice is unimportant. Speed is deadly for us, allowing less time to resist.”
If on the whole the change is “good,” why the need for speed to “resist?” Moreover, they are not “taking us” to oligarchy and empire; we are already an oligarchy and empire.
(2) “The rate of change of the modern world is very rapid and it is accelerating”
It is intellectually implausible to extrapolate in such wholesale fashion from the entire ancient world today’s 3rd world conditions created by colonialism. Moreover, there has been a serious price paid for certain so-called improvements of the modern world. I would repeat: Moreover, the modern world is the creature of its technology and its industry, not to mention its fantasy-ethos of eternal growth and “progress.”
(3) “Large organizations change slowly and decay even more slowly”
There remains the implacable fact of rapid change. The US is not an “organization,” and it is an empire. As for it being “good” in your estimation, that is beside the point.
Historical empires, and more especially, empires since the Renaissance, have not lasted long and have collapsed rapidly; and before they did, they were over-extended and in significant ways corrupted. The US has changed radically already, it is patently over-extended, internally its economy is seriously corrupted, and its republican government has vanished. A serious case can be made for its approaching collapse–the precise duration left to it is unknowable, of course, but it is within a decade or decades and certainly not centuries–and as with the recent Soviet and British empires, its collapse will be sudden and many people will be surprised.
(4) Regarding non-renewable energy sources: “Agreed. We have a century to manage the transition to new energy sources. Many alternatives are under development in labs around the world.”
This is what is called “optimism.”
(5) Regarding a tremendous and in large measure negative impact on the environment: “In the emerging nations, certainly. In most of the developed nations pollution levels have declined a lot, and probably will continue to do so. For an example see Good news: air quality in the US has improved!”
We don’t live in nations, ecologically speaking; we live on a planet. The accelerating degradation of the biosphere ought to be evident.
(6) and on human culture: “Perhaps according to your values. In mine the progress freeing slaves, women, gays — and many other aspects of life — tilts the score very heavily to the positive.”
Fragments do not make a whole. If you think American culture today represents a human summit, turn on your television, go to Disney World or Las Vegas, read the headlines on Yahoo and, in short, immerse yourself in our dazzling and profound American “culture.” Technology does not a culture make. Top TV shows:
1 American Idol Not airing in the next 14 days
2 Dancing with the Stars Mon, Oct 22 08:00 PM ET ABC
3 Bones Sat, Oct 20 11:00 PM ET WGNAME
4 Revenge Sun, Oct 21 09:00 PM ET ABC
5 NCIS Mon, Oct 22 03:00 PM ET USA
6 New Girl Tue, Oct 30 09:00 PM ET FOX
7 Grey’s Anatomy Mon, Oct 22 01:00 PM ET LIFE
8 Big Bang Theory Sat, Oct 20 08:00 PM ET TBS
9 Bachelorette Not airing in the next 14 days
10 So You Think You Can Dance Not airing in the next 14 days
11 Suits Not airing in the next 14 days
12 Person of Interest Sat, Oct 20 09:00 PM ET CBS
13 Voice Mon, Oct 22 08:00 PM ET NBC
14 X Factor Mon, Oct 22 08:00 PM ET FOX
15 Modern Family Wed, Oct 24 09:00 PM ET ABC
16 Two and a Half Men Sat, Oct 20 03:30 PM ET FX
17 Criminal Minds Mon, Oct 22 09:00 AM ET A&E
19 True Blood
I am not sure what Sam is saying, but his replies make little sense to me.
(1) “If on the whole the change is “good,” why the need for speed to “resist?”
You put the word change in quotes, but I did not use that word to describe our political processes. Please don’t misquote me. I said we need to resist because out political evolution is IMO bad.
(2) “It is intellectually implausible to extrapolate in such wholesale fashion from the entire ancient world today’s 3rd world conditions created by colonialism.”
I said that the changes in the world today were “mostly good, especially in the economic growth freeing the world’s people from lives of poverty and pain.” I don’t know what your reply means. For one thing, I said nothing about the “ancient” world. The process I describe started after WWII and slowly accellerated through the present.
(3) “The US is not an ‘organization’”
An organization is a social entity that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment. The United States is a social entity, with its collective goal stated in the preamble to its defining document, and linked to the external environment by its geographic borders.
(4) Re: engery — “This is what is called “optimism.”
No. Those were facts.
(5) “We don’t live in nations, ecologically speaking; we live on a planet.”
Parts of the world are getting better; parts are getting worse. By analysis of parts we understand the whole. That’s how science words. Biologists study the world not as a whole, but as a collection of smaller areas, then still smaller areas, down to individual organisms. It’s called reductionism.
(6) I said “freeing slaves, women, gays — and many other aspects of life — tilts the score very heavily to the positive.”
(6a) Sam: “Fragments do not make a whole.”
Whatever, dude. I am sure that impresses people whose ancesters suffered as slaves.
(6b) Sam: “American culture today represents a human summit”
I didn’t say anything remotely like that.
(6c) Sam: “turn on your television, go to Disney World or Las Vegas, read the headlines on Yahoo”
This snearing at popular culture is not attractive and beneath comment. I wonder what Sam believes people in the past did for entertainment? Read Plato and watch opera? Especially people outside the top 10% (ie, farmers, mostly peasants); what did they do?
This is the Game we are playing here folks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZyUkvQiNJO4#!
If you missed the preview (and are under Sixty) —read the Link to Nixon’s legacy to try to get caught up.
Nationalism is the foundation of all fascism – the promotion of the national identity to mythic status is accomplished through heavy use of propaganda and manipulative populism. Ultimately, it is a process of nationally lying to oneself – looking back to a past era of greatness which is usually a falsehood. E.g.: the US’ constant desire to see the WWI/WWII period as “the good war” that maintained national unity through the cold war.
Now, we are being sold the cold war era as the period of greatness, and no doubt the next generation will be sold the period of gulf war I as greatness. Nationalism and militarism are really the same thing: there’s little reason for nationalism other than to manipulate popular support for offensive wars. I must add “offensive” because it’s not very hard to talk people into defending themselves – which is why nationalists like to promote the confusing notion of a pre-emptive “defensive” war of offense.
Rational humans should immediately be suspicious of nationalist messages. For the vast majority of people, it’s never been “their country” or “their king” – the relationship is always top-down, but sold bottom-up.
Nationalism is racism writ large.
I think that’s an exaggeration. For example, nationalism in Europe’s long history has had no large racial component. Germany, France, and England pretty much invented nationalism to drive their wars — which were in effect among cousins.
Bluestocking says:
“Today’s post shows that another American has become aware that our two major parties have broadly similar policies, differing mostly in the speed with which they’ll take us to oligarchy and empire. That’s not to say that the choice is unimportant. Speed is deadly for us, allowing less time to resist.”
Your comment begs the question, FM…which of the two candidates being pushed at us is the one who will take us to “oligarchy and empire” more slowly?
Personally, I find it rather interesting that you should bring this us since I was mulling over this same point just the other day. I found myself thinking of the election as being forced to choose whether you’d rather die from a coronary (Romney) or die from cancer (Obama) because it seems to me that if the Second Republic dies as a result of the policies advocated and enacted by the next President, whoever he may turn out to be, the policies which Romney is likely to put in motion (war in Iran, erosion of the New Deal/Great Society safety nets, yet more financial relief for the people who are least in need of it, etc.) are far more likely to make that death intensely painful but at the same time comparatively quick.
By contrast, the policies which Obama is likely to put in motion — which in some cases are not as overtly aggressive as current Romney/Republican policies yet which are nevertheless moving in the same general direction — seem more likely to bring about death by attrition and attentuation, not as painful and therefore not quite as obvious (meaning that it potentially might escape detection until it’s too late, like some forms of cancer) but a death nevertheless which is every bit as inexorable and yet which is extended over a longer period of time.
Of course, this analogy begs a further question: is it possible that speed might actually be more to our benefit than we think? Is it possible that an abrupt shock to the system is what the American people actually need in order to motivate them to get their acts together and start resisting what’s happening, in much the same way that severe angina is more likely to prompt a person to seek immediate medical attention and potentially become aware of a life-threatening heart condition (whereas the symptoms of cancer often tend to be more nebulous and therefore less likely to create a sense of urgency)?
“Is it possible that an abrupt shock to the system is what the American people actually need in order to motivate them to get their acts together and start resisting what’s happening”
That is a common belief. I disagree. Here’s a biological analogy: sharks first bumb their prey, testing for resistence. Only then do they attack. They are skilled at measuring the ability of their potential dinner to fight back.
In a similar manner our elites have tested us during the past few decades, testing our ability to resist. They have obviously decided that we cannot effectively fight back. My guess is that they are correct. Our response will be to mutter over drinks and drugs — while playing violent video games — about the coming revolt.
Thomas More says:
A friend of mine asserts that Romney is a stooge acting as a “bad cop” to create popular revulsion and push the electorate toward the “good cop” Obama, whose policies are essentially identical, except for minor issues like gay rights and women’s reproductive rights.
(People who cite alleged policy differences on health care are pervasively uninformed. Romney states his intention to repeal the ACA, while the “health care reform” on which ACA is based is already failing and falling apart in Massaschusetts due to rampant cost overruns — exactly what you’d expect when the government forces all citizens to buy unaffordable private insurance guaranteed to rise limitlessly in price with no cost controls.
People who claim that Romney differs from Obama in bellicosity toward Iran evidently haven’t been paying attention to the ever-escalating blare of threats and sanctions and military moves toward Iran by the Obama administration — exactly the same kind of propaganda and sanction buildup used by the Bush administration prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
People who believe that Romney will somehow be worse on civil rights than Obama don’t appear to have noticed that Obama is already ordering the extrajudicial murder of U.S. citizens without even accusing them of a crime, a travesty not even William the Conquerer dared essay against his barons.)
I’ve had my doubts, but increasingly this seems accurate
I don’t believe much of that is factually correct.
(1) “A friend of mine asserts that Romney is a stooge acting as a “bad cop” to create popular revulsion and push the electorate toward the “good cop” Obama”
First, does you friend have any evidence for his wild conspiracy theory? If not, why should we pay attention?
Second, Romney is very roughly tied in the polls with Obama in terms of likely voters (given their margins of error). This IMO disproves the “stooge”, and not visibly pushing voters towards Obama.
(2) I don’t believe the comparison between Romney and Obama is accurate, as it exaggerates the similarity between the positions of Romney and Obama. But let’s look at one, as a test of accuracy. Is RomneyCare “falling apart in Massaschusetts due to rampant cost overruns”?
Romney addresses this on his website:
Numerous unbiased organizations such as FactCheck.org and The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation – a think tank funded by business – determined that the cost of Romneycare is “relatively modest” and “well within initial projections.” FactCheck.org also concludes “Claims that the law is bankrupting the state are greatly exaggerated.” Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation goes on to say:
“Despite claims to the contrary, the Foundations recently released analyses of the cost to taxpayers of achieving near-universal access to healthcare showed that the average yearly increase was only $88 million, well within original estimates. Critics ignore the fact that the fundamental problem is not the costs of Romneycare but rather the unprecedented collapse of state tax revenues.”
The Boston Globe also quotes Jay Gonzalez, who is Massachusetts secretary of administration and finance, as saying “This law has not come close to breaking the bank.”
(More relevant info from the Massachusetts Taxpayer can be found here and here.)
Moreover, recent studies show that RomneyCare actually slowed the growth of health care spending in the state of Massachusetts. Here is a quotation from the study:
Perhaps in part due to the recession, the rate of growth for health-care spending dropped for the nation as a whole (though spending did still grow). However, it’s worth noting that, in the years after Romney’s reforms went into effect, the rate of growth for health-care spending in Massachusetts dropped even faster than the national average did. Between 2004 and 2006, health-care spending in Massachusetts grew almost 27% faster than it did for the nation as a whole; between 2007 and 2009, it grew only 5% faster.
After Romney’s reforms, Massachusetts went from having a health-care spending growth rate well above the national average to one just a little bit above. Situating Massachusetts in the context of the rest of New England makes the change in spending rates even starker: prior to Romney’s reforms, Massachusetts personal health-care spending grew faster than the New England average most years. After his reforms, it grew slower than the New England average (often having one of the lowest rates of health-care spending growth in the region).
Honestly, I thought Sam’s comments were good, assuming a willingness to understand, and I found your comments a bit churlish and rude, particularly regarding his point on the biosphere. You come off as a bit of a know-it-all and could use a bit of class and magnanimity, in my opinion. Here is this for a rather different take: “The Privilege of Being Human: Ecological Crisis and the Need to Challenge the Twenty Percent” by Joseph Nevins, Common Dreams, 15 October 2012.
Let’s take your interesting and obviously heart-felt comment in stages.
(1) You are probably right about the response. But facts are facts, no matter how much they disagree with Sam’s ideology and worldview. If you have objections to specific content — in addition to your (correct) stylistic critque — I would like to hear them.
(2) Now as for the Common Dreams article, it nicely illustrates why the waning popular support for the green movement. Look at the opening:
“Although you would not know it from what passes for debate during the ongoing presidential campaign here in the United States, the biosphere is under siege. A historically high rate of ice melt in the Artic, devastating floods from the Philippines to Nigeria, a record-setting decline in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and extreme levels of drought in much of the United States are just some of the recent manifestations.”
Most of this is false (I will give you citations if you promise to read them). Although people don’t know the details, decades of false claims by greens have desensitized people to these stories.
Although the Arctic ice melt is roughly that of 2007, the largest since satellite records began in 1979, there is little evidence it is historic. We have little data on arctic ice area before the little ice age. Also note that Antarctic sea ice is near record levels.
There is some evidence of increased rain levels from the two-century-long (mostly natural) global warming, there is little evidence that the recent floods are unusual in either magnitude or frequency.
The drought in the US is not in the least unusual, even during the past 2 centuries for which we have good records.
The severity and causes of the Aussie Reef problems are disputed; it might be a natural phenomenon. There are no high-quality long-term records.
These are simple facts, shown by easily-obtained records (US drought severity) or widely accepted summaries of research (eg, the IPCC). The rest of the article is a mixture of fact (cites a powerful Nature article) and fiction. It’s not a combination that will change many minds.
(3) Let’s talk about solutions.
I’ve answered over 20,000 comments during the past 9 years. A very large fraction were dances about simple fact like those raised by you and Sam. I’ve tried dozens of methods of communication, from supine to aggressive. Often very long dialogs. Most not about values, assumptions, reasoning — the subject of normal debates — but simple facts. Nothing works. Zip. Nada. Americans love their partisan information sources, even when shown that they provide a diet of lies. American exult when shown that their political opponents rely on sources that lie to them.
This is the great commonality in America today that unites both Left and Right, the subject of so many articles on the FM website. Each accurately identifies this problem in their political opponents, but fails to see it exists on their team as well.
As a result our OODA loop lies in fragments, with America unable to clearly see our serious problems — or respond to them. And we have serious problems. Environmental problems (massive damage in the emerging nations). Economic problems. Geopolitical problems. Probably you and I agree on many of them.
We’re in the chains of our ideologies, which (both left and right) are held by our ruling elites. The 1%. Good for them; not so good for us.
So I’m trying something else: shock treatment. For details see Re-envisioning the FM website, becoming soldiers in the war for American’s future. It probably will not work, but it’s the only idea I have at present. It’s better than the other idea frequently offered (see twice on this thread) of waiting for conditions to decay to provide us with a painful shock — in the hope (vain, IMO) that we awaken and take positive action.
If you have another suggestion I’d love to hear it. The clock is running for us all.
“An experience of profound contempt is necessary in order to grasp our situation, and our capacity for contempt is vanishing.”
— From The Closing of the American Mind, chapter “Values”, Allan Bloom (1987)
Let’s do a quick test.
You’ve probably read hundreds of articles about global warming, explaining that the world has been warming for the past two centuries. When did humanity become the major driver of global warming? It’s an important factoid.
There is a rough consensus among climate scientists as to the answer, given here. Was it what your sources told you? If not, how do you fell about that?
I think the global warming debate is just that; I have no fixed view as I am no expert nor am I qualified to interpret meteorological data, and I am very suspicious of people who always appeal to facts — too often their facts.
I noticed the same appeal in the articles on Modern Monetary Theory, where I think you were administered a sound beating by people who know a whole lot more about the financial system than you appeared to know. One can’t know everything, and as the Chinese say, a man with an opinion on everything is invariably a fool. I am not necessarily for everything written in the article. I said it was a different take. I presume the man is reasonably intelligent and informed, like you, and therefore that you might — just might — be mistaken, if only a little bit, in some of your certitudes, and he just might be right — if only here and there — in some of his observations.
I agree with you that “we have serious problems. Environmental problems (massive damage in the emerging nations). Economic problems. Geopolitical problems. Probably you and I agree on many of them.” I think the problems overwhelmingly stem from the interferences of the “advanced nations” since the colonial era, nothwithstanding the evident decadence in some respects in the non-modern traditional worlds in the 19th century. Since then, and progressively it is my view that the whole world has been mortally poisoned with false ideals and a false mentality. I doubt very much we would agree on much of anything other than that the world is a mess and that the intellectual situation is a tower of babel. I do wish you the very best in your efforts.
“where I think you were administered a sound beating by people who know a whole lot more about the financial system than you appeared to know.”
I don’t believe that is correct. The two professors in the debate were the only professionals speaking — and my comments (few comments, as I let them carry the ball) agreed with their’s. No surprise, as I was just parroting standard economic theory. Mostly I said (repeatedly) that monetization was limited by inflation and the currency, which was also their major message.
There’s a larger lesson here, once which I (and countless others) have often mentioned. Internet debates tend to be dominated by those with the loudest voices, the simplest stories, and the greatest confidence. Not by the actual experts, who tend to speak quietly with qualified remarks. Not the bombastic but unsupported certainty of laypeople.
The other lesson, equally sad, is that these debates are probably futile. As Lisa’s remark shows people tend to walk away remembering the loud simplistic certainties. The quiet complex lessons of the experts are lost in the cacophony. This matches my experience in the many long fierce debates here about torture, assassination, the wonderfullness of our wars, global warming, and economics.
I’ll go one step further, into speculation. Comment sections are a waste of time (guessing). The utility of any medium comes from the one-way transmission of information (broadly defined). People either learn, or not. Agree, or don’t. Comment sections neither teach nor change minds; they’re entertainment (like MTV or dancing bears). That’s a minority view, so I defer to the majority and run one. Tinkering with it in the hope of finding some way to generate value. If anyone disagrees, I’d love to hear why.
“I think the global warming debate is just that”
That is the primary message of the 100+ posts about climate on the FM website, most of which just list research marking the boundaries of the debate among scientists. The comments show it to be a contraversial one, producing heaps and heaps of insults as responses.
Lisa is a rare bird among liberals.
One project I’ve pondered would be recruiting people to run debates in the comments on the FM website. Lisa sounds like she’d be good at this. Any volunteers?
Lisa’s comment has so much fascinating content, intelligently and cogently expressed, we could discuss this for days. Here’s another point touched upon, something often discussed here.
“and I am very suspicious of people who always appeal to facts — too often their facts. … I said it was a different take. I presume the man is reasonably intelligent and informed, like you, and therefore that you might — just might — be mistaken, if only a little bit, in some of your certitudes, and he just might be right — if only here and there — in some of his observations.”
This is why propaganda works in America today, perfectly stated. The Common Dreams author confidently makes false statements; rebuttals with facts makes Lisa suspicious. The rough equivalence of all sources of information is implied. (Trivia: note the over-generalization as a way to discredit my observations: I specifically stated that his article was “a mix of fact and fiction” — so the “he might be right – if only here and there” is not a rebuttal to my comment)
Let’s shift to the discussion about MMT she mentions, a discussion mostly between a professor of economics and some amateurs. Prof Dolan patiently corrects their misstatements (noting some areas of agreement, and some areas of debate). This was in effect small group instruction, such as students pay a great deal of money to get. Did anyone debating him learn anything from Professor Dolan? Did any readers, such as Lisa, learn anything — or did they gain net misinformation by treating both sides (Dolan and “opponents”) as equal? We can only guess; I vote with the cynics.
This is the foundational reality — the raw material — for my posts about America’s broken OODA loop. Unfortunately I cannot well describe it; and presciption of a cure lies well beyond by capabilities. Suggestions welcomed!
FM: ” We have little data on arctic ice area before the little ice age. ”
Here you go… “A Pervasive Millennial-Scale Cycle in North Atlantic Holocene and Glacial Climates“, Gerard Bond et al, Science, 14 November 1997
There are other places to learn more about ‘Bond Events’.
FM note: Abstract of that article:
Evidence from North Atlantic deep sea cores reveals that abrupt shifts punctuated what is conventionally thought to have been a relatively stable Holocene climate. During each of these episodes, cool, ice-bearing waters from north of Iceland were advected as far south as the latitude of Britain. At about the same times, the atmospheric circulation above Greenland changed abruptly. Pacings of the Holocene events and of abrupt climate shifts during the last glaciation are statistically the same; together, they make up a series of climate shifts with a cyclicity close to 14706500 years. The Holocene events, therefore, appear to be the most recent manifestation of a pervasive millennial-scale climate cycle operating independently of the glacial-interglacial climate state. Amplification of the cycle during the last glaciation may have been linked to the North Atlantic’s thermohaline circulation.
Aslo see Wikipedia entry for Bond Event.
Sera,
Thank you for the link to that interesting article. I’ve added to your comment the full citation information and abstract.
However, this article describes natural cycles that affect (or drive) arctic sea ice, but does not mention past arctic sea ice area or extent — or suggest proxy data by which it could be estimated. Can you explain your comment a bit more for us?
Bond Events do not show ‘open water’ in the arctic, but rather show extent and height from shoreline samples. This sediment is then carried out to open water and deposited when the berg melts. There are also Heinrich and Dansgaard-Oeschger Events to study… NOAA page on Heinrich and Dansgaard-Oeschger events.
I do not believe that the Thermohaline was effected as much as some claim, because the heat engine is in the south. Rather, I see the northern part of the circulation moving to the south.
One of your comments earlier suggested that a ‘Comments Section’ was a necessary evil of running a blog (my interpretation, please correct). Long ago, I commented on this blog about the WX System hurting our merchant marine and helping the pirates. I asked for your help, if I recall. I wrote the IMB and PRC, and two days later the system was ‘changed’. I doubt they made this change after receiving my puny letter. Thank you for your comments section.
(1) Thank you for your comment. Evidence, esp scientific evidence, is always welcome here. However, I’m having difficulty seeing its relevance to this discussion. I assume you are replying to my comment that “We have little data on arctic ice area before the little ice age.” But the data on Bond events does not, so far as I can see, provide measurements of past sea ice area. Can you explain?
(2) Thank you for the example of comments working!
FM said: “The utility of any medium comes from the one-way transmission of information (broadly defined). People either learn, or not. Agree, or don’t. Comment sections neither teach nor change minds; they’re entertainment (like MTV or dancing bears). That’s a minority view, so I defer to the majority and run one. Tinkering with it in the hope of finding some way to generate value. If anyone disagrees, I’d love to hear why.”
Your values are from the age of Apollo and Prometheus. (one way transmission). The Internet “democratizes” information at the same time it debases it into a “commodity”. This is the work of Hermes. God of information and deception. (Bernie Neville @ Latrobe.edu) Postmodern culture demands interaction and quickly bores of “one way” information.
(1) “Your values are from the age of Apollo and Prometheus. (one way transmission).”
I was not speaking of values, but experience from 5 years running a moderately active website — with almost 25,000 comments and 3.7 million pageviews.
(1) “Postmodern culture demands interaction and quickly bores of “one way” information.”
Evidence, please.
Ironically, the Romanticists in the environmental movement appear to have inherited an arrogance in common with their opponents, and believe that Mother Nature’s ability to provide, via geological climate change, a huge “smackdown” to humanity in any age of its evolution, is somehow limited to the industrial period of human history.
Interesting give and take with you and Lisa. By the way, I agree with you: most comments are not worth it and just clutter of the space and dissipate the intellectual energy and focus. I think a website might do well to hire someone to pare away all comments that are mere opinion and subjectivisms and thus do not contribute solidly to the discussion and keep on those that do contribute–whether pro or contra–and so help shed light and not just add heat.
I think the MMT debate was largely–not entirely, of course–an overly-garrulous time waster. Personally, as a non-economist, I found Rodger Mitchell’s posts and “Jim’s” summary of the perspective the most valuable–as they were very clear and concise, and kept to the essential. Clearly, most people have been unable to wrap their heads around the paradigm change that is represented by these writers. And speaking of “facts,” their knowledge of the actual operational workings of the banking system and its accounting is remarkable.
I think the weak point in many of your replies is in your insistence on your facts. Facts are inevitably selected, and it is the discernment of the selector that will separate decisive facts. Americans tend to be pragmatists at bottom. Anyway, here I think Lisa hit the nail on the head, and I believe you missed her implicit point, which seems to be that it is principles that count, hence her remark that she doubted you and she would agree on much. from the non-decisive.
I think the decay in the US mentality is terminal. There are, of course, plenty of honorable and brave exceptions. But that is what they are: exceptions. We have had our run under the sun, and now the world is changing–very rapidly. We still have a very important role to play, to be sure, but our mythology, our ethos, has been swallowed by commerce and hubris and this negatively affects our role, to put it mildly–and just look at the deplorable quality of our political class, which mirrors what we have become and probably what we deserve. And yet, these–hubris and greed–have always been prominent elements in the national character, as are violence, aggression, and bigotry and anti-intellectualism. Also, we–and the Europeans whom we prolong–are a very predatory people. I think a good image of what America–and by extension the entire modern world, which tries to prolong this kind of civilization and mentality–has become is furnished by the whore in the Apocalypse of St. John; and note that the Beast she rides will turn on her eventually. We have neither faced the whore we are nor have we yet discerned the beast.
Best wishes to you!
“think the weak point in many of your replies is in your insistence on your facts. Facts are inevitably selected, and it is the discernment of the selector that will separate decisive facts”
I don’t see that in most of these discussions, and certainly not in Lisa’s replies. I see indifference to facts.
This is of course a defining characteristic of modern America. Post-truth America, as so many have said. As we see in our election. Lies are ok from “our team”, in the service of our values.
Her example of the Common Dreams article was a pure example. Their lies, through ignorance or deceit, apparently don’t matter when in the service of greater ideological goals.
Perhaps the majority are right. Perhaps America can close its eyes and run forward, led by the nose by those who shape these ideological faiths. My guess is that this has put us on the fast track to ruin (what I call a broken OODA loop).
Time will show who is right.
So here at the FM website we’ll continue our old fashioned search for facts, with hostility to faith-based lies and ignorance. We will listen to experts like Prof Dolan, not amateurs pedaling easy cures as “new paradigms”. We’ll listen to climate scientists, not doomsters scaring people with eco-doom — like the medieval Christians did with their tales of Hell.
Those other things will continue to dominate much of the Internet.
These are my epistemological values.
Follow-up about the evolution of a post-fact America
It’s (obviously) not just on the Left, as we see here on climate change. The Right too has broken free from the shackles of facts. For one of many examples, see this powerful article: “The Voter-Fraud Myth: The man who has stoked fear about impostors at the polls“, Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, 29 October 2012 — About Hans von Spakovsky, a Republican lawyer who served in the Bush Administration, who has promoted strict voter-I.D. laws by hyping a non-existent wave of voter fraud.
How do our commenters feel about it when the Right does it?
Bill Black, Warren Mosler, Bill Mitchell, Randall Wray, Stephanie Kelton, are amateurs? This is a fact?
FM: “Let’s shift to the discussion about MMT she mentions, a discussion mostly between a professor of economics and some amateurs.”
Jim: “Bill Black, Warren Mosler, Bill Mitchell, Randall Wray, Stephanie Kelton, are amateurs? This is a fact?”
There were 182 comments (36 thousand words, 4000 lines). Bill Black made one (long, excellent). Warren Mosler made one (3 sentences). Mitchell, Wray, Kelton did not appear. So “mostly between a professor of economics and some amateurs” accurately describes the discussion.
Correction: Mitchell, Wray, Kelton did not appear so far as I could tell from the names given on the comments. Bill Black and Warren Mosler clearly identified themselves.
You are a sophist. You lack intellectual honesty and fortitude. When it suits you you change the ground. You refer to the discussion, when in fact during the entire discussion you constantly had recourse to “credentials” and conventional attitudes. You speak of “new paradigms” and “amateurs” when it suits you and revert to “the discussion,” when the thing itself is at issue. And you know it. You select your facts and your authorities to suit your preconceptions or your pig-headedness and present them as the only valid ones–everyone else is soft-headed, twisted by propaganda, or just lying. I will not return to your blog. I have an allergy to types like you, I’m afraid.
(1) “You are a sophist.”
That’s an interesting observation, and worth some thought. I’ve long wondered if the sophists got an undeserved bad rap from Socrates. Especially since others (like Aristophanes) saw him as one. Much like Jesus and Paul dissing the Pharisees, when they were at least cousin (in some ways, esp Paul).
(2) “You lack intellectual honesty and fortitude. When it suits you you change the ground.”
Examples?
(3) “You refer to the discussion, when in fact during the entire discussion you constantly had recourse to “credentials” and conventional attitudes.”
Guilty! But is that a bad thing when discussing matters of vital public policy. When discussing treatment of your child’s illness, are you interested in the healer’s credentials, and degree of expert approval of the treatment used?
(4) “You speak of “new paradigms” and “amateurs” when it suits you”
Yes, but with respect to public policy matters I usually refer to new paradigms within the conventional scientific channels. The debates about climate science and economics have made me even more aware about the advantages of doing so. That is, increased my reliance on credentialed experts on these fields.
(5) “and revert to “the discussion,” when the thing itself is at issue. And you know it.”
I don’t understand what this means. Here are some notes about the MMT Threads.
My comments were mild compared to the thunderbolts, often personal and insulting, thrown at each other by some on both sides.
My comments grew less as the discussion grew more technical. Prof carried the ball. In the third post I contributed only 9% of the comments (by words and lines), vs 24% in the first (a more typical fraction). And much of that was supporting detail (bios, links to more info, etc).
In general, debates about scientific matters hold my interest mostly to the extent that they’re anchored in the professional literature. IMO that’s a good rule for laypeople. Opinions differ on this, of course.
(6) “You select your facts and your authorities to suit your preconceptions or your pig-headedness and present them as the only valid ones–everyone else is soft-headed, twisted by propaganda, or just lying.”
Examples? In fact, expert evidence and analysis of all kinds is welcomed here. My guess is that your objections here are in effect repeating those about “credentialism” wrt science.
Since I don’t censor comments, your are in effect objecting to my refusal to respect amateurs’ opinions on matters of high public policy. Well, OK.
(7) “I will not return to your blog. I have an allergy to types like you, I’m afraid.”
Fortunately the Internet consists largely of domains where specific views — such as MMT, global cooling, warmistas, peak oil doomsters, and such can find uncritical applause.
Question for the floor: would readers be happier if I gave uncritical applause to comment? That would be easier for me.
By happier, I mean in terms of traffic volume (ie, recommend the FM website to friends) and hitting the tip jar?
As economist Tyler Cowen says, ultimately everything is a market in our society. I hoped to be helping sort out key elements in our collective funk, but wonder if it’s worth the effort.
If my comments generate little value to people, or active dislike, I will just moderate for civility.
The number one post in traffic for this year is the post with a cute photo of Katy Perry (redundant, there is no other kind).
gaiasrequite says:
FM: I defiantly think if your readers are in objection to your honest outlook, views and opinions, you should post cute pictures of pop culture idols and rake in the dough….that is a joke
My two cents: I think you might consider moderating for content. Mere opinion or emotional outbursts should be removed, since they clutter the thread. Intelligent objections and relevant counter-arguments, or a fresh perspective on matters would be fine if they do not try to hijack the thread. A good counter-argument should try to back-up claims with some citations of qualitative research or studies. Adding to the overall quality of the thread should be the aim of commentary, I believe.
A big part of the MMT thread for instance was indeed taken up by the presence of too many amateurs–not that there can’t be an exceptionally well-informed and articulate amateur. There is a ton of very serious material published by the Levy Institute, for instance, which should have been referenced. Good material where Black blogs at New Economic Perspectives, and Bill Mitchell’s blog, from Australia, is really first-rate. A pity other MMT heavyweights didn’t join the discussion. By the way, Dolan’s remark that Krugman was an MMT advocate is incorrect, as were a couple of other points. There was actually a run of articles a while back trying to correct Krugman’s view.
I very much appreciate the way you handle the climate issue; very fair-handed and your references are really valuable. I also think we share appreciation for Chuck Spinney’s articles.
Thank you for the feedback. Without that doing comments quickly get discouraging.
“I think you might consider moderating for content.”
I understand and agree with your feelings on this. Many respected websites do so very heavily. Such as Prof Brad Delong, RealClimate, and Skeptical Science. But I hate to do that, and certainly lack the time. My thought — please give me your opinion — is that replying with content is better than censoring content.
Note: these are all leftist in orientation. Can anyone give names of conservative websites who moderate for content?
“A big part of the MMT thread for instance was indeed taken up by the presence of too many amateurs”
I also thought that. But Prof Dolan was carrying the ball on that thread, and far more professionally confident to handle the highly technical discussion. I tend to tether scientific discussions that wander too far from the literature. If people cannot cite something from a major institution or peer-reviewed literature, I give it little credence — as a general rule.
Well, it may take more of your time to reply than to prune. I have in mind not so much to censure as to actually moderate by pruning away the more obvious dead wood. Sometimes a crisp short post from someone is really valuable and adds to the discussion, and conversely, sometimes a long post is just long-winded, and of course there are always the sarcastic and rude types who really deserve being disposed of, just as they would be ignored in ordinary conversation. I suppose to make such pruning fair there would have to be some kind of guidelines laid down for what would be and would not be an acceptable post. These could be very generous.
I remember I once wrote a well-known writer that his readers’ replies really often lowered the tone of his site with impossible comments–nowhere near the level of his articles, often simply highly emotional or even abusive rants. He agreed, but said he didn’t know what to do about it. Eventually he put all comments or “letters to the editor” in a separate section, but that didn’t last long, and he went back to posts and comments–probably to keep his readership, since readers love to comment and see their own published content. Perhaps you could announce an experiment lasting only a month or so, ask your readers to stick with you for this time because then you are going to ask them if they like the new, moderated, way or prefer the old?
Of course, since most of us have little time, we can choose just to read your post and skip all comments, or quickly scan them to see if there is a good one. You often have good references, and I prefer to spend my time going over to those than to read comments.
I hope my comment hasn’t been too long-winded!
Henry,
Your suggestion is sensible. But other than the added time — which I don’t have — there is another problem. The comments are largely critical of my posts (this is unusual, though not unique, on the Internet). Moderating them as you suggest will only inflame these critics even more. That’s more than I’m willing to deal with.
Certainly not. They’re both cogent adn well-expressed.
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Home › Principles › Civil Liberties › Privacy › Analog Equivalent Rights (16/21): Retroactive surveillance of all our children
Analog Equivalent Rights (16/21): Retroactive surveillance of all our children
Privacy Posted on April 13, 2018 • Updated April 7, 2018 • by Rick Falkvinge 11464
In the analog world of our parents, it was absolutely unthinkable that the government would demand to know every footstep you took, every phonecall you made, and every message you wrote, just as a routine matter. For our digital children, government officials keep insisting on this as though it were perfectly reasonable, because terrorism, and also, our digital children may be listening to music together or watching TV together, which is illegal in the way they like to do it, because of mail-order legislation from Hollywood. To make things even worse, the surveillance is retroactive — it is logged, recorded, and kept until somebody wants all of it.
About ten years ago, a colleague of mine moved from Europe to China. He noted that among many differences, the postal service was much more tightly controlled — as in, every letter sent was written by hand onto a line in a log book, kept by the postmaster at each post office. Letter from, to whom, and the date.
At the time, three things struck me: one, how natural this was to the Chinese population, not really knowing anything else; two, how horrified and denouncing our analog parents would have been at this concept; three, and despite that, that this is exactly what our lawmaker analog parents are doing to all our digital children right now.
Or trying to do, anyway; the courts are fighting back hard.
Yes, I’m talking about Telecommunications Data Retention.
There is a saying, which mirrors the Chinese feeling of normality about this quite well: “The bullshit this generation puts up with as a temporary nuisance from deranged politicians will seem perfectly ordinary to the next generation.”
Every piece of surveillance so far in this series is amplified by several orders of magnitude by the notion that it you’re not only being watched, but that everything you do is recorded for later use against you.
This is a concept so bad, not even Nineteen-Eighty Four got it: If Winston’s telescreen missed him doing something that the regime didn’t want him to do, Winston would have been safe, because there was no recording happening; only surveillance in the moment.
If Winston Smith had had today’s surveillance regime, with recording and data retention, the regime could and would have gone back and re-examined every earlier piece of action for what they might have missed.
This horror is reality now, and it applies to every piece in this series. Our digital children aren’t just without privacy in the moment, they’re retroactively without privacy in the past, too.
(Well, this horror is a reality that comes and goes, as legislators and courts are in a tug of war. In the European Union, Data Retention was mandated in 2005 by the European Parliament, was un-mandated in 2014 by the European Court of Justice, and prohibited in 2016 by the same Court. Other jurisdictions are playing out similar games; a UK court just dealt a blow to the Data Retention there, for example.)
Privacy remains your own responsibility.
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What is the Ever Forward Club?
The vision behind the Ever Forward Club is to be the most effective secondary education program supporting the needs of underserved, at-risk teens. It’s mission is to create communities of students who set and achieve their personal goals, inside and outside the classroom. The Ever Forward club strives to nurture and support the growth of the world’s future leaders.
The goal for EFC is now to expand and bring the workshop and club to more schools and reach more students than ever before by serving 20 middle schools and 20 high schools by December 2015, potentially supporting as many as 500 individual students.
What is the role of the school?
The school provides the site and a mentor for the weekly club meetings. Having the Ever Forward Club at school reinforces the importance of the participants learning that there is a safe and engaging part of school, and not something that is separate. A big goal of Ever Forward is to help young men engage and meet their goals, and school is a big part of that.
California public schools have some funding for programs that help with the 5-20% of kids not performing well. This can help with getting a workshop off the ground and club established. Several schools WANT the workshop and the club, so the priority is getting mentors trained to support that.
How does an Ever Forward Club get established at a school?
The first step is hold a workshop at the school and then the kids who participated can opt in to being a part of the club which includes weekly meetings with a mentor. Kids opt in to the workshop and then into the club once they have taken the workshop. The school can help in identifying students that would benefit most.
Once the club is established there are weekly meetings and the members establish leadership roles and the mentor leads them through a curriculum.
What is a workshop?
Taking off the Mask is a workshop created by Ashanti Branch M.Ed. for The Ever Forward Club. This 2 hour, hands on workshop provides participants a safe place to look behind the mask that we wear on a daily basis and that often gets in our way of living truly fulfilling lives.
This workshop was created for students in Oakland and portions of this work will be featured in an upcoming documentary that will be released at this years Sundance Film Festival. The documentary is created by by Jennifer Siebel Newsom and the team who brought you Miss Representation, called "The Mask you Live in" the trailer can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/hc45-ptHMxo
Each workshop will accommodate approximately 30 students.
What is the goal of the weekly club meeting?
The weekly meeting is the central part of EFC. The mentor is there and the group does a check in to focus on what is going with the members. Sometimes they play games to get loose and have fun connecting. There is a curriculum of topics to explore, but that takes a backseat to the check-ins so members feel supported and heard with what is going on with them.
What is a mentor?
EFC Mentors are men in the community who understand the needs of young men. They have gone through Mentor Training, and can even be a graduate of an Ever Forward Club themselves. They need to be able to work at school sites and be available once a week and for special events. Ideal mentors are educators, therapists, social workers and managers. Anyone can attend mentor training to learn more about how the workshops are run.
How does mentor training work?
Training right now is handled by EFC founder Ashanti Branch. He is working on creating materials so training can happen online via webinars. To expand mentor training, he is also working with EFC alumni to be Mentor Trainers or Program Managers.
What is the college trip about? Who goes? Where do you go?
Every year the Ever Forward Club takes a trip to visit colleges, trade schools and universities for some inspiration. The EFC has been able to accommodate 50 students on a trip during spring break to Southern CA. The purpose is to allow members to get exposure to places of higher education. In the future we want to expand this to include trade schools and other local colleges.
Colleges and universities visited include: UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly - SLO, USC and California Science Center. In addition there is always a fun activity planned (such as Medieval Times, Bowling or going to Venice Beach).
NOTE: Not every club will be required to go on a multi day college trip - other events can be designed by and for different clubs as EFC expands.
What are the measurements of success?
The testimonials and personal experiences of those who are and have been members of EFC is the best evidence of success. EFC strives to support its member and in the process:
• Decrease drop out rate
• Decrease absence rate
• Increase graduation rate (current = 100%)
• Increase college enrollment
• Increase community involvement/activism
• Increase engagement and love of school
• Build relationships at school
• Create teams that positively impact the community at large
Are there workshops and clubs for young women?
In 2006 The Ever Forward Club started the program for young women. The young women in Mr. Branch’s class wanted something similar to what they witnessed the young men had created. The young women’s program at San Lorenzo High School went through many iterations since 2006. At one point at San Lorenzo the young men and young women met together.
In 2013-2014 school year our young women’s mentor at ARISE High School moved away and we were not prepared to recruit and hire a new mentor as a replacement. This academic year 2014 - 2015, the young women requested to have a club and they took the ownership of finding a mentor and they have been meeting. Currently a young women’s club is operating at ARISE High School in Oakland, California.
What is the 24 Hour Relay challenge?
The 24 Hour Relay Challenge will become a Memorial Day tradition in the Bay Area. It is a community event that brings together people of all ages and abilities to participate in a unique and memorable experience. It is also the major fund – raising project that benefits student programs that help motivate students to achieve their goals, improve their communities, and also show them that they can have fun without drugs, alcohol and tobacco. This years Relay will include as many as 25 teams, made up of 10 members each. Each participant runs or walks one mile, then passes the baton to the next member, and so on. This process continues for the entire 24 hour period.
While the teams are circling the track, a giant community camp-out takes place with continuous entertainment, food, and camping – participants have a chance to meet others who believe in a healthy lifestyle. Without a doubt, it is 24 hours of memorable fun for everyone involved!
The Ever Forward Club sounds great, how can I help?
EFC has plans to expand and to do so, more mentors will be key to holding workshops and establishing clubs at more schools. An important focus now is to get Mentor Training scheduled for early 2015. With expansion the need for Ashanti to spend more time on EFC will be critical. He has done this in addition to his day job as an teacher and assistant principal for 10 years - imagine what he can do if he can focus on EFC full time!
Anyone with grant writing experience, event planning and anyone who can contribute as a mentor would be a welcome addition to the EFC team.
Funding is needed for all areas with the priority on the Mentor Training, EFC Operations and trips to expose club members to colleges, universities and trade schools.
The vision for EFC is that it will grow to be a national organization!
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Chicago Police were upset as could be when Cook County prosecutor Kim Foxx dropped all charges against former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett in March after cops had him dead to rights for filing a fake hate crimes report.
As NewsTarget reported at the time, Chicago PD Superintendent Eddie Johnson was in the middle of a police cadet graduation when he heard the news that Smollett was going to walk. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that he was “furious” because the case against the “Empire” actor was “rock solid.”
NewsTarget noted:
In all, Chicago PD charged him with not one, not three, but 16 counts of “disorderly conduct” after he “allegedly” hired two Nigerian men to ‘beat him up’ so he could claim that a couple of white, MAGA hat-wearing, bigoted supporters of POTUS Donald Trump did it. Had he even been convicted for half of those, he would have spent more than a decade behind bars.
As if Smollett didn’t get enough help to stay out of jail from a radical Left-wing prosecutor, he’s now getting a major assist from search behemoth Google. As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, Google “is hiding searches” of the Smollett case, which was widely reported at the time, “from its platform due to concerns of ‘potentially disparaging’ the liberal actor.”
Never mind that he’s already disparaged himself with a fake hate crime claim.
The Beacon noted that an analysis of Google’s autocomplete tool in its search bar regarding Smollett “found no references to anything regarding the hate crime, even though the company’s own data show it is the only reason his name was ever searched,” the site reported.
According to the analysis, the top search results for “jussie smollett” include “Empire,” which he no longer has a role on; “sister,” “news,” “mighty ducks” (where he landed a small role nearly 30 years ago), “wife” (which he doesn’t have), and “family.”
When adding an “h” to “jussie smollett” (to begin “hate crime”) the results are “height,” “hawaii,” “house,” “husband” (he’s gay), “hotel,” “how much per episode,” and “hurt people,” the Free Beacon reported, adding screen shots of the searches.
This is typical of the Left
“Easily accessible Google search information reveals there were virtually no searches of Smollett until he said he was attacked, and that the searches spiked further once it was revealed as a hoax,” the news site reported.
As usual, Google officials hid their Left-wing political activism behind an abstract company policy. When contacted by the Free Beacon about the obvious search discrepancy, a spokesperson pointed the news site to a specific segment of the search autocomplete function banning “predictions that associate potentially disparaging or sensitive terms with named individuals.”
What’s disparaging about being able to search for, and find, a news story that reported what Smollett did? It’s not like it’s fake news — you know, like CNN, and The New York Times generally report. (Related: It was a HOAX! Jussie Smollett hate crime “attack” was staged, say police… actual police work unmasked flimsy plot to stoke racial hatred across America.)
“The policy for Autocomplete predictions does not take into account what results may appear when you do the search, but is specifically about the text in the prediction itself,” the spokesperson told the Free Beacon. “We have algorithms that will prevent predictions from appearing if we detect that they likely violate any of the policies, and if our systems miss anything and violating predictions are reported, we will remove them.”
‘Predictions.’ What’s predictive about bringing up a reported story?
The Free Beacon noted that it wasn’t clear if Google was altering or suppressing Smollett search results before Chicago PD stated publicly that he faked the crime. But what is clear, the news site reported, is that Google search results for fellow Hollywood Leftist Harvey Weinstein have also been manipulated because autocomplete functions do not produce any results related to his massive sexual assault scandals.
Read more about Google’s Left-wing social justice efforts at LeftCult.com and SocialJustice.news.
Sources include:
NewsTarget.com
FreeBeacon.com
TheNationalSentinel.com
Tagged Under: algorithm, Alt-Left, altered results, altered search results, biased, Big Tech, celebrity, Cover-Up, dishonest, empire, Glitch, Google, information control, Jussie Smollett, left cult, left wing activism, policy, policy violation, predictive, search results, tech giants, technocrats
New film “You Can’t Watch This” chronicles the big tech censorship of conservatives like Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer
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What is the full process of exchanging a foreign driver's license in British Columbia?
When someone becomes a resident in British Columbia they are normally required to exchange their license. What is the full sequence of steps for doing so, in practice?
canada driving-license british-columbia
edited Apr 5 '18 at 7:59
JonathanReezJonathanReez
With minor variations, this answer is correct for any Canadian province or territory. – Jim MacKenzie Apr 25 '18 at 1:21
First let's take a look at the legal definition behind the requirement to exchange your licence. According to the Motor Vehicle Act, 1996 one is allowed to drive on their foreign license under the following conditions:
34. (1.1) (b) a person who has become ordinarily resident in British Columbia and who has a validly issued and subsisting driver’s or operator’s licence or permit issued according to the laws of the jurisdiction where he or she was most recently ordinarily resident, for 90 days after he or she became ordinarily resident in British Columbia;
Here "ordinarily resident" means you are settled in Canada as a citizen, permanent resident, work permit holder or a spouse of the above. It excludes full-time students of Canadian universities and short-term employees who spend less than 6 months in the country (see sections (c) and (d) of the same Act). In theory, one should also be able to drive for up to 12 months in BC using their IDP, but unfortunately British Columbia doesn't respect the 1949 Geneva Convention so you only have 3 months to replace your license.
The next step depends on which country issued your license:
If you're from UK, Germany, US and a handful of other countries, you're allowed to visit any ICBC office and directly exchange your license for a temporary one issued by BC. You will be mailed the plastic version of the DL within 60 days (around 10 days in practice).
If not, read below.
The next step is to pass the theoretical driving exam:
Prepare for the exam online by taking a practice test on the ICBC website
Visit any ICBC office, show them your passport and your driving license (it's usually not necessary to show your driving record), then proceed to the computers to do your test
If you score at least 40 correct answers out of 50, you pass
At this point ICBC checks how long you've been living in BC. If it's still less than 90 days since your arrival the original license will remain with you. If not, it will be taken away and you'll get a temporary Class N license instead
Now you need to book your road exam (you cannot do it before you pass the theoretical exam):
The straightforward approach is to visit the ICBC website and book the first timeslot available. This usually means you will have to wait 2-3 months until you can take your test
A second option is to wait until midnight when cancelled time slots are becoming available for booking and seeing if you can quickly book a closer time for yourself
Finally you can sign up for a preparation session with a driving school, which usually includes them booking a time slot for you after the session. Since driving schools have preferential access to time slot bookings its easier for them to book you right away.
If possible, book a road test in Point Grey. It's not busy with traffic and the test won't include a highway, so it's a little bit easier.
Personally I drove with an instructor first and he was able to book me a test for the very next week. Even though I have a European license it was still very useful to see what the local exam checks for, so I can highly recommend it to others as well.
Then its time to go for your road test:
First you need to secure a car for the test. If its your own car - great, just bring the license, registration and insurance. If its a rental or Car2Go/Modo/Zipcar/Ovo, make sure you've got the insurance policy in the vehicle itself. If its the driver instructors car he'll take car of this himself.
When you come to the ICBC office the official requirement is to have a second driver present. This is necessary because you won't be allowed to drive anymore if you fail the test, so they want to make sure someone else will drive the car back if you fail.
Finally you get into a car with an instructor, do the driving, and either pass or fail. I've found the test relatively easy compared to Europe, although I've already had a lot of experience beforehand.
If you fail, you can repeat the test in 2 weeks. If you pass, you'll receive a temporary Class 5 (full) license and will be mailed the plastic version of it within 60 days (around 10 days in practice).
Overall my expenses included:
$15 to do the theoretical test
$50 to take the practical test
$31 for the license itself once I've passed
$200 total for the driving school
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Home > 2017 > 06/07 > Nation Network 2017 Prospect Profile: #24 – Filip Chytil
Nation Network 2017 Prospect Profile: #24 – Filip Chytil
June 7, 2017, 6:00 AM | Jeremy Davis
We’ve had a few players on our draft list that we’ve rated substantially higher than the field. Czech forward Filip Chytil is one of those players, and he might be my personal favourite. Apart from the fact that he plays in the Czech Republic and is very young (one of the youngest members of the draft class in fact), there aren’t member legitimate reasons that Chytil has been rated so low on average. He’s got good size, good speed, good hands, good international results, and he spent the entire season in professional hockey despite the fact that he won’t turn 18 until the fall.
Today we’ll dig deeper into this prospect and try to get a sense on the industry’s perception of him and his projection for the future. I’ve convinced my co-writers that he could be a diamond in the rough, and perhaps I can do the same of you. Filip Chytil checks in at 24th on our list, firmly in our first round.
Age: 17 – September 5th, 1999
Birthplace: CZE
Frame: 6’2″ / 192 lbs
Position: Left Wing/Centre
Handedness: Left
Draft Year Team: HC Zlin
Accomplishments/Awards: CSSHL Champion (14/15)
Cohort Based (pGPS)
From Future Considerations:
Chytil is a speedy player with good hockey sense and offensive skill. He is a very good skater, with very quick feet and balance on his edges that allows him to generate good power from every stride and high-end acceleration in his first few steps. He uses his speed well to carry the puck up ice, into the offensive zone, stopping up along the outside and setting up for some offensive zone time. His vision of the ice helps him to quickly find open lanes to go through with the puck and once moving he is hard to contain when he finds space. Has decent puck skills, although nothing too electrifying, and is able to receive and dish passes at full speed without breaking stride. He is stronger than his size would indicate, hard to knock off the puck showing tremendous puck protection, goes into dirty areas and wins most of his puck battles alongside the board. He can pull the trigger with a heavy and accurate wrist shot that is dangerous anywhere from the circles on in. He is also very active on the forechecking and his long reach helps him to steal the puck from his opponents and create even more quality scoring chances. He is very sneaky. It is not uncommon to see him work deep in both zones and even throw a hit or two, as he wants to make his presence felt. A guy you will need to have patience with as he takes a few seasons to add strength, but he could be well worth it.
From McKeen’s Hockey (Excerpt only – full article behind pay wall):
One of the younger prospects available in the 2017 draft (10 days from being a 2018 eligible), Chytil is one of the more under-the-radar dynamic talents available. He spent the majority of his regular season with Zlin, in the Czech Extraliga, playing against grown men. Although Chytil is still lean, he has a solid frame, suggesting added strength in a few short years. Although his game is still justifiably raw, he displays the entire toolkit on the ice, rating as above average as a skater, shooter, puck handler and for his hockey IQ. When it came time to shine, he continued to impress at both the Five Nations tournament where his smarts and vision stood out, and finished his year with a very strong showing at the WU18 event, with five points in five games wearing the national colors.
From Corey Pronman of ESPN (Excerpt only – full article behind pay wall):
Chytil was a regular in the top Czech league as a bottom-six forward for his team, despite being one of the youngest players eligible for the 2017 draft. Chytil is an impressive skater who can be tough to check when he’s coming through the neutral zone with speed. His stick skills are above average, and I watched him create chances out of nothing. He moves the puck around fine and is creative offensively.
From The Draft Analyst:
Martin Necas wasn’t the only teen making waves in the Czech senior circuit. Chytil, a talented two-way forward with slick moves and strong balance, was a regular for Zlin and performed admirably at the U18’s last April. He’s an excellent penalty killer and likes to hang on to the puck rather than give away to facilitate his own safety.
Filip Chytil is my prospect crush/underrated sleeper pick in this year’s draft. The fact that he is rated so low on most lists honestly baffles me sometimes. Sure, he has some features that often cause prospects to be overlooked – he’s extremely young for this draft class, and the fact that he played pro hockey all season led him to a modest 8 points to show for the year. On the other hand, he’s one of the youngest members of his draft class and he played professional hockey all season. Chytil doesn’t turn U18 until September 5th, meaning that he could actually have played in the Czech U18 league that he dominated last season, but instead he spent 38 games with HC Zlin in the Czech Extraliga, one of Europe’s top four professional leagues.
The search for red flags comes up dry, as Chytil doesn’t seem to have any of the drawbacks that cause players to be pushed down rankings. He’s got great size (typically listed at an already acceptable 6-feet, Chytil was measured at 6-foot-2.25 and 192 pounds at the NHL Combine on the weekend), he’s a well-above-average skater with a great stride, good top speed and good acceleration, he has a good shot, sees the ice well, and demonstrates a high level of intelligence on the ice.
From an eye test perspective, Chytil plays an attractive game. With the puck, he plays a skilled, east-west style with above average puck protection and an emphasis on puck possession. He has good vision and play making ability and will be patient until lanes open up for players in opportune shooting areas. Away from the puck, he displays relentless effort in puck retrieval, hunting down puck carriers while still staying between them and pass options, and using his body to throw hits pin opponents deep in enemy territory. He can play both centre and the wing, predominantly playing the former position with some measurable success during the recent U18 tournament.
Statistically speaking, he shows better than his eight points would indicate on the surface. Chytil received an average of 12:30 of ice time in his 38 Extraliga games, with about 6% of that coming on the power play (an average of 46 seconds per game). The major difference between Chytil and Martin Necas, a projected top ten pick who also played in the Czech league is their power play ice time and production. Necas averaged 2:32 on the power play and scored five power play points – Chytil on the other hand did not have any power play points in his limited time on the man advantage.
Reduced to 5-on-5 time, the discrepancy between Necas and Chytil’s production dissipates. Both had four goals and seven primary points at 5-on-5, with Necas bagging a couple of extra secondary assists to break the tie. Necas’ Brno Kometa was also a stronger team that Chytil’s HC Zlin, with the former scoring 32 more goals than the latter over the course of a 52 game season. Indeed, HC Zlin had to fight to stay in the league, surviving the Extraliga relegation series, in which Filip Chytil contributed two points in two games.
Chytil also showed well internationally, particularly at the U18 tournament in Slovakia in April in which he actually outplayed and outproduced Necas while centering either the Czech’s first line between Necas and 2018 top prospect Filip Zadina, or the third line between Jan Kern and Ostap Safin. In both tournaments his play was lauded, though his creep up the rankings has been quite slow.
Similar to the argument I made comparing Robin Salo to Miro Heiskanen statistically, the purpose here isn’t to suggest that Chytil is better than, or even as good as Martin Necas, one of the drafts top prospects. It does however indicate that the difference isn’t quite as far as Chytil’s typical position in the rankings suggests.
If I were a team drafting in the late first or early second round, I’d be looking to get my hands on this player. Both scouting reports and statistical measures are indicating that he’s being severely underrated in the mainstream rankings. If left too long, Chytil has real potential to be a draft steal, and the later he goes in the draft, the greater a steal he may eventually become.
The Canucks Army/Nation Network Top 100
#25 JARET ANDERSON-DOLAN
#26 GRANT MISMASH #27 CALLAN FOOTE #28 MAXIME COMTOIS
#29 HENRI JOKIHARJU #30 JOSHUA NORRIS #31 URHO VAAKANAINEN
#32 MICHAEL RASMUSSEN #33 MASON SHAW #34 ROBERT THOMAS
#35 SHANE BOWERS #36 ISAAC RATCLIFFE #37 KOLE LIND
#38 MATTHEW STROME #39 CONOR TIMMINS #40 JOHAN GADJOVICH
#41 IVAN LODNIA #42 MARCUS DAVIDSSON #43 ANTOINE MORAND
#44 NIKITA POPUGAYEV #45 MORGAN FROST #46 EVAN BARRATT
#47 JESPER BOQVIST #48 STELIO MATTHEOS #49 NICK HENRY
#50 JOSH BROOK #51 ROBIN SALO #52 KYLE OLSON
#53 JAKE OETTINGER #54 ATRYOM MINULIN #55 PIERRE-OLIVIER JOSEPH
#56 LUKAS ELVENES #57 JAKE LESCHYSHYN #58 FABIAN ZATTERLUND
#59 ALEXANDER CHMELEVSKI #60 MAX GILDON #61 AUSTEN KEATING
#62 ADAM RUZICKA #63 – #66 #67 – #70
#71 – #75 #76 – #80 #81 – #85
#86 – #90 #91 – #95 #96 – #100
FlamesNation Top 20 Prospects 2018: #16 Milos Roman
2019 NHL Draft Scout Series: Sweden
2019 NHL Draft Scout Series: the QMJHL
tomho16 2 years ago
I am from Zlin so I saw Filip in every game this season. I agree with every single word here, even the comparison with Necas, who spent at least half of his icetime with Erat and Kvapil, league stars, while Filip was playing 3rd or 4th line and produced the same numbers. He also has a great character, he is a modest guy. In Zlin, we just hope he will stay for the following season because he could easily be one of the best players on team, I really think he can be a steal in the draft and I only imagine whether the Oilers have a chance to take him.
Hockey123 2 years ago
Does Filip skate as well as Necas.
Just.Visiting 2 years ago
Looks like the type of player to trade down to pick if there were sufficient interest. Would be interesting to see how he interviews.
Glass 2 years ago
Damn, he seems like a big sleeper in this draft class. Look for him to start dominating as he gets more and more experience in the pro league. Already has a pretty mature game.
By Jeremy Davis
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South Korea English keyboard_arrow_down
Find Flights to Malaysia with Thai Airways
To Malaysia keyboard_arrow_right
Compare Lowest Airfares to Malaysia*
ICN-KUL
Seoul (ICN) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
KRW437,900
Traveling to Malaysia
Malaysia is two exotic destinations in one: peninsular Malaysia, with its historic cities, tropical islands and rich cultural melting pot, and East Malaysia, dominating the northern half of the island of Borneo, with its dense jungles, fringing coral reefs and wild orang-utans. Little wonder they call Malaysia ‘truly Asia’.
Peninsular Malaysia has a famously efficient transport network, with flights, boats, buses and trains linking all the main centres. River boats and light-aircraft provide access to the dense jungles of Sarawak and Sabah in East Malaysia, but flights are the only way to travel between the two halves of Malaysia, unless you island-hop through Indonesia.
Kuala Lumpur is the gateway to Malaysia, a fascinating melting pot of Malay, Chinese and Indian culture. Downtown KL is an eclectic mix of gleaming skyscrapers and shopping malls, colonial relics and pockets of tropical jungle. Sky-bars look out over the cityscape from the tallest towers, while KL at street level is a city-sized buffet of Asian flavours.
North of KL, the landscape bucks up into lush green hills, where British-era hill stations offer a cool, calm escape from the crush of the capital. The Cameron Highlands are a verdant canvas of gardens, forests and tea plantations, and more pristine greenery can be found to the east in the vast national park of Taman Negara.
Dropping to the coast, the cities of Georgetown (Penang) and Melaka offer more of Malaysia’s mesmerising melting pot, with bustling night markets and fabulous fusion food. For the full tropical island experience, aim for the idyllic beaches of Pulau Langkawi and the exquisite coral reefs around Pulau Tioman and Pulau Redang.
Beyond the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak promise jungle adventures. From the colonial capital, Kuching, you can float past remote tribal villages in rainforest reserves that shelter orang-utans, proboscis monkeys and crocodiles, or climb to the summit of Mount Kinabalu on neighbouring Sabah.
Even in fast-paced KL, it’s easy to escape the crowds. Combine a trip to the fascinating Batu Caves with a hike through the forest canopy in the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia. Penang and Langkawi are just the most famous islands – more perfect beaches and and pristine reefs can be found on the Perhentian islands and Pulau Sipadan off the coast of Sabah. Heading inland on Borneo, Gunung Mulu National Park is a stunning alternative to Mount Kinabalu, with towering mountains, plunging gorges, limestone caverns and dramatic karst landscapes.
Malaysian food is a fascinating fusion of Malay, Indian and Chinese flavours. In the cities of Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Georgetown (Penang), seek out Nonya cuisine, created by Straits Chinese settlers in the colonial period. The Mamak community, descended from Tamil Muslims from South India, run nasi kandar (rice and curry) canteens across Malaysia, serving delicious Indian-inspired dishes. Malaysian seafood is rightly famous, and best sampled at beach resorts or the lavish restaurants of Kuala Lumpur; Bijan is a standout choice for traditional Malay cooking. One must-try anywhere in Malaysia is roti canai – flat bread with a rich curry dipping sauce.
Popular Thai Airways Flights to Malaysia
To Kuala Lumpur
South Korea - Malaysia
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On 29 September 2015, the trial in the case The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido opened before Trial Chamber VII at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido are accused of offences against the administration of justice in connection with witnesses' testimonies in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. Pictured here: Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo at the opening of the trial in the case Bemba, Kilolo, et al. on 29 September 2015. © ICC-CPI
InternationalLatest NewsLegal Affairs
Bemba et al. case: Trial to open on 29 September 2015
On 22 May 2015, Trial Chamber VII of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Jean-Pierre Bemba Gomboscheduled the opening of the trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido for 29 September 2015.
The Chamber stressed the right of the accused persons to be tried without undue delay and noted that the preparations for the trial have been ongoing since November 2014 as well as the fact that the Prosecution disclosed to the Defence the majority of the incriminatory material in its possession. The Chamber further directed the Prosecution to file a list of evidence to be relied on at trial, as well as a list of witnesses no later than 30 June 2015. In light of all these factors, the Chamber set the trial commencement date for Tuesday, 29 September 2015.
The trial is conducted by Trial Chamber VII, composed of Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, Presiding Judge, Judge Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Judge Bertram Schmitt.
Background: On 11 November 2014, Pre-Trial Chamber II partially confirmed the charges of offences against the administration of justice for Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido and committed the five suspects to trial. The Chamber found there were substantial grounds to believe that the suspects committed offences against the administration of justice in connection with witnesses’ testimonies in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo.
The offences, all allegedly committed between the end of 2011 and 14 November 2013 in various locations, would include corruptly influencing witnesses by giving them money and instructions to provide false testimony, presenting false evidence and giving false testimony in the courtroom, all perpetrated in various ways including by committing, soliciting, inducing, aiding, abetting or otherwise assisting in their commission. On 30 January 2015, the Presidency of the Court constituted Trial Chamber VII and referred the Bemba et al. case.
ICC Press Release: 22.05.2015
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Chris Broussard Says There's Legitimacy in Kawhi Leonard to Lakers Rumors
Chris Broussard: “Somebody told me last week that if Anthony Davis goes to the Lakers, Kawhi will seriously consider going there. That’s hard for me to believe but this person was plugged in.”
Listen to NBA insider and Fox Sports Radio host Chris Broussard join The Herd to talk swirling rumors around the Los Angeles Lakers trying to acquire a third star to complete their ‘Big Three’ after the team swung the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade over the weekend.
Chris tells Colin Cowherd that he thinks the Lakers should try and strike a deal with free agent Kawhi Leonard, who has already shown immense interest in returning to the city he grew up in. Broussard says it would alleviate a scenario of the team failing to surround AD and LeBron with the right role players, considering a big three of LBJ, AD, and Kawhi would be unbeatable no matter who was around them.
Check out the audio above as Chris discusses the Kawhi/Lakers rumors and acknowledges that it’s a difficult scenario to buy into, but says they are indeed REAL rumors.
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OIC leaders call for international peacekeeping force to protect Palestinians from Israeli aggression
Turkey hosted the second emergency meeting of world’s top Muslim body on Friday in the wake of Gaza killings.
by Dawood Rehman | Published on May 19, 2018 (Edited May 19, 2018)
ISTANBUL – A summit in Istanbul of Muslim heads of state has called for the creation of an international peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinians, as host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of “brutality” comparable to the Nazis.
The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – seeking to bridge severe differences within the Muslim world – said in a final communique that Israel had carried out the “willful murder” of at least 61 Palestinians on the Gaza border on Monday.
It called “for the international protection of the Palestinian population, including through dispatching of international protection force”.
Erdogan said the sending of such an “international peacekeeping force” was essential to help the Palestinians and stop the international community being a “spectator to massacres”.
He compared such a force to the UN forces sent to deal with the aftermath of the Balkan wars in Bosnia and Kosovo.
The statement also angrily lashed out at the United States, saying that Washington was complicit in the “crimes” of Israel and “emboldened” its government by moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
OIC summit: Pakistan calls for transparent probe into Palestinians’ massacre by Israel
‘No difference with Nazis’
The summit had been called at a few days notice by Erdogan, who had earlier addressed thousands at an open air rally in Istanbul to express solidarity with the Palestinians.
President Erdoğan speaks at press conference following OIC Extraordinary Summit in Istanbul pic.twitter.com/OjwCaWD7uy
— Turkish Presidency (@trpresidency) May 19, 2018
Speaking at the opening of the summit, Erdogan compared Israel’s actions against the Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust during the Second World War.
“There is no difference between the atrocity faced by the Jewish people in Europe 75 years ago and the brutality that our Gaza brothers are subjected to,” he said, accusing Israel of using methods “similar to the Nazis”.
Around six million Jews were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Addressing the earlier rally, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim used similar language, saying Israel was “imitating Hitler and Mussolini” by occupying Palestinian territory and disregarding international law.
3 Palestinians die of wounds inflicted by Israeli army; Gaza rallies death toll up to 118
Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah – stepping in for president Mahmoud Abbas who this week had surgery on his ear – told the rally that the US was “trying to provoke a religious conflict in the region” by moving its embassy to Jerusalem.
This is the second emergency OIC meeting Erdogan has hosted in the space of half a year after the December 2017 summit, also in Istanbul, that denounced US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Disputes between the OIC’s key players – notably between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran – always complicate the adoption of any measures going beyond harsh rhetoric.
Riyadh – which appears to have softened its stance on Israel as the influence of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has grown – and its allies fear alienating the United States with tough measures against Tel Aviv.
Gaza killings: Palestine Solidarity Day being observed in Pakistan
Turkey expels Israeli envoy over Gaza massacre
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Careem offers Punjabi ‘Buggy ride’ this wedding season
Careemers in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Sargodha can book a traditional ride for Rs6,000 for 6 hours
by Nozair Hanif Mirza | Published on December 4, 2018 (Edited December 4, 2018)
LAHORE – After cars, bikes and even boats, the ride-hailing service Careem is now offering buggy rides as the wedding season is at peak. In a statement, the UAE-based company said it will launch this service from tomorrow (Wednesday). Users
LAHORE – After cars, bikes and even boats, the ride-hailing service Careem is now offering buggy rides as the wedding season is at peak.
In a statement, the UAE-based company said it will launch this service from tomorrow (Wednesday).
Users will be able to book their famous Punjabi ‘Buggy’ ride through their application 24 hours prior to their journey.
The service is available for Careem users in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Sargodha for Rs6,000 for 6 hours.
The offer comes a day after the company’s CEO announced to launch a bus service in the South Asian country soon.
Careem to launch bus service in Pakistan
Mudassir Sheikha shared his company’s plan to expand its type of services in the South Asian country during the inauguration of Careem bus service in Egypt on Monday.
Careem, which was founded in 2012, operates in more than 120 cities in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan where it has 30 million registered users.
Careem offers BOAT for ride as heavy rains turn Lahore into ‘Venice’
‘Don’t use NOTVALENTINES promo,’ Careem asks Pakistani customers
Careem welcomes first ever female bike captain
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Albert R. Broccoli. The music and lyrics were written by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams.
Poster for Original Broadway Production
Robert B. Sherman
2002 West End
2005 National UK Tour
2007 Singapore
2008/09 National US Tour
2012/13 Australian National Tour
2015/16 National UK Tour
ProductionsEdit
Original London production
The musical premiered in the West End at the London Palladium on April 16, 2002 with six new songs by the Sherman Brothers who wrote the original Academy Award-nominated title and song score as well. The West End production was directed by Adrian Noble (at the time the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company) with musical staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne and featured Michael Ball (Caractacus Potts), Emma Williams (Truly Scrumptious), Anton Rodgers (Grandpa Potts), George Gillies (Jeremy), Carrie Fletcher (Jemima) and Graham Hoadly (The Commentator). Closing in September 2005, it was the longest running show ever at the London Palladium, taking in over £70 million in its three and a half year run.[1] The Palladium's famous revolving stage (as seen on Sunday Night at the London Palladium) was entirely taken out to accommodate the technology and storage space for the flying Chitty car, which itself holds the Guinness World Record as the most expensive stage prop, costing £750,000.
Original Broadway production
The Broadway production opened on April 28, 2005 at the Lyric Theatre (then the Hilton Theatre), garnering good reviews only for the lavish sets. Ben Brantley in The New York Times noted that the show "naggingly recalls the cold, futurist milieus of movies like 'Modern Times' and 'Metropolis,' in which machines rule the universe" and featured songs that sounded "not unlike what you might hear in sing-along hour in a pre-K class".[2] The production was again directed by Adrian Noble with choreography by Gillian Lynne and starred Raúl Esparza (Caractacus Potts), Erin Dilly (Truly Scrumptious), Philip Bosco (Grandpa Potts), Marc Kudisch (Baron Bomburst), Jan Maxwell (Baroness Bomburst), Ellen Marlow (Jemima Potts), and Henry Hodges (Jeremy Potts). The Broadway production closed on December 31, 2005 after 34 previews and 285 regular performances. According to producer Nicholas Paleologos, "A substantial portion of the $15 million (initial investment) will not be recouped on Broadway." [3][4]
A US National tour began in November 2008 at the Broward Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with a revised script by Ray Roderick, who is the tour director.[5] These revisions have since become part of the licensed script. The original US touring prop car is now under exclusive ownership by Tony Garofalo of New York City, released by Big League Productions and currently being used for private display use as well as fundraising events. This prop vehicle is a full sized version and fully equipped with many hydraulically activated stage tricks, such as surround stage mounted lighting, retractable wings, and spinning 45 degree tilt tires.[6]
Subsequent UK touring productions
Since closing in London, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang toured around the UK, stopping in Sunderland (9 December 2005- 4 March 2006), Manchester (20 March 2006- 10 June 2006), Birmingham (23 June 2006- 2 September 2006), Liverpool (18 September 2006- 18 November 2006), Edinburgh (1 December 2006- 24 February 2007), Bristol (9 March 2007- 9 June 2007) and Southampton (25 June- 15 September 2007), Bradford (11 February 2008 – 5 April 2008), Sunderland (17 April 2008 – 7 June 2008), Cardiff (3 July 2008 – 30 August 2008). The UK Tour visited Asia for the first time when it opened on 2 November 2007 in Singapore's Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Encouraging ticket sales resulted in an extension of the show to 9 December,[7] adding 24 more shows to a run which was originally planned to end on 18 November 2007.[8]
In 2009, the original production toured the UK until 2010 on a smaller scale, directed by original director Adrian Noble and choreographed by David Morgan. This tour used the script revisions used for the US tour by Ray Roderick.
A brand new production by Music and Lyrics Productions opened at the West Yorkshire Playhouse for the Christmas 2015 season, directed by artistic director, James Brining and choreographed by Stephen Mear. Following the run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the production toured the UK and Ireland from February 2016 at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, and ended in February 2017 at the Bristol Hippodrome.
Australian production
The Australian national production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opened on November 17, 2012 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, featuring David Hobson and Rachael Beck.
German production
The German premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang took place on April 30, 2014 at the State Theatre on Gaertnerplatz in Munich/Germany, translated by Frank Thannhaeuser, directed by Josef E. Koepplinger and choreographed by Ricarda Regina Ludigkeit.
SongsEdit
Overture — Orchestra
Prologue — Company
"You Two" — Caractacus, Jeremy & Jemima
"Them Three" — Grandpa Potts
"Toot Sweets" — Caractacus, Truly, Lord Scrumptious & Ensemble
"Think Vulgar" (2002–2005) "Act English" (2005–present) — Boris and Goran
"Hushabye Mountain" — Caractacus
"Come to the Funfair" — Company
"Me Ol' Bamboo" — Caractacus & Ensemble
"Posh!" — Grandpa Potts, Jeremy & Jemima
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" — Caractacus, Truly, Jeremy & Jemima, & Grandpa Potts
"Truly Scrumptious" — Jeremy, Jemima & Truly
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (Nautical reprise) — Caractacus, Truly, Jeremy & Jemima
"Chitty Takes Flight" — Company
"Entr'acte" — Orchestra
"Vulgarian National Anthem" — Company
"The Roses of Success" — Grandpa Potts & Inventors
"Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies" — Childcatcher
"Teamwork" — Caractacus, Toymaker, Truly & Juvenile Ensemble
"Chu-Chi Face" — Baron & Baroness Bomburst
"The Bombie Samba" — Baroness, Baron & Ensemble
"Doll On A Music Box"/"Truly Scrumptious" (Reprise) — Truly & Caractacus
"Us Two"/"Chitty Prayer" — Jeremy & Jemima
"Teamwork" (Reprise) — Toymaker & Company
"Chitty Flies Home (Finale)" — Company
Notes: Since the 2008 US tour, the following songs have been omitted: "Come to the Funfair", "Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies", "Us Two/Chitty Prayer". "Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies" was replaced with a version of "Lovely Lonely Man" from the original film, sung by Truly Scrumptious. The overall script is also changed to more closely match the film, notably, missing the childcatcher tricking the family by dressing as the Toymaker and Grandpa. In the 2012 Australian production,"Kiddie-Widdy-Winkies" was put back in the line-up of songs, but has since not been put back into the 2015 UK tour.
CastsEdit
Original London Cast
Notable London replacements
Original Broadway Cast
First UK tour and Singapore
First US Tour
Second UK Tour
Original Australian Cast
Third UK Tour
Caractacus Potts
Michael Ball Gary Wilmot
Brian Conley Raúl Esparza Tim Flavin
Gary Wilmot
Joe McFadden
Craig McLachlan
Aled Jones Steve Wilson Darren Bennett David Hobson Jon Robyns
Jason Manford
Lee Mead
Emma Williams Caroline Sheen
Scarlett Strallen
Jo Gibb Erin Dilly Marissa Dunlop Kelly McCormick Rachel Stanley
Rachael Beck Amy Griffiths
Carrie Hope Fletcher
Charlotte Wakefield
Grandpa Potts
Anton Rodgers Russ Abbott
Tony Adams Philip Bosco Paul Greenwood
Gregor Fisher
Tony Adams Dick Decareau John Griffiths Peter Carroll Andy Hockley
Jeremy Potts
Luke Newberry
George Gillies
Harry Smith Henry Hodges Connor Doyle
Daniel Jukes
Harrison Edwards
Samuel Wright
Adam Hargreaves Jeremy Lipton
Zachary Carter Sayle Michael Kilbane
Anthony Garcia
Max Walburn Hayden Goldberg
Henry Kent
Jemima Potts
Lauren Morgan
Kimberley Fletcher Ellen Marlow Maddy Allison
Shona Eaton
Chloe Jones
Harriet Back
Shannon Wake
Katie Reynolds Aly Brier
Camille Mancuso Jasmin Younger
Rose Shannon-Duhigg
Ashleigh Ross Lucy Sherman
Darcy Snares
Caitlin Surtees
Childcatcher[1]
Richard O'Brien Paul O'Grady
Peter Polycarpou
Derek Griffiths
Stephen Gately
Alvin Stardust Kevin Cahoon Robin Askwith
Alvin Stardust
Nigel Garton
Richard O'Brien
Russ Spencer
Ian 'H' Watkins Oliver Wadsworth Dean Maynard Tyler Coppin Stephen Matthews
Martin Kemp
Matt Gillet
Jos Vantyler
Baron Bomburst[2]
Brian Blessed Victor Spinetti
Christopher Biggins Marc Kudisch Sean Blowers
Ken Morley George Dvorsky Edward Peel Alan Brough
Shane Bourne Don Gallagher
Shaun Williamson
Baroness Bomburst[3]
Nichola McAuliffe Sandra Dickinson
Louise Gold Jan Maxwell Jane Gurnett
Barbara Rafferty Elizabeth Ward Kim Ismay Jennifer Vuletic Tamsin Carroll
Michelle Collins
Claire Sweeney
Toymaker[4]
Edward Petherbridge Freddie Lees Frank Raiter Richard Owens Richard G. Rodgers Tony Jackson Phillip Gould
Tony Farrell Ewan Cummins
David Ross Richard Long Robert Sella Robert Traynor Dirk Lumbard Richard Ashton Todd Goddard Sam Harrison
Emil Wolk Christopher Ryan Chip Zien Nigel Garton Scott Cote Nigel Garton George Kapiniaris Scott Paige
Lord Scrumptious[5]
David Henry none Kenneth Kantor Duncan Smith George Dvorsky Edward Peel Alan Brough
^ Actor also plays 'Junkman' after changes to the 2008 US tour.
^ Actor also plays 'Lord Scrumptious' after changes to the 2008 US tour.
^ Actress also plays 'Miss Phillips' after changes to the 2008 US tour.
^ Actor also plays 'Coggins' after changes to the 2005 UK tour.
^ Actor also plays 'Baron Bomburst' after changes to the 2008 US tour.
Awards and nominationsEdit
Original London productionEdit
2003 Whatsonstage.com Awards Best New Musical Nominated
Best Actor in a Musical Michael Ball Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical Emma Williams Nominated
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Nichola McAuliffe Nominated
Best Set Design Anthony Ward Won
Laurence Olivier Award Best New Musical Nominated
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical Nichola McAuliffe Nominated
Best Set Design Anthony Ward Nominated
Original Broadway productionEdit
2005 Tony Award Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Erin Dilly Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Marc Kudisch Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Jan Maxwell Nominated
Best Scenic Design Anthony Ward Nominated
Best Lighting Design Mark Henderson Nominated
2015–17 UK tourEdit
2017 Whatsonstage.com Awards Best Actress in a Musical Carrie Hope Fletcher Nominated
Best Regional Production (at the New Wimbledon Theatre) Nominated
^ "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the Musical". Eon productions. Archived from the original on 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
^ Brantley, Ben. "She's a Diva on Wheels of Song." The New York Times, April 29, 2005. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
^ Boroff, Philip (Bloomberg News). "Two underrated Broadway musicals deserved better: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Sweet Charity may take to the road", Ottawa Citizen. ARTS; Pg. D4. December 26, 2005
^ 2005 "Broadway box office grosses for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" Broadwayworld.com
^ Gans, Andrew. "'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' Launches National Tour in Florida Nov. 18". playbill.com, November 18, 2008
^ "Car at Garofalo" strawberryfieldsthetribute.com, accessed May 24, 2015
^ Majid, Hasnita A. ""Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" musical to extend run till Dec 9." Channel NewsAsia.com, November 1, 2007. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
^ "Chitty Chitty to open with a big Bang Bang in Singapore." MI6 News, October 4, 2007. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Internet Broadway Database
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Music Theatre International website
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Twitter
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chitty_Chitty_Bang_Bang_(musical)&oldid=905228161"
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World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations
(Redirected from ECE Regulations)
The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party (WP.29)[1] of the Sustainable Transport Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It's responsibility is to manage the multilateral Agreements signed in 1958, 1997 and 1998 concerning the technical prescriptions for the construction, approval of wheeled vehicles as well as their Periodic Technical Inspection and, to operate within the framework of these three Agreements to develop and amend UN Regulations, UN Global Technical Regulations and UN Rules.
WP.29
Working Party
Boris Kisulenko (2004 - present)
Parent organization
UNECE Inland Transport Committee
UNECE Transport - WP29
WP.29 was established in June 1952 as the "Working Party of experts on technical requirement of vehicles", while its current name was adopted in 2000.
At its inception, WP.29 had a broder european scope. Since 2000, the global scope of this forum was recognized given the active participation of Countries in all continents.
The forum works on regulations covering vehicle safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency and theft-resistance.
This work affects de facto vehicle design and facilitates international trade.
1958 AgreementEdit
The core of the Forum's work is based around the "1958 Agreement", formally titled "Agreement concerning the adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles and the conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis of these prescriptions" (E/ECE/TRANS/505/Rev.2, amended on 16 October 1995). This forms a legal framework wherein participating countries (contracting parties) agree on a common set of technical prescriptions and protocols for type approval of vehicles and components. These were formerly called "UNECE Regulations" or, less formally, "ECE Regulations" in reference to the Economic Commission for Europe. However, since many non-European countries are now contracting parties to the 1958 Agreement, the regulations are officially entitled "UN Regulations".[2][3] According to the mutual recognition principle set int he Agreement, each Contracting Party's Type Approvals are recognised by all other Contracting Parties.
Participating countriesEdit
The first signatories to the 1958 Agreement include Italy (March 28), Netherlands (March 30), Germany (June 19), France (June 26), Hungary (June 30), Sweden and Belgium. Originally, the agreement allowed participation of ECE member countries only, but in 1995 the agreement was revised to allow non-ECE members to participate. Current participants include European Union and its member countries, as well non-EU UNECE members such as Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Serbia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Tunisia, and even remote territories such as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.
As of 2016[update], the participants to the 1958 Agreement, with their UN country code, were:.[4]
UN Code
Germany 28 January 1965
France 20 June 1959
Italy 26 April 1963
Netherlands 29 August 1960
Sweden 20 June 1959
Belgium 5 September 1959
Hungary 2 July 1960
Czech Republic 1 January 1993 (formerly Czechoslovakia)
Spain 10 October 1961
Serbia 12 March 2001 (formerly Yugoslavia)
United Kingdom 16 March 1963
Austria 11 May 1971
Luxembourg 12 December 1971
Switzerland 28 August 1973
DDR (expired in 1999)
Norway 4 April 1975
Finland 17 September 1976
Denmark 20 December 1976
Romania 21 February 1977
Poland 13 March 1979
Portugal 28 March 1980
Russian Federation 17 February 1987
Greece 5 December 1992
Ireland 24 March 1998
Croatia 8 October 1991
Slovenia 25 June 1991
Slovakia 1 January 1993
Belarus 2 July 1995
Estonia 1 May 1995
Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 March 1992
Latvia 18 January 1999
Bulgaria 21 January 2000
Kazakhstan 8 January 2011
Lithuania 29 March 2002
Turkey 27 February 1996
Azerbaijan 14 June 2002
North Macedonia 17 November 1991
European Union 24 March 1998
Japan 24 November 1998
Australia 25 April 2000
Ukraine 30 June 2000
South Africa 17 June 2001
New Zealand 26 January 2002
Cyprus 1 May 2004
Malta 1 May 2004
South Korea 31 December 2004
Malaysia 4 April 2006
Thailand 1 May 2006
Albania 5 November 2011
Montenegro 3 June 2006
San Marino 26 January 2016
Tunisia 1 January 2008
Georgia 25 May 2015
Egypt 3 February 2013
Most countries, even if not formally participating in the 1958 agreement, recognise the UN Regulations and either mirror the UN Regulations' content in their own national requirements, or permit the import, registration, and use of UN type-approved vehicles, or both. The United States and Canada (apart from Lighting Regulations) are the two significant exceptions; the UN Regulations are generally not recognised and UN-compliant vehicles and equipment are not authorised for import, sale, or use in the two regions, unless they are tested to be compliant with the region's car safety laws, or for limited non driving use (e.g. car show displays).[5]
Type approvalEdit
Two types of EU markings: top - according to UN regulations, bottom - according to EC directives
The 1958 Agreement operates on the principles of type approval and reciprocal recognition. Any country that accedes to the 1958 Agreement has authority to test and approve any manufacturer's design of a regulated product, regardless of the country in which that component was produced. Each individual design from each individual manufacturer is counted as one individual type. Once any acceding country grants a type approval, every other acceding country is obliged to honor that type approval and regard that vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment as legal for import, sale and use. Items type-approved according to a UN Regulation are marked with an E and a number, within a circle. The number indicates which country approved the item, and other surrounding letters and digits indicate the precise version of the regulation met and the type approval number, respectively.
Although all countries' type approvals are legally equivalent, there are real and perceived differences in the rigour with which the regulations and protocols are applied by different national type approval authorities. Some countries have their own national standards for granting type approvals, which may be more stringent than called for by the UN regulations themselves. Within the auto parts industry, a German (E1) type approval, for example, is regarded as a measure of insurance against suspicion of poor quality or an undeserved type approval.[6]
UN RegulationsEdit
As of 2015[update], there are 135 UN Regulations appended to the 1958 Agreement; most regulations cover a single vehicle component or technology. A partial list of current regulations applying to passenger cars follows (different regulations may apply to heavy vehicles, motorcycles, etc.)
General lightingEdit
R3 — Retroreflecting devices
R4 — Illumination of rear registration plates
R6 — Direction indicators
R7 — Front and rear position lamps, stop lamps and end-outline marker lamps
R19 — Front fog lamps
R23 — Reversing lights
R37 — Filament lamps (bulbs) (See: Automotive lamp types)
R38 — Rear fog lamps
R48 — Installation of lighting and light-signalling devices
R77 — Parking lamps
R87 — Daytime running lamps
R91 — Side marker lamps
R112 — Headlamp Asymmetric
R119 — Cornering lamps
R123 — AFS lamps
R128 — LED light sources
HeadlampsEdit
R1 — Headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam, equipped with R2 or HS1 bulbs (superseded by R112, but still valid for existing approvals)
R5 — Sealed Beam headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam
R8 — Headlamps equipped with replaceable single-filament tungsten-halogen bulbs (superseded by R112, but still valid for existing approvals)
R20 — Headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam and equipped with halogen double-filament H4 bulbs (superseded by R112, but still valid for existing approvals)
R31 — Halogen sealed beam headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam
R45 — Headlamp cleaners
R98 — Headlamps equipped with gas-discharge light sources
R99 — Gas-discharge light sources for use in approved gas-discharge lamp units of power-driven vehicles (See: Automotive lamp types)
R112 — Headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam and equipped with filament bulbs
R113 — Headlamps emitting a symmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam and equipped with filament bulbs
Instrumentation/controlsEdit
R35 — arrangement of foot controls
R39 — speedometer equipment
R46 — rear-view mirrors
R79 — steering equipment
CrashworthinessEdit
R11 — door latches and door retention components
R13-H — braking (passenger cars)
R13 — braking (trucks and busses)
R14 — safety belt anchorages
R16 — safety belts and restraint systems
R17 — seats, seat anchorages, head restraints
R27 — advance-warning triangles
R42 — front and rear protective devices (bumpers, etc.)
R43 — safety glazing materials and their installation on vehicles
R94 — protection of the occupants in the event of a frontal collision
R95 — protection of the occupants in the event of a lateral collision
R116 — protection of motor vehicles against unauthorized use
R129 — enhanced child restraint systems (ECRS)
Environmental compatibilityEdit
R10 — electromagnetic compatibility
R15 — emissions and fuel consumption (superseded by R83, R84 and R101)
R24 — engine power measurement, smoke emissions, engine type approval
R51 — noise emissions
R68 — measurement of the maximum speed
R83 — emission of pollutants according to engine fuel requirements
R84 — measurement of fuel consumption
R85 — electric drive trains — measurement of the net power and the maximum 30 minutes power of electric drive trains
R100 — approval of battery electric vehicles with regard to specific requeriments for the construction, Functional Safety and hydrogen emission.[7]
R101 — measurement of the emission of carbon dioxide and fuel consumption
R117 — rolling sound emissions of tyres
Tyres & wheelsEdit
R30 — Tyres for passenger cars and their trailers
R54 — Tyres for commercial vehicles and their trailers
R64 — Temporary use spare unit, run flat tyres, run flat-system and tyre pressure monitoring
R75 — Tyres for motorcycles/mopeds
R88 — Retroreflective tyres for two-wheeled vehicles
R106 — Tyres for agricultural vehicles
R108 — Retreaded tyres for passenger cars and their trailers
R109 — Retreaded tyres for commercial vehicles and their trailers
R124 — Replacement wheels for passenger cars
Automated/autonomous vehicle regulations
North AmericaEdit
The most notable non-signatory to the 1958 Agreement is the United States, which has its own Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and does not recognise UN type approvals. However, both the United States and Canada are parties to the 1998 Agreement. UN-specification vehicles and components which do not also comply with the US regulations therefore cannot be imported to the US without extensive modifications. Canada has its own Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, broadly similar to the US FMVSS, but Canada does also accept UN-compliant headlamps and bumpers. It should be noted, however, that the impending Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union could see Canada recognise more UN Regulations as acceptable alternatives to the Canadian regulations.[8] Canada currently applies 14 of the 17 ECE main standards as allowable alternatives[citation needed] - the exceptions at this point relate to motorcycle controls and displays, motorcycle mirrors, and electronic stability control for passenger cars.[citation needed] These three remaining groups will be allowed in Canada by the time the ratification of the trade deal occurs.[citation needed]
Self-certificationEdit
Rather than a UN-style system of type approvals, the US and Canadian auto safety regulations operate on the principle of self-certification, wherein the manufacturer or importer of a vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment certifies—i.e., asserts and promises—that the vehicle or equipment complies with all applicable federal or Canada Motor Vehicle Safety, bumper and antitheft standards.[9] No prior verification is required by a governmental agency or authorised testing entity before the vehicle or equipment can be imported, sold, or used. If reason develops to believe the certification was false or improper — i.e., that the vehicle or equipment does not in fact comply — then authorities may conduct tests and, if a noncompliance is found, order a recall and/or other corrective and/or punitive measures. Vehicle and equipment makers are permitted to appeal such penalties, but this is a difficult direction.[10] Non-compliances found that are arguably without effect to highway safety may be petitioned to skip recall (remedy and notification) requirements for vehicles already produced.[11]
Regulatory differencesEdit
A comparison of European (top) and US (bottom) headlamp configuration on similar-year Citroën DS cars
Historically, one of the most conspicuous differences between UN and US regulations was the design and performance of headlamps. The Citroën DS shown here illustrates the large differences in headlamps during the 1940-1983 era when US regulations required sealed beam headlamps, that as a contrary were prohibited in many European countries. A similar approach was evident with the US mandatory side marker lights.[12][13] It is not currently possible to produce a single car design that fully meets both UN and US requirements simultaneously,[14] but it is growing easier as technology and both sets of regulations evolve. Given the size of the US vehicle market, and differing marketing strategies in North America vs. the rest of the world, many manufacturers produce vehicles in four versions: North American, right-hand drive (RHD), left-hand-drive (LHD) and Rest of the World (for non regulated countries of Countries with poor market fuel quality.[14]
The "Agreement concerning the Establishing of Global Technical Regulations for Wheeled Vehicles, Equipment and Parts which can be fitted and/or be used on Wheeled Vehicles", or 1998 Agreement, is a subsequent agreement. Following its mission to harmonize vehicle regulations, the UNECE solved the main issues (Administrative Provisions for Type approval opposed to self-certification and mutual recognition of Type Approvals) preventing non-signatory Countries to the 1958 Agreement to fully participate to its activities.
The 1998 Agreement is born to produce meta regulations called Global Technical Regulations without administrative procedures for type approval and so, without the principle of mutual recognition of Type Approvals. The 1998 Agreement stipulates that Contracting Parties will establish, by consensus vote, United Nations Global Technical Regulations (UN GTRs) in a UN Global Registry. The UN GTRs contain globally harmonized performance requirements and test procedures. Each UN GTR contains extensive notes on its development. The text includes a record of the technical rationale, the research sources used, cost and benefit considerations, and references to data consulted. The Contracting Parties use their nationally established rulemaking processes when transposing UN GTRs into their national legislation. The 1998 Agreement currently has 33 Contracting Parties and 14 UN GTRs that have been established into the UN Global Registry.[15] Manufacturers and suppliers cannot use directly the UN GTRs as these are intended to serve the Countries and require transposition in national or regional law.
2013 Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (proposed)Edit
As part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, the issues of divergent standards in automobile regulatory structure are being investigated. TTIP negotiators are seeking to identify ways to narrow the regulatory differences, potentially reducing costs and spurring additional trade in vehicles.[9]
OICAEdit
Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA) hosts on its web site the working documents from various United Nations expert groups including World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.[16]
Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedures
Vehicle regulation
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108
Assured clear distance ahead
^ "Transport - Transport - UNECE" (PDF). www.unece.org.
^ "WP.29 - Introduction - Transport - UNECE". www.unece.org.
^ The End of the 'ECE' Era, Driving Vision News, 29 August 2011
^ "Status of the 1958 Agreement(and of the annexed regulations)".
^ "Grey market cars: Everything you need to know to avoid seeing your ride get crushed". 30 August 2013.
^ "Marketing emphasis on German E1 type approval" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-13.
^ "Text of the 1958 Agreement - Transport - UNECE" (PDF). www.unece.org.
^ "CETA Means Big Changes For Canadian Automotive Industry". 18 October 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
^ a b https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=751039
^ "Press Releases".
^ "eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations". www.ecfr.gov.
^ "1971 Citröen DS". 12 January 2015.
^ a b Orlove, Raphael. "A Simple Explanation Why America Doesn't Get European Hatchbacks".
^ "Global Technical Regulations(GTRs)of UNECE". Retrieved 2014-02-05.
^ "OICA un-expert-group-documents". Oica.net. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
UN Regulations
World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) – How It Works, How to Join It
World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations FAQ
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pujarini sen
Nods to coal-based plants down, yet government brings 3 more in March
The annual survey ‘Boom and Bust 2019: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline’ reveals that from 131.35GW in 2017, the total capacity of upcoming thermal power plants in the country dropped to about 94GW in 2018Manka Behl | TNN | March 28, 2019, 13:03 IST
NAGPUR: Although the capacity of coal projects in pipeline declined by 37.4-gigawatt, three major coal-fired power plants in different parts of the country have got government nod a month before the Lok Sabha elections.
The annual survey ‘Boom and Bust 2019: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline’ reveals that from 131.35GW in 2017, the total capacity of upcoming thermal power plants in the country dropped to about 94GW in 2018.
The report was released by international NGO Greenpeace, Global Energy Monitor, which is a network of international researchers developing informational resources on fossil fuels and alternatives, and US-based environment organization The Sierra Club.
While the survey states that the number of clearances for new thermal plants dropped to “record lows”, it also highlights that the government has still not ensured a complete halt in new units. In the first week of March, three major coal projects got a go-ahead from the government.
On March 6, the Maharashtra cabinet cleared a proposal to set-up two new 660MW units at Koradi Thermal Power Station (KTPS) situated just outside Nagpur city. A day later, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) granted investment approvals to two new power plants in Khurja (Uttar Pradesh) and Buxar (Bihar), worth Rs11,089 crore and 10,439 crore, respectively.
Activists have slammed the government for continuing investments in new plants, in spite of unfavourable market conditions for coal power. Referring to the government database, the report stated that over 40GW of the country’s coal plants are financially stressed. Among them, 10GW of plants are considered “beyond saving financially”. “When the entire coal power sector is under financial stress, building more plants will put more public money at risk,” said Pujarini Sen from Greenpeace India.
Stating that many states are facing health emergency due to rising air pollution, Ravi Shekhar from Uttar-Pradesh based environment organization The Climate Agenda said, “The government should invest public money in solutions like aggressive energy transition to renewable energy, and stringent implementation of National Clean Air Programme to achieve breathable air across the country.”
On the bright side, India has added more solar and wind power capacity than thermal. Of the total 17.6GW power generation capacity added in 2018, about 74 per cent comprised of renewable energy sources primarily solar power. According to an analysis done by Greenpeace India, at least 65 per cent of coal power generated in the country is now more expensive than new renewable tariffs.
The global survey has predicted that retirement capacity of coal plants in the country is set to increase in the future. “India has proposed 48GW of coal plant retirements till 2027. These include sub-critical plants which are ill-equipped to meet new pollution standards,” it stated.
Tags : Coal, pujarini sen, Greenpeace, coal, Uttar Pradesh, renewable energy, Maharashtra, lok sabha
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Review: Bohemian Rhapsody isn't real life, it's just enjoyable fantasy
PUBLISHED: 09:15 23 April 2019
Bohemian Rhapsody is screening in Diss. Picture: 20th Century Fox
After the much-publicised troubles that have beset this movie, it comes as a pleasant surprise that Bohemian Rhapsody is such a fun ride, with a roster of superb concert recreations, including Life Aid - where Queen gave what many consider the greatest rock performance of all time.
Steering clear of the darker side of Freddie Mercury's life, Rami Malek's Best Actor Oscar winning impersonation has been rightly applauded, but Gwilym Lee is just as good (and arguably more convincing) as Bryan May.
Along with Ben Hardy on drums as Roger Taylor and Joseph Mazzello on bass as John Deacon, they charge through a potted history of Queen, taking pit stops along the way to blast out the hits.
Those seeking the grit of 'Slade in Flame' or David Essex's world-weary 'Stardust' need look elsewhere, but this camp, family-friendly romp is nevertheless hugely enjoyable.
It takes extraordinary liberties with the facts of the case, bowdlerises Mercury's greater extravagances, and teeters perilously close to self-parody, but to paraphrase the great man himself, this isn't real life; this is just fantasy.
More an affectionate obituary — May and Taylor were executive producers — than a steely eyed biography, its a film that justly celebrates a much loved, and much missed, man – so what if it's an escape from reality?
• Bohemian Rhapsody (12A) screens at Diss Corn Hall on April 24, 10.30am and 7.30pm, £5 (£2.25 under-18s), 01379 652241, disscornhall.co.uk
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TiVo co-founders about to release new TV streaming box called QPlay
Janko Roettgers Dec 16, 2013 - 12:22 PM CDT
TiVo co-founders Michael Ramsay and Jim Barton are about to release a new TV companion device that aims to combine video discovery and curation with smart TV functionality. Dave Zatz recently spotted an FCC filing for the QPlay-branded device a few days ago, which suggests that the release is imminent. Zatz also found a bunch of other clues, and I’ve learned in the last few days that some of the services QPlay is working with include Netflix and Hulu Plus.
Here’s what we know about QPlay:
QPlay has been developed by a San Jose-based company called InVisioneer. Ramsay is the company’s CEO and Barton is CTO and President. The company’s other hires include engineers from Apple, (s AAPL) Google (S GOOG) and Linden Lab. The company received a seed round of financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in September.
Here’s what InVisioneer says about itself:
“Our passion is innovative products that people love to use. In the past we disrupted industries to do what was right. We’re gearing up to do it again.”
I know, that’s not very specific. Here’s a bit more detail, courtesy of a job ad surfaced by Zatz:
“InVisioneer is building a product that sits at the nexus of exciting trends in video, mobile, and social.”
And here’s the company’s description on Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ website:
“We provide a better way to find and watch quality TV and internet video.”
The aforementioned FCC filing adds some more details, thanks to a user manual included in the filing. The QPlay companion box connects to TVs through HDMI, but it comes without a remote control. Instead, users are told to use their iPad to set up Wifi for and interact with the device, suggesting that QPlay functions similarly to Chromecast.
However, there are also some key differences: Whereas Chromecast is primarily about letting users beam content to the TV screen from within a variety of third-party apps, QPlay instead focuses on curation through its own dedicated app. Essentially, QPlay will offer users apps for iOS devices to discover, collect, share and watch videos. Users will be able to make their own playlists of videos, share them with others through the service as well as Facebook (S FB) and Twitter (s TWTR), browse the playlists of their friends and apparently also rate playlists.
The big question is: Playlists of what? Zatz guessed last week that this is all about videos from YouTube, Vimeo (S IAC) and similar services — the low-hanging fruit that would be easy to get access to for InVisioneer. However, I have since learned that QPlay is more about premium video, and that the device will likely give consumers access to content from Netflix and Hulu Plus as well as possibly Amazon. (S AMZN)
Lots of details about QPlay are still unclear, but given the timing of the FCC filing, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see many of them revealed at the upcoming CES in Las Vegas next month.
Dave Zatz
Invisioneer
Jim Barton
Michael Ramsay
4 Responses to “TiVo co-founders about to release new TV streaming box called QPlay”
Alli February 6, 2014
Looks like they have a new website now at http://www.qplay.co
Phil Davies December 23, 2013
Tivo got caught by cable companies that could co-op the base functionality of the product without paying to license the superior UX. Cable users didn’t like it as much but could get what they still wanted. Angels shed a tear for each MSO that knocked off their idea and stuffed more money into their well lined pockets. Then, Tivo was too late to get into streaming (recall they started with a dial up network interface). I’m hopeful that they bring some freshness to the stream box UX/feature set and have learned enough first-to-market lessons to move into an already noisy space and hope they have a competitive advantage. Like Apple, Tivo enjoyed very high customer loyalty but sadly were on the wrong side of a monopoly play.
active youth network December 18, 2013
Maybe they will figure out how to run the company rather than running it into the ground. Tivo is a case study in business failure because these guys didn’t know the real benefits of their own product . . .
Florence Webb December 18, 2013
My Roku already does this
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Regorafenib an option when HCC progresses on sorafenib
Reuters Health Information: Regorafenib an option when HCC progresses on sorafenib
By Marilynn Larkin
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Regorafenib improves survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who progress during sorafenib treatment, researchers report.
Based on the findings, Bayer, which markets the drug as Stivarga, recently submitted a supplemental new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the oral multikinase inhibitor's use as second-line treatment for patients with unresectable HCC.
For the Phase 3 trial, Dr. Jordi Bruix of the University of Barcelona, Spain, and the multicenter RESORCE investigators recruited adults with HCC and Child-Pugh class A liver function whose disease progressed despite treatment with sorafenib (at least 400 mg/daily over the previous month).
As reported online December 5 in The Lancet, 567 of 573 recruited patients (88% male, average age 63) participated in the trial: 374 received regorafenib and 193 received placebo.
Among patients receiving regorafenib, 309 (83%) discontinued treatment compared with 183 (95%) of those receiving placebo. The most common reason for discontinuation was disease progression in 226 patients (60%) in the regorafenib group and 162 patients (84%) in the placebo group.
The mean daily dose of regorafenib was 144.1 mg. Median treatment duration was 3.6 months and mean treatment duration, 5.9 months.
The mean daily dose of placebo was 157.4 mg. Median treatment duration was 1.9 months and mean treatment duration was 3.3 months.
Excluding treatment delays or interruptions, close to half of the regorafenib group (184 patients, or 49%) received the full protocol dose of 160 mg/day with no reductions.
On February 29, 2016, the cutoff date for the final analysis, after a median follow-up of 7.0 months, 373 (65%) of the study participants had died: 233 (61%) in the regorafenib group and 140 (72%) in the placebo group.
Median overall survival was 10.6 months with regorafenib and 7.8 months with placebo (HR 0.63).
Adverse events were reported in all regorafenib recipients and 93% of placebo recipients. The most common clinically relevant grade 3 or 4 treatment-emergent events were hypertension (15% of patients on regorafenib compared with 5% on placebo), hand-foot skin reaction (13% versus 1%), fatigue (9% versus 5%) and diarrhea (3% versus none).
There were 88 deaths, including 50 in the regorafenib group (13%) - with seven deaths (2%) attributed to the drug - and 28 in the placebo group (20%), with two deaths (1%) attributed to the placebo .
Regorafenib should become the standard second-line treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who progress under sorafenib treatment, Dr. Bruix told Reuters Health by email.
He added, "Benefits are observed in all subgroups of patients for all study end-points - time to progression, progression-free survival and overall survival."
Taken together, Dr. Bruix concluded, "these (findings) are good news for patients and also for the field of liver cancer, where several failures have taken place after the success of sorafenib 10 years ago."
Dr. Anton Bilchik, chief of medicine and of gastrointestinal research at John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Reuters Health, "This landmark study . . . is the first . . . to demonstrate that a new anti-angiogenesis drug had a significant survival benefit in those patients who progressed on sorafenib."
"Although the overall survival benefit compared to placebo was only two months, this study opens the door for the development of many more therapeutic agents and provides a better understanding of cancer pathways in this deadly disease," he said by email.
Nevertheless, "many unanswered questions" remain, he said, and need further study. These include: (1) Only patients with good liver function were included in the study. What about other patients?; (2) Could the two drugs have a synergistic effect if used together?; (3) Could these drugs be used after surgical resection or transplantation to reduce recurrence?; and (4) How will we able to afford or justify the cost of these very expensive drugs for only a limited survival benefit?
The study was funded by Bayer. Two coauthors are Bayer employees. Dr. Bruix and 13 coauthors have received funding from Bayer and other companies.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2hXxUCW and http://bit.ly/2gKfPaF
Lancet 2016.
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Home-Grown Islamic Radicalism in Norway
Our Norwegian correspondent The Observer has translated an article from yesterday’s Dagbladet about official Norway’s recent alarming discovery: Norway is harboring lots of potential Islamic terrorists! Who knew?
The translator includes this note:
This concerns the problem of potential ticking time bombs of the Islamic kind. The Norwegian Parliament was briefed about this threat in a secret meeting earlier this month. Needless to say, the information at the ‘top secret’ meeting was leaked to the press. Surprise, surprise!
According to the article, several of the politicians present at the meeting were surprised to hear about the new imported terrorist threat, but they shouldn’t be. There have been countless warnings in the last three decades from patriotic Norwegians about the very real and dangerous consequences of the ludicrous practice of importing potential terrorist to Norway disguised as a humane refugee policy.
One also has to question the determination and willingness of the authorities in preventing a terrorist attack from these bearded savages, considering that the authorities have no qualms about handing out weapons licences to these maniacs, and that they see nothing wrong with letting these jihadists legally procure six weapons per head.
Norway, the country governed by idiots.
The translated article:
Parliament briefed about “Norwegian terrorists”
Leading Norwegian politicians have been briefed about potential Islamic terrorists in Norway during a secret meeting in the Norwegian Parliament
In a secret meeting on October 1, Minister of Justice Grete Faremo and Minister of Defence Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen briefed the Norwegian Parliament about the growing terrorist threat in Norway. Several potential Islamist terrorists were mentioned by name.
Sources who were present when the extended Foreign Affairs and Defense committee was briefed on the terrorist threat in Norway have told Dagbladet that the threat of a terrorist attack carried out by extreme Islamists have never been higher than it is today in Norway.
Dagbladet has been told that the ministers were accompanied by the top management from the PST and the Military Intelligence Service during the secret briefing. Representatives from the National Security Authority were also present when Faremo and Strøm-Erichsen briefed the parliament in great detail about the terrorist threat.
Secret briefing
Everybody who attended the briefing had to hand over their cell phones and other electronic equipment before they were allowed to be take part in the secret meeting. Several of the attendees were surprised when the ministers revealed the identities of individuals that the secret service believes could be potential terrorists.
Dagbladet is familiar with several of the names that the politicians were briefed about. During previous briefings names of potential terrorists have never been disclosed.
40 potential terrorists
According to the information given by the Police Security Service (PST), the Military Intelligence Services, and the National Security Authority (NSM), there are approximately of 40 individuals in Norway who are viewed as potential and dangerous terrorist. These men are based in Norway, but several of them travel to conflict areas abroad.
The group of potential Islamists terrorists consists of several different ethnicities
A handful of them are of ethnic Norwegian origin and have converted to Islam. The rest of them have different ethnic backgrounds. Some of them have Norwegian citizenship, others have for variety of reasons been granted Norwegian residency permits.
Dagbladet has been informed that the MPs were briefed about ethnic Afghans, Pakistanis, Iraqi Kurds and Somalis. Among the extreme Islamists that the Norwegian authorities fear could commit acts of terrorism in Norway are some with Tunisian and Algerian backgrounds.
“We were told that these communities are closely monitored. Several of them have direct contact with various al-Qaeda groups,” according to one person who attended the secret meeting.
Lieutenant General Kjell Grandhagen, Chief of the Military Intelligence Service, confirmed last week on NRK’s TV evening news program, “Dagsrevyen”, that at least seven Norwegian citizens operate alongside al-Qaeda in Syria.
Dagbladet is familiar with the identity of several of these Norwegians. Some of them were also mentioned when the Ministers briefed the extended foreign affairs and defense committee about the growing terror threat in Norway.
When asked by one of the MPs why these potential terrorists haven’t already been arrested, he was informed that it’s more useful at the present time for the authorities to track their movements rather than apprehend them.
Among those who are currently fighting with al-Qaeda are a father and his two sons who have Norwegian citizenship. Dagbladet has unsuccessfully been trying to get in touch with the men — who are not ethnic Norwegians.
Aftenposten have previously reported that Arfan Bhatti is in Syria, but according to sources Dagbladet has been in contact with Bhatti is currently in Pakistan, but on his way to Syria.
Another individual who claims to be fighting in Syria is Mohammad Mohyeldeen from Larvik. According to information on his own Facebook page he is currently in the war-torn country.
Besides extreme Islamists travelling to Syria, the Norwegian authorities are also closely monitoring Somalis who travel to Africa to fight with the terrorist group al-Shabaab. PST and The Military Intelligence Service fear that those who travel to Syria to fight alongside al-Qaeda will eventually return to Norway and take leadership positions within the extreme Islamist community in Norway.
“We fear that Islamists with blood on their hands will return to Norway and attain a prominent position within their own communities,” Dagbladet is told.
Close cooperation
Although PST is responsible for preventing terror attacks in Norway, and the Military Intelligence Service responsibility is to safeguard Norwegian interests abroad, the two agencies are today working together more closely than ever. At the secret parliament meeting it was revealed that the Military Intelligence Service is currently lending resources to PST. Up until recently the PST has only had the capacity to monitor a handful of the potential terrorists. Personnel currently on loan from the Military Intelligence Service will be under the command of the PST.
Several sources that Dagbladet has been in contact with claim that the Norwegian authorities are using relatively modest resources on dealing with the terrorist threat which is on the rise in Norway.
The extreme Islamist community in Norway has changed drastically in just a few years. Previously the various ethnic groups tended to stick together. Today, however, there are clear signs that would tend to indicate that ethnicity is not the most important factor anymore. Today loyalty to the Prophet and hatred for Western values are more important.
The Norwegian authorities’ worst nightmare is that the “Norwegian” Islamists who today are fighting with al-Qaeda in Syria will return home and influence young Islamists to carry out terror attacks on Norwegian soil.
Warned
Last winter PST stated in its threat assessment:
“Extreme Islamism will continue to constitute the biggest terror threat in Norway in 2012. Although there are few people in Norway that support extreme Islamism, the recruitment to some of these communities is growing. Leading figures in the communities can exploit this trend to establish cells or groups in Norway that have the intention of planning violent acts. Norway stands out as central target to some of these leaders. Individuals from extreme Islamist networks are also more involved in activities of a more operational nature than before. Many travel to conflict areas in order to receive training, combat experience and make contact with international networks. Such stays may affect the individual’s desire and ability to plan a terrorist act in Norway. At the same time individuals who constitute a threat could carry out violent acts independently, regardless of such travels.”
The threat assessment has since been raised.
For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.
Posted by Baron Bodissey at 10/23/2012 04:29:00 PM
Culture Minister of the government in question
Thinks - islamically - arranged (
forced) marriage is as good as any
Arranged, as in having a candidate presented to the future bride for her to accept to marry.
The Culture Minister to Dagbladet
"Arranged marriage is conform with Norwegian Law, and within ordinary freedom to act"
To Foldede hender, Folded hands, she says that she wouldn't say that the verse about beating wifes should not remain a part of the koran.
As a then "helping hand" to the Justice Minister, she also had this bright idea
- Let's have a hijab uniform in the police!
A local commenter claims that for numerous reasons, among them certain representatives total lack of loyalty to the nation, Norway, the PST has zero faith in Stortinget, the Parliament.
- Who could argue with that?
No tax amnesty for policemen on US payroll for
intelligence work in Oslo
Worked out of neighboring house to the American Embassy in Oslo
James Boom said...
Yes, Norway is Governed by idiots.
If they are truly surprised, then they are truly negligent.
Norway, land of idiots. We never really recovered from the Black Death in the 14th century. It's been downhill ever since.
"Norway, the country governed by idiots."
As a Norwegian citizen, I must regretfully admit that the above statement is 100% correct. Of course, we cannot say this out loud, that would be the modern equivalent to heresy (i.e racism etc).....
In the 1920s in what today is North Morocco under spanish administration, some guy called Abdel Krim who studied high school in Spain and then law in spanish university and worked for the government for years, one day led an uprising, was imprisioned,and released again.. sounds familiar? in the end they sieged spanish stronghold called Anual and as the troops were left without ammo or water, they agreed to surrender and hand over guns. Abdel Krim reassured spaniards that no one would be harmed and they believed him. Big mistake¡The moment they stepped out every single man, boy or woman had their throats slit open. 3.000 died there. Go ask in Spain what they think of moderate, integrated moors¡ Now maybe Stoltenberg knows better than spaniards after 1.000 years fighting these creepy creatures
Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/31/2012
Fjordman in Malmö: Geert Wilders Still Going Stron...
What Can Be Seen in Bold Relief
An Ocean Away: The Ties That Bind the USA to the O...
Media Bias in France
Sweden: Preferred Destination for Ingrates
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A Rosetta Stone for Bill Warner, Part 8: Slovak
A New Era in Belgium
From Benghazi to Aleppo
The Wall of Silence Crumbles
The Shape of Schools to Come
Whatever happened to Free Speech?
Tommy Robinson in Durance Vile (Again)
“The Murderers of My Son”
Somalis? Yes! Swedes? No!
That Birmingham Train Heist
Geert Wilders in Malmö
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Wake Up, Australia!
Farewell Sofielund
Darkness Descending in England
CIA Operators in Benghazi Were Ordered to “Stand D...
Egyptian Imam on Trial for Bible-Burning
Putting An End to the Islamization of Switzerland
The Crackdown on Pro-Köln
Judgment in Parallel
Vigil in Berlin
Whose Spirit of War?
“O Allah, Destroy the Jews”
The People’s Candidate
An Update on the Political Crackdown in Britain
The Dry Bones Kickstarter Haggadah
“Beat Your Ploughshares Into Spears”
Europe’s Takeover by Islam, Part 2
“We’ll Fight To Defend It”
The Takedown of the EDL
Paul Weston Arrested at Wormwood Scrubs
Rowan Atkinson with German Subtitles
“They Have Chosen to Ignore Us”
Supersize This!
Understanding Islam, Understanding the West
The Creeping Culture of Censoriousness
Terrorist for Al-Shabaab Convicted in Minnesota
Calling All Londoners: Stop the Cricklewood Broadw...
One Man’s Militant
Fortifying the Swiss Border
The Bee and the Lamb, Part 8
One Star to Rule Them All
Criminalizing “Offensive” Speech
Madness in Gänsbunnen
OSCE Warsaw: HDIM 2012 Wrap-Up
The OIC’s Legal Jihad
An Enriching Experience in the Schwabing Hospital
Targeting the Fed
Rearranging the Furniture
The Rosetta Stone for Bill Warner Continues
Feminism and Defeated Tribes
Bringing the Fjords to Aleppo
A Rosetta Stone for Bill Warner, Part 7: French
“We Do Not Need This European Flag”
Génération Identitaire Goes Viral
OSCE Warsaw: A Major Victory for Bürgerbewegung Pa...
What Are You Doing to Further Integration?
Faceless in the Park
A Direct Threat Against the French Identity
OSCE Warsaw: ICLA Side Event on the Cairo Declarat...
Asylum Emergency in Berlin
The Islamization of Germany
The Bitter Truth About Violence and Criminality
Happy What’s-His-Name Day
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The Hunter and the Hunted
Fjordman: Islamic Terrorism Caused by Poverty?
OSCE Warsaw: A Response to Salam al-Marayati
Ghannouchi’s True Colors
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Students win national health data challenge awards
Posted by Joe Kullman | Jun 17, 2011 | Students
ASU computer science student Ramya Baratam (center) poses with biomedical engineering student Christopher Workman (left) and mechanical engineering student Louis Tse after winning a second-place award at the national Health Data Collegiate Challenge. Photo by: Ernie Branson/ National Institutes of Health.
Two teams that joined Arizona State University engineering and nursing students took second- and third-place prizes in a national student competition sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering.
In the Health Data Collegiate Challenge “Go Viral to Improve Health,” student teams had to develop social networking, mobile or web-based applications to disseminate data to foster a greater public awareness of health issues.
Team Freebee was awarded the $2,000 second-place prize for its application to spread awareness on college campuses about healthy risks such as alcoholism, smoking, unsafe sex, drug use and campus safety issues.
Nursing student Jennifer Burkmier and computer science student Ramya Baratam, along with engineering students Louis Tse, Chris Workman and Jane Lacson, developed the Freebee application.
Learn more about the Freebee application.
Team IMPAct took the $1,000 third-place award for developing a web-based interactive planner that can be used to track medical appointments. Engineering students Tania Santamaria Lyon, Taylor Baker, Edgar Sanchez, Eric Kern, and nursing student Jennifer Jost, collaborated on the IMPAct application.
Read more about the IMPAct application.
Five ASU teams – involving 25 students in all – were formed to represent ASU at the competition. The effort was organized and supported by the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program. Now in its third year, EPICS puts engineering students – and students in other areas of study – to work helping nonprofit and community groups solve engineering problems.
Read more about EPICS.
Three students from each of the winning teams traveled to the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Md., to receive their awards and exhibit their projects. They were accompanied by faculty mentors Richard Filley, the director EPICS, and Anne-Marie O’Brien, a faculty associate in ASU’s nursing college.
Students had just six weeks to prepare for the Health Data Collegiate Challenge, but were aided by faculty members in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation who volunteered their time to be project mentors.
Team IMPAct mentor Kim Shea says students learned the value of working with team mates who have expertise in different areas.
“You see how different the engineers’ language is from the nursing students’ language, and how important it is for each team member to contribute and ask each other to explain what they’re talking about,” says Shea, an assistant professor of nursing and an affiliate faculty member in ASU’s Department of Biomedical Informatics and Biomedicine.
“What one student didn’t think of doing in developing the project, another student did,” Shea says. “When that kind of collaboration happens, amazing things like the IMPAct app can be created in a short period of time.”
The performances of ASU’s teams at the competition are likely to spawn more collaborative efforts among students in engineering and health fields. “I’m now looking at several different ways that EPICS can build on these successes in the health care arena,” Filley says.
“The winning teams show the power of collaboration to tackle serious health issues and promote healthy habits by harnessing new technologies,” National Academy of Engineering president Charles M. Vest said in a National Academies news release.
The $3,000 first prize at the competition went to SleepBot submitted by Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York University and Northwestern University. SleepBot records users’ sleep habits and benchmarks them against potential risk associated with sleep deprivation.
The Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering along with the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology and health policy advice under a congressional charter.
“Go Viral to Improve Health” was administered by Health 2.0, which serves as an organizer of health care technology conferences, a community of innovators, and a media network.
Joe Kullman, Joseph.Kullman@asu.edu
PreviousResearch compares seizure treatments for children with autism
NextFuture of lighting: more energy-efficient and flexible
ASU students shine in construction management competition
Idea for combating hunger attracts international interest
QESST student wins NSF’s Perfect Pitch Competition
Engineering and music student has designs on building a better oboe
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#travel /hotels & resorts
A Villa at The Sanya Edition With a View of Two Oceans
It’s about time American developer Ian Schrager made his mark in mainland China. Renowned for rethinking and redefining the hotel experience, Schrager’s latest addition to the much-loved Edition hotel portfolio is The Sanya Edition, on a spectacular oceanfront destination on Hainan Island off the coast of Southern China.
The hotel is designed in the shape of a horseshoe, allowing each and every room, suite and villa to have an unobstructed view of the South China Sea.
Laid out before you too, is the hotel’s spectacular 20,000 square-metre Private Ocean, a lagoon sculpted into the shoreline that is continually filtered and refreshed, rather like an immense pool. The Private Ocean may become a focal point of your stay as it is the venue for most of the resort’s options for water sports. Smaller fresh and salt water pools surround the lagoon.
When selecting accommodation, forgo the suites and instead stay in one of seven exclusive, three-bedroom villas, nestled into a terraced hillside.
The interiors emphasise wood and stone, and enjoy a relaxed beachside vibe. There is room here to breathe in the light-soaked spaces, trimmed in oak, and accented by airy textiles. Toiletries are from New York-based perfumer Le Labo, whose bath salts smell otherworldly.
When you tire of the sea and the Private Ocean, slide into your villa’s private pool. It’s from here, or perhaps your inviting outdoor terrace, that you can come to fully appreciate the natural world that surrounds you.
In This Story: #travel /hotels & resorts
Bali’s Como Shambhala Estate Is a Spiritual and Physical Sanctuary
Prealpine Aerie: Elegance and an Epic View From Above
Ask for Room 4701 at The Upper House for an Elevating Experience
Nihiwatu Has It All: Private Beaches, Unexplored Jungle and Luxurious Retreats
#travel /destinations
Botswana Serves Up Nature in the Raw
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Hiya Named as Finalist for Fierce Innovation Awards
Lisa Bowers October 28, 2016
Hiya is thrilled to announce that we have been selected as a finalist for the 2016 Fierce Innovation Awards: Telecom Edition. Some may say it’s too soon to bust out the champagne, but not I. This is exciting for a company that just broke out on its own six months ago!
From the publisher of FierceWireless, FierceTelecom and FierceCable, Fierce Innovation is a carrier-reviewed awards program. The awards are designed to “identify and showcase the telecom and communications technologies that matter the most, and which will have the biggest impact going forward.” That sounds like us in a nutshell.
We submitted “Hiya Cloud” for consideration in the Network and Device Security Category. Hiya Cloud is our network-based call protection. It integrates directly at the network level, thereby allowing Hiya to halt unwanted robocalls before they even reach your device. Unlike on-device solutions, Hiya Cloud provides full call blocking, and does not merely re-route robocalls to voicemail. Most importantly, Hiya Cloud offers ubiquitous protection across all devices. This means all phones and devices, regardless of smartphone operating system or device type, can be protected.
Sounds like a winner right there.
Finalists’ applications were reviewed by an exclusive panel of executives from major telecommunications companies including Verizon, Comcast, Sprint and T-Mobile. Winners will be announced from among the pool of finalists during the Live Awards webcast on Thursday, November 17 at 2PM ET. You can bet we’ll have popcorn and celebratory confetti at the ready.
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The Warriors (fight 2 of 2)
Nov7 by fightscenegrades
The Warriors are about to have their climactic battle. Can you dig it?
How could you say no after seeing this image?
2) The Warriors vs The Punks
The Warriors, or at least the six remaining. In addition to Swan, Snow and Cowboy from before (Ajax was arrested for attempting to rape an undercover female cop not long after the last fight), we have:
Cochise, another able fighter and a guy with some fashionable head choices. Played by David Harris.
Vermin, one of the less impressive Warriors. Played by Terry Michos.
Rembrandt, the smallest and seemingly the youngest of the Warriors. He’s also their resident graffiti artist (hence the name). Played by Marcelino Sánchez.
Mercy, a troublesome street girl who abandoned the mediocre “Orphans” gang to roll with the Warriors earlier (and has since developed a weird relationship with Swan), is also on hand, and contributes a small bit. Played by Deborah Van Valkenburgh.
The Punks– yes, that’s their name. Somehow managing to look more laughable than the Baseball Furies’ “clowns in sports outfit” thing, the Punks’ uniform is long-sleeved striped shirts underneath full overalls. They’re supposed to be tough inner-city New Yorkers but they look more like prep-school jocks dressing like farm hands for a tacky Halloween party. Oh, and a couple of them are wearing roller skates. They do have an assortment of bats, knives & chains, so there’s that.
“A motley band of ruffians, we!”
The Setup: The disparate Warriors have finally re-united at Union Square Station, but soon discover they’re being tailed by several Punks (when they finally gather it ends up being nine). Ever the savvy tactician, Swan guides his crew into a men’s room and waits for them to follow.
The Punks enter to find two rows of closed stalls, and one scout begins to methodically search each door while the rest either block the exit or take up positions in front of other stalls. But one of the first doors checked reveals Rembrandt, who swiftly raises his can of spray paint and lets the Punk have it right in the face.
It could only have improved his hair.
The other Warriors take that as their cue to bust out en masse, and the brawl begins immediately.
The Fight: Pure chaos.
Basically, everything happens at once. Much like the last fight, it’s hard to provide a blow-by-blow, but even more so– instead of three-on-five, now it’s six-against-nine, and in a more confined space to boot. But amidst the insanity, there’s a vague progression of the Warriors’ slow crawl to victory, even if things are dire enough it looks like they could lose. And as frantic as it is, you still get a definite sense for how each of the protagonists is doing, and nearly everyone gets at least one memorable moment.
(It’s not perfect, however– there’s one edit of Snow having, then losing, then suddenly having his bat again, that’s particularly noticeable. But absolute perfection is a big ask in a scene with this many moving pieces, especially on Hill’s low budget.)
Cowboy breaks his bat with a tough swing against one opponent, as does Snow towards the end. Despite his dirty pool with the graffiti, the tiny Rembrandt gets taken down early. Vermin gets in some good hits but gets thrown nastily into the mirrors above the sink.
Or at least his stunt man does, but who’s counting?
Cochise pulls off a brutal-looking, wrestling-type move when he puts a Punk in a side headlock and runs that head straight into a wall. Later he chokes another Punk with his own chain and flips forward bodily. Snow seems to be a particular MVP, getting in lots of cool karate moves on multiple opponents (Brian Tyler was a practiced martial artist at the time of filming). Even Mercy helps out a little bit.
Almost as deadly but less well-known than the Vulcan Neck Pinch is the Skank Shoulder Bite.
Swan dishes out a lot of punishment, but takes a lot as well, at one point getting ganged up on by two assailants. But it all works out for him in the end– indeed, whenever Swan or any other Warrior starts looking rough, a teammate is usually nearby to swoop in and help. It’s clear these guys have had a lot of practice kicking ass together.
The leader actually gets in the last blow of the fight, diverting a charging punk’s momentum into a throw that sends him crashing through a stall door. Warriors 2, New York 0.
Again, we see the amazing skill (both in the actual fight and quiet tactics that set it up) which make the Warriors so formidable (“Good. Real good” you might say), but this time in an even more intense and brutal setting. There’s a palpable excitement to this fight that’s hard to convey, but it really does work on all levels. Epic without being flashy.
Grade: A-
Recommended Links: A who’s who of the Warriors and the rest of the cast, complete with optional Where Are They Now.
Coming Attractions: Confusion conclusion.
“No, EDWARD is the best!” “You take that back!”
This entry was posted in Warriors, The and tagged gangs, melee, The Warriors.
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One comment on “The Warriors (fight 2 of 2)”
Drizzt78@gmail.com says:
Your links could use a bit of editing.
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Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education & Counseling
Career & Licensing
More in Continuing Education
Second Annual Oregon Ecopsychology Symposium Schedule
Friday Program
8:30 a.m. Registration and Gathering
9:00 a.m Greeting
9:10 a.m. Symposium Overview
Section I: Global Issues
9:30 a.m. Adapting to Climate Change in Oregon, Emily York, Climate & Health Program Coordinator at Oregon Health Authority
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the doom and gloom of climate science. Projections for Oregon show increasing risk of drought, wildfires, heat waves, storms, and floods, and predictions for worldwide consequences are even more scary. These impacts threaten our health and the systems that support us, but maybe there is a silver lining in this dark cloud looming? Climate change may be the greatest challenge we have known as a society, but it is also the greatest opportunity to achieve the kind of systemic change needed to improve the health of our communities and our environments. In this session, Emily will share how Oregon’s Public Health Division is working with partners to integrate climate resilience strategies into Oregon’s public health system and how the latest research in psychological resilience is informing action at the social systems scale.
10:00 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. Sustainability, Globalization and Place-based Education, Greg Smith, Lewis & Clark Graduate School
10:45 a.m. Ecological Worldviews to Advance Sustainability Leadership Education and Practice, Steve Schein, Ph.D.
Based on insights from integral ecology, deep ecology, eco-psychology, and developmental psychology, this session presents findings and implications from an empirical study of ecological worldviews of global sustainability leaders. Drawing on interviews with 75 senior sustainability executives in more than 40 multinational corporations, NGOs, and consultancies, this workshop offers educators new ways that an understanding of ecological worldviews and selves can enhance sustainability education. Based on the pioneering 2015 book A New Psychology for Sustainability Leadership: The Hidden Power of Ecological Worldviews this session explores the relationship between high impact sustainability leadership development and the opening/deepening of ecological self and associated worldviews.
11:15 a.m. Morning Panel and Large Group Q & A Session
12:00 p.m. Networking Lunch – Making New Connections
Section II: Practices with People and Systems
1:00 p.m. Ecopsychology Techniques Live Demonstration: Working with Large Groups and Individuals, Thomas J. Doherty, Psy.D.
Dr. Thomas Doherty will demonstrate ecopsychology techniques with symposium participants and volunteers. Part I: Techniques for groups sized 8 - 100+ to complete focus groups, identify key interest or stakeholder groups in communities and organizations, and to explore diverse beliefs regarding environmental issues, global climate change, and ability to undertake sustainable lifestyle behaviors, etc. Part II: Eco-counseling and coaching techniques in intimate settings for individuals, couples or small groups to address grief or despair about environmental issues, clarify motivations and resources, and support positive environmental identity development, empowerment, and leadership.
1:30 p.m. Integrating EcoWellness into Clinical Settings, Ryan Reese, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS
Connection with nature impacts human wellness, yet few resources currently exist in the literature to help guide mental health professionals in the ethical integration of EcoWellness into therapeutic practice. The purpose of this talk is to explore some of the common ethical challenges inherent to EcoWellness practice and introduce ethical principles to help professionals mitigate those risks.
2:00 p.m. Break
2:15 p.m. The Nature Imagery In Prisons Project: Bringing Technological Nature to Inmates in Solitary Confinement, Patricia Hasbach, Ph.D.
A basic tenet of ecopsychology is ‘We need nature for our physical and psychological well-being.’ Studies have shown that direct contact with real nature and even exposure to nature imagery reduces stress, anxiety, and aggression; enhances mood; reduces mental fatigue and improves problem-solving ability; increases cognitive performance; and reduces illness in a wide range of venues including hospitals, schools, and assisted living centers. Our study explored whether exposure to nature imagery can serve as an effective tool for reducing stress and violence in severely nature-deprived environments such as solitary confinement cell blocks in maximum security prisons, where access to real nature is impossible due to security issues. This presentation describes the project implementation and highlights research findings for the Nature Imagery in Prisons Project – named by Time Magazine as one of the “25 Best Inventions of 2014.”
3:15 p.m. Doing Good Work with Indigenous Peoples, Cornel Pewewardy (Comanche-Kiowa), Ph.D., David E. Hall, Ph.D.
Cornel and David will lead a conversation around culturally responsive and appropriate ways for Ecopsychologists, and Psychologists in general, to learn from and work with Indigenous peoples. To help provide a framework for the conversation, they will use a five phase model of decolonization: (1) Rediscovery and recovery, (2) Mourning, (3) Dreaming, (4) Commitment, and (5) Action. As part of the conversation, they will open space to explore questions of how western psychological concepts might apply to the thought, values and healing concepts of Indigenous peoples, as well as what are some cultural guidelines in working with Indigenous peoples.
4:00 p.m. Afternoon Panel and Large Group Q & A Session
4:30 p.m. End of Day and Informal Discussion
Saturday Program
9:00 a.m. Greetings and Welcome
Section III: Ecopsychology and Other Species
9:15 a.m. Empathy into Action: Does Definition Matter?, Alison Heimowitz, M.A.
Empathy toward wildlife is a potentially powerful driver of conservation action. However, evidence suggests that not all empathetic responses are the same. Drawing on what psychologists have long known, this interactive session will explore how our actions may be influenced by how we define a word. Both anthropomorphic and bio-centric concepts of empathy in relation to behavior will be discussed.
9:45 a.m. The Animal Human bond: Companion Animals and Counseling, Pilar Hernandez-Wolfe, Ph.D.
The animal human bond is a well-documented phenomenon that has been around since humans began domesticating animals. Research has documented the therapeutic benefits of animals, and animal companion facilitated therapy as highly consistent with systemic approaches fostering ecological consciousness and wellbeing. Caring relationships between humans and animals have a significant impact on human and animal neuro-chemistry, enhancing well-being. This presentation will examine the nature of the relationship that humans have developed with companion animals and the emotional bonds that enriches both of them, as well as the real and lasting impact on social and natural ecosystems.
10:30 a.m. Ecotherapy and Equine Assisted Therapy: A Combined Curriculum
Joyce Korschgen, LPC, EAGALA, Beth Kuchenreuther, M.A., EAGALA
The Center at Heron Hill and Alliance Counseling have been developing a protocol for combining Eco and Equine therapies for 4 years. Working with Native Youth and now the general Portland area, Alliance and The Center are proud of the accomplishments we have made. In the presentation Beth and Joyce will explore continuing progress in the development of the program and methods drawn from The Equine Assisted Growth and Learning association (EAGALA) applied to our farm based eco therapy program.
12:00 p.m. Networking Lunch – Meeting with Interest Groups
Section IV: Balancing the Personal and Planetary
1:00 p.m. Ecopsychology Techniques Live Demonstration Part II: Working with Individuals on Private Goals and Concerns, Thomas J. Doherty, Psy.D.
1:30 p.m. Discovering our Interdependence through Agenda 2030, Kim Smith, Ph.D.
Achieving a sustainable future requires a transformation of our identities toward local and global citizenship. With the adoption of the UN’s new Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ecopsychology offers a framework for exploring our interdependence within and across species and societies. This session will examine the SDGs and help participants connect their work to these broader initiatives
Section V: Human Equity and a Healthy Local Environment
2:15 p.m. The Oregon Outdoor School Initiative and the Activist’s Tool Kit, Rex Burkholder, Outdoor School for All
2:45 p.m. The Intertwine Alliance and its Health and Nature Initiative, David Cohen, The Intertwine
3:15 p.m. Lessons from Tribal Equity, Se-ah-Dom Edmo, Lewis & Clark Graduate School
4:30 p.m. Reporting on New Connections and Commitments for the Future
4:45 p.m. Symposium Closing
For Counselors & Therapists
Credit-Bearing Courses
Student Rate
Northwest Writing Institute
Oregon Writing Project
Training Opportunities for Mentors and Supervisors
Endorsement and Licensure Offerings
Endorsement Classes & Information Sessions
Licensure Programs
TSPC Updates & Licensure News
Teacher Leadership for Equity and Social Justice Certificate
What Type of Credit Do I Need?
Oregon Courage Community
Portland United Against Hate
2018 Programming
TransActive Gender Project
Information for Parents and Caregivers
Family and Youth Support Groups
Advocacy and Equity
Center for Community Engagement is located in room 105 of Rogers Hall on the Graduate Campus.
email cce@lclark.edu
voice 503-768-6040 fax 503-768-6045
Director Matsya Siosal
Center for Community Engagement Lewis & Clark 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road MSC 85 Portland OR 97219
lewisandclarkgsec
Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling
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Etta James - At Last! - col lp
Limited Color Pressing in Purple Swirl Vinyl 4 bonus tracks not on original Etta James Debut Studio Record Mastered By Kevin Gray Etta James debut LP originally released in 1960, featuring the classic hit song "At Last". Blues, soul, jazz, R&B and rock vocalist Etta James needs no introduction. An icon from early rock'n'rolls pantheon of divas, she has inspired 5 decades of listeners and fellow artists with her vocal stylings. From Janis Joplin to Beyonce, her expressive and gutteral style has been imitated, but never quite matched. Jackpot Records is honored to release this momentous record with the original album artwork and 4 bonus tracks (previously only available on CD).
format: col. lp reissue
Etta James - Rocks the house
Dr. John - Gris Gris col lp
Howlin Wolf - His Greatest Sides - col lp
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(Another) Previously On: Clayface, Invisible Guns, and Team Arrow
May 26, 2016 DrKronner Leave a comment
Today we’re gonna talk about a few of the major events from this past week on some of our favorite shows. This post will contain spoilers from the week of May 17-25 for the following shows; Arrow, Gotham, Agents of SHIELD, and The Americans.
Addition through Subtraction
So when Arrow premiered, it was better than people expected and they finished season one with a stellar finale, Season 2 was also solid and a fanbase was established. Season 3 however, got a bit muddled in Bat-Mythology, and season 4 was very up and down. So, when they killed off Laurel, I applauded at the exit of the character, even if I didn’t find the funeral as moving as they probably wanted me to. Last night’s finale did something similar – they exited a ton of the cast. And while season 4 as a whole was underwhelming, and this episode was pretty forgettable, getting rid of (at least for now) Diggle, Lyla, Thea, Lance, and Donna, as well as the Dhark storyline – should allow the writers to refocus on Mayor Oliver next season. With any luck, that will be enough to restore the show back to its former glory.
Addition through Subtraction, Part II
As much as people praise The CW’s DC lineup, ABC’s Agents of SHIELD gets crapped on just as often. And if we’re being honest with ourselves, comparing the rookie seasons, Arrow was far better than AoS. HOWEVER, if you’re looking at the last couple years, SHIELD probably takes it. So last week, when AoS finished their third season, and killed off their most annoying character (Lincoln), I couldn’t help but think of Arrow. Afterall, they had just done the same with Laurel. The difference here is, AoS actually made me care (slightly) about it, cause Lincoln was able to take Hive with him. And SHIELD‘s Hive, just like Arrow‘s HIVE, was played out and needed to go. So kudos to Marvel for killing off Lincoln and Hive and giving them their cool final moment in space.
BONUS: Fitz’s invisible gun was pretty cool, and Goth Daisy looks hotter than regular Daisy. Very ’90s…
A Convincing Gordon, Clayface is not…
The Gotham finale offered little in the way of closure, but it was big on setup. Not only for next season but for establishing a world that will one day necessitate a Batman. In the meantime, Arkham is raided, Strange is arrested, and Fish Mooney drove a whole bus load of crazies into the city. One of whom might have been Killer Croc, and another who looked a lot like Bruce…WTF – Evil Twin? Clone? Ben Reily? Clayface II?
But the real Bruce still doesn’t know who killed his folks and the Court of Owls are running the city unchecked. Despite all of this, the thing that stuck out most to me was Ben McKenzie’s performance at Clayface as Jim Gordon. It was campy and fun, and felt like it was right out of the animated series. Well played Gotham. Your finale was a little frustrating from a story standpoint, but at least you had some fun with Clayface.
Careful Who You Mess With
Stupid rapist.
Well, it seemed like a fairly tame episode of The Americans this week until that last 75 seconds there. The whole episode was masterful storytelling as usual, but there wasn’t that one moment I felt compelled to talk about. That is until two would be rapists picked the wrong Mother/Daughter combo to approach. Elizabeth did her best to put on a normal front, even offering up her wallet to these asshats – but when they reached for Paige, Momma Bear’s instincts kicked in. Mere seconds later the two sexual predators were transformed into one battered coward on the run, and one neck shaped knife-holder lying on the ground. Well done Elizabeth, well done. Now we just need Paige to keep her shit together…
Images: The CW, FX, Fox, ABC
ArrowClayfaceGothamMarvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.Previously OnThe Americans
Previous PostFilm Imitating Film? Nicholas Winding Refn Compares Alien To Planet of the VampiresNext PostDon’t Breathe: Trailer Teaches Us Never To Underestimate Stephen Lang
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Debates & Discussions
Debates & Discussion Discord Channel
By Gay Tony, December 21, 2015 in Debates & Discussion
sivispacem 19,094
Intellect Is Mourned By The Intelligent
Gender has got nothing to do with the biological sex of your partner, though. That's a ridiculous assertion.
DEALUX 2,317
Goddess Of Light
$outh $ide Hoodz
He's getting at the heart of the issue there. Not being able to conform to gender norms or expectations doesn't really make you a different gender (or it shouldn't). I always thought that being transgender was more about your inner identity and less about gender roles.
I don't agree with a lot of these norms but I am perfectly comfortable identifying as male. Some people aren't and I don't think that we've been able to explain exactly why that is (medically).
Gender identity is a social and cultural construct. It is indeed a personal identity thing, but it has nothing to do with the sex or gender identity of your parter- the entire notion of it being anything to do with sexuslity is completely absurd.
Eutyphro 2,814
♒
There is a lot of science into the biology of gendered atributes, and there is a whole lot known about it. Noone who actually takes seriously scientific research thinks gender is entirely a social construct. Those who claim gender is entirely a social construct do so purely out of ideology. If gender is a social construct, then why do transgenders take hormones? It's just completely ridiculous.
The issue is that people don't like to see biological aspects and causes of gender identity. That's not a fashionable idea, and to work on that idea is incredibly taboo. In the 1970's there was a lot of controversy about a scientist of the university of Leiden who theorized about the biological causes of crime, and there was a vast amount of outrage and threats aimed at him until he was eventually forced to quit. Apart from that, those at the gender department are open about their postmodern contempt for science.
Edited December 8, 2016 by Eutyphro
If gender is a social construct, then why do transgenders take hormones?
Not all of them do. The requirement to boil down questions of gender identity into wholly incorrect categorical statements like this simply reinforces the notion of it being a subjective construct.
In the 1970's there was a lot of controversy about a scientist of the university of Leiden who theorized about the biological causes of crime
This, and the wider assertions about the veracity of what is often simply scientific racism, are entirely untenable. There's been a huge amount of entirely uncontroversial research into biological drivers behind certain kinds of behaviour. Usually, scientific research is controversial amongst scientific peers because it's laughable sh*te, not because it's taboo. Especially in the 1970s, when systemic racism was still rife across much of Europe.
Clem Fandango 4,864
This is Clem Fandango, can you hear me?
You see when you say stuff like this its clear where your criticisms come from. What does this have to do with feminism? Feminists are the ones baring the brunt of PC gone mad, and the ones with the clearest criticisms of it. You blame women specifically for this trend even though it's primarily used to silence them.
Where I live, the important feminists in academia actually publicly claim they consider veiling women a symbol of emancipation, which is a completely insincere and idiotic PC thing to say. If they really thought veiling was emancipation, they would wear one. But it is just pandering to and paternalizing another culture out of the idea that the more you believe in collective guilt, the more morally enlightened you are. And really, you should stop the rhetoric that these fundamentalists represent all women, and that me opposing specifically them reflects what I believe about women in general. These ideologues don't represent all women, but they are radicalizing a lot of young women into their ideology, sure. Exactly with the type of collectivist rhetoric you use in almost every post. The idea that radfems represent women as a monolith as another example of that.
It would have made more sense for you to say 'leftists' since this doesn't come specifically from feminism. You would have really been correct if you'd said 'liberals.' So you are blaming women. You view this as a problem created by women.
Those same liberals also argue that prostitution and BDSM are empowering, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. It's PC gone mad, but again, its used primarily to attack women, not to help them so it's completely ridiculous to frame this as feminists forcing postmodernism on the rest of us.
Well, maybe if we wouldn't be taught to hate ourselves and our culture so much, we wouldn't feel as much a need to steel from other cultures.
This goes right back to orientalism. It isn't a recent thing.
But I don't think you are arguing that we should rebuild a strong pride for the history of Western culture and civilization. Which is really what we should do. The current political climate and the election of Trump can be seen as a crisis in Western culture.
The idea that we hate our own culture is based on literally nothing. I have no idea what you're talking about.
I think if you are so thin skinned that you can be deeply offended by some white kids being silly, that you should really get your priorities, and your feelings, in check. Apart from that, I think people really tend not to give a sh*t about it, and that these are mainstream media fabricated bullsh*t narratives to distract people from that which is meaningful.
When white-only clubs designed for rich kids to garner business connections throw regular 'border patrol' parties, that is something to take them to task on. When a bus full of frat boys chant 'there will never be a ni**er in A&E' that is something to take them to task on. Fraternities are pretty sinister organisations, honestly. White, boogie rape clubs.
They are generally the younger generation, which should worry us all. It's worrisome that there is a political polarization and radicalization going on.
I've already conceded that this is partially responsible for the alt-right. It's not responsible for Trump though, or the rise of the likes of Pegida. It is laughable to claim otherwise.
I can only say what I believe, and that is not that I think that "one social class should collectively adapt to service another". What I think is that our intent should be to provide equality of opportunity, and not equality of outcome. People should be rewarded based on merit.
That is not how the system operates in any way shape or form. When you say 'equality of opportunity' what you mean is 'the chance for social mobility' hence social classes, hence one collectively adapting to service another. Liberalism is a rationalisation for Capitalism.
But jealousy of those who are successful corrupts your soul as well.
The rich are not 'successful' they are the hugest f*ck ups in human history. Literally everything they do is an unmitigated disaster. I am not 'jealous' so much as I am utterly failed by the institutions which govern me.
My issue is really when the analysis of power becomes psychology, and then becomes hatred and bias against every single individual based on their skin colour. You won't end bigotry by being one. And you won't end bigotry by parading with how much you hate yourself either.
Yeah no you literally just consider any cultural analysis to be PC gone mad. I don't need to relearn how to love my white skin. I also still don't see how I hate my own culture. If anything I consider Western culture to be highly advanced, obviously.
But apart from that, you are confused. Identity politics is exactly a collectivist psychology of hatred.
No it is you who is confused. You are literally trying to argue that postmodernism is not inherently liberal. Then what does the term liberal feminism mean?
Noone who actually takes seriously scientific research thinks gender is entirely a social construct. Those who claim gender is entirely a social construct do so purely out of ideology.
Yeah I mean the famous study by Smith and Brown 1992 totally proved once and for all that women wear make up because of the pink glittery part of their brain. If you take science seriously you will not point out the magical thinking involved in all of this.
If anyone operates out of ideology, it is gender essentialists, trans activists included. It goes beyond ideology and becomes a religion.
If gender is a social construct, then why do transgenders take hormones? It's just completely ridiculous.
Because that is how society responds to their gender non-conformity. They are a nail that sticks out, and so we hammer it flat. Better to alter peoples' bodies than accept that men can be sensitive and women can be assertive, lest we have to question our religious devotion to patriarchy.
dyspoid 472
How do you guys define gender? Do you conceptualise it as the collective roles and ideas surrounding the identity of a man or a woman, or do you see it as the self-concept of a person?
The assertion that it is purely a social construct may not be a suggestion taken lightly by those in the trans community - those who believe that despite being born with a certain appendage, that they are truly a man or a woman. The flip side of this idea is that the child is born and is subsequently conditioned to become a male or female as defined by the world around them.
Were they born into the wrong body, or were they placed into the wrong box?
My understanding is that it is a little bit of both. There are trans people who were born as men but are undoubtedly women.
A more complex argument, in my opinion, is the existence of other genders - those purported to fit outside of male, female and trans (even though this, technically, fits into m/f).
Sex is the defined, unequivocal physical characteristics, effectively defining whether an individual is male or female.
Gender is the social and cultural parallel to this; it is subjective and individual. It's a question of identity separated from the physical aspects of sex; the "truly" that you refer to in relation to transgendered individuals isn't one of biology but of identity.
But a lot of them do, and if you knew any transgender personally who is taking hormones, they could personally tell you it affects personality and identity. If they had no effect, people would not take them, or be advised to take them. The fact that we can't completely reduce the subjective life experiences of individuals to scientific categorical truths, doesn't 'reinforce the notion of it entirely being a subjective construct'. The world is complex, and the absolute notion of the social construct and humans as tabula rasas is a reductionist notion to simplify the world. But human beings are not tabula rasas. That is scientifically false, no matter how inconvenient this falsity is to the political ideals and wishes some people have.
You contradict yourself within the first two sentences. In the first sentence you claim looking into the biological aspects of criminal behaviour is 'untenable and scientific racism'. Then you go on to assert there is 'uncontroversial research into biological drivers of behaviour'. Maybe you should clarify.
So you are blaming women.
No, I'm not. But you are an ideologue who thinks criticizing feminists or ideas entertained by feminists is hate speech and heresy, so I wouldn't expect you to understand that I'm criticizing ideas and not genders.
Which indicates how you think kids dressing up in silly costumes is related to systemic oppression and colonialism, which it is not. But the fact that you think those acts are strongly related is because of a totally deranged ideological lense.
Well, the issue in my opinion arises due to the fact that people at the gender department think you can't speak highly of the cultural and material wealth Western philosophy and science have provided us with, without asserting Western culture to be 'superior' and without legitimizing colonialism or other forms of oppression. And because of that, they think the moral thing to do is characterizing the entire history of Western thought as sinful, shameful, racist, sexist, etc.. And to an extent this is reasonable, because we've made a lot of moral progress over time, and a lot of horrible acts have been comitted on the basis of bad ideas originating from Western culture. But what is lacking is a degree of respect for the thinkers and scientists who have made our lives so much better, in stead of just hating on them as shameful people who perpetuated oppression. There's a lack of respect for the objectivity of empirical scientific research, or the ability it has had to improve our living standards. It's a lack of balance, and it is an overly aggressive self hatred and sense of shame.
That is not how the system operates in any way shape or form. When you say 'equality of opportunity' what you mean is 'the chance for social mobility' hence social classes, hence one collectively adapting to service another.
We currently live in sort of an aristocracy, where success to a large degree is based on unearned wealth and privilege. I think that is where we'll find common ground. What I'm going to disagree with you on, is that the idea of those with good work ethics and talent being rewarded for that is fundamentally oppressive and sinful, and that everyone has to be rewarded equally regardless of what they contribute. I think that's a very bad idea.
Yeah no you literally just consider any cultural analysis to be PC gone mad.
No, not at all. And Western thought probably needed the extreme self criticism it has received to revitalize and improve. What I think is 'PC gone mad', is when you only care about how what is said makes other people feel, in stead of the actual intention and meaning of what was said. 'PC gone mad' is the idea that we should shield people from controversial, or possibly immoral, ideas, to protect their fragile psychological health, which is the opposite of what cognitive behavioural psychology advises. It is the intention to censor ideas you do not find desirable, without being willing to consider whether they are truthful. It's a type of closed minded fascism that rates feelings as more important than truth.
Edited December 10, 2016 by Eutyphro
if you knew any transgender personally who is taking hormones
What makes you think I don't?
The fact that we can't completely reduce the subjective life experiences of individuals to scientific categorical truths, doesn't 'reinforce the notion of it entirely being a subjective construct'.
The fact you can't reduce life experiences and emotional viewpoints to categorical scientific truth absolutely makes them subjective constructs. We are, after all, discussing fundamentally personal and subjective concepts here.
Maybe you should clarify.
Certainly. You asserted that analyses of biological factors and their contribution to phenomena such as crime are controversial as scientific theses, but in actuality they're only actually controversial when they're unmitigated pseudoscientific bollocks, normally racism badly dressed up as science. Do you have any evidence that this alleged 1970s academic was vilified by the scientific community because the subject was taboo, as opposed to his research being utter horsesh*t?
There is scientific knowledge about how hormones actually affect interests. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296090/
There is substantial evidence that exposure to androgens prenatally influences children’s sex-typical toy, activity and playmate preferences. A consistent research finding, for example, is that girls who were exposed to high levels of testosterone prenatally, because of CAH, show increased male-typical toy preferences, playmate preferences and activity interests. These effects have been seen in studies conducted in a number of different countries in North America and Europe and using various methodologies, including interviews, questionnaires and direct observation of behavior (See Table 1). The results of these studies are consistent with the hypothesis that prenatal exposure to androgens influences the development of children’s sex-typical toy, activity and playmate preferences. Evidence from situations where women were prescribed hormones during pregnancy for medical reasons also support a role for androgens prenatally in the development of children’s sex typed interests. Children whose mothers took androgenic progestins during pregnancy show increased male-typical or decreased female-typical behavior, and those whose mothers took anti-androgenic progestins show the opposite outcome.
None of this is scientifically very controversial, except among a new wave of ideologues in the gender university department who disregard science. And none of this is a claim that we can comprehensively understand the subjectivity of individual people on the basis of scientific findings. All it is is proof that human beings like all other animals have strong innate tendencies and instincts. It's just proof that we are not outside the realm of nature, like any reasonable person would accept.
but in actuality they're only actually controversial when they're unmitigated pseudoscientific bollocks, normally racism badly dressed up as science. Do you have any evidence that this alleged 1970s academic was vilified by the scientific community because the subject was taboo, as opposed to his research being utter horsesh*t?
It wasn't specifically the scientific community threatening and demonizing him (Wouter Buikhuisen). It was a range of politically engaged intellectuals and activists, who were absolutely enraged by the idea that there might be innate factors to criminal behaviour. A few years ago the university actually accepted him again and he lectured once more about biological causes of behaviour. He's not a scientific racist.
None of this is scientifically very controversial, except among a new wave of ideologues in the gender university department who disregard science.
I'm really struggling to understand what you're trying to say here. Nobody is arguing that there aren't physical or biological factors which drive or influence emotion, personal identity et cetera. This does not preclude them from being fundamentally subjective.
It wasn't specifically the scientific community threatening and demonizing him
Then I'm not really sure what your point is, or was. You were complaining about academia being the driving force behind "anti-scientific" ideas, as an attempt to whitewash legitimate research because it was considered taboo. So is it or isn't it academia?
On that subject, I'd like to go back to your earlier assertion that many regarded feminist academics view the veil as a sign of emancipation?
mr quick 10,468
ES KOMMT DER TAG!
There are two biological genders
There's no such thing as biological gender. Would it kill you to read more than the OP(which itself is on the same level of superficial & inaccurate analysis)?
But it does preclude them from being entirely subjective. We have a scientific understanding of them, which is objective. So a part of our understanding of gender is scientific and objective, and another part can come from cultural analysis which would be less 'objective'.
It's both. Academics are not politically neutral, and especially in the 70's many were highly invested in the idea of human nature as a blank slate. Nowadays we have people like this in academia too:
But decisive in the demonization and ruination of Buikhuisen's career were activists and columnists in leftist magazines.
I found several written pieces stating that: "we shouldn't view the veil as a symbol of oppression", "women should be allowed emancipation in their own way", "we should ban public displays of the female body like lingerie adds, and the veil is an act of cultural criticism against such adds". I also remember a comment about how we shouldn't criticize the veil in a class I followed from one of the feminists who wrote these pieces. It might be false though that she said it was emancipation, I can't remember exactly, but she did consider it 'an act of cultural criticism' with which she sympathizes. All of these are in Dutch though, so even if I linked these pieces you couldn't really read them. Any Dutch person reading this can easily find them with a google search though. It's just very sad though to see leftists opposing religious criticism these days.
Twang. 1,839
My existence is a momentary lapse of reason
Suppose this guy's theory is correct, and there is a genetic link to crime, and it's linked to a specific racial group. What then? Would there then be exceptions made to the law so that some people are excused from crimes because they're genetically pre-disposed to it? Or would it be used to justify mass hate crimes and, like eugenics before it, lead to atrocities and attempted genocide? Would a person born with this disposition be marked by the government and monitored for their entire life?
I don't see any possible positive outcome of such a discovery.
It's not like this would be the first time in history that a symbol of oppression was re-appropriated as a symbol of strength. Like how black people re-appropriated the n-word and made it in to a symbol of racial solidarity. If a Muslim woman should choose to wear one after being liberated, that should be her choice. I'd ask you if those pieces you read were written by Muslim women. If not, yeah that's annoying, but otherwise it's not our place to tell them how to interpret their religious traditions.
But it does preclude them from being entirely subjective.
I don't think you understand the meaning of the word "subjective". It does not come in degrees; something either is or it isn't. The moment anything moves away from pure empiricism and becomes reliant on individual thought, feeling or emotion, it becomes subjective. There being biological factors which allow you to estimate with a reasonable degree of accuracy what the conclusion of this may be does not contradict this, nor has anyone claimed it would.
I found several written pieces stating that: "we shouldn't view the veil as a symbol of oppression", "women should be allowed emancipation in their own way", "we should ban public displays of the female body like lingerie adds, and the veil is an act of cultural criticism against such adds"
So you (apparently) found several written statements that...don't actually correlate with the claim you made, but you've decided to allude to them anyway?
It might be false though that she said it was emancipation, I can't remember exactly, but she did consider it 'an act of cultural criticism' with which she sympathizes.
So the whole thing could well just be bunk?
It's important for the process of rehabilitation to understand that different people have different innate tendencies. Noone is born a criminal. But psychological malfunctioning can cause different symptoms depending on your innate tendencies. If you want to help people better, it's a good step to start understanding them better. But the fact that you have innate tendencies that make you inclined to certain types of psychological responses, doesn't prove you have no free will or responsibility.
I'd ask you if those pieces you read were written by Muslim women.
They weren't.
I've never said gender is 'objective in degrees' though that would be accurate. What I said was that we have objective knowledge about gender.
But really, objectivity and subjectivity do come in degrees. Psychology is more subjective than physics, but more objective than literary criticism. The discussion originated in my point that gender was not entirely a social construct, but that we have objective empirical knowledge about gender. So gender is not just a social construct, it is also nature, and natural science. So the idea that it is entirely subjective is simply false.
What I said was that we have objective knowledge about gender.
Which nobody fundamentally disagrees with. This does not preclude gender identity from being g a subjective construct.
But really, objectivity and subjectivity do come in degrees. Psychology is more subjective than physics, but more objective than literary criticism.
I think you're conflating two different ideas here. The fact that some disciplines have greater empirical and scientific weight behind fundamental tenets does not make the aspects of these disciplines which are subjective any less so.
People are not tabula rasas, this does not mean that social phenomenon- which are specific to systems and circumstances that didn't exist when our brains evolved- are the direct and unavoidable result of specific markers. The reason people tacitly support tabula rasa is because biology is used to explain away our socially constructed conditions.
Have you been following Freddie DeBoer on twitter?
Its not that you aren't allowed to criticise feminists. Since you are referring to liberal feminists- who I oppose- I'd be inclined to agree if the criticism is true. You are blaming feminists specifically for a broad trend on the left, because everything is women's fault. 'Cultural appropriation' is not a feminist concept.
"Will work for beer and weed" are you daft? Organisations famous for excluding PoC regularly hold parties where they dress up as Mexican stereotypes and border patrol agents. This is not something 'white kids' do I would never in a million years be invited to one of those parties because I do not know anybody that mind numbingly stupid. What if they had a ghetto party where they all dressed up in hip hop gear and held signs saying 'will suck dick for crack rock'?
Could you see your friends holding such a party?
Yeah like just the other day I was praising Karl Marx and someone told me I'm only allowed to praise black people.
What you're saying is not a thing, but I will concede is that people attach too much importance to being white. You don't have to 'unlearn racism' the way you have to unlearn liberal and patriarchal logic. I've definitely never seen any evidence that white people have ingrained biases against non-black PoC. You kind of either hate asians or you don't.
Well, where do these extra rewards come from? The market place? I am not opposed to some people getting more, hence the mantra is 'from each according to ability, to each according to need' and not 'from each the same to each the same.'
Considering I get literal death threats for being insufficiently pro-trans I'd say I agree. But you are casting too wide a net. Honestly if you consider me a perpetrator of this trend rather than a victim, you should take stock.
So, by this logic, are you suggesting that there are no innate psychological or cognitive constructs that give rise to or influence gender? Most species of organism have different behaviours based upon sex - it is not necessarily learned - its pre loaded.
If we were to create a society within a laboratory and populate it with infant boys and girls free from socialised ideas, norms and behaviours - would the social construct of gender differ that wildly to the society we have today?
While I do think we would see significant variations to what we conceptualise to be the gender roles and attributes of men and women, I cannot argue that they would be wildly different. My belief is that sex and biology are the primary influence between the construction and reinforcement of gender roles.
Tldr; I agree with most of the things you are saying - I just don't know if it is possible for gender identity to be completely removed from sex.
Edited December 12, 2016 by dyspoid
I'm not saying that biological factors don't influence social and cultural identity, just that gender roles are fundamentally social and cultural constructs. As for your "infant society" question, without the indoctrination of societal gender identities and with no external I don't think you'd see a replication of current social identities.
You would get a laboratory full of psychologically damaged people, but you might not get much useful information out of the result. Many human innate capacities need external stimulation to develop. The fact that they don't develop without stimulation doesn't at all mean they are not innate.
I just don't know if it is possible for gender identity to be completely removed from sex.
It's not. And for example many people in social science or feminists will tell you that the type of toys kids play with is a social construct, but they ignore the fact that sex-typical toy behaviour is mostly biologically determined, and that isn't very controversial scientifically.
sex-typical toy behaviour is mostly biologically determined
Care to cite some evidence for this assertion?
I already posted it here if you had paid attention: http://gtaforums.com/topic/834230-gender-sexuality/?p=1069264743
That study doesn't even come close saying that sex-typical toy behaviour is mostly biologically turned. "Substantial evidence of influence" is the direct quote. You really should try and avoid misleadingly paraphrasing things.
Yes, and the evidence is so substantial that sex-typical toy behaviour is mostly biologically determined. Hormones have a determining influence on what people are interested in. I don't have to phrase my ideas in a way to please you personally.
Yes, and the evidence is so substantial that sex-typical toy behaviour is mostly biologically determined.
That's not the conclusion reached in the report you cite. By rewording it to suit your own views, you completely distorted the actual meaning and rendered what would have otherwise been a pretty good response complete nonsense.
If you're going to cite academic reports, don't try reinterpreting their conclusions unless you're a subject matter expert.
I'm not reinterpreting anything at all.
Yes you are.
Rather than repeating the handy conclusion present in the first line of the quote, you decided to write your own which is fundamentally different. At this point you're simply arguing white is black; I've quoted the actual conclusion and your "interpretation" of it, so it's plainly obvious to anyone who cares to read that they're different.
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High tea brings high hopes for breast cancer research
Last weekend, Hilton Adelaide hosted the High Tea Party, a glamorous all-day event where girls could catch up with their friends for afternoon tea, do some shopping and be pampered.
By Libby Parker on May 08, 2014
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The second floor of the hotel was swarming with women drinking bubbly, having their nails done, browsing and spending on vintage and new clothes, having a makeover and more.
The main event was the fashion parade by Living Silk in the function room where tables of friends were treated to a delicious high tea and a parade like no other.
Living Silk, owned by mother and daughter team Karen Harley and Olivia Russell have been involved in the High Tea Party for the past four years but this year, decided to do it a bit differently.
“We’ve been doing the same event in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and this is the first time in Adelaide and Perth. The National Breast Cancer Foundation is one of the major sponsors, so we thought this year we would invite ladies who have had breast cancer or are going through breast cancer treatment to be catwalk models for us,” Olivia Russell said.
After wandering around the exhibitions of gorgeous wares, ladies took their seats at high tea and prepared for the parade; the atmosphere was lively.
Each woman strutted her stuff on the catwalk, modelling Living Silk’s range of beautiful, colourful and elegant clothes; they were sassy, sexy and sophisticated.
The mood in the room was electric as each lady shimmied and spun on the runway, glowing with a zest for life and a genuine love for each other.
Sharon Watson, 38, who grew up in Adelaide, flew over from Melbourne to take part in the parade, which sourced its models by putting a callout on the National Breast Cancer Foundation Facebook page.
“My mum was diagnosed with breast cancer at 37 and so I was always very aware and had regular mammograms. A lump was found when I was in my 30s so I had a double mastectomy within two weeks of being diagnosed, a reconstruction then started chemo. I finished chemo two weeks ago so I’m absolutely exhausted,” Ms Watson said.
Despite her exhaustion, Ms Watson and fellow Adelaide models Helena Farrugia and Anita Galloway have all had the time of their lives being a part of Living Silk’s parade.
“I just love the togetherness,” Ms Farrugia said. “Meeting the other girls, having hair and makeup done and being dressed in the lovely clothes; because having breast cancer, you just want to live and even though you lose a lot of confidence, you have the courage to do more,” she said.
All of the women involved with the parade agreed it had been a wonderful experience where they had met new friends and enjoyed the chance to be on stage, having fun.
“We forget so quickly,” Ms Galloway said. “It’s like childbirth. Once you get the reward of the baby, you forget what you’ve gone through. So there we are up there feeling glamorous, womanly and attractive, but it was only a few months ago I had no fingernails, no toenails, no skin on my feet, I couldn’t stand up. And now here I am, feeling beautiful and that’s what they’ve given us,” she said.
Last year, the High Tea Party raised $50,000 for breast cancer research and, according to spokesperson Joyce Chircop, they’re looking to double that over the five high tea events.
“The High Tea Party gives $10 from every ticket sold to breast cancer research. The aspiration of the National Breast Cancer Foundation is to have zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030,” Ms Chircop said.
The High Tea Party heads to Melbourne next, then to Perth, Sydney and Brisbane.
Living Silk have boutiques in Brisbane and Melbourne and their webpage can be viewed here: shop.livingsilk.com.au
Story by Libby Parker
Photos by Jessica Zotti
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Tags: #fashion,Adelaide,Breast Cancer,High Tea,Hilton Adelaide,Living Silk,South Australia
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Historical Research Inspirational
This Lady Has Been Behind AGNI Missiles.Meet Tessy Thomas-missile woman of India
November 22, 2018 November 22, 2018 Sandeep Gaur 0 Comments Inspirational Stories
Tessy Thomas-missile woman of India
missile woman of India -Tessy Thomas
Dr. Tessy Thomas is a name which is the inspiration for many and while many others must be wondering who she is? Tessy Thomas is termed as the ‘Missile Woman’ of India and has been a very important face of the Indian defense. Tessy Thomas was the woman behind the successful development of AGNI-IV AND Agni- V. Her journey is inspiring. Let’s have a quick look at her personal and professional life.
Struggling in life ? Remember you should always strive for more : Inspirational blog
Dr. Tessy Thomas was born in Kerala in the year 1963. She did her engineering from Government Engineering College Thrissur. She has an M.Tech degree in Guided Missile from the Institute of Armament Technology, Pune. Her parents named her after Mother Teresa and wanted her to work for the country which she is into. Since her childhood, she spent her days near a rocket launching station. Since then her fascination for rockets and missile took a flight. She made her mind to deal with the rockets and missiles of the country.
The Journey :
Dr. Tessy Thomas is the first woman scientist to lead a missile project for the country. The Missile Woman of India has been the Associate Project Director for missile projects. Tessy Thomas was appointed as the project Director 3000 km range Agni-III missile project. Missile Woman was appointed as the director of the successfully tested Agni- IV in 2011. Further she was appointed as the Project Director for the 5000 km range Agni- V testing, the nuclear-capable destructive missile of 2012. She is a rare lady who plays a key role in making the most potent long-range ballistic missile. Tessy Thomas is a very hard working scientist who works in India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
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Dr. Tessy Thomas, the Missile Woman of India, is a very simple lady and gives no way to glamour. She is like any woman next door who loves her family and can give away anything for them. Only one thing sets her apart from the other women and i.e. she makes missiles. She is the mastermind behind the Agni series, the strongest weapon of the Indian Defence. The Missile Woman of India has sharpened many other woman scientists working under her supervision. The former PM of India, Manmohan Singh once said that “Tessy Thomas is a great inspiration and a woman who made her mark in a traditionally male bastion”.
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Along with Missile Woman of India, the media even loves her calling ‘Agni Putri’. She is a powerful lady who loves to work continuously without taking breaks. During a successful test of Agni-V Missile Woman barely could exult from work as she works full 12 hours of the day. In 2012, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award was awarded to her by the former President of India, Pranab Mukherji.
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In the year 2008, The Indian Woman Scientist Association quoted for her that “like every women Missile Woman of India goes on a tightrope walk between home and career. Tessy Thomas Missile Woman serves as a role model and an inspiration for all women scientists”. This courageous lady should be praised in all possible ways so as to encourage every other woman of the world to be like her!
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February 26, 2019 - 9:21 am EDT 5 months ago
USGA Chief Calls New Rules “A Huge Success”
Chris Chaney Follow
The first two months of 2019 have been flush with talk of the new, modernized Rules of Golf.
Both on the professional and recreational levels, there have been questions about the implementation and enforcement of the rules, which in some cases have resulted in seemingly needless penalties.
While the USGA and R&A released these new rules with the intention of simplifying and speeding up the game, the long-held adage of “old habits die hard” has proved to be an issue over the first eight weeks of the year.
Rickie Shanks O.B., Penalized For Bad Drop
Most recently at this past week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, Rickie Fowler was penalized a stroke for taking an improper drop. After the fact, Fowler said, in part, that the new rules we’re doing anything to help the game.
“With the new rules that have been put in place, it’s not doing any favors for our sport,” Fowler said.
However, the USGA’s CEO Mike Davis, speaking at the State of the Association speech at the USGA Annual Meeting this past weekend taken a much more optimistic outlook on the new rules.
“I was hitting some balls on the range (at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and without naming names, a couple of big-name players were on either side of me,” Davis said, according to GolfDigest.com’s Ryan Herrington. “And all of a sudden the conversation was ‘I don’t get this dropping from your knee. What gives?’
“From my perspective, I would say by and large they’ve been a huge success. They did exactly what we wanted them to do, which was really simplify the understanding and make them easier to apply.”
Whether or not that belief is widely held among recreational golfers remains to be seen as most of the country are still waiting for the weather to break so they can try out the new rules.
On Tour, the reception has been less-than-welcoming as several pros have voiced their displeasure and confusion with several of the updates.
The USGA and R&A are in it for the long haul, however. Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s Senior Managing Director of Governance explained why.
We went through a long process, seven years in the making,” Pagel said. “We engaged 30,000-plus golfers as part of a feedback period. We released the rules in advance and we went in and further revised them. We gave plenty of runway for people to jump in and learn.
“I would say in the application of the rules, we remain committed to the rules as they are. If we learn something, if we realize that a rule is producing bad outcomes, we will adjust.”
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AGCO Innovations Earn Five 2018 AE50 Awards
Legacy of industry leadership in hay harvesting, application and track technology continues in new products designed to solve today’s farming challenges
This item has been supplied by a forage marketer and has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hay & Forage Grower.
AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO) received five 2018 AE50 Awards from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). This year’s winning products from AGCO include the Hesston by Massey Ferguson® WR9900 self-propelled windrowers, the Hesston by Massey Ferguson 2370 Ultra high density (Ultra HD) baler, the Challenger® RoGator® C Series row crop applicator with exclusive LiquidLogicTM system, the Challenger 700 Series track tractor and the Massey Ferguson® DatatronicTM 5 in-cab control terminal.
“AGCO is honored to be recognized for innovations that help our customers solve real-world farming challenges," says Richard Kohnen, director, tactical marketing for AGCO. “We’re especially proud that these honors are for product lines with tremendous legacies of industry-leading break-throughs such as the first large square baler, the first self-propelled sprayer and the first use of tracks in agriculture. As the needs of farmers change, we will continue to develop state-of-the-art solutions to meet our customers’ challenges in the field.”
Winning products are selected based on their innovation, significant engineering advancement and impact on the market served. The AE50 award program is sponsored by Resource, the membership publication of the ASABE, to emphasize the role of new and redesigned products and systems in bringing advanced technology to the marketplace. The awards will be presented February 13 during ASABE's annual Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference (AETC) in Louisville, Ky.
2018 AGCO AE50 Award Winners
The WR9900 self-propelled windrowers are designed to meet the needs of hay producers and custom forage harvesters seeking increased performance, power and comfort. The Series features the 265-HP model WR9980 which is built to easily cut and condition the most difficult crops, including winter forage, miscanthus and biomass crops. Increased machine power gives operators the flexibility to run disc, auger or draper headers on all models, making the WR9900 Series the most versatile windrowers on the market. An improved hydraulic system delivers 20 percent more available header power on 16-feet disc headers for higher throughput and performance. To make the operator’s job easier, a larger cab provides greater visibility and comfort with 50 percent more air-conditioning power. The WR9900 Series machines also have a more user-friendly operator interface for intuitive monitoring and control. The WR9900 Series is the industry's only windrower to operate all primary functions through a virtual terminal, giving the operator precise control of over the entire windrower to achieve best-in-class efficiency and performance.
The 2370 Ultra HD baler was created from the ground up to meet the needs of large commercial hay growers, operations that export hay and businesses harvesting biomass for the North American biofuels and livestock feed industries. The new baler is the industry's first Class 8 large square baler and is designed to produce heavy, dense bales from light-weight, dry, slick grass and crop residue that can be hard-to-bale. The Model 2370 Ultra HD makes 3’ x 4’ bales with 20 percent greater density than our industry-leading Model 2270XD baler. This is accomplished with a faster, 15 percent heavier, more powerful plunger that operates at 50 strokes per minute. It packs a maximum load capacity of 760 kilonewtons (kN) – 63 percent greater than the 2270XD baler. It offers the throughput and reliability large operations require when harvest windows are small, and tons-harvested-per-day is driving an operation’s profitability.
The technology-loaded, user-friendly RoGator C Series row crop applicator with the LiquidLogic application system delivers innovations needed to meet the complex application processes of today’s professional applicators and farmers. The LiquidLogic system gives operators effective cleanout, precise rates, greater control for on-target application and less product waste. Continuous product recirculation, the CleanFlow air pressure recovery and cleanout system and self-priming booms are key features that improve accuracy plus save time and money. The system also has a “hold at minimum” pressure setting and can maintain a +/-1 PSI variation across the boom for a consistent spray pattern and to keep product on target at low speed.
Designed to meet the needs of results-oriented agribusinesses, the MT700 Series track tractors by Challenger deliver a new level of track tractor performance, ride comfort, operating efficiency and on-board intelligence to maximize uptime, productivity and profitability. The tractor was designed using the AccuEngineeringTM platform and features new styling, as well as a new engine, transmission, undercarriage and hydraulics. A redesign of the industry’s leading MobilTrac™ track system provides ride comfort unparalleled by other track machines. The Series has three models from 380 to 431 HP, powered by AGCO Power™ 9.8L diesel engines equipped with concentric air systems (CAS). All systems, including the hydraulics and PTO are designed to run at lower engine rpm, to lower fuel costs and reduce engine wear.
The Datatronic 5 operating system and in-cab terminal combine all functions needed by a modern tractor, including tractor functionality, implement control, guidance and precision data into a powerful ISOBUS compatible terminal. With a 9-inch touch screen, it’s as easy to use as the latest tablets and smartphones. The system makes automatic steering easy with Auto-Guide™ technology and its straightforward ‘Go Mode’ that operators use to quickly set up and use the system. With the new terminal, users also can choose the level of steering accuracy that suits their operations and employ signals from their preferred supplier. The Datatronic 5 system is found in the Massey Ferguson 8700 Series tractor.
For more information on these new products, visit your nearest dealer or www.agcocorp.com
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Krone North America Introduces New Krone BiG X 680, 780 and 880 Forage Harvesters Previous
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Appearing on the front page for the Midland Daily Newspaper for her artist technique, Heather Dawn Deogracia has a stellar artistic journey in Central Michigan. As a city girl from San Francisco, she found moving to Midland 15 years ago was quite a culture shock and making fellow friends in the artistic population was her significant goal.
Now her artwork history has swelled to over 40 exhibits in the Tri-City area using blind contour (continuous line with the eyes closed) and other forms of illustrations at museums, galleries, business venues and fundraisers.
Last year, she was eagerly invited to her first solo exhibit named “I Human” at Counter Culture in down town Saginaw. There was a display over 45 images of abstract figure drawings made of ink that has never been exhibited and actually kept in secret.
Most recent, Ms. Deogracia received the 2019 Award of Excellence in for Midland Artists Guild juried exhibit on display in the art gallery of Creative 360 in Midland, Michigan. Four years in a row, Legacy Trust Award Collection has been exhibited at the Grand Rapids Museum of Art and this year was on display during Art Prize at a business venue.
Other achievements include the Midland county Art Letournau Award for “Collaboration & Creativity in Community Support” and “Leadership of Bay County Achievement” held by Studio 23 in Bay City. Her volunteer jobs have included Creative 360, Candle Stone Elderly Living, the Midland Center for the Arts and Dow sponsored events.
Before moving to Michigan, her professional career was in Award-Winning Graphic Layout & Design, International Art Marketing and in Radio Broadcasting as a Continuity Director. Since moving to Midland, she works from home as an Award-Winning Fine Artist and owns two companies of ArtSmart, a private art tutorial services and Miss Heavenly Designs as a Graphic Production Artist.
In a harsh collegigent educational background, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Illustration with the majors of Pre-Medicine and Fine Art from California State University in San Bernardino.
Now Heather is enrolled for a certificate course for Character Art Design and Drawing: Beginner to Advanced on-line at Udemy.com. In the next year, she will be working on a graphic novel by writing and illustrating on a story based on true events and part fiction. In addition to school she smiles often, reads big books and draw in bursts of inspiration.
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Ghost Files
The story about a dead child haunting this man's apartment continues to get more terrifying
Olivia Harvey
Adam Ellis / twitter.com
You might recall reading a story we posted about Adam Ellis and his haunted apartment. Ellis is allegedly/currently being haunted by the ghost of a dead child named Dear David. When we last visited Ellis’ viral Twitter thread documenting his haunting, he had tried to keep evil at bay with a salt barrier.
But despite his efforts, Ellis’ cats were still acting up at whatever was residing on the other side of the bedroom door. He had also recorded some odd static sounds on a sleep talking app. Frustrated, Ellis decided to leave the apartment for the weekend and there was a brief break in his Twitter updates.
But Ellis is back, and so is Dear David.
Ellis bought himself an Instax Polaroid camera because “they’re fun and dorky.” He decided to test it out around his apartment.
I bought a Polaroid camera this weekend, because they're fun and dorky. I decided to take a few photos around my apartment. pic.twitter.com/NGHLzI8wQR
— Adam Ellis (ಥ﹏ಥ) (@moby_dickhead) August 14, 2017
The first few photos he took in his bedroom came out normal.
I took a couple of my living room and bedroom (that's the rocking chair I first saw David in). They're pretty unremarkable. pic.twitter.com/AeiyBsQENX
But when he tried to snap a pic in the hallway — the same hallway that has a strange effect on his cats — the photo came out pitch-black.
The Polaroid developed completely black. pic.twitter.com/glMnAE3TJ1
Ellis thought the camera malfunctioned, so he checked the film. It was fine. He then thought maybe he blocked the flash with his thumb, so he tested that theory, but the results weren’t good.
The photo on the left is me covering the lens with my finger. The one on the right is my fully lit hallway taken just after midnight. pic.twitter.com/g652MVqRj9
Ellis even tried to see if it was some sort of lighting problem, so he took one photo on his phone and another on the Polaroid. Still, no dice.
Left is with my phone. Right is with with Polaroid. The hall light was on both times. Why is it pitch black each time with the Polaroid? pic.twitter.com/Sh94OKP0xA
On top of the eerie camera malfunction, one follower thought she saw a few faces in the darkness. Others saw a full-figured body standing in the dark doorway.
We don’t like it! We don’t like it one bit!
BUT ARE THOSE TWO FACES???😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/LDl0cKRyBG
— Mahin (@NotMahin) August 14, 2017
Taking the advice from a few followers, Ellis saged his apartment to clear it of negative energy. But unfortunately, the sage seemed to heighten the activity. After not having dreamt of Dear David for months, David reappeared in Ellis’ dreams that night.
David didn’t do anything, like he had in other dreams, but nevertheless, he was back.
I haven't dreamed about David in a few months, but he appeared again last night.
He was smaller this time. Almost shrunken. He didn't do or say anything except look at me.
On August 21st, Ellis tweeted that for the first time during this entire series of events, he actually felt unsafe in his home that Friday night. He fell asleep early and dreamt that David was dragging him through an empty warehouse.
I'd woken up with a huge bruise on my arm. pic.twitter.com/EakFRwX2iW
Although the bruise was a bit shocking, Ellis figured perhaps he had injured his arm the day before and the slight pain manifested in the dream. He brushed it off and went out for coffee that morning.
When I walk to the coffee place, I always pass a food cart repair depot. It's always INCREDIBLY busy, especially on weekends.
But today, it was completely abandoned. The whole warehouse was totally gutted and empty. pic.twitter.com/zP1ZnWvrL9
Surprised that the usually bustling hub was deserted, Ellis popped his head inside the warehouse to see if he could figure out why it was so dead.
Basically the only thing in the entire warehouse was a single green chair. pic.twitter.com/lvZGsGXQN6
If you recall, David first appeared in my green rocking chair. It could be nothing, but it's weird that it was the only thing left behind.
Ellis reported that on his way back from the coffee place, the warehouse shutter had been closed and has since remained closed. The dream, bruise, and warehouse were all giving him (and us) the creeps.
More recently, Ellis’ cats have begun their scratching-and-meowing-at-the-door ritual earlier and earlier each night. The cats have now been doing their thing from about 10:00 to 10:15, and then at 10:30 Ellis has been receiving calls from an unknown number.
My entire call history for the past week looks like this. You'll notice that I answered once, yesterday. pic.twitter.com/nozoMffWHs
He answered one night, assuming it was a telemarketing number calling with an automated message. But when he picked up the phone, there was no one there.
Instead, what I heard on the other end was a peculiar electrical static sound, very similar the the static my sleep app picks up at night.
The static stopped and Ellis thought he heard faint breathing on the other end.
Then, just as I was about to hang up, I heard a very small voice whisper, "hello."
Something about the way they said hello freaked me out. It wasn't a question, or a greeting.
Ellis hung up, closed all the curtains, and turned on all the lights. If we were him, we would have honestly launched ourselves off the face of the Earth. But Ellis stayed and pushed on.
Yesterday, Ellis informed us that he’s going on a trip to Japan in three weeks, and in preparation, he installed a wifi-connected nanny cam to keep an eye on his cats. This camera runs 24/7 and sends alerts to his phone when motion or sound is detected.
In any event, I decided to test it out this weekend. I was away from home one night, so I set up the camera before I left.
The phone pinged when the cats moved around the apartment, as it should have. But as we all were expecting at this point, it pinged for something else, too.
So I watched the feed again. Still nothing. I watched it a third time, and finally noticed something.
Watch the chair. pic.twitter.com/jXtIxpkVxD
Oh no. Absolutely not.
If you remember, that’s the green rocking chair Dear David first appeared in during Ellis’ original Dear David dream. Unfortunately, Ellis received another alert about 30 minutes later.
Watch the turtle shell hanging above the shelving unit.
Here's the feed of that alert. pic.twitter.com/6FHmUyIRBx
Some followers noticed that the blue chair in the background of the first video is not there. Others say it is and the lighting was changed. Either way, Ellis couldn’t handle it and we don’t blame him.
Wait, now people are pointing out the chair is still there, it's just the lighting. This is too much. I'm taking a xanax and going to bed.
The green rocking chair has now been banished to the hallway. We’ll see if that keeps Dear David at bay. As much as we feel for Ellis, this series of threads is riveting.
The entire internet is here for you, Adam!
By Olivia Harvey
How taking nude selfie videos helped me start loving my plus-size body
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Try one of these Full Buck Moon rituals to get what you really want out of life
You have a good chance of finding love this month, thanks to Venus in Cancer
There's a full moon AND a lunar eclipse this week—here's how they'll affect your zodiac sign
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Your HelloGiggles horoscope, July 7th to July 13th: Mercury's going retrograde, and we're in for a wild ride
Here's why you might want to tell your partner "I love you" for the first time today
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Celebrate Pride with a brief history of the New York City Pride March
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Home / News / HR CIS Minor Championship: London 2018. Tournament Preview
CIS Minor Championship: London 2018. Tournament Preview
HellRaisers will compete in only one tournament in July, but it's a pretty big one. We'll go to Twickenham Stadium, the Home of England Rugby, for the CIS Minor Championship: London 2018! All the four minor tournaments: CIS, Asia, America and Europe, will take place there, at Twickenham Stadium, which holds 82,000 fans.
Our team needs to make it to the final to earn a ticket to the FACEIT Major: London 2018. To achieve that, we need to make it through the group stage and win twice in the playoffs.
There will be eight CIS teams at the tournament:
HellRaisers — 13th in hltv.org rankings
AVANGAR — 23rd in hltv.org rankings
Spirit — 32nd in hltv.org rankings
forZe — 59th in hltv.org rankings
pro100 — 68th in hltv.org rankings
PLINK — 70th in hltv.org rankings
Monolith — 76th in hltv.org rankings
Nemiga — 102nd in hltv.org rankings
The group stage will feature a GSL system, and the playoff will use a single-elimination one. In the first stage of the competition, eight teams will be divided into two groups. The opening matches will be bo1, and all the rest will be bo3. The two best teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. The teams will compete in a double-elimination best-of-three format in the final stage.
The prize fund is $50,000 and two tickets to the major.
1st place — $30,000 and a slot in the FACEIT Major: London 2018
2nd place — $15,000 and a slot in the FACEIT Major: London 2018
3rd place — $5,000
The tournament will run from July 10 to June 13. We'll publish news from the tournament with a more detailed schedule by the start of it. Follow us on social media to stay updated!
News Coverage: Good Game League 2019 12 July 2019
News ESL Pro League Season 9 final infographic 24 June 2019
News Coverage: GG.Bet Chicago Invitational – IEM Chicago Qualifier 24 June 2019
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Person →
Shyju Khalid
Cinematographer, Director, Producer
Born: Kochi, Kerala, India
A cinematographer predominantly known for his work in the Malayalam film industry, Shyju Khalid has donned several hats along with that of the cinematographer`s. A writer, director, and producer as well, Shyju debuted as a cinematographer in 2011 with the Malayalam movie Traffic, following which he was associated with a string of Malayalam movies.
Making his debut as a writer and director, Shyju was associated with the 2013 romance 5 Sundarikal, starring the likes of Dulquer Salmaan, Fahadh Faasil, Isha Sharvani, Kavya Madhavan, and Nivin Pauly. Meanwhile, he produced Chandrettan Evideya in 2015, which he was associated with as cinematographer, and the Dulquer Salmaan and Sai Pallavi-starrer Kali in 2016. As a cinematographer, he has movies such as 22 Female Kottayam, Idukki Gold, Maheshinte Prathikaaram, Ee.Maa.Yau, and Sudani From Nigeria, which he also produced, to his credit. His 2019 release includes Thamaasha.
Thamaasha
Kumbalangi Nights
Sudani from Nigeria
Maheshinte Prathikaram
Chandrettan Evideya
Peers & More
Sujith Vaassudev
Sameer Thahir
Born: Nov 07, 1976
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India Civil Watch
Committed to upholding democratic rights in India
Bhima-Koregaon (B12)
World Hindu Congress Campaign
Solidarity Organizations
An Open Letter to the Contesting Political Parties
Give an assurance for the Release of Prof. Saibaba, Varavara Rao and other Intellectuals and for the safe guard of Peoples Democratic Rights
An Appeal from Poets, Writers, Artists, Journalists, Intellectuals and Different Democratic Organisations
The gradual shrinking of democratic space day by day, the voice of the people and the intellectuals being muffled is distressing us a lot. Prof. G. N. Saibaba, a social activist, with 90% disabled body and 19 severe ailments is denied of the needed medical aid and his appeal for medical bail is rejected. Saibaba who was voicing for thousands of adivasis kept under imprisonment, far from any legal aid and about their rightful struggles, was sentenced to life imprisonment by Gadchiroli court, a year back. But his appeal against it in High Court is yet to be heard. Many national, and international human rights organisations, including United Nations Human Rights Commission, and Intellectuals all over the world appealed for his unconditional release. But all the appeals fell on deaf ears. Moreover it is pathetic that the court says that there is no danger to his life and he is getting medical aid regularly, while the medical reports and his health conditions appear contrary.
If that is the most inhuman treatment meted out by the wheeled chaired Professor, we are shocked to learn of the incarceration of 79 year old VaravaRao, a well-known Telugu writer, and activist and the voice of the voiceless on charges of criminal conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister. We can’t imagine the telugu literary and intellectual areas along with peoples movements and movements for democratic rights without his contribution since 50 years. The pity is that VaravaraRao, who met many politicians with an appeal for the release of Prof. Saibaba, himself is jailed.
Even the same fate struck to another intellectual, a lawyer, Surendra Gadling, who has been representing the Professor in Courts. Another seven intellectuals, who demanded the release of the Professor are in jails now. All these intellectuals are the rights activists fighting for the cause of the dalits, women and adivasis. All these actions are nothing but strangling the voices, which demand justice.
It appears that the Conspiracy theory suits to the Police rather than the intellectuals, imprisoned. At first they were charged with the their involvement in the Bhima Koregaon riots. When that appeared ludicrous, the charges were reframed and the intellectuals were charged with the conspiracy. For that the police created false and fake letters to support their theory. All politicians of many hues, including Rahul Gandhi, and some of the retired police officers, judges openly condemned these false allegations. The more heinous act of the machinery is that they were arrested under the draconian UAPA. These nine intellectuals, who are jailed, are theVoiceof the voiceless. Thus by muffling their voices the government is denying them their fundamental Right of Expression. It is nothing but strangling the voices of crores of Women, Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis. It is not only the above mentioned intellectuals, but thousands of Adivasis,Dalits and Muslims have been languishing in jails for decades without trial.
Inregard of Prof. Saibaba and VaravaraRao, they belong to our telugu society and have been active in public life for decades. VaravaraRao, who is in Pune jail now is 79 years old and needs constant medical attention. Saibaba, the wheeled chaired professor with umpteen diseases needs constant medical care, which is denied in Nagpur Anda cell . We are very much worried about the condition of both.
It is not these specific cases that panic all peace loving people. It is the atmosphere of fear and terror prevalent in the present society in which the intellectuals are being threatened, attacked and also being for their dissenting voices. Violence on Dalits and minorities has grown specifically in the recent years. This atmosphere of fear and panic is not good to democracy and is against the spirit of our constitution.
As candidates to be elected as people’s representatives under the oath of our constitution, we need not say that it is your bounden duty to safe guard democracy and rule of law and see that all institutions including the police, abide by the constitutional values both in action and spirit. For democracy to survive it is essential that the Right to expression, dissent is honoured. Once the voice of dissent is strangled, there is no chance for democracy to survive.
For you and your political parties the guiding spirit and light is Indian Constitution. The Congress party already promised to repeal the sedition law. More over when the basic fundamental Rights are curtailed, no amount of your proposed welfare measures and development programs can safeguard the democracy. It leads to chaos.
Hence, we request all contesting political parties to put your policies on safeguarding the democratic rights in public and give a clear assurance to the people.
We appeal you to strive for an impartial and just enquiry in the above cases and see that Prof. Saibaba, VaravaraRao and others are granted bail immediately.
Author adminPosted on April 7, 2019 April 7, 2019 Categories Uncategorized
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Bhima Koregaon: HC extends protection from arrest for Gautam Navlakha
Frontline Defenders Statement on Anand Teltumbde
“I Don’t See Any Anti-Caste Movement Today”: Teltumbde
The Real Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy
Why is the State afraid of Rona Wilson?
Bhima Koregaon issue
Bhima Koregaon Campaign
Timeline of Bhima-Koregaon Cases
Sudha Bharadwaj
Arun Ferreira
Surendra Gadling
Vernon Gonsalves
Gautham Navlakha
Varavara Rao
Mahesh Raut
Anand Teltumbde
Rona Wilson
Stan Swamy
Why is the UAPA Problematic?
Archives Select Month May 2019 (1) April 2019 (3) March 2019 (5) February 2019 (21) January 2019 (3)
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Researchers discover new gene variant for inherited amino acid-elevating disease
December 29, 2017 /in At a Glance, At a Glance Home Page, Genetics and Rare Diseases, Genetics and Rare Diseases News, Neonatology, Neonatology News, Neurology & Neurosurgery News, Neurology and Neurosurgery /by Innovation District
What’s known
Hypermethioninemia is a rare condition that causes elevated levels of methionine, an essential amino acid in humans. This condition stems from genetic variations inherited from one or both parents. Some forms of hypermethioninemia are recessive, meaning that two copies of defective genes are necessary to cause this disease. Other forms are dominant, meaning that only one copy can cause hypermethioninemia. Recessive forms of the disease tend to have more serious consequences, causing elevated methionine levels throughout life and leading to changes in the brain’s white matter visible on magnetic resonance imaging that can cause neurological problems. The dominant forms are generally thought to be largely benign and require minimal follow-up.
A research team led by Carlos Ferreira Lopez, M.D., a medical geneticist at Children’s National Health System, discovered a new gene variant that had not been associated with hypermethioinemia previously when an infant who had tested positive for elevated methionine on newborn blood-spot screening came in for a follow-up evaluation. While the majority of dominant hypermethioninemia are caused by a genetic mutation known as MAT1A p.Arg264His, the child didn’t have this or any of the common recessive hypermethioninemia mutations. Genetic testing showed that she carried a different mutation to the MAT1A gene known as p.Ala259Val, of which she carried only a single copy. The child fit the typical profile of having the dominant form of the disease, with methionine levels gradually declining over time. Testing of her mother showed that she carried the same gene variant, with few consequences other than a hepatitis-like illness as a child. Because liver disease can accompany dominant hypermethioninemia, the infant’s doctors will continue periodic follow-up to ensure she remains healthy.
Questions for future research
Q: Besides the potential for harmful liver effects, does dominant hypermethioninemia have other negative consequences?
Q: How common is this gene variant, and are certain people at more risk for carrying it?
Source: “Confirmation that MAT1A p.Ala259Val mutation causes autosomal dominant hypermethioninemia.” Muriello, M.J., S. Viall, T. Bottiglieri, K. Cusmano-Ozog and C. R. Ferreira. Published by Molecular Genetics and Metabolism Reports December 2017.
https://innovationdistrict.childrensnational.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/CFerreira.png 228 250 Innovation District https://innovationdistrict.childrensnational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/idlogo1-tagline-Advances-in-Medicine.gif Innovation District2017-12-29 15:38:182019-06-20 09:15:47Researchers discover new gene variant for inherited amino acid-elevating disease
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You’re Likely Spending Way Too Much On Subscriptions
opolja
Unless you're living off the grid, you've got some subscriptions you're paying for every month or every year. And wouldn't you know, those puppies really add up.
A new survey from PCMag asked people how much they think they're spending every month on subscriptions, including cell phone service. The average person estimated around $80. Yikes...
Turns out we're spending about three times that. When you actually add it up, the average person is dropping $237 every month on subscriptions. MAJOR yikes.
That includes a lot of little things that add up, like:
Cell phone service
Cable and WiFi
Netflix and Hulu
Cloud storage like iCloud and Dropbox
App memberships
What can you do? Experts say check and recheck what you're paying for. Do you need everything? Do you need certain storage tiers, or the more expensive version(s) of your subscription? Imagine saving almost $240 a month... Ok, you won't scarp them all, but imagine at least saving $100 a month. Not bad, right?
Filed Under: Bills, Subscriptions
Categories: Articles, Johnny Marks, Tiffany
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Job growth has remained vibrant despite the slow-growing economy,and that's a trend investors are anxious to see confirmed in the February employment report on Friday. Even with some economists expecting growth around 1 percent for the first quarter, the labor market has been strong, and economists expect to see 185,000 jobs added in February. The economy is widely expected to bounce back in the second quarter to a pace well above 2 percent, after the temporary headwinds from the government shutdown and polar vortex abate. The jobs data tops the list of important economic news in the week ahead, particularly after a string of disappointing reports showing that both consumers and businesses have pulled back.
The stock market will pass a major milestone on Wednesday—the tenth anniversary of the day the market bottomed in 2009, when the S&P 500 hit 666. The S&P has gained more than 312 percent since that low of the financial crisis, and some analysts see the bull market continuing for at least another year. "We think there's further upside for this bull market to go. The age of the bull does not matter. What really matters is how healthy it is," said Patrick Palfrey, U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse. "Whatever the concerns, around trade tariffs, or decelerating corporate profits, we believe this bull market remains very healthy." The S&P 500 is taking aim at the 2,800 level, an important milestone that it has struggled to surpass in the past week. The 2,800 marker was an important level for the stock market four times in past several months, and holding above it could signal the rally could drive stocks to fresh highs. Palfrey said investors first and foremost are looking at any information that can help them gauge how the economy is doing. "We're looking for confirmation in the jobs report. We think the economy is doing okay. Labor participation is improving. We're going to see that continuing to inch back up," he said. The Citigroup economic surprise index fell to a new 18-month low Friday, following a recent rash of disappointing reports. When economic reports come in below economists' expectations, the surprise index falls and a low number for the index is reflecting the economic slowdown. Goldman Sachs economists Friday said they were expecting first quarter growth of just 0.9 percent, but they raised second quarter growth to 2.9 percent.
In addition to the jobs report, there is the Fed's beige book on the economy Wednesday and new home sales Tuesday. But after delayed and weaker data, it's the jobs report that matters most. The employment report is one data point that has been released as normal through the shutdown, and in the January data, there was a huge upside surprise of 304,000 nonfarm payrolls. "All eyes are on the job market. If businesses lose faith and they stop hiring, and job growth starts slowing, then we do have problems," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. Economists expect wages to rise by 0.3 percent and unemployment to fall a tenth to 3.9 percent, according to Refinitiv. "I think companies should stay steadfast in their hiring," Zandi said. He expects job growth of about 200,000 but notes there could be a payback for the huge amount of hires in January. "I think the economy is fragile, growth is below trend. It's very vulnerable. The only thing that will keep it together is if businesses keep hiring and the job market holds up, and I think it will unless the president doesn't settle with the Chinese on trade, or there's a hard Brexit or some other geopolitical event," said Zandi.
The Federal Reserve has paused in its interest rate hiking because of the slowing economy and concerns about financial conditions. But the Fed could move forward on rates again, if inflation begins to pick up, and for that reason the wage data in the jobs report would also be key were it to show new wage pressures. There are a few speeches by Fed officials, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who speaks at Stanford University Friday night at an economic conference.
Market focus will also be on the European Central Bank which meets Thursday.
"I think people are expecting some detail about a long-term loan operation," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex. The ECB is expected to allow European banks to extend the duration of some short-term loans. Chandler said the ECB could also push back on its time frame on raising interest rates, which it has said would not be until after the summer.
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Don't Come To Japan To Make Anime, Says Japanese Animator
Illustration: Nishiiterumi1
Freelance character designer Terumi Nishii is a talent artist (see above) and has an impressive list of anime credits. She’s worked on Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable, among others. She has lots experience and some frank advice.
Via Game New Flash, here is some real talk for those dreaming of moving to Japan and making anime.
So, yeah, don’t come to Japan to make anime.
80,000 yen is $716 dollars.
Nishii added that the current production grind is causing major burnout.
And the whole business is not geared to make money for the artists.
Thomas Romain, a French-born animator working in Japan, recounted this:
It’s not just long hours, but an industry that has yet to enter the 21st century.
Even if the situation was slightly better, it’s still hard for foreigners to become animators in Japan due to intrinsic problems, like visas.
Nishii said she has been shifting away from anime to games.
Be sure to follow Nishii on Twitter because she’s one of the few Japanese animators publically challenging how things have traditionally been done.
Being an Animator in Japan Is Brutal
Japanese Animators Give Advice for the Anime Industry
Make Anime In Japan, Get A Shitty Salary
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You Are Not Looking At A Manga Drawing Of Cars
Photo: Shinga (Twitter)
This isn’t an Initial D drawing. It’s not a page from the manga. You are looking at model cars painted like manga or anime art.
Incredible, no? This is the work of a talented Twitter user named Shinga, who says he painted them in the style of Initial D creator Shuichi Shigeno.
Here’s a look behind the scenes at Shinga’s process.
Previously, Gundam model builders have painted their creations in this style, but it’s the first time I’ve seen Initial D.
Anime Paint Jobs For Gundam Models
View on Oppositelock
Initial D Is a Great Introduction to Car Culture
This Gundam Model Looks Right Out Of The Anime. Literally.
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The rapes began 24 years ago. Now, an arrest
Posted 4:50 pm, April 5, 2019, by Tribune Media
Police in South Carolina have seized a man suspected of raping 12 women—one of whom was targeted twice—in attacks going back nearly 25 years.
“I can’t imagine how some of the victims must have felt knowing that it took this long,” but “prayers have been answered,” Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said at a press conference, per ABC News.
Wright said suspect Gregory Frye, 52, was living in the area, “going about his business like nothing happened.” He was tracked down after investigators reinterviewed victims—aged 14 to 51 at the time of the assaults—and acquired new DNA samples.
The big break came last week as investigators reportedly learned Frye’s DNA matched evidence from six of the victims, per NBC News, which notes that evidence previously linked all 13 crimes from 1995 to 2003.
Frye, who closely resembles a composite sketch, was arrested Tuesday night on burglary, kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct charges stemming from one sexual assault at Watermere Apartments. Per the Spartanburg Herald Journal, a woman described being raped by a man who loomed over her bed in the early hours of March 2, 1999.
Pending are additional charges related to the other assaults. They similarly occurred in the early morning at apartments across Spartanburg County, 90 miles north of Columbia.
“This is a great day to know that we got at least one person that’s going to be held accountable for a reign of terror that he caused for these victims,” Wright said. Frye was being held in Spartanburg County Detention Center without bail. (The suspected “NorCal Rapist” was nabbed in September.)
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9/11 victim identified almost 18 years after World Trade Center attack
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Maricopa Community College Faculty, Workers Criticize Provision Changes
By Steve Goldstein, Mark Brodie
Published: Friday, November 30, 2018 - 11:48am
show-mcccd-20181130.mp3
Download mp3 (14.84 MB)
The Maricopa County Community College District is in the midst of massive change. Early this year, the District’s Governing Board eliminated the “meet and confer” provision.
That departure was criticized by a number of faculty members, who said it would keep them from being able to work with administrators on items including wages, governance and benefits.
Faculty members expressed other concerns as well. And this week, the Higher Learning Commission — the district’s accrediting body — sent the district a letter stating that it wasn’t taking any immediate further action at this time. But, the HLC did say it would continue to monitor some of the issues during its next evaluation of a district college next fall.
To hear a reaction to that letter, The Show was joined by Dr. Karla Fisher, Provost of the district.
The concerns were largely brought by district faculty members. So to talk about what they think of the HLC’s response, The Show spoke with John Schampel, a biology professor at Phoenix College and the current faculty association president for MCCCD.
EDITOR'S NOTE: KJZZ is licensed to the Maricopa County Community College District.
More Stories From KJZZ
3 Newcomers Elected To Maricopa County Community College District Board
Maricopa County Community College District Chancellor Responds To Faculty Complaints
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TARA LYNCH Announce ‘EVIL ENOUGH TOUR 2019’ As Special Guest With UFO on their 50th Anniversary Last Orders Tour
by NorthWar 01/21/2019 16:06 0100
US guitarist, composer, vocalist and songwriter, Tara Lynch (a.k.a. “Gui-Tara”), has announced United Kingdom & Ireland tour dates in March/April as special guest with UFO on their 50th Anniversary Last Orders Tour. Tara Lynch promises “a very exciting high energy, full of passion performance.” With that said, the tour is predestined to be a spectacular success!
TOURDATES (w/UFO):
07 Bristol, 02 Academy
08 Leamington Spa, The Assembly
09 Oxford, 02 Academy
10 Bournemouth, 02 Academy
12 Cardiff, Tramshed
14 Birmingham, Town Hall
16 Manchester, 02 Ritz
17 Leeds, University Stylus
19 Dublin, Academy
20 Belfast, The Limelight 1
22 Cambridge, The Junction
23 Northampton, Roadmender
24 Norwich, The Waterfront
26 Nottingham, Rock City
28 Newcastle, 02 Academy
29 Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall
30 Inverness, Ironworks
31 Glasgow, O2 Academy
02 Hull, City Hall
03 Southampton, The Brook
04 London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire
05 London, O2 Forum
Tara Lynch will release her debut album, “Evil Enough”, on March 1st in Europe/UK via Cargo Records UK.
“Evil Enough” is a melodic metal album featuring Lynch on all guitars and vocals along with an all-star lineup of guest performances by Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO), Tony MacAlpine (PLANET X), Phil Soussan (OZZY OSBOURNE, BILLY IDOL), Mark Boals (DOKKEN, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN), Brent Woods (VINCE NEIL, SEBASTIAN BACH), Glen Sobel (ALICE COOPER) and Björn Englen (DIO DISCIPLES, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN). “Evil Enough” is produced by Brent Woods. All words and music written by Tara Lynch.
1. Evil Enough
2. Antidote
3. Exit The Warrior
4. Kringeworthy
5. Banished From My Kingdom
6. Gui-Tara Rises
7. Unbreakable
8. Enigmatic
9. Trustless
10. Feckless Lock
Musicians with as many talents as Tara Lynch (nickname: “Gui-Tara”) are a rare find. The American multi-instrumentalist sings, plays the electric and the acoustic guitar, as well as the bass, drums and piano, in addition to composing her own material from an early age. At the same time, she enjoys an excellent reputation among her colleagues and not only deployed her own skills on her current album Evil Enough but was supported by international stars such as Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath/Dio), Tony MacAlpine (Planet X), Phil Soussan (Ozzy Osbourne/Billy Idol), Mark Boals (Dokken/Yngwie Malmsteen), Brent Woods (Vince Neil/Sebastian Bach), Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper) and Björn Englen(Quiet Riot/Yngwie Malmsteen) as guest musicians. “They are all my personal friends,” she explains, “so it was easy to ‘cast’ each track and their support means the world to me. They all welcomed the opportunity to play the songs I wrote and each guest put their own special vibe and feeling into each track, making them sound just perfect!”
And indeed Tara Lynch has succeeded in recording an outstanding rock album in Evil Enough, which – despite the renowned guest contributions – focuses mainly on her expressive voice, her intelligent, elegant guitar style and her mature songwriting. Says Tara: “I prefer to think of the guitar as a form of art and not just a tool to create music with, which is why there are four instrumental tracks on Evil Enough. My musical taste varies widely, and though I’m a huge fan of the instrumental guitar genre, my favourite bands have a vocalist and a guitarist that really takes advantage of melodies and not just pure shred.”
For this reason Tara Lynch, who has studied with Steve Vai, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Black Country Communion), among others, relies primarily on inspiration and instinct, despite her accomplished technical skill: “What you hear is exactly what comes out of me without any pre-programmed ideas. I have lived quite a colourful life thus far and have lots of things to talk about, so when I write my music I just say it like it is. I do the same with my guitar playing. I’m not out there to impress anybody, just to tell my story and hope that people enjoy what they hear and can even relate.”
www.taralynch.com
www.facebook.com/TaraLynchOfficial
EVIL ENOUGH TOUR 2019TARA LYNCHShare0
TARA LYNCH Reveal ‘Evil Enough’ Album Details EU/UK Release Feat. Vinny Appice, Tony MacAlpine, Phil Soussan, Among Others
Witherfall Interview
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Theo Russell November 12, 2018
Grenfell – cutting corners
JUSTICE4GRENFELL, FIREFIGHTERS, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Labour opposition are all agreed that housing secretary James Brokenshire’s announcement of a ban on combustible materials on high-rise residential buildings falls far short of the total ban they are seeking from the Grenfell Inquiry.
The headline-grabbing announcement at the Conservative Party conference was deliberately misleading. The vague declaration of “a ban (on) the use of combustible materials on external walls of high-rise residential buildings” blurs the truth: it is only a partial ban which does not include all combustible cladding.
At a recent meeting between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the local community close to the Grenfell Tower, both Moyra Samuels, a co-ordinator for Justice4Grenfell, and FBU general secretary Matt Wrack, warned of protests at the inquiry if it failed to recommend a total ban on external flammable cladding.
The inquiry has become a battleground between the May government and the powerful cladding and building lobbies on one side – who it seems are still trying to protect business interests by stealth – and the community and firefighters on the other.
According to Matt Wrack, Brokenshire’s plan was “designed for political convenience, not for thoroughgoing change.” He said it was “not the outright ban on combustible cladding that firefighters have been calling for, and will continue to allow cladding with limited combustibility on future building work”. The highly respected Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) backs this up, saying the ban “lacks clear guidance and effective enforcement, leaving room for cutting corners.”
Brokenshire told Parliament: “This ban… will limit materials available to products achieving a European classification of Class A1 or A2”. The problem is that many A2 materials have “limited combustibility”, and even worse carry known risks of toxic smoke and droplets, extremely hazardous for residents and firefighters.
The FBU and RIBA both want a total ban on all A2 cladding, with only A1 products allowed on buildings. The FBU also points out that Brokenshire’s ban does not cover 468 existing buildings in England with combustible cladding, and, along with RIBA, says the ban should apply to buildings of all types, not just residential.
Meanwhile a new concern for survivors, firefighters and local residents has been raised by Dr Fiona Wilcox, the lead coroner for those who died in the Grenfell fire. She has warned NHS chief executive Simon Stevens of serious health concerns for survivors, especially children, resulting from toxic contamination after the fire.
A study by Professor Anna Stec, a fire toxicology expert and expert witness to the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry, has found “huge concentrations” of potential carcinogens in dust, soil and burned debris up to almost a mile away, including high levels of asbestos and hydrogen cyanide.
She said the so-called “Grenfell cough” reported by survivors after the fire “seems indicative of elevated levels of atmospheric contaminants”, and recommended that health authorities take samples of blood and saliva from those affected to monitor possible damage to DNA.
It has been reported that Public Health England has decided not to follow this advice until Stec’s report is published, probably early next year, causing widespread concern among health experts.
However, on 10th October NHS England said it would provide “up to £50m” for the long-term screening and treatment for the effects of smoke inhalation and asbestos exposure on those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.
Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea Trades Council
Fast food shutdown
Owen Espley November 12, 2018
"Your planet needs you"
Owen Adams November 11, 2018
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AG Holder Proves His Cowardice by Investigating Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Sometimes we Americans are too soft. We so desperately want to help people that we end up hurting ourselves. We did it with welfare, we do it in the war on terror, and we do it when it comes to Illegal immigration. Too many people on the liberal side of the fence argue that illegal immigration is a racial issue. Those of us that want to protect the US boarders inspired by racism, trying to keep out Hispanics. This is simply not true. Illegal immigration is a Law and Order Issue and a anti-terrorism issue. Hence the word ILLEGAL immigration.
I find it incredible that the stimulus bill included had loop hole that would allow Illegal aliens get some of the jobs. Immigration has become such a “hot potato” that many policemen in towns/cities along the border refuse to enforce the laws. One of the few lawmen that try to protect our boarders is Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Sheriff Joe has become famous for zealously enforcing the law. And his reward came this week when he got a letter from the justice department informing that he was under investigation for “patterns” of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures. Proving once again that Attorney General Holder is a Coward:
Harassing A Lawman
By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
Immigration: At a time when our border is becoming a war zone, something’s a bit suspect about the Justice Department suddenly harassing a border-state sheriff who zealously enforces the law.
Last Tuesday, the Justice Department notified Joe Arpaio, the top lawman in Maricopa County, Ariz., including Phoenix, that his department is under investigation for “patterns” of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures. The letter offered zero specifics.
But we’d guess those specifics closely match the radical agenda of community organizers like La Raza, ACORN and other government-funded immigration lobbyists, all of whom launched a coordinated campaign “message” at about the same time.
Congress, meanwhile, has a witch hunt of its own going against Arpaio that popped up about the same time. This too is strange, because Arpaio has been at it since 1993 and hasn’t changed a bit.
Sure, like Rush Limbaugh, Arpaio’s an easy target. He’s bombastic and carries out his duties with gusto. That’s why he’s popular with Arizona voters and a target of open-border activists.
We trust that Sheriff Arpaio is more than able to defend himself against these vague allegations. But to go after him at a time like this also strikes us as being an egregiously misplaced priority.
As everyone knows, there’s a war coming up from Mexico that is fast spilling over into the United States. Arpaio’s Phoenix now has the second-highest kidnapping rate in the world. It’s a war all right, linked to the very smuggling crimes that Arpaio is fighting.
Going after him now sends a disturbing message about U.S. priorities to Mexico’s organized criminals. They’ll profit from an enfeebled law enforcement effort in that state, which is what this Justice bid would do.
Arpaio’s department is the largest participant in the 287(g) federal program that lets local police departments help enforce federal immigration laws. His deputies cooperate with federal agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), that break up smuggling rings. Since 2006, Arpaio has handed over 22,616 illegal immigrants to Immigration for deportation.
Maricopa deputies have also cracked down on those who ship illegal immigrants to sweatshops and other slave settings — scooping up 1,250 of them. The deputies enforce federal law as well by turning in illegal immigrants who commit other crimes — about 1,582 in all.
While Arpaio annoys the illegal immigration lobby, he frightens Mexico’s smugglers and cuts into their business. The reality is that by going after him with lawsuits, smugglers get a very big obstacle to their U.S. operations removed.
Make no mistake: The violent criminal enterprises Mexico is fighting are the same ones smuggling meth, cocaine and illegal immigrants.
At best, whoever wants Joe in jail over civil rights violations doesn’t think the laws Arpaio struggles to enforce are as important as satisfying special interest groups.
It amounts to politics at the expense of national security. And wittingly or not, it does the cartels’ bidding. Using the fig leaf of “human rights violations” to defang the cops is something Medellin cartel cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar pioneered at the height of his power in the early 1990s. It ought to be seen for the ruse that it is.
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Acting ICE director rips sanctuary city mayors for helping illegal aliens avoid arrest Liberty Unyielding Daily Caller News Foundation
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Petition to Rename Space Once Honoring Robert E. Lee Could Honor Leah Chase
By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor
“Her daily joy was not simply cooking but preparing meals to bring people together. One of her most prized contributions was advocating for the Civil Rights Movement through feeding those on the front lines of the struggle for human dignity,” Chase’s family said in a statement announcing her death. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Blake Nelson Boyd, [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)]
A petition has been launched to rename Lee Circle in New Orleans after famed restaurant owner Leah Chase. Chase passed away on June 1 in Madisonville, Louisiana at age 96. Her restaurant, “Dooky Chase’s Restaurant,” which she owned with her husband, the late Edgar “Dooky” Chase II, who died in 2016, was a gathering place for Civil Rights leaders.
“A statue of Leah Chase would bring all New Orleanians together in honor of one of our greatest culture bearers,” the petition reads.
Chase was the recipient of numerous cooking awards. Chase was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2010. In 2000, Chase was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Southern Foodways Alliance.
National Food and Beverage Foundation President Brent Rosen launched the petition. The petition says the cost of installation of a statue of Leah Chase would be paid for by the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
Over two years ago, the statue of Robert E. Lee was removed from Lee Circle. Now with the new petition, a group of New Orleans residents are focused on replacing the name of the vacant landmark.
Dooky Chase’s Restaurant became an important stop as Dr. Martin Luther King and the Freedom Riders stopped in New Orleans. As King and the Freedom Riders were beginning to organize the Montgomery bus boycott they held meetings in Dooky Chase’s meeting rooms. There were no black-owned banks in many African-American communities in the South but people would go to Dooky Chase and have their checks cashed by the owners. On Friday nights people would cash checks and order a po-boy.
Categories: National | News
Tags: @DrBenChavis | @LVBurke | #leahchase | #LeeCircle | Brent Rosen | civil rights leaders | Dooky Chase’s Restaurant | Dr. Martin Luther King | Edgar "Dooky" Chase II | Freedom Riders | James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America | Lauren Victoria Burke | Leah Chase | Lifetime Achievement Award | Montgomery Bus Boycott | National Food and Beverage Foundation | New Orleanians | New Orleans | NNPA Newswire | petition | rename Lee Circle | restaurant owner | Southern Food and Beverage Museum | Southern Foodways Alliance | statue of Leah Chase | statue of Robert E. Lee
BREAKING NEWS: R. Kelly Arrested in Chicago on Federal Sex Crime Charges
Authorities ID Man Shot Dead in Leimert Park
Thousands of L.A. County Patient Records Exposed in Data Breach
4.0 Aftershock Hits Ridgecrest Area
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News » Spirits news » Whisky news
Diageo launches lost whisk(e)y scheme
By Christian Davis
Published: 12 February, 2014
Diageo, the world’s largest premium spirits company and the largest producer of Scotch whisky, has launched an initiative to locate lost and forgotten barrels of whisk(e)y from around the world.
The Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Company is is headquartered in Tullahoma, Tennessee, where Diageo bottles its whiskeys/ies. Its first releases include 20+ year-old Barterhouse whiskey and 26-year-aged Old Blowhard whiskey. Both brands are expected to begin appearing on select shelves throughout the US in March under strict allocation due to limited supply.
Barterhouse whiskey stocks were discovered in old warehouses at the Stitzel-Weller facility in Louisville, Kentucky. It is described as having a “soft nose reminiscent of warm spice, biscuit and buttercream. The whiskey’s mellow taste includes notes of roasted grain, charred oak and a brown sugar finish”. It will sell for a suggested retail price of $75.
Old Blowhard Whiskey was also found at Stitzel-Weller and is hand bottled in Tullahoma. At 26-years-old, the whiskey is said to contain “exuberant, rich flavours with undertones of smoke and honey followed by a gentle finish – dry and spicy with a hint of orange peel”. It has a suggested retail price of $150.
Diageo master of whiskey Ewan Morgan said: “The whisky warehouses and rickhouses these spirits come from are special places filled with the incredible smells of seasoned oak, rough textures of weathered wood and amazing tastes of precious liquid. It’s every worker’s dream of finding that forgotten barrel of delicious whiskey and sharing it with their friends. That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Diageo says it continues to invest in the growing whiskey and bourbon categories via the Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling company and its existing line of whiskies including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal Canadian Whisky, Bulleit Bourbon, George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey, Bushmills and more.
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Diageo to spend £7.2m on Johnnie Walker
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UPDATE: Man shot in Kawerau
By: New Zealand Police
Published: Thu 21 Feb 2019 05:22 PM
First I would like to offer my condolences to the whanau of the deceased.
This was a tragic event and the outcome today is something no Police officer wants to see.
Police were called to family harm matter shortly before 9am.
In the initial call it was reported that a man was in possession of a firearm and had used it before fleeing from a Kawerau property in a vehicle.
In response to the report Police immediately began making inquiries to locate the offender.
When we arrived at the scene the offender had left the address.
Further information was received to indicate the offender had been using methamphetamine.
Shortly later we received a report of an aggravated robbery at Kawerau First Credit Union where a firearm was presented where an amount of cash was taken.
No-one was injured in the incident at the Credit Union.
A while later the car, believed to be that of the offender, was sighted on a rural road between Edgecumbe and Kawerau.
Lights and sirens were used to indicate for the vehicle to stop.
However the offender failed to stop and instead fled.
While fleeing the offender has carried out a u-turn and driven at Police vehicles.
Staff were forced to take evasive action.
At around 10.20am the offender has stopped on SH30 by the Te Teko Racecourse.
AOS members approached the vehicles.
The offender presented a firearm at an AOS member and fired a shot and Police have returned fire.
Police staff on the scene have rendered first aid however the 29-year-old offender has died at the scene.
No Police staff were injured in the incident.
A fatal shooting is an outcome nobody wants.
Police staff go to work everyday to keep the community safe and no officer takes the decision to use a firearm lightly.
It is the biggest decision they will make in their police careers and one that has a traumatic impact on them.
Police are liaising with the family of the deceased and Victim Support has been provided.
The IPCA have been notified of this incident and our own Critical Incident Investigation is also underway.
The death will be referred to the Coroner.
As part of an ongoing scene investigation cordons will remain in place at SH30 between Braemer Road and Grieve Road near Te Teko, diversions are in place.
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of Freehold, NY (1I5)
*Membership*
Tow Fees
About soaring
Learning to soar
Aircraft Status
CT State Records
How Fast Can I Go
Thermalling Best Practices
Land Out Sites
Performance #ers
2007 Mifflin Trip
Cheating Gravity
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The Wave Goes "Boing"
by Chris MacIntyre
Wave Camp in Gorham, NH
Into thin air with varios "pegged" at ten plus knots, going through 13,000 ft (click image for a full size version)!
One thing that doesn't get much airtime in this sport is how hard it is to put together the time and people to make a trek to a different soaring site. But a bunch of us from the Nutmeg Soaring Association did just that in the second week of October, and despite the difficulty of making it happen, it's worth it.
I was recovering from jet lag and my wife Barbara prescribed a Season ending soaring trip. A few calls the night before and I teamed up with Peter Scarpelli and his Mosquito, for the drive up. And it was quite a drive. We were headed for Gorham NH, just beyond Mt. Washington, one of the highest mountains in the East. The whole day would be spent driving. We were on the edge of a Nor'easter, the forecast calling for it to be gone by the next day, the winds kicking up behind an accompanying cold front. We were in search of wave. High surface winds, within reason, are good, as they signal a wind at the summit sufficient to give birth to the wave. Other things make the wave go higher still, but for once the phrase "Wassamatta, da wind quit?" had some meaning. Too much wind though, and you couldn't put the gliders together and handle them on the ground.
As we pulled through the White Mountains, the peaks were impressive, even now, partially draped in cloud. An added bonus was the foliage at its most spectacular. It was easy to find the Gorham airport, it was 50 yards from downtown. The inevitable bumpy, albeit short, dirt road revealed ships but no owners, all familiar numbers. Felt like Old Home Week. In the approaching darkness, the field looked tiny, surrounded by hills. With only the barest of amenities, it seemed not to be the place for significant others with nothing to do. But it would be the launching spot for who knows what adventure, and there was the lure. With some kind of radar, Peter and I ended up at a restaurant and found the group already there. It was nice to see familiar faces in a strange place. We all launched into stories and shared experiences. We FNG's (new guys) were already picking up hints from the Old Hats.
Up the next day to howling winds, slowly clearing skies and bitter cold. Rather than rig, we got a briefing by driving up to Pinkham Notch, the starting point for a lot of hikers. Two of our members have hiked here for years and their familiarity was invaluable. Inside Pinkham Lodge is a 10-foot square model with the Presidential Range laid out in relief. We took over the room for half an hour, hands motioning to show where the lift will be, how to get back to the airport, where the rotor and sink could be trouble. Our group confused the hikers around us, I'm sure. A good learning experience, though, pointing out the geography and how quickly the weather can change in the mountains. "I thought the wave just kind of surfed over the top", one of us confessed. "I didn't realize it comes down on this side and goes "BOING!", back up into the stratosphere! I guess this isn't our benign home field in Connecticut". We traipsed outside and turned to watch Mt. Washington taunt us. It appeared and disappeared in the snow filled cap cloud within minutes. We felt the wind shift 180 degrees on the ground, watched flags flutter in opposite directions, and discussed the one landing area available at the base of the mountain. We wondered how flying in the vicinity of winds reported to be 80 knots at 6000 ft would be like. Or whether we should. The rotor cloud overhead roiled angrily to make the point.
No, this is definitely not the home field.
Back at the airport, NB, one of our most experienced pilots, pointed out the signs of wave activity and resolutely rigged. The winds were still 25K on the ground and he hung back for a while. He was the first to launch at 12:30; no one else was even out of the box. And he was gone. We took a short lunch break and got back to the field, greeted by a reduced surface wind and a flurry of activity. More club members had joined up. Everyone started pulling up to the line. Peter goes in CA, releasing in the wave at 5. NB is back, stories of the wave window stretching in front of him for miles, and effortless climbs to 14K. Sure enough, a call to CA has him out of 13.5, climbing at up to1500 fpm. The day is waning; the lift is not.
It's now 4:15, about when things are winding down at most gliderports but here the adrenaline is still flowing. The tows are going to 6000 or so and with just one tow plane, it makes for a long wait. Suited up with all the usual, plus oxygen, a down coat, gloves, electric socks, thermal underwear and boots, you'd think I'd be boiling, but it's just right. After struggling to get settled, the 15 minutes waiting for Gary, our host and tow pilot gave me a chance to plan and think. Rope break, sink, rotor. It's the same, yet it's different. The straight pipe Pawnee pulls well in the cool air as we start the evening tow. Just after breaking ground it feels like I should be hearing the Ride of The Valkyries. Stretching above my left shoulder is a snow-capped mountain about 4000 feet high. A few seconds later, when the time is available to look around, the real mountain shows up, at an impossible angle above the canopy. And Gary calmly turns towards it into the Land of Oz we go.
Boy, is this different. Constantly thinking rope break, I leave the decision of where and when to release to Gary. It's not nearly as rough as I hear wave tows can be. Gorham airport, 6 miles north and a little east of Mt. Washington, sits so you can tow without having to go through the rotor, a real boon. It's dried out after the morning's cold front and the peak is visible, along with small parallel clouds stretching downwind. Visibility is 60 miles or more, so towing up in between two of the scattered clouds presents no problem. As we climb in front of a shredded cu at 6000, it gets smooth and Gary radios "This is it." We release and turn right. All hell breaks loose as the wing goes down and the pit of the stomach is the only vario you need. Not that way, stupid! Stuffing the nose down quickly and finishing the turn smoothes it out. Not too much time to find the lift, as I need most of the altitude to get back to the field comfortably and there could be a lot of sink around. I certainly have found some of it. But pointing back at the mountain and speeding up a bit gives a reassuring push on the human vario. The other vario agrees, and starts to sing the song of lift. The altimeter winds up like a clock, and, as it can be in this manic-depressive sport, all's right with the world. Guess I won't need to worry about notching the baro.
Having read about what to do is a lot different from doing it. A little faster and the lift falls off. A little slower and that ominous leading edge of cloud gets too close. But it is falling away and diminishing quickly. The averager shows 5.5 knots for minutes on end. Soon the whole of New Hampshire is unfolding below, the airport small but at an easy angle. Magic. We have a half dozen Nutmeggers up. The perspective of altitude is different, but the chatter on the radio makes it more comfortable. We all keep an eye out, as the area of lift is only a few miles square. D7 says he's directly overhead, and a glance up reveals a small, impossibly bright, white cross, gracefully moving across my canopy. Each of us looks for the other in this vast blue canyon, occasional glints of wing the only hint of others up here enjoying the view. It almost seems to be cheating to have this kind of effortless climb. But only almost. It’s a reward for seasons of 1/2-knot thermals over the quarry and low saves just outside the pattern. The tough ones make you come back to do better, the perfect ones freeze a moment of time.
As we each reach our ATC ceiling, still climbing strongly and joined by WV, it's time to tip over to more friendly climes. This climb, though, has been friendly enough, good enough for Gold. We share the experiences later, each of us unbelieving of our luck. The companionship enhances our individual enjoyment of the day.
The next morning winds are nil, sky clear. Looks like a blue thermal day. Out on the line, everyone who tied out spends as much time cleaning off frost as the others do rigging. The day is weak and even the Old Hats are less than enthusiastic. The pilot meeting demands a picture, all of us commenting on how great it is that so many have shown up. A slow but steady launch sequence has the experienced pilots starting off on the ridge upwind of Mt. Washington, the new guys towing directly to the wave area, with varying degrees of success. Gary was somewhat overwhelmed by our arrival, but he made the turnarounds as fast as possible, wanting us to come back. Nutmeg now has a letter of agreement with Boston Center to allow flights above 18,000 feet. It wouldn't have mattered much that day, as it was one of much scratching.
One of us makes it into the wave, slowly working up to 14,000 several times, others towing to it but not having any luck. Go figure. After he came back, they grilled him but he wouldn't squeal. Looked like a case of right place, right time.
We had dinner that night in one of this ski spot's many restaurants. The airport may be dinky; the town, decidedly not. We've been joined by The Great Initiators of this trip, Ron Clifford (RQ and RQette), and a half a dozen more. It rounded us out to 13 ships and 17 pilots. War stories abounded. Ron, having established a beachhead at Gypsy's bar, successfully called for reinforcements into the night. A minimum of casualties was reported.
Another quiet dawn, the wind calm, a little haze. The forecast had been for overcast skies but we lucked out. The field had settled into a bit of a routine, with those who had tied out turning the ships into the sun like inanimate sunbathers so that the frost would melt. A quick pilot meeting but no rush to launch, as the wind on the summit was less than yesterday. NB went first, as usual, and reported wave to 13. So the day began.
The barograph showed how it was. Whereas the first day was the pyramid of Cheops, and the second a sawtooth, this is a gentle sloping plateau. Eventually the Hats clawed their way up from the low tows and joined us NG's who had taken advantage of the earlier, stronger conditions. Six of us hovered at 12.5, split by a hundred feet or so; the eternal climbing contest, noses held high as if sniffing for the elusive smooth lift. The stark rock of the mountain is cut by the Cog railway. Its smoke is designed to tell us where the wind is coming from and where the wave will be. How convenient. We watch as the new arrivals seek out the tempo of this marginal day. Stories abound after we land, another satisfying day done.
"I turned off of tow and got into sink so I headed out into the valley." says our 1_34 pilot. "I thought I was doing pretty well heading back to the airport at 4000. Then I hear D7 up at 12 saying he's looking at me and I seem little low. So I started worrying again!" He got back with 3000 feet in the bank and tells how "I sort of wished at one point I could turn the channel and come back later to see how it worked out!" The chance to talk with Rudi Opitz, our clubs resident guru and hall of famer is not to be turned down. But the conversation doesn't start with his usual gentlemanly "How vas your flight?". Not this time. Even he is bubbling over Gorham’s appeal. This time it's "Let me tell you about my flight! It was a very marginal wave, but I knew that if I flew exactly 330 degrees until I was over the mountain, I could turn and know that if I came back to that heading, I would be in lift, even if the canopy started to fog. This is a great site!" And every one had a story and a memory.
There were two more days at Gorham, but I had to leave the next morning. As I drove out of the fog that surrounded the field, lenticulars stacked behind Mt. Washington glowed red in the dawn. A good trek. Maybe a Diamond next time.
_Mike Lima
Authors Note: And there was a Diamond the next time. A whole slew of ‘em. And Lennies. And State Records. This story, originally published in the Nutmeg News in January of 1995, was the first of a series of trips made by Nutmeg to Gorham. The wave window is now the property of the FBO at Gorham and is available (with its accompanying restrictions) to all pilots flying from the site. Nutmeg also makes club journeys to Springfield VT in the summer for an annual encampment and has a dedicated group that every year makes a month long safari down the east coast in the spring. Our latest fall sojourn was to Miflin County in the Ridge Country of Pennsylvania and is written up in both our monthly newsletter and the Letters column of Soaring Magazine.
© 2019 SportsEngine, The Home of Youth Sports and Nutmeg Soaring Assn (2000). All rights reserved. Visitor # 692,989
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Betting system reviews.
Betting exchange sites review
By Editor in Reviews
Betting exchange are an interesting alternative to common online bookmakers. Imagine being your own bookmaker, and being able to bet against something happening empowering users to take an opposing view to traditional bookmakers. Let’s Compare Bets has lots of information about the benefits of betting exchanges. Instead this post will focus on reviewing the best betting exchange sites available to users from the UK, Europe, Australasia, Americas, Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Pioneers of the betting exchange format they are the ones who started exchange betting.
Worlds largest betting exchange
Liquidity is high in more markets than rivals, from betting on darts to Premier League football (liquidity is money on both sides of the book. Lots of participants backing and laying in order to make the market)
Offer fixed odds as well as betting exchange odds
Large marketing budget enables them to offer generous sign up bonuses for new and existing customers
Cash out feature allow members to collect the value of their bet before the outcome has been described
Free and premium software available allowing people to unlock advanced features of the exchange
Exchange commission is 5% which is high, but, discounts are available
Who can use Betfair?
Currently the website is available in English, Spanish, Portugues, Romanian, and Swedish.
People from Europe who want to register for Betfair can do some from these countries.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro
Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic
Germany (no Exchange)
Malta (no poker or multiples)
Countries from Australasia
From Asia
Saudi Arabia (Afro-Asia)
From America
Allowed within Delware, New Jersey and Nevada via TVG (a Betfair company)
From South America
From Africa
Note; local rules and regulations change. For instance Betfair is currently (2016) applying for a Portuguese gambling license and is not accepted members from Portugal until this completes.
Betdaq is the second largest betting exchange operator.
More generous commission discounting starting from 5%
Commission refunds available as a promotion
Trading software available from free and paid services
free bet promotions on offer
Less liquidity especially in smaller markets
Exchange commission is 5%
Who can open a Betdaq account?
People from the following European countries can open a Betdaq account.
From Australasia
From the Americas
Trinadad and Tobago
The Africas
The Asias
SM Markets
An up and coming betting exchange.
Only 2% commissions
A range of markets
lack of liquidity
Who can use SM Markets?
Accounts can be opened with various different currencies but there is no information about what countries are permitted. We have requested that information and are awaiting a reply. The currencies permitted are UK pound sterling, Euro, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Swiss Frank, Czech Koruna, Danish Krone, Hong Kong Dollar, Hungarian Forint, Japanese Yen, Norwegian Krone, Polish Zloty, Swedish Krona, and US Dollar.
Which of the top 3 betting exchanges you choose should depend on what you want from the exchange. Betfair is best for placing large bets, doing exchange trading, taking fixed odds or playing casino games. Betdaq is good for smaller bets on fewer markets and trading in some markets is possible. SM markets is good for small back or lay bets in fewer markets. Odds on the betting exchange can often be different on the same event making small exchange arbitrage bets possible. For a consistent, reliable and low risk way to have fun making cash from betting exchanges visitors should sign up to receive our Bet and Lay manual using the sign up form on this page (look for the button that says YES Please), or by visiting our joining page.
Cheltenham Festival horse racing
Prestbury Park proudly set in the Cotswold Hill host the Cheltenham Festival each year. Magners Cider Sponsors the event with entertainment including bars and live music. Occurring over 4 days in March each year Presbury Park hosts this first class jump racing event.
Icons of The Festival including Ladies Day on Day 2 and a stalwart of National Jump Racing the Cheltenham Gold Cup on day 4.
Over 260000 visitors flock just to the North of the historic town of Cheltenham each year to enjoy the best horse, jockeys and trainers the sport has to offer. Not to mention the 25000 Irish men and women who fly to the UK to enjoy the event, especially St Patrick’s Day on day 3.
Each day sports a number of races so there is plenty of action for Punter enjoying the event from home, or at the bookies.
The original Cheltenham Gold Cup trophy has been held in private hands in recent years. Instead of sitting in a bank vault the trophy will be presented to the future Gold Cup winners. As a perpetual gold cup the original trophy will be retained by Cheltenham Race Course with the winner receiving a replica to keep.
Get the most out of the ante post market with our recommended bookmaker Betfair. Click here to visit Betfair or read our Cheltenham Festival betting bonus page.
Who would want to revive the 1970s?
By Editor in Previews, Reviews
Jeremy Corbyn, has been well known during his long political career to have rejected wearing a tie. Only since he landed the job of leading the Labour party has he started wearing one. Tellingly he also wears corduroy, not because he wants to look like a school teacher or that he, like corduroy, is durable yet soft, but as a subtle indication as to his political leanings.
Fashion styles can be used as a leading indicator for stock markets and the economy (an indicator of what the future holds). It just so happens that corduroy is making a come back. Among a diverse and long history spanning hundreds of years corduroy was a symbol of the anti-establishment movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Historians who support and defend the 1970’s defend the quirky fashions and time when recorded music was central to cultural changes.
Radical politicians are back in fashion and the odds have increased that what seems like radical political ideas will cause the UK to repeat history. Citizen Smith (character from the 1970s British TV series) would be proud.
Labour started their decidedly socialist and popular political rhetoric during Ed Miliband’s election campaign. Rail fares and energy prices would be frozen, and, a possible scaling back on Great Birtain’s NATO commitments. Indicating that the political landscape is changing in the UK these manifesto pledges where offering voters something new.
An oft used slogan which gained traction in the United States and was used in the title sequence of Citisen Smith, the 1970’s TV series. American teenagers would use the slogan as a form of rebellion against the older generation, especially the establishment.
No surprise then that Jeremy Corbyn is campaigning heavily to the younger generation. A generation annoyed at poor job opportunities and even lower prospects of increasing pay. Pay increases sufficient enough to pay off their university debts. O Jeremy Corbyn was at Glastonbury of all places to rally Britain’s youth. Labour placards also regularly feature outside music festivals.
The same slogan was came to fame in the 1960s as pro-democracy students used it to protest against the Vietnam War. A costly war that heralded a difference economic period in the USA. The counterculture at the time adopted John Lennon’s songs in the anti war movement (viz Power to the People 1971, written and performed by John Lennon).
Jeremy Corbyn has upped the ante on socialist policies and is returning the Labour party to old Labour. Policies suggesting a revival in 1970s politics include.
Bringing more NHS services under government control.
Re-nationalising public utilities like the Royal Mail and energy companies
Creating the ‘people’s railway’
Price caps on energy
Plans to pass more power to unions and impose price caps on firms doing work for the Government.
Restrictions on calling strikes would be scrapped.
Massive spending increases funded by large taxes on corporations and the ‘rich’
A pledge for rent controls.
Karl Marx eat your heart out. Mr Corbyn regards Karl Marx as a great economist, something he said on the Andrew Marr Show. Marx is one of the founding fathers of radical socialism. Full of ideologies that have never really worked in a real world environment, but, only in the Ivory Tower of philosophical thinking.
Tereasa May’s feathers where severely ruffled during the last election where the conservative party lost it’s majority. May is now getting in on the act with planned price caps on energy companies and rail fares, although, they would be implemented in a much more market friendly way. Tereasa May dislikes the unacceptable face of capitalism and wants to hand more power to workers by tackling some of the inequalities in the system such as high executive pay.
Weighing up Tereasa May and Jeremy Corbyns policies and policy pledges, Mr Corbyn is the politician most likely kick off a decade of 1970’s type politics. Our view, at LetsCompareBets.com, is that this is a genuinely well meaning, but probably caused by a misguided notion of National duty with a peppering of opportunism.
So what was up with the 1970’s?
A decade where the nation was in flux. It was a difficult time for young people who where hurt by the sharp end of a recession and unemployment. Stanley Kubrick directed A Clockwork Orange in 1971 (for a reason!).
A period of economic stagnation that put an end to the general post World War economic boom. Known as a period of stagflation where people could not find jobs at a time when prices (of staples, food, energy and transport) where going sky high. People with jobs got large pay rises to keep pace with inflation which reinforced the problem of rising prices.
Three day working week anyone?
Trade Unions had more power than they do now. Due to the miners strike announced December 1973 a three day working week was imposed due to worries over power shortages.
A large trade deficit was accompanied by inflation that peaked at 20% and quickly rising national debt.
Strikes continued to bring the economy to it’s knees and unemployment quickly increased further. Heralding what is known as the Winter of Discontent. Westminster City Council had to use public parks to pile up all the waste that striking waste collectors had left sat outside peoples homes. It wasn’t just the streets filling with rubbish: Schools closed and the dead where left unburied.
Essentially the Government was a massive employer through all the nationalised industries and was held over a barrel by the trade unions. The haves kept a low profile and the have nots got seriously pissed off.
Generally speaking the end of 1970’s where a period of de -leveraging where the United Kingdom had to sort out it’s debts and feel some pain before the economic cycle climbed the other side of the hole it was in. Politics of this period undoubtedly made the process much worse than it needed to be.
Inflation of 20% caused high interest rates in turn causing property prices to collapse which triggered a secondary banking crisis. The top 30 companies in the FTSE stock market saw share price declines of 73%. The stock market whipsawed back and forth for the rest of the decade. A sterling crisis was triggered because international markets didn’t want to see the foreign currency reserves destroyed by high inflation.
What is proposed now that makes it all look like a return to the 1970’s?
Free markets are supposed to look after themselves and there are periods of expansion and wealth creation, and periods of contraction. Government is kept at arms length but can use regulation, incentives and giveaways in order to manipulate the economy to benefit sections of society that need a break. Meddling with prices and controlling whole industries centrally (like Mr Corbyn has suggested) distorts the market and leads to more trouble down the road. Money isn’t allocated in the right way, for instance,cap prices and investment seizes up. When the price cap is removed prices jump much higher to offset the period of under investment. Services suffer. Think energy crises, transport system without the correct safety measures, a tax consuming monster of a public health service, and a shortage of rental property (because landlords are discouraged from investing in properties to let). More and more demands on taxes that just are not being collected due to unemployment, inflation and strikes.
What is the difference now?
Inflation is kept under control by our open borders (something we will lose to some extent with the current trajectory of Brexit talks), globalised supply chains, international finance, and technological progress. Brexit may be seized upon as an opportunity to ride the coat tails of a reinvigorated global economy by allowing the UK to cut trade deals with the rest of the World.
We have not had an oil crisis, like there was in the 1970s. Fuel prices have dropped dramatically from the highs seen before the last economic crash, in turn taking many inflationary pressures out of the system. Food prices are nicely under control due to supermarket price wars and German discount retailers disrupting markets.
Economists ,politicians and central bankers have more powers to engineer better economic outcomes than anyone in the 1970’s was ever able to do. Potential flies in the ointment include flash points that cause key players in the system to stop playing ball. These include trade wars primarily between the USA and China, further tension between the USA, Russia and China over the Korean peninsular. The global economy may not look nearly as welcoming if major trading partners are in the middle of major geopolitcal spats.
Who’s going to win the next general election?
Polls indicated a major Labour wipe out in the last election and the conservatives where on track to win a majority. A shock early election (pre Brexit) called by Tereasa May designed to strengthen her mandate for Brexit, had the opposite affect and severely weakened her position. A conservative majority was just a dream and the Brexit negotiations just got far more difficult. Now hard Brexit is firmly underway odds of a Labour victory next time round just got shorter.
But seriously, who would want to go back to the 1970’s! People don’t have much power if they can’t get a job, worry that they’ll be able to keep the lights on, and have their rubbish is building up on the door step. Surely Mr Corbyn can not be rallying a section of society who stands to lose the most by his policies.
Odds for who is going to be the next Prime Minister after the general elections show David Davis favourite at 5.8 with Jeremy Corbyn not fair behind at 6. I can see Mr Corbyn’s odds shortening as Brexit Negotiations progress, but, I would bet on Mr Corbyn becoming the next PM. There will be plenty of time before the next general election as the conservatives will want to kick that particular can down the road for as long as possible. Tereasa May isn’t currently in the running, but it may not be wise to write her off just yet. Our preferred bookmaker is Betfair where you can back or lay your opinion and cash out at any time. Visit Betfair to get the information.
Interested in a different angel to take at playing the political upheaval? There are two companies who’s share prices have been negatively affected by recent political rhetoric. Buying shares off Royal Mail and SSE would be like taking a bet that Mr Corbyn would not win the next general election without that part where you would lose all your stake if he does win.
Royal Mail are currently having problems with the workers union over pension entitlements, and SSE, the energy company, face prospect of energy price caps. Both pay high and sustainable dividends. With a conservative victory negative sentiment over political risk would be removed which could be positive for the share price. Not interest in Shocks and Scares? Then check out our Profit Accumulator review, another way to think outside of the box. Visit our Profit Accumulator review.
Barclays Premier League highlights so far
Our highlights of the Barclays Premier League 2015/16 season are;
Leicester City’s success. The Fox’s whirlwind start to the season. For us it is no wonder considering the gravitas of Claudio Ranieri even if he has had some recent problems managing in Europe. A list of clubs Mr Ranieri has managed in Europe is outstanding; Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlhético Madrid, Parma, Juventus, Roma, Inter Milan and lastly Monaco. Recently Leicester maintained their unbeaten run with a 1:1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur. Riyad Mahrez made the score line level for Leicester in the eighty second minute, one minute after Dele Alli scored for Tottenham. Now, that’s some attacking spirit for a team that has just gone a goal down in the eighty first minute. What’s more, Leicester where outplayed in terms of the stats winning just 2 corners compared to Tottenham’s 7. Tottenham had 6 shots on target and many that missed, compared to Leicester’s 2 shots on target. The difference was that they made their chances count and look more sophisticated playing under the Italian manager. The Fox’s new signing from Napoli, Gokhan Inler, played ten minutes but will be playing a fall match soon. Other players to watch include Jamie Vardy who set up the goal for Leicester. The partnership between Mahrez and Vardy could pay dividends for Ranieri’s Leicester City FC.
This one is negative, but, Chelsea being knocked off the top spot for being likely winners. Bookmakers have Chelsea as odds on favourite to win the Premier League. Our opinion was that this was far to generous for a team who performed poorly pre-season and have an injured striker (star striker), Diago Costa. Our Facebook magazine published the prediction that Chelsea would not stay favourites for very long. Compare odds now and they have increased significantly. Betfair was the perfect place to bet that they would not win the league. A lose bet made on Betfair at the start of the season could be ‘cashed out’ at any point depending how Chelsea perform now. Currently this bet would have given a big profit. Learn how to use Befair here.
Manchester City’s winning streak has been a Premiership Highlight. If only because they have knocked Chelsea off the top position for likely winners. Matched only by Liverpool in 2013/14 and 2005/06, Chelsea in 2015/6, and Arsenal in 1997/98. Only 3 teams have had a longer winning streak. Chelsea won 11 games in 2008/09, Manchester United won 11 games in 2008/09 and 1999/2000. Arsenal are the kings after winning 14 games in a row in 2001-02. Man City are poised to enter the hall of fame if they continue their winning streak.
What next for the Premier League?
The Fox’s stewardship under Claudio Ranieri should prove to be very interesting. We will be watching the performance of our Chelsea prediction carefully compared to the club’s sparing partners, Manchester City and Arsenal. Exciting times in our opinion.
Top 5 must-have apps for the 2014/15 football season
The World Cup was exciting, but league football is back in full swing in the UK and Europe. Fans attention is back on the Barclays Premiership, Champions League and UEFA Europa league. Here are our top five apps for football fans fort the coming seasons.
Of course, everyone wants to feel that they can hold their own in debates with rival supporters and, in this era of the smartphone, apps are the best way to do this. So which ones will turn you into a football genius?
Guess the Football Player 2014
Overview – the ultimate test of your knowledge of club football from around the world.
Why it will suit fans – it can make you the most knowledgeable fan, for winning pub arguments.
What it does – hits you with 200 questions about stars like Ronald, Bale and Messi. You are only allowed three wrong answers.
Sports Betting Predictor
Overview – the app that gives you the stats you need to make the best football bets.
Why it will suit fans – if they like betting, an app that provides the needed info will be welcome, and if they don’t, the stats will help them win arguments.
What it does – tells you about the injuries, suspensions, form and past results needed for smart betting.
This is the information you need to back good bets. We recommend Bet365 for their mobile app which making betting on the move easy. They will double up the sign up bonus for new members who open a normal Bet365 account and download the app. Most generous!
Overview – A game that lets you play and score goals in simulated football matches.
Why it will suit fans – because it’s a chance to swap watching football for playing it.
What it does – simulates games with high quality graphics and lets you cross, pass and shoot through swiping and using your mobile buttons.
Fantasy Football Buddy Pro
Overview – an app that lets you make changes to your Premiership fantasy side while on the move.
Why it will suit fans – because they have busy lives, and sometimes key deadlines land when they are out.
What it does – lets you make any changes you need, including selling and signing players and checking your team’s points, at any time.
These are all great apps, as is the…
Total Football Manager
Overview – puts you in the dugout and in charge of a team.
Why it will suit fans – it’s a chance to test their selection and management skills against supporters everywhere.
What it does – lets you pick a squad, train them, choose line-ups and score points based on their competitive performance.
Apps have become the way to keep in the football loop, whether it is top scorers or fantasy teams.
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Get Your First Look at ‘Last Blood’ and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo
It’s like he said in First Blood all those years ago: For John Rambo, nothing is over.
He first appeared in David Morrell’s 1972 novel First Blood; the first movie, starring Sylvester Stallone as the unstoppable Rambo, followed in 1982. The movie became a blockbuster; Part II followed in 1985 and Rambo III in 1988. Then, Rambo took a break. But nothing was over! In 2008, Rambo reemerged in the aptly titled Rambo. Now, Rambo returns, allegedly for the final time, in 2019’s Last Blood. Again, nothing is ever over for this dude.
The first look at Stallone as the aging Rambo was revealed online this week; here is the first official photo from Last Blood:
And here’s the official synopsis:
In the fifth episode of franchise, when the daughter of one of his friends is kidnapped, Rambo, who has been working on a ranch, crosses the U.S.-Mexican border and quickly finds himself up against the full might of one of Mexico’s most violent cartels.
Rambo versus cartels? It’s Sicarambo! Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Try the veal, and be sure to tip your waitress.
Rambo was way way off the grid in Rambo, living in Thailand and then getting mixed up in a humanitarian crisis in Burma. (Because, really, who is more of a humanitarian than Rambo?) I guess a lot can happen in 10 years, but I do think it’s kind of funny that now Rambo is back in America, presumably somewhere in the Southwest, waiting for a fight with cartels. Rambo, you’ve done enough! You can retire, it’s ok.
Gallery - The Best Action Movie Posters Ever:
Here’s the Rare Original Poster for ‘Rocky’
Source: Get Your First Look at ‘Last Blood’ and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo
Filed Under: Last Blood, rambo, sylvester stallone
Categories: Movie News
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Fiction Pick of the Week: "Holy Water"
Expected and unexpected salvation.
Nathan Thomas Hobart Nov 2018 10min Permalink
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Stephanie Loves Stephanie"
A botched tattoo; alternative therapy.
Marta Balcewicz Hobart Aug 2018 15min Permalink
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Having a Catch With Dad Is Much Harder Than Field of Dreams Makes It Out To Be"
Baseball and complicated father/son relationships.
Patrick Walczy Hobart Apr 2018 Permalink
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Voiceless"
The intersection of life and social media in the future.
Emily Smith Hobart Feb 2018 10min Permalink
Fiction: "For All My Strangers"
War, family histories, and place.
Keegan Lester Hobart Dec 2017 15min Permalink
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Wade Boggs"
A father and son bond over baseball and deceptions.
Jeremy Rice Hobart Apr 2017 Permalink
Fiction Sponsored
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Eight Scenes From the Life of a Professional Raven"
Reflections from a bird and a mascot.
Tom McAllister Hobart Aug 2016 Permalink
Fiction Pick of the Week: "How To Fall In Love"
Lessons for dating and dying.
Emily Lackey Hobart Jun 2016 Permalink
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Maybe We Should Get Tattoos and Other Possibilities For Happiness"
Family problems and a myriad of solutions.
"I don’t know if my husband and I are on the way to church or a hangover. It is too early in the drive to tell. The first Thursday of every month, my husband’s sister comes over to watch the kids. They are too old for a sitter, but the older one keeps trying to kill herself and we don’t want to risk it. Always keep an eye on them, I tell my sister-in-law. Don’t leave them alone for a second, not even to ice a cake, organize a closet, dry the dishes, say a prayer."
N. Michelle AuBuchon Hobart Mar 2015 Permalink
Not This Town
A horrifying animal attack turns into an examination of rural life.
"Admit it. You want to jump to the part about Bubba tearing into Child, who still has no identifiable name. This story isn't about Child; it's about the town and its assumptions. But since I cannot narrate the story of the assuming town without touching on what it is they assumed upon, I will tell you the parts of the Bubba/Child story that will elucidate they and their assumings."
Tina V. Cabrera Hobart Dec 2014 10min Permalink
Fiction Pick of the Week: "The God of the Living Room"
Newly sober, a man considers faith in its various forms.
Paul Luikart Hobart Nov 2014 Permalink
Fiction Religion
The God of the Living Room
Struggling with sobriety, a man considers faith in all its complications.
"Wishes pour out of me, spilling onto the couch like blood from a bull on an altar. Big wishes for the whole of humanity—world peace and things like that— then, medium wishes—a better job, a wife, kids even, which I’ve never, ever wanted before, and even small wishes I laugh at but still mean—the Cubs in the Series, for example. I wish to hate booze, wish that my stomach would catch fire and burn me to death from the inside out if I ever take another drink. I wish for a better life, for a new me, for a better spirit. Without knowing exactly what that means, I wish for a better spirit."
Human emotions and contact in the far future.
"Ethan begins moonlighting at the touch center on weekday mornings. Off-peak hours. He robo-cabs it there and back alone. Still, working there is a leap from the isolation of his apartment, and it’s the first time he’s felt inspired in years. He knows he’s not handsome by conventional standards, but he can give a mean hug and they never have enough guys to work at places like this anyway."
Steve Karas Hobart Nov 2014 Permalink
The Quandary Of The Pointy Objects Annex
A surreal college campus beset by stabbings and other hijinx.
"It’s also not long before Dean Nelson is stabbed through the eye and killed by his secretary who claims never left her desk all day. Except security footage shows her ogling pencils she was sharpening right before carrying them menacingly into Nelson’s office. No amount of rug-sweeping will spin this."
Zachary Tyler Vickers Hobart Aug 2014 Permalink
A man considers his broken family life while awaiting a possible selection for jury duty.
"And then there I was sitting in the jury stand, listening as the judge explained what he meant by admonition and the prosecutor’s burden. I’d never been in a courtroom before, and it got me thinking. Isn’t it unfair how Maggie treats me like a criminal? I mean, seeing as it could have happened to anybody. Thing is, I’m still serving time."
Alison McCabe Hobart Sep 2014 10min Permalink
A space cowboy, an alien girl, a a quest; A Housleyian spin on Guardians of the Galaxy.
"They nodded at one another and closed ranks, each of them wobbly but still standing. Their foe was reduced to a pile of smoking robes. The thing they were fighting for – the thing they now knew could either save or destroy the universe – was steaming off-center among the scorched remains of their foe. They held their breath, all of them, while the Space Cowboy picked up the thing they had been fighting for, tossed it in the air, caught it in his other hand, and passed it to the Queen."
Dave Housley Hobart Sep 2014 10min Permalink
Leona Never Happened
A man's lifelong hold on an imaginary person.
"He could never really explain it, once he got past that age where it stopped being okay to have an imaginary friend. He always knew she wasn't an imaginary friend. But he desperately tried to explain it anyway, to all the school counselors and all sorts of in-network therapists as he got older. It was simple in some senses. She was supposed to be living on his street. She was supposed to be in his kindergarten class. But all the houses were full with other families. And every little spot on that circular alphabet rug in his classroom was taken by someone else. Leona never happened."
Julia Evans Hobart Jul 2014 Permalink
At Bat
A story of a playoff at-bat, a franchise, and a spectator couple.
"Coco has watched every home game with her husband from these seats since the ballpark opened in 2008 while listening to the game play by play on 106.7 FM. She has endured horrible seasons, but 2009 when her beloved team lost 108 games, and 2010 when they lost 93 more, are distant memories. Now she feels like a winner. This is the playoffs. After marriage, and kids, and grandkids, after retirement and their dream trip to Dubrovnik, this is what she has been hoping for. It is the last of her major life events. Something to retell at family dinners. Remember the World Series of 2012?"
Susan Hope Lanier Hobart Apr 2014 Permalink
A world in which an internal software turns anger and intense emotions into involuntary exercise.
"Then there are the monthly upgrades, downloaded automatically from GRUNT. A few months back the upgrade reprogrammed our sensors to monitor facial expressions and the tone of one’s voice, so you can’t fool it anymore by smiling or speaking softly. A quiet argument is still an argument to the executives at GRUNT. It certainly changed around Brad, my supervisor, who liked to hint at our utter worthlessness in this very quiet voice, a smile stretching across his face. There was something disturbing about watching him grin, and place his arm gently over your shoulder and lower his voice as his called your work garbage, your very existence a nuisance, all with this soft, earnest voice. Now he wears track shoes to work and does sprints in between insults, weaving in and out of the cubicles, stutter stepping like a hall of fame running back."
Daniel Gonzalez Hobart Jan 2014 10min Permalink
The Jugulars
A woman is sent on an ominous mission to collected a jugular vein.
"The hands are still clapping when I jump, when I take on the air, when I dive. My body slams into the dirt at the bottom of the hole, some of the jugulars beneath me, I can feel the softness of them, I pull the rest near me, bring their thick heavy softness near the heat of my body."
Sarah Rose Etter Hobart Sep 2013 10min Permalink
The Revolution Room: Station One
A horror/mystery story about heart removal, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Chinese food bags.
"It is not easy to remove a heart with a spoon from the chest of a man, nor is it clean. The spoon was purchased 48 hours earlier from the Bed, Bath & Beyond on 9th Street. The Nicole Miller Moments 5 pc Flatware Set was $24.99. The salad fork, dinner knife, dinner fork, and soup spoon were disposed of. Only the teaspoon remained.
Allan Shapiro Hobart Sep 2013 10min Permalink
The Diner Scene
Over a cup of coffee, an unhappy father examines chance happenings, fate, and accidents.
"It was a game David would play every morning when he woke up and every evening when he got back from work. He was mentally prepared to have to play the game at any moment while he was inside his house. It happened in split seconds; he would fumble the cup he was retrieving from the cabinet in the kitchen and think, If that cup falls on the floor and breaks, I’ll leave my wife. He would bump his car against the side of his overstuffed garage backing out and think, If that bumper just got dented or the taillight just shattered, that’s it. I’m gone. And so on and so forth. No cups ever fell and no car parts were ever damaged, and David was always able to tell himself that the game was just that—a harmless, fun little thing like so many other harmless, fun little things in so many other marriages."
Dan DeMarco Hobart Aug 2013 Permalink
The Gore and the Splatter [Excerpt]
Greek heroes and gods roam suburban America.
The goddess hiked her gowns and climbed as softly as she could the creaky wooden steps into his house. She had snuck into a home a million times, and the hardest part was carrying the shield through the door with it hitting anything, or not knocking overcoat trees or a vase. Or keeping on her helmet without its tall purple that got nudged off in low doorways. All of this and more had happened many times, and it was never not embarrassing; there were instances when people thought that she was not a god, but just an oddly-dressed intruder. She’d stopped wearing metal combat boots a hundred years ago and now she wore her flip-flops, though she made sure her father saw her in the boots when she was leaving Mount Olympus.
Adam Novy Hobart Jul 2013 25min Permalink
Jillian [Excerpt]
An evening of drinking and tensions culminates in the revelation of embarrassing childhood memories.
"'What’s in my Memory Palace?' she wondered. A driveway. One with a basketball hoop on a pole. Megan was 11 and playing with her new friends. They grinned at each other and approached her, tied her to the basketball pole with two jump ropes, attached rollerblades to her feet, and then drew penises on her face. Then they dressed her hair with shaving cream."
Halle Butler Hobart Jan 2013 Permalink
None Of Your Business
A grim conversation with a gas station attendant.
"Look, he said, none of my business but in my experience the longer you live in a car the bigger it gets. So as you never find your way out."
Wyatt Bonikowski Hobart Jan 2012 Permalink
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SCREEN-L November 2002, Week 1
_Screening the past_ Issue 14 on line.
Screening the past <[log in to unmask]>
Wed, 6 Nov 2002 17:13:35 +1100
The latest issue of _Screening the past_ is on line and can be accessed at:
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast
While this issue does not have a theme a number of articles in the issue
deal with questions of documentary or of archives.
Michael Mann's cinema of images by Anna Dzenis.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr0902/adfr14b.
htm>
A case of mistaken identity: governance, guardianship and the screensound
saga by Ray Edmondson.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr0902/refr14c.
Seven theses about border genres / five modest proposals about docudrama by
Derek Paget. The article by Derek Paget is something of an experiment: the
article is a work in progress to which readers are invited to contribute.
The article is presented as a number of theses, with commentaries to which
readers are invited to respond. Responses will be moderated and then added
to the site so that over a period of time we hope to generate a dialogue
with readers interested in questions of documentary. Be sure to come back
from time to time to see how this dialogue is progressing.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr0902/paget/dpfr14
b.htm>
Archival poetics by Nana Verhoeff.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr0902/nvfr14d.
Classics:
Stars and Audiences in Early American Cinema by Lee Grieveson.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/screeningthepast/classics/cl0902/lgcl14c.htm>
Editor's notes for the issue contain links to the Film and Hsitory
Conference in Adelaide in November 2002, Visible Evidence in Marseille in
December 2002 and the Australian International Documentary Conference in
Mervyn F. Bendle, reviews J.P. Telotte, Science fiction film.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/mbbr14a.htm>
Ina Bertrand, reviews Jane Mills, The money shot: cinema, sin and
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/ibbr14a.html>
Thomas Caldwell, reviews William Beard, The artist as monster: the cinema of
David Cronenberg.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/szbr14a.html>
Colin Crisp, reviews David Henry Slavin, Colonial cinema and imperial
France: white blind spots, male fantasies, settler myths.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/ccbr14a.htm>
Mary DeBrett reviews B. J. Bullert , Public television: politics and the
battle over documentary film.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/mdbr14a.htm>
John Foot, reviews Marcia Landy, Italian film.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/jfbr14a.html>
D.B. Jones, reviews Robert Warshow, The immediate experience.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/dj2br14a.htm>
D.B. Jones, reviews Edward Buscombe, The searchers.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/djbr14a.html>
Olivia Khoo, reviews David Hanan <ed>, Film in south east asia: views from
the region.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/okbr14a.htm>
Adam Knee, reviews Larry May, The big tomorrow: Hollywood and the politics
of the American way.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/akbr14a.htm>
Mike Leggett, reviews Malcolm Le Grice, Experimental cinema in the digital
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/mlbr14a.htm>
Harriet Margolis, reviews Robert M. Entman & Andrew Rojecki, The black image
in the white mind: media and race in America.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/hmbr14a.html>
Fran Martin, reviews Hamid Naficy, An accented cinema: exilic and diasporic
filmmaking.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/fmbr14a.html>
Geoff Mayer, reviews Chris Fujiwara, Jacques Tourneur. the cinema of
nightfall.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/gmbr14a.htm>
Brian McFarlane, reviews Andrew Higson, Young and innocent? The cinema in
Britain 1896-1930.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/bmbr14a.htm>
Jaime S. Ong, reviews Paula Marantz Cohen, Silent film and the triumph of
the American myth.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/jobr14a.htm>
Violetta Petrova, reviews Dina Iordanova, Cinema of flames: Balkan film,
culture and the media.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/vpbr14a.html>
John Potts, reviews Douglas Kahn, Noise, water, meat: a history of sound in
the arts.
Brian Yecies reviews James Lastra, Sound technology and the American cinema.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/bybr14a.html>
Brian Yecies, review, Hurray for Pusan and the Korean New Wave! Asian Cinema
Odyssey at the 6th Pusan International Film Festival.
<http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/reviews/rev1002/bybr214a.html>
Stephen Zagala reviews John Rajchman, The Deleuze connection.
(Dr) Peter Hughes Postgraduate Co-ordinator, Media Studies Program, La
Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086, Australia.
ph: +61 3 9479 3065 (w), fax: +61 3 9479 3638 (w)
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/comace/mediahome.html
Screening the past. An international, refereed electronic journal of visual
media and history:
http:// www.latrobe.edu.au/www/screeningthepast
It's almost here: Visible Evidence IX in Brisbane Dec 17-20
http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/cmp/ve9.html
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HomeEconomyFinding a summer job is not easy anymore
Finding a summer job is not easy anymore
July 14, 2014 Baltic News Network Economy 0
Linas Jegelevičius for the BNN
“Before one could walk into a café in Palanga (a resort on the Baltic coast-L.J.) in mid-summer, chat a bit with its owner and be almost sure that some offer would come along the way. Not this summer. Before, there had definitely been a larger turnover of seasonal workers. This summer it seems that most of the waiters, kitchen and security staff stick with their jobs throughout it,” Eleonora Dirsytė, a sophomore student at Vilnius University, told bnn.lv
This doesn’t surprise Palanga restaurant and café owners who claim that the smaller employee turnover is a result of fewer job possibilities abroad.
“Remember: EU borders have opened for Romanians and Bulgarians since the beginning of the year. So for most of the jobs that were usually up for grabs until now, the competition has increased, and not always in favor of Lithuanians,” Viktoras Malinauskas, a café owner in Palanga, said.
The impact of the shrunken foreign labor market is felt across local Labor Exchanges, agreed Vikoras Trofimovas, director of Lithuania’s Labor Exchange Panevėžys affiliate.
“It’s very true: the EU labour market, even the segment of seasonal jobs, has gotten quite tighter. No surprising therefore that this summer we keep receiving calls inquiring of a seasonal job even in July. Frankly, the Exchange can offer very little, or nothing,” the affiliate director noted.
Spring – best time to land a summer job
The biggest chances to land a summer job are in resort towns or with farmers, Trofimovas noted.
But Palanga restaurateurs insist that starting looking for a summer job in July is just too late.
“As a rule, business-minded café and restaurant owners staff up their establishments by June. Many tend to lure waiting staff from previous years as training a new server takes time. Some of the clientele is too picky to just let anyone wait the tables,” the Palanga café owner said.
As usually, the beginning of July for Labor Exchange marks the outset of deluge of high school graduates.
“But few of them hurry to look for a job right after graduation. The most wants to chill out a bit before taking on a job search in autumn. They check in with local Labour Exchange for a single reason usually: get welfare and health insurance,” Trofimovas said.
And those who are sincere about job search snub temp jobs. But with luck on one’s side, a seasonal job can eventually lead to a full-time position.
«Many of the employers out there tend to hire graduates for temporary replacement of their workers who leave for holiday. But if the graduate shows off his or her best side, there’s an increasing chance the employer will offer something more serious,» the director said.
The popular belief that the right time to look for a temp summer job right before summer is wrong, he noted.
“The job seasonality begins in spring, with the nature budding. Then there is a big demand for seasonal workers in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Foreign companies also start looking for workers during February and April mostly,” Trofimovas noted.
Tight competition for summer jobs in Europe
Most of the job offers abroad until now would come from the United Kingdom, Italy, Scandinavia and Germany. But this year the demand has nearly fizzled out, mostly due to the higher competition in EU labor market.
The slumps of local economies and uncharacteristically high youth unemployment in many European countries are also to be taken into account.
“To qualify for most of the temporary summer jobs abroad would suffice to speak some English. Sure, service sector is an exception to the rule,” the Labour Exchange director said.
Interestingly, Norway, for example, has recently started looking in Lithuania for a “brainy” workforce to fill up the vacancies of tour guides. This kind of job requires not only afluent English, but also a decent Norwegian and, sure,knowledge of Norwegian history, culture and politics.
“This is how I have started off in Norway,” admitted Ramūnas Stulovas to bnn.lv. “Being a tour guide may sound as a dream job. But in the reality it requires a lot of talking, understanding several languages and simply a good stamina as some of the tours would begin at 6 am. So I had to be up at 4.30am. I’d often end up the end with a hoarse voice, a result of the continuous loud talking.”
On the other hand, the lower numbers of available foreign jobs do not necessarily point out to the shrunk demand for new workforce.
Many of the young people do find jobs in the West on their own – through various hiring agencies and university programs. Quite many of the youth paying visits during summer to their family members abroad get helped by them.
Youth workforce demotivated by low pay
Still, some seasonal jobs, depending on weather conditions, are still available. First, in sectors of construction and agriculture.
Another characteristic of the summer is that youth walking into Labour Exchange is often accompanied by the parents.
“I don’t see it as a sign of an excessive care, It is pretty common in Lithuania that parents help their offspring when it comes to visiting local Labour Exchange. Perhaps such a parental care could be read in a positive light: as an encouragement to take the reins of life into own hands,” the director said.
But overall, he noted, the youth is lackadaisical with job search efforts mostly because of other reasons: the low pay.
“It is a common thing among employers to offer a new young worker a minimum salary. But with the economy inching to the pre-crisis level and exports growing, the employers ought to think of a higher output and therefore a higher pay for the workers. A low salary, sure, ruins a young man’s motivation,” Trofimovas said.
Opinion: Ukraine’s success threatens Russian idea of exclusivity
Andriukaitis to remain Lithuania’s health minister for coming weeks
Lithuanian government simplifies visa process for foreign workers
April 14, 2016 LT Daily Foreign affairs 0
The government has approved a proposal to simplify the procedures for granting temporary residence permits to foreign workers moving to Lithuania. […]
Biggest salaries in Lithuania exceed €250k a month
August 19, 2016 LT Daily CORPORATE 0
In the first half of 2016, 145 people in Lithuania received monthly wages in excess of €50,000. The biggest monthly salary in the first half of this year was over €250,000. “In most cases they […]
Pay gap between men and women deepens in Lithuania
October 11, 2014 ELTA EN Economy 0
Pay gap between men and women in Lithuania was 12.5 percent in 2013. It increased 0.5 percentage points compared to the year before. […]
Five years after merger Lithuanian airports yield great results
Higher-class housing in Vilnius: sales continue to grow
One in six residents have never been outside Lithuania
How much should you earn to afford a new apartment in the centre of Vilnius?
Chernobyl film location: Vilnius in the film production spotlight
Wage growth in Lithuania, is it a sprint or a marathon?
Saving private journalist in the Industrial Revolution 4.0
Alert for Lithuanian online shoppers: hard Brexit could hit your wallets
Lithuania among top 30 in the World Competitiveness Ranking
Has the Bank of Lithuania chief been too talkative?
Huawei crisis’ watched closely in Lithuania
Mobility Package: the government will decide and we will be happy
Lithuania’s 2050 transport and communications vision presented
Millennial-focused hotel in Kaunas – countdown begins!
Swedish Chamber of Commerce hosted the Future of Bank and Finance
Commercial premises in Vilnius Old Town – empty and plenty like never before
Only 3 out of 10 in the Baltics consider their job decent
Banking sector in Lithuania 15 years after joining the EU
State reserves lower than planned: warning light is blinking
Norwegian Chamber of Commerce and its 5th Annual Business Forum
Harbortouch is expanding in Lithuania
Direct flight Vilnius – London to be launched
Lithuanian economy impressively sails against the wind
Strong Lithuanian economy growth despite Euro area weakness
Sonect – 1st Swiss FinTech company to get e-money licence in Lithuania
What do the weakeners of the Russian Snoras ghost want?
Salary growth in the Baltic States. Estonia leads, Lithuania is not far behind
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GameLit reviews
Writing Structure
Shandifying your novel
Setups and Payoffs vs. plot coupons and plot tokens
Vanilla-wafer good guys and Puppy-kicking villains
Worlds, Cash, and Inverting Dependencies
Give me a better World introduction
So, you want a harem?
The Grading System
Two things if you’re going to be an indie author
Mechanics without Story
Glossary of Terms Used
Genres within GameLit/LitRPG
So, you want to know why this blog exists?
The Subversive Genius of Robert Bevan
Posted on May 28, 2017 July 22, 2017 by noman2
Tl;dr: If you plan on writing LitRPG, you should read Bevan’s books.
Robert Bevan is the author of a series of books called Caverns and Creatures. It is the most devastating critique of the fantasy genre, and LitRPG genre in particular, that I’ve ever read. Yet, no one has explored how and why it is so subversive.
When I think of LitRPG done wrong, I think of Liam Arato’s The Gold Farmer. In it, the main character is clearly the author, a character type known as a Marty Stu.
The NPCs only exist in the universe to tell the main character how wonderful and exalted he is. He’s the most powerful being in existence, every woman wants to marry him and have his babies, every male character wants to be him. It’s frankly an autoerotic novel disguised as a LitRPG novel.
The main character has literally done nothing to deserve any praise, but has it heaped on him every moment.
In contrast, when I think of LitRPG done right, I think of Blaise Corvin’s Delvers LLC, Aleron Kong’s The Land, James Hunter’s Viridian Online, and Travis Bagwell’s Awaken Online. In these stories, the main character earns their rewards, goes through personal struggles, finds out that their actions have consequences both good and bad, etc.
But none of these actually subvert the LitRPG genre. In the typical LitRPG genre:
The main character is boring and uninteresting in the real World.
Gets transported and/or kidnapped into a new World.
Suddenly becomes super powerful and godlike.
Every man is envious of the main character.
They get the girl or usually girls (this is wish fulfillment after all). Sometimes guys.
Literal gods and goddesses seek them out.
The entire virtual World revolves around the main character and their every decision.
The difference between good and bad isn’t whether or not they become super powerful; it’s whether or not the story justifies them becoming powerful. No matter how much of a loser the protagonist is in the real World, when they get into the game World, they will be the greatest thing that’s ever been.
It’s precisely there that Robert Bevan kicks down the genre’s tropes and monkey stomps it into the ground.
Bevan’s critique is that if you are a loser in the real World, getting transported into a mystical fantasy land isn’t going to suddenly turn you into a winner, anymore than winning the lottery is going to suddenly make you great with money.
Seriously, go look up what happens to most lottery winners, it’s not a happy story.
Robert Bevan goes so far as to suggest that you might even be a bigger loser in the fantasy World than you are in the real World, because the ancient medieval times didn’t have the luxurious social safety nets we enjoy right now.
The way he does this is by introducing us to our four protagonists. The main protagonist is Tim, a person who could have been anything he wanted, but decided to take the easy route in life. Dave, Tim’s best friend, who constantly lets himself be bullied around by everyone. Cooper, someone who spends his life insulting other people because he never could amount to anything. Finally, there’s Julian, who is Dave’s friend and what most authors would traditionally use as a protagonist. He’s good-hearted, but incredibly naive about the game World.
Tim and his friends play Caverns and Creatures just to have an excuse to get drunk and goof off. Because of this, the hardcore C&C players ignore them, and they have to go online to find someone who is willing to be the Game Master for their games. They find someone, (Mordred) to be their GM.
Except he’s a hardcore gamer, and the repeated insults of Tim and Co. cause him to banish them to a game realm where they will learn to take the game seriously.
And this is where the book shines. In most LitRPG novels, what the heroes do doesn’t really matter. Even in better ones like Awaken Online, he slaughters an entire city and it just becomes reborn as a dark empire. There’s really no consequence for his actions, certainly not in the sense of what would happen if you actually went into a town and started slaughtering everyone in it.
Several books in the LitRPG genre are like this, even when the protagonists do awful things, they face no real damage for doing it. There’s always some half-assed justification for everything they do that makes it ok.
Not so in this game. Cooper’s first action is to cut off the head of a guard that insults him and stick into his bag. Because of this, the guards start looking for him and his friends to kill them outright or bring them back to be hanged. And far from being the immediately overpowered badasses of most books, they are weak and pathetic.
The players are stuck dealing with the fallout from this action, and the characters behave in the game World exactly like they do in the real World. Tim is still an irresponsible alcoholic, Dave still lets himself get bullied around, Cooper is well… he’s Cooper, and Julian never seems to get the game rules.
The characters aren’t meeting royalty, being revered as heroes, and consorting with gods. Nope, they’re miserable peons, mostly hated and reviled by the population of the World. The other players trapped in the game reverted back to their old habits, playing it safe, leading them to never level up and avoid danger. Again, it’s a powerful meta-critique disguised as fart jokes, a la’ South Park. Transporting these people into a magical fantasy land didn’t change who they were as people, so the same problems they had in real life manifest themselves in the game World.
Finally, the main characters follow this same pattern. Tim has tons of potential, but chooses to squander it by wallowing in self-pity and alcohol. Because of this, rather than getting the girl, he ends up completely blowing it and she picks Julian instead. Again, a huge subversion of the trope that the hero gets the girl just for existing.
Likewise, the stat choices have a huge payoff in the game. Julian is charismatic, so he’s the face. Cooper is both uncharismatic and unintelligent, so he can’t read, spell, and even when he tries to do something intelligent or charismatic, it backfires because the rules of the game simply won’t let that happen.
It’s a nice bit of World building that many LitRPG authors could learn from. Too many novels shove pages and pages of stats that don’t matter in any way, shape, or form. The exemplar offender in this category is William Arand’s Otherlife series. Despite having a one in all stats but charisma, he never has any problems. He can cast magic, fight with swords and daggers, read books and signs, communicate intelligently, and basically do anything he wants. His stats have no impact on the story whatsoever.
So, is this a five star series? Not quite. There’s a few things holding it back.
The first problem is that any subversion book is immediately handicapped. I.e. George R.R. Martin wrote Game of Thrones as a subversion of the Arthurian tales where a wise king will rule. Instead, the best leaders are killed brutally. This works at first, but I couldn’t continue past the fifth book since all the characters I cared about were already dead and the books were limping along with a few second-string players.
In Bevan’s book, the subversion of the genre means that Cooper, Dave, Julian, and Tim never develop as characters. Their foibles are pointed out, and it’s shown that this means most people transported to a magical kingdom would be the same social station they are in this World.
But they never grow beyond this, because this is the source of the comedy in the novels. In improv acting circles, there’s a sin known as Going for the funny, which means trying to be funny in an improvised scene. When it goes wrong, watch the new Ghostbusters movie. There’s no real plot being driven forward or scene being enacted, it’s just people standing around, being told to do stuff in the hopes something interesting will come out of it. You can also watch Kung Fury for more in the same vein, where there’s no real characters or plot, it’s just jokes.
Bevan isn’t as bad as either of those examples, but he’s limited in far he can push the plot in a World where the humor and impetus are derived from the foibles of the characters. Since they can’t grow as characters, most of the story is a series of coincidences that happen to the characters.
The other problem this creates is repetition of scenes. You will recognize the same gags being reused, deriving from the same problem.
Finally, there’s the fact that the source of humor is potty humor. If this isn’t your bag, leave early. It only gets upped over time.
Overall, I’d give the series 4 out of 5 stars. Yes, there’s some repetition, some serious gross-out humor, no real character arcs, and an overabundance of coincidences to move the story along.
But the parts that it does right (Pillsbury Jesus) are hysterical, the thought put into the World, the way that stats interact with the characters and World, and the way that Bevan forces a reader to confront how their escapist fantasies really just mask their own inadequacies is more than enough to make visiting a C&C adventure worth your time.
Some updates on it:
Q: Hasn’ t Cooper changed in the series?
A: Not really. The reason Tim and friends were banished is because they were almost all dicks to Mordred, but Cooper especially. In book 5, Cooper thinks about whether or not to pee on a rope. But then he does it. He hasn’t really confronted the reason why they’re in the mess that they’re in, that he’s often rude and hostile to other people.
He does have a magic axe that is mentoring him into being a better person, but as of the last book, he hasn’t gotten the lessons down yet. The question is, like Pinocchio, will he do the right thing when Jiminy Cricket isn’t around, or will he revert to his old ways? The story of Pinocchio is about how a created boy learns lessons about honesty and hard work from his encounter with the World, thus becoming a “real boy”.
Cooper hasn’t reached that point yet by a long shot, although it’s some progress that he at least considers not being a dick to everyone he meets. But it’s not really progress if he considers not doing something he would usually do, and then just does it anyway.
Q: Isn’t this a problem with all character driven comedy? Readers want it to be funny, but they also want character growth. This character growth can destroy what’s funny about the books.
A: Rick Gualtieri wrote the question, another great author. Check out the Tome of Bill series, if you enjoy Bevan’s work. And if you enjoy Gualtieri’s work, check out Bevan’s. I’ll circle back to this in a second.
Yeah, this is a problem. Hence I wrote, “he’s limited in far he can push the plot in a World where the humor and impetus are derived from the foibles of the characters. ”
It’s a delicate balance, and I respect Bevan’s craftsmanship because he can go wrong in one of two ways. One way is to overdo it, such that the series loses all of its focus. Think of Men in Black 2, which changes Tommy Lee Jones’ character so completely that he’s a shell until the point where they bring him back.
On the flip side, you can go the route of Hangover 2, and just repeat everything plot point for plot point. An author has to walk a razor’s balance between two cliffs, and it’s why successful comedy sequels in movies are rare.
So, how does Gualtieri do this in the Tome of Bill series? By giving Bill room for growth outside of his immediate problems.
Bill, the character of the series, is a guy who likes to coast through life and not take big risks. His first time taking a big risk, going to a party where a hot woman invites him, results in him being turned into a vampire and almost forced to commit the vampiric equivalent of seppuku.
The fact that he never goes for what he wants results in the later books him developing an anti-Bill, a monstrous representation of himself that represents all of his pent up wants and desires without any restraint. Like any good shadow story, he has to learn to integrate these darker aspects into himself without being destroyed by them.
Additionally, he has two choose between two women. The first one, Sally, is the one who got him into the vampiric mess, but also proves herself to be a worthy ally and friend.
The other is Sheila, who is a woman that Bill has pined over for years, but never actually made a move on. Again, this goes back to the central conflict of Bill’s personality.
The Sally/Sheila plotline is used to add more depth to Bill while still serving to highlight his main problem, that he doesn’t take a proactive role in his life. Both of these subplots are used to reveal Bill’s main problem and give him room to grow via his relationship with Sally/Sheila, while also not fundamentally changing him too drastically.
Now, do you see what Rick did there? He got me to talk about his books without even trying. Bow to the Sensei.
Posted in Reviews
Published by noman2
Professional web designer and developer, as well as a motion graphics and 3d artist who enjoys programming. View all posts by noman2
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3 thoughts on “The Subversive Genius of Robert Bevan”
L-Muse July 9, 20177:23 am Reply
It’s Jiminy Cricket, not Jimmy, heh. That gave me a good chuckle.
noman2 July 22, 201712:59 am Reply
You are correct, updated. No more chuckles for you. 😀
Brandt Anderson July 2, 20188:26 pm Reply
Well said. I would try to say more but you pretty much nailed my thoughts on Bevan’s Critical Failures series but expressed them better than I ever could.
Leave a Reply to Brandt Anderson Cancel reply
The facebook page for this website is LitRPG Reviews
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Review of Steam Whistle Alley by Joshua Mason July 2, 2019
Monster Hunt NYC YouTube review June 11, 2019
When to ban (again) December 2, 2018
Anime Quick Reviews: Re-evaluating How Not To Summon a Demon Lord and Overlord November 28, 2018
When Yes, you plagiarized November 26, 2018
Adobe Story ends and my first screenplays October 11, 2018
The Use and Abuse of Tropes: Anime edition August 23, 2018
Short Reviews, GameLit Anime August 8, 2018
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Abstract of Doctoral Dissertation
Nancy Jean Bowers
The Pennsylvania State University, 1993
Adviser: Jay R. Stauffer, Jr.
A revision of the genus Melanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi, Africa, using morphological and molecular techniques
The taxonomy and systematics of Melanochromis, a rock-dwelling genus of cichlid from Lake Malawi, Africa, were evaluated using morphological and molecular techniques. Ten new species of Melanochromis were described and the validity of five previously described species was examined. An artificial, dichotomous key based primarily on adult coloration and meristics was developed. The evolutionary history of the genus was reconstructed using morphological data, allozyme data, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation, and congruence among the phylogenies evaluated.
Specimens representive of each recognized species of Melanochromis were collected and detailed color notes were made on live individuals. Standard morphometric and meristic measures were collected and analyzed using sheared principal component, discriminant function, and canonical correlation analyses. Sheared principal component analysis assisted in discrimination among species on the basis of shape and meristics, without the confounding influence of size. Relationships among species were examined based on overall phenetic similarity, and phylogenetically using discrete coding of continuous morphometric and meristic data. Results suggest phenetically similar species were not necessarily the most closely related phylogenetically.
Variation of nuclear markers, which was assessed using protein electrophoresis, was low. Allele frequencies were heterogeneous among species, but no fixed allelic differences were observed. The amount of phylogenetic information was limited and reconstruction of phylogenies based on these data lacked statistical validity. The low protein divergence among Melanochromis species is consistent with protein surveys of other species of Lake Malawi cichlids and support recent speciation events within this genus.
Analysis of mtDNA sequence variation in the rapidly evolving D-loop region revealed low genetic diversity within Melanochromis and little or no population-level sequence divergence was observed. Seventy-five percent of the populations in which multiple individuals were examined were fixed for a single mtDNA haplotype and sequence divergence within species ranged from 0 to 1.13%. Between congeneric species, sequence divergence ranged from 0 to 2.5%. Shared mtDNA haplotype between valid species further supports the recency of species divergence within this genus.
Hypotheses generated concerning the relationships among Melanochomis species indicate that similar morphologies and color patterns have arisen several times within the genus. Testing of these hypotheses, however, will have to await the development of independent, polymorphic genetic markers.
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Category Archives: war
Syria: Al Assad Reportedly Considering Seeking Asylum In Latin America – Stratfor
Syria: Al Assad Reportedly Considering Seeking Asylum In Latin America
December 5, 2012 | 1416 GMT
Syrian President Bashar al Assad is considering seeking political asylum in Latin America for himself, his family and his associates if forced to flee Damascus, an unnamed source in Caracas said Dec. 5, Haaretz reported. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad held meetings in Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador over the past week and delivered classified personal letters from al Assad to local leaders, the source said.
Posted in LatAm, Middle East, News, Syria, Venezuela, war
Tagged LatAm, Middle East, News, Syria, Venezuela, war
Which Gold Miners Might Be Impacted by Possible Unrest in The Ivory Coast ? (Sales Commentary)
CONCLUSION: The situation in the Ivory Coast continues to simmer after recent elections. Now the army has closed the Ivory Coast borders and is suspending foreign news organizations from reporting issues. If tensions continue then mining operations in the country could potentially be negatively impacted.
For reference, here are the gold miners with operations in the Ivory Coast:
Endeavour Mining (not rated. EVD CN, mkt cap C$320mm) – A development project in the Ivory Coast but producing assets are located in Burkina Faso
Cluff Gold (Market Perform, no target, CLF LN, mkt cap £150mm)- A producing mine in the Ivory Coast that accounts for approx. 25% of our NPV. Key asset is in Burkina Faso and an exploration play in Sierra Leone
Newcrest (Outperform, A$52.50, NCM AU, mkt cap A$31.1bn) – The Ivory Coast assets are only 4% of our project NPV, but the exploration upset
La Mancha (not rated. LMA CN, mkt cap C$368mm) – Highly levered to the Ivory Coast, with existing production from the country and many exploration targets.
Perseus (not rated. PRU AU, mkt cap A$1.3bn) – Main development project is Tengrela in the Ivory Coast, with a feasibility expected by year-end and production possible in late-2012
Randgold (Outperform, target US$125, RRS LN, mkt cap £5.5bn) – Growth asset Tongon is in the Ivory coast and is ramping towards production by the end of the year. The mine is 30% of our project NPV
Please see attached map from our West Africa gold analyst, to see locations of each asset in the country.
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Dec. 3 (UPI) — The United Nations
has urged Ivory Coast election rivals to refrain from violence
while officials try to determine who won a presidential runoff.
The Army sealed borders after Ivory Coast’s electoral
commission announced that opposition candidate Alassane
Ouattara defeated incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, the BBC reported.
However, the Constitutional Council said the announcement
is invalid, alleging voter fraud by Ouattara.
The army announced it closed Ivory Coast borders. It also
said it would suspend foreign news organizations from reporting
The election, the first presidential election in a decade,
was intended to reunify the nation, which was torn by a civil
war in 2002.
The United Nations received reports of violence in parts
of the west and north during recent voting but said overall the
election seemed peaceful.
“Our job is to remind them of their promises and
commitments and especially not to use violence,” said U.N.
spokesman Hamadoun Toure.
“They have to abide by electoral law, they have to keep
their promise during the campaigning that they won’t use
violence to settle disputes and they also said they’d abide by
the results,” Toure said.
The Constitutional Council has one week to publish
official results of the election.
Ivory Coast is the world’s largest producer of cocoa.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any
reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification
of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior
written consent.
-0- Dec/03/2010 14:49 GMT
Posted in Africa, elections, Gold, Gold Silver, Markets, News, war
Tagged Africa, elections, Gold, Gold Silver, Markets, metals, News, UN, war
Power Struggle Among Russia’s Militants
Published on STRATFOR (http://www.stratfor.com)
Created Aug 19 2010 – 10:56
Not Limited Open Access
By Ben West and Lauren Goodrich
On Aug. 12, four members of the militant group the Caucasus Emirate [2] (CE) appeared in a video posted on a Russian militant website withdrawing their support from CE founder
and leader Doku Umarov. The reason for the mutiny was Umarov!s Aug. 4 retraction of his
Aug. 1 announcement that he was stepping down from the top leadership position [3].
STRATFOR and many others noted at the time that the Aug. 1 resignation was
unexpected and suggested that Umarov may have been killed. However, the Aug. 4
retraction revealed that Umarov was still alive and that there was considerable confusion
over who was in control of the militant group.
The mutineers were all high-level members of the militant group: Hussein Gakayev,
commander of the CE!s Chechen forces; Aslambek Vadalov, commander of Dagestani
forces and to whom Umarov had briefly turned over control in his Aug. 1 resignation; an
Arab commander named Muhannad; and a veteran field commander known as Tarkhan.
The four CE commanders said Umarov!s renunciation showed disrespect for his
subordinates and that, while the four leaders continued to pledge support to the CE, they
no longer supported Umarov. Gakayev, Tarkhan and Muhannad had all appeared in a
video that aired Aug. 1 in which they supported Umarov!s decision to appoint Vadalov CE
emir.
To further confuse the issue, a video released Aug. 11 by Emir Adam, the CE leader in
Ingushetia, pledged his and his followers! loyalty to Umarov. The next day, another video
appeared featuring the group’s new leader in Dagestan, Emir Seyfullakh Gubdensky (who
succeeded Vadalov after he became deputy leader of the CE), similarly endorsing
Umarov!s reclamation of the top CE post.
These disparate messages from top leaders paint a picture of confusion and dissension in
the CE that appears to mark a serious crisis for a group, which, until recently, had been
consolidating militant groups across the Caucasus under a single, more strategic
leadership structure. STRATFOR has collected insight from sources familiar with the
group and its leadership turmoil that explains what happened and the nature of the threat
that the CE poses to Russian security in the Caucasus.
According to a Russian source, the confusion caused by Umarov!s apparent indecision
over the CE leadership position was a deliberate operation by Russia’s Federal Security
Service [4] (FSB). According to that source, the operation that ultimately appears to have
undermined Umarov!s position as leader of the CE began in early 2010. However, the
FSB received intelligence only over the past two months that set the stage for executing
the operation. That intelligence allegedly came from the CE!s former leader in Ingushetia,
Emir Ali Taziyev, who was arrested by the FSB on June 9 in an Ingushetian village.
Taziyev allegedly provided the FSB information on the CE!s training, ideology, weapons
procurement and leadership structure. This information then allowed the FSB to activate a
sleeper agent, Movladi Udugov, who served directly under Umarov as the CE!s head of
media and publicity. According to our source, Udugov was responsible for the
unauthorized release of the video in which Umarov announced that he was stepping down
and named Vadalov as his successor.
The story goes that Umarov had recorded the video with the intent of saving it and
releasing it only in the event of his demise. This would ensure that a crisis of succession
wouldn’t erupt because of his death or disappearance. The fact that Vadalov was named
as his successor on July 25 means that each of the regional leaders within the CE had
likely agreed to the decision. It is important to note that the leadership crisis did not occur
because Vadalov was assigned to the post, but because Umarov appeared to have
stepped down and then reclaimed his title. Udugov provided the crucial blow to Umarov!s
status as leader of the CE by releasing the resignation video prematurely, laying the
foundation for dissension among Umarov!s followers.
The resulting flurry of approval and disapproval from the CE!s corps of commanders
shows just how damaging the videos were. We have to be critical of the Russian source’s
account of how all of this transpired, since the source is likely interested in promoting the
FSB!s capabilities and its penetration of Russia’s most dangerous militant group. The
account is logical, however, since it does explain the unusual sequence of videos, and the
FSB is capable of infiltrating such a group. There are, of course, other explanations for
what could have motivated Udugov to release the tape: Perhaps he was trying to trigger a
power struggle within the group on his own, or perhaps someone else inside the CE
obtained the tape and released it in hopes of weakening Umarov or promoting Vadalov.
However, it is very unlikely that the release was a mistake, since Umarov and his
commanders have proved very competent at running a successful militant movement.
Looking deeper, it becomes obvious that a video alone would not have caused dissension
on the scale that we are seeing now within the CE. Had everything been perfect in the CE
and had Umarov enjoyed unwavering support, he could have dismissed the video as an
attempt to undermine his authority, promised to punish those responsible and gone on
with business. It is very apparent that Umarov was not able to do this. The release of the
videos exacerbated divisions among CE factions that Umarov and his deputies were trying
to consolidate. By releasing the video of Umarov stepping down as commander, Udugov
(allegedly under FSB guidance) forced the divisions into the public spotlight.
According to our Russian source, the resignation scandal has split the CE three ways. The
first split concerns operational security. The CE knew that penetrating the group was a top
priority for the FSB and that it had to remain vigilant against outsiders attempting to do just
that. Simply the allegation that one of Umarov!s top advisers was working for the FSB
undermines the sense of operational security throughout the entire group. Already,
accusations of FSB involvement in the CE leadership crisis have emerged in the open-
source network, on sites like globaljihad.net. In such an atmosphere, the level of trust
among commanders decreases (as they begin to wonder who is reporting to the FSB) and
the level of paranoia increases. Infighting at the top of any organization can quickly create
operational gridlock and reduce the organization’s effectiveness. This is exactly why the
Russians might try to claim credit for the tape’s release, even if they were not responsible.
The second split is generational and ideological. According to our source, a younger
faction of the CE (led by Vadalov) has accused Umarov and his cadre of not protecting
the ideological unity of the CE. It is no secret that Umarov is much more experienced in
and knowledgeable of military strategy and tactics, while his background in Islamism is
weak. He has bungled religious protocol and terminology a number of times, undermining
his authority as emir of the group. Meanwhile, the older, more military-oriented faction
accuses the younger faction of being willing to work with Moscow and sell out the
movement.
The third and possibly most volatile fault line is the tension between regional groups within
the Caucasus Emirate. The northern Caucasus republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, North
Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan each have their own, independent histories
of militancy, with Chechen militants traditionally being Moscow’s highest-profile
antagonists. Without the support of the Chechen commander of the CE (Khusein
Gakayev, who withdrew his support for Umarov in the Aug. 12 video), Umarov has a
serious deficit of support in controlling the Caucasus Emirate. The advantage of having
the support of the current Ingushetian and Dagestani militant leaders is diluted by the fact
that Chechnya geographically lies directly between them, rendering any trans-Caucasus
network incomplete. Also, Chechens have been the more successful leaders of militant
movements in the Caucasus. Umarov himself is Chechen, as was Shamil Basayev [5], a
commander of Chechen separatist forces in two wars against Russia.
Threat and Inherent Weaknesses
It is exactly because of Doku Umarov!s ability to bring together militants of different
motivations, generations and locations under the umbrella of the Caucasus Emirate that
made his group so threatening to the Russian state. As a unified militant group, the CE
proved capable of launching a suicide attack against Moscow’s subway system [6] in March
2010 and carrying out relatively sophisticated attacks [7] targeting security forces and
infrastructure. The CE leadership structure provided strategic guidance to the individual
militant groups operating in the separate republics that actually carried out the attacks.
With the recent crisis in leadership, these capabilities will likely be severely weakened.
Umarov announced the formation of the CE only in 2007, which means the group was just
three years old when the leadership turmoil broke out Aug. 1. This is precious little time to
consolidate militant groups across a region with sharp geographic fragmentation that
traditionally has caused groups to be isolated and independent. Moscow has had plenty of
problems controlling the region and is faced with the same geographic challenges as the
Caucasus Emirate. A different source familiar with the CE said that Umarov has most
recently attempted to consolidate the CE by broadcasting his statements in different
languages, such as Avar, which is widely spoken in Dagestan. But Avar is only one of 10
languages spoken across Dagestan alone, which makes communicating efficiently to an
audience across the Caucasus a difficult task.
That same source has said that the CE has had trouble moving food, supplies, weapons
and people across the Caucasus (this effort is complicated by Russian security forces as
well as geography), which means that each group is responsible for providing for itself.
This prevents standardization across the militant movement and complicates cooperation
among groups. It also reduces the reliance of regional militant groups on the Caucasus
Emirate leadership, decreasing Umarov!s control over the movement. If militant
commanders in Chechnya are supplying and recruiting on their own, they are less likely to
take orders on what to do with those resources from detached leaders. However, lack of
unity among the groups does not necessarily make them less able to carry out the small-
scale attacks that are common in the Caucasus. On Aug. 17, five days after a split in the
CE leadership became apparent, a suicide bomber (most likely affiliated with a group
linked to the CE) attacked a police checkpoint along the border of Ingushetia and North
Ossetia.
Militant groups existed in the Caucasus long before the Caucasus Emirate was formed
and will continue to exist long after it is gone. The strategic importance of the Caucasus [8]
and the fragmentation of its inhabitants due to ethnicity, culture and geography (which
makes for ideal guerrilla-warfare terrain), ensure that whoever attempts to control the
region will face serious challenges from local populations who want to govern themselves.
With varying levels of success, these groups will continue to use violence to undermine
their respective governments, especially those seen as Moscow’s lackeys.
Indeed, even though the Caucasus Emirate may be seriously disrupted by recent turmoil
in its leadership structure, the regional militant groups that made up the CE will certainly
continue to conduct attacks against security forces and even civilians as they try to loosen
Moscow!s control over the region. But the turmoil will reduce the strategic threat the
combined efforts of these disparate groups had posed to Moscow for the foreseeable
future.
Terrorism/Security Ben West and Lauren Goodrich Russia Security Weekly
Sponsorship | Affiliate Program
© Copyright 2010 STRATFOR. All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100818_power_struggle_among_russias_militants
[1] http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/burton_and_stewart_on_security?fn=6716995385
[2] http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100414_caucasus_emirate?fn=5216944911
[3] http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20100802_russia_militant_leader_steps_down?fn=4216944999
[4] http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20100611_russia_fsbs_powers_expanded?fn=8916944994
[5] http://www.stratfor.com/russia_win_chechnya_not_victory?fn=8216944961
[6] http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20100329_red_alert_bombing_moscow_special_intelligence_guidance?
fn=4816944916
[7] http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20100331_russia_sophisticated_attack_dagestan?fn=5216944922
[8] http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100706_caucasus_cauldron?fn=3916944916
Power Struggle Among Russia’s Militants is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
Posted in News, war
Tagged islam, News, russia, terrorism, war
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Mavis Staples is no stranger to collaborations—throughout the years, Ry Cooder, Jeff Tweedy, Bob Dylan, and even Prince have all lent their talents to the influential singer. On her 12th solo album, We Get By, she teams up with the eclectic American singer-songwriter Ben Harper for a passionate, gospel-heavy set that is grounded with a soulful foundation. “We get by on love and faith,” Staples declares on the title track, addressing the communal bond that connects us to one another with positivity and compassion. The dimly lit, bluesy “Never Needed Anyone” and “Heavy on My Mind” are sparse but weighty, as Staples looks back at loss and past regrets with levelheadedness and sincerity. Harper’s lean, finely textured production allows her commanding voice to adapt to any mood—she lifts herself back up on the rapturous protest of “Brothers and Sisters,” reminding us that it’s never too late to have hope.
We Get By Mavis Staples
We Get By (feat. Ben Harper)
Heavy on My Mind
Never Needed Anyone
Chance on Me
Hard to Leave
One More Change
℗ 2019 Anti
More By Mavis Staples
We'll Never Turn Back
Mavis Staples Live: Hope At the Hideout
Have a Little Faith
If All I Was Was Black
Your Good Fortune - EP
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