Dataset Preview
The full dataset viewer is not available (click to read why). Only showing a preview of the rows.
The dataset generation failed
Error code: DatasetGenerationError
Exception: ArrowInvalid
Message: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 135
Traceback: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 153, in _generate_tables
df = pd.read_json(f, dtype_backend="pyarrow")
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 815, in read_json
return json_reader.read()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1025, in read
obj = self._get_object_parser(self.data)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1051, in _get_object_parser
obj = FrameParser(json, **kwargs).parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1187, in parse
self._parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1403, in _parse
ujson_loads(json, precise_float=self.precise_float), dtype=None
ValueError: Trailing data
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1997, in _prepare_split_single
for _, table in generator:
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 156, in _generate_tables
raise e
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 130, in _generate_tables
pa_table = paj.read_json(
File "pyarrow/_json.pyx", line 308, in pyarrow._json.read_json
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 154, in pyarrow.lib.pyarrow_internal_check_status
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 91, in pyarrow.lib.check_status
pyarrow.lib.ArrowInvalid: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 135
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1529, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1154, in convert_to_parquet
builder.download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1029, in download_and_prepare
self._download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1124, in _download_and_prepare
self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1884, in _prepare_split
for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2040, in _prepare_split_single
raise DatasetGenerationError("An error occurred while generating the dataset") from e
datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationError: An error occurred while generating the datasetNeed help to make the dataset viewer work? Make sure to review how to configure the dataset viewer, and open a discussion for direct support.
pred_label
string | pred_label_prob
float64 | wiki_prob
float64 | text
string | source
string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.517573
| 0.517573
|
Alfa Romeo Giulietta stars in Fast & Furious 6
Posted by Ernest | May 7, 2013 | Auto, Auto Events / News Briefs | 0 |
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta becomes the star of the latest release of the ‘Fast & Furious’ flick franchise – the Fast & Furious 6.
The movie, starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Paul Walker, and a bunch of Hollywood & international action stars and a rapper, is set to premiere first in London on 7 May and worldwide from 22 May.
London is precisely the chosen setting for ‘Fast&Furious 6’ – this is the first time that a film in the series is shot in Europe – and the location of one of the most thrilling scenes, an incredible drive that sees the films stars on board a potent Alfa Romeo Giulietta. First, the car ‘debarks’ from an enormous Antonov during take-off then it attempts to interrupt the cargo aircraft’s take-off run in a breath-taking chase sequence. In the end, it’s the Giulietta who comes out on top, thanks to the model’s outstanding performance and the bravery of the two stars, driving the aircraft disastrously off the runway.
What’s more, the same scenes from the thrilling runway chase sequence have been used for the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta advert which is now on air on the main Italian television networks, and will soon be shown in other countries. It’s a genuine trailer, promoting both the cinema release of ‘Fast&Furious 6’ and the model that is meeting with so much international success: in absolute terms, from launch – May 2010 – to date, more than 192,000 Giuliettas have been ordered worldwide.
As the main star of the movie. the Alfa Romeo Giulietta incorporates either a TCT – 170 HP 1.4 TB MultiAir or 170 HP 2.0 JTDM (diesel) powerplant; only the 1.4 TB is available for the Malaysian market. Introduced in this country by Sime Darby Auto Connexion in May 2012, the Giulietta depicts a car that has exemplary road-holding, agility and safety.
In detail, in the 170 HP TCT Giulietta 1.4 TB MultiAir version, the top speed is 218 km/h, with just 7.7 seconds needed to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h. Even with this performance, consumption and emissions are extraordinarily modest: 5.2 l/100 km in the combined cycle and 121 g/km of CO2. Also when combined with the 170 HP 2.0 JTDM diesel engine, the values are at the top of its category: compared to the same version with manual gearbox, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h changes from 8.0 seconds to 7.9 seconds, fuel consumption (combined cycle) drops from 4.7 l/100 km to 4.5 l/100 km, while CO₂ emissions reach a level of 119 g/km (124 g/km with the manual gearbox).
Edited: FIAT
PreviousVolkswagen’s Millionth Scirocco for Deutschland and China
Next2013 Porsche 911 Turbo line-up is the latest representation of the world’s favorite Sportscar variant
Shell easiGO Prepaid Card is the right direction towards cashless transactions
BOSCH Two-Wheeler & Powersports division intends to drive business to greater heights
New Kia Sorento to arrive in May, followed by the Kia Sportage
Honda City, Jazz, HR-V and BR-V now available in White Orchid Pearl hue
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line4
|
__label__wiki
| 0.7706
| 0.7706
|
Home » Personal Health » Guidelines Aim to Help Perimenopausal Women Deal With Depression
2018-11-07 Comments Off on Guidelines Aim to Help Perimenopausal Women Deal With Depression Personal Health
Guidelines Aim to Help Perimenopausal Women Deal With Depression
Symptoms of perimenopause and depression are often the same, including loss of appetite, mood swings and problems with concentration.(Getty Images)
Pauline Maki has made her career about women and mental health. As a professor of psychology, psychiatry and OB-GYN at the University of Illinois—Chicago College of Medicine, as well as the director of women’s mental health research and associate director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender, she knows what the research says about these issues. In fact, she has conducted quite a bit of it herself, for which she received the 2018 Woman in Science Award, given by the American Medical Women’s Association.
But Maki also knows where the research gaps are, and about three years ago she found a big one that she decided to fill.
There were, at that time, no comprehensive mental health guidelines for practitioners to follow when caring for women in perimenopause, also called menopause transition. The North American Menopause Society says that this transition may last four to eight years, beginning long before menopause, which is one year after the final menstrual period.
Until recently, the biological processes behind perimenopause were not well understood. “We tended to understudy and underdiagnose women” in perimenopause, says Dr. Maureen Sayres Van Niel, a reproductive psychiatrist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and president of the American Psychiatric Association Women’s Caucus. “The different symptoms were just considered an inconvenience to be endured with grace.” But in the past few years, new research has looked into the various symptoms and their treatments. “We now realize there are serious processes here that need attention,” Van Niel says.
Maki saw this new research as well, and she decided it was time to put it all together. “There had never been any guidelines, so we created the first ones on this topic,” she says.
Symptoms Overlap
In 2015, Maki served as president of the NAMS. As president, she got to decide “what that year’s big project should be. I had this great opportunity to leverage that position.” She chose perimenopause guidelines. NAMS paired with the National Network of Depression Centers, specifically the Women and Mood Disorders Task Force. “We thought it would be a wonderful partnership to bring together these experts to do these guidelines,” Maki says. First, the task force conducted a systematic review of all the literature. “We wanted practitioners and women to understand what we think the best approach is to this,” she explains.
The final guidelines, published this September in the journal Menopause and the Journal of Women’s Health, have been endorsed by the International Menopause Society. Maki is the co-lead author, along with Susan Kornstein, professor of psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University. The task force they co-chaired reviewed the scientific literature on depressive disorders and symptoms in perimenopausal women and focused on five areas: epidemiology, clinical presentation, therapeutic effects of antidepressants, effects of hormone therapy and efficacy of other therapies such as psychotherapy, exercise and natural products.
One of the most important things they note is that symptoms of perimenopause and depression are often the same. Sleep disturbances, for instance, can be exacerbated by hot flashes or night sweats; poor sleep also can be a symptom of and can contribute to depression. Stress is often heightened during this time of life, as women juggle parental duties or sending kids off to college, work responsibilities and caring for aging parents, which can add to symptoms of both perimenopause and depression. Loss of appetite, mood swings, loss of interest in sex and problems with concentration are other symptoms common to both. “So the question becomes, how do you suss out the differences,” Van Niel says.
A Window of Vulnerability
The guidelines suggest how to tell the difference between perimenopause and depression. “The most important finding, the lowest hanging fruit, is that perimenopause, like puberty and postpartum, is a window of vulnerability,” Maki says. “Within that window, it is important to distinguish between two types of mood disorders.” Providers need to be most concerned about major depression, which involves symptoms that affect function in a significantly debilitating way, she says. “In addition, since every woman goes through menopause if she lives long enough, it is important to talk about symptoms that don’t meet the criterion for major depression but still impact quality of life, well-being, work and interpersonal quality, what we call elevated depressive symptoms.”
The risk for elevated depressive symptoms applies to all women, regardless of their own history of depression. “This is something all women need to be aware of,” Maki says. However, major depression is largely confined to women with a prior history, the data show. “This is important because 58 percent of women with a history of major depression will experience a worsening of mood when transitioning to perimenopause,” she says.
The guidelines also state:
Proven therapeutic options for depression (antidepressants, cognitive behavioral therapy and other psychotherapies) should remain as front-line antidepressive treatments for major depressive episodes during perimenopause.
Clinicians should consider treating co-occurring sleep disturbance and night sweats as part of treatment for menopause-related depression.
Estrogen therapy is ineffective as a treatment for depressive disorders in postmenopausal women.
Hormonal contraceptives may improve depressive symptoms in women approaching menopause.
Evidence is insufficient for the recommendation of botanical or alternative approaches for treating depression related to perimenopause.
The recent suicide of the designer Kate Spade, at age 55, is one example of the seriousness of mental health issues in midlife women, a group that has shown a 45 percent increase in suicide rates over the past 15 years, Maki says. Van Niel calls the new guidelines “very important. Some of the things they found confirmed things we knew, and others gave us more information. They elucidated risk factors, so we can ask about things like significant stress and a history of depression. They will really shed light on our practice. We finally have a gold standard for treating women in menopause transition.”
11 Simple, Proven Ways to Optimize Your Mental Health
David Levine, Contributor
David Levine has been covering mental and behavioral health for U.S. News since 2017. A former … Read moreDavid Levine has been covering mental and behavioral health for U.S. News since 2017. A former health columnist for Governing Magazine and contributing writer for athenaInsight, he currently writes about health and wellness for Wainscot Health Media, Health Monitor, American Healthcare Leader, Advancing Care and other publications, and he is a regular contributor to Super Lawyers and Modern Counsel magazines. He also writes about lifestyle and general interest topics, from history and business to beer and baseball, as a contributing writer for Hudson Valley, Westchester and 914Inc magazines. His freelance writing has appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, American Heritage, The New York Daily News Sunday Magazine and dozens of other publications. A former staff editor and writer at SPORT magazine, he appeared on the “Today Show” twice to promote his work for the magazine. He is also the author or co-author of six sports books, including “Life on the Rim” (Macmillan) and “In the Land of Giants” (Little, Brown). His writing has helped many companies win numerous publishing awards, including the Aster, Apex, World Wide Web Health, Society for Technical Communications and Health Information awards. You can find a collection of his work on Contently and you can connect with him on LinkedIn.
Missed Miscarriage: A Missing Conversation
Hot flushes in the menopause: What do women
Antidepressants in Germany, not prescribed as often as never before – when they are really useful and when
“I hate my life. And I love it“
David Levinedepressionhealthmenopausemental healthmindpatient advicepatients'sexual healthWomen's Health
Previous Post:Missed Miscarriage: A Missing Conversation
Next Post:'I know already I have a wilful girl on my hands' – Kathryn Thomas plans to play tough on parenting
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line6
|
__label__cc
| 0.668405
| 0.331595
|
Researchers identify molecular process that could accelerate recovery from nerve injuries
By wpadmin | October 8, 2019
Tiare Dunlap
Twenty million Americans suffer from peripheral nerve injuries, which can be caused by traumas such as combat wounds and motorcycle crashes as well as medical disorders including diabetes. These injuries can have a devastating impact on quality of life, resulting in loss of sensation, motor function and long-lasting nerve pain. The body is capable of regenerating damaged nerves, but this process is slow and incomplete.
Now, researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have discovered a molecular process that controls the rate at which nerves grow both during embryonic development and recovery from injury throughout life.
The study, led by senior author Samantha Butler and published in the Journal of Neuroscience, used experiments with mice to show that it is possible to accelerate peripheral nerve growth by manipulating this molecular process. The finding could inform the development of therapies that reduce the time it takes for people to recover from nerve injuries.
The human body’s nervous system is comprised of two components: the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord; and the peripheral nervous system, which encompasses all other nerves in the body. Peripheral nerves extend over long distances to connect limbs, glands and organs to the brain and spinal cord, sending signals that control movement via motor neurons, and relaying information such as pain, touch and temperature via sensory neurons.
Unlike the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, which are protected by the skull and vertebrae, the nerves of the peripheral nervous system have no such protection, leaving them vulnerable to injury. While the body has a mechanism to help peripheral nerves reestablish connections after injury, this process is slow; damaged nerves regrow at an average rate of just one millimeter per day.
The glacial pace of this recovery can take a tremendous toll on people’s lives, as they may have to live with impaired movement and sensation for many months or years.
“People with severe peripheral nerve injuries often lose sensation, which makes them susceptible to further injury, and they lose mobility, which can lead to muscle atrophy,” said Butler, who holds the Eleanor I. Leslie Chair in Pioneering Brain Research in the neurobiology department at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “The process of nerve regrowth can be extremely painful and if muscles have atrophied it requires a lot of physical therapy to regain function. My lab seeks methods to accelerate this healing process.”
In a 2010 study in mice, Butler and her colleagues discovered they could control the rate at which nerves grow in the spinal cord during embryonic development by manipulating the activity of a gene called LIM domain kinase 1, or Limk1. Limk1 controls the rate of nerve growth by regulating the activity of a protein called cofilin. Cofilin plays a key role in a process known as actin polymerization, or “treadmilling,” which enables nerves to extend thread-like projections over long distances to form neural networks.
Butler’s new paper builds on these findings by showing that Limk1 and cofilin also control the rate of growth of peripheral nerves during both development and regeneration.
“We discovered that one of the first things a nerve does after injury is switch on all these early developmental molecules that controlled how it grew in the first place,” said Butler, who is a member of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center. “It’s somewhat similar to how an adult in crisis might reach out to their childhood friends to renew themselves.”
In preclinical tests using mouse models with peripheral nerve injuries, Butler’s lab showed that this molecular process can be manipulated to make nerves grow faster. Specifically, they found that mice that were genetically engineered so that the Limk1 gene was removed exhibited a 15% increase in the speed of nerve regrowth following injury.
“This is a modest improvement for a mouse but one that could translate into a major improvement for a human because our nerves have so much farther to grow,” said Butler, who noted that nerves regrow at the same rate in both mice and humans.
This increased rate of nerve regrowth resulted in faster recovery of both motor and sensory functions as measured by how fast the injured mice regained the ability to walk and the sensation in their paws. This is significant because sensory function can take longer than motor function to recover after a traumatic injury, yet sensory function is critical to quality of life.
As a next step, Butler and her lab are using human stem cell-derived motor neurons to screen for drug candidates that could modify this molecular process and speed nerve regeneration in humans. They are also expanding the scope of their study by examining if adding more cofilin — rather than inhibiting Limk1 — could be even more effective in speeding up recovery from peripheral nerve injuries.
The experimental treatment model described above was used in preclinical tests only and has not been tested in humans or approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective for use in humans.
Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, the Merkin Family Foundation and the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center Research Award Program, supported by the Jean Perkins Foundation.
Healthcanal.com
Category: News Tags: ‘Accelerate’, could, from, identify, Injuries, molecular, Nerve, process, recovery, Researchers
← Iron-Deficiency Anemia During Pregnancy Affects Child’s Brain Development Cilantro Lime Southwest Salad →
A Guide to Growing Spinach
Sunday With Sisson 11.25.18
7 At-Home Exercises to Get Rihanna’s Curves, From Her Trainer
About After Benefits Best Better cancer Care could depression diet disease drug Fitness food from Health healthcare Healthy Heart Help Home Know Loss Medical medicine More Natural Need News Pain People Posted risk says Should Skin Study than This Tips Today Treatment Ways Weight Women
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line7
|
__label__wiki
| 0.56414
| 0.56414
|
Vodafone's corporate logo is the outline of a SIM card
Vodafone is a multinational mobile phone operator with headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom and Düsseldorf, Germany. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world, with equity interests in 26 countries and Partner Networks (networks in which it has no equity stake) in a further 14 countries.
At 31 March 2005 Vodafone had 154.8 million proportionate customers in 26 markets. ("Proportionate customers" means for example that if Vodafone has a 30% stake in a business with a million customers that is counted as 300,000). Vodafone is listed on the London Stock Exchange as Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD.L (http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=VOD.L)) and New York Stock Exchange, symbol VOD.
Vodafone stands for VOice-DAta-FONE.
2 Vodafone in Europe
3 Vodafone in Asia-Pacific
4 Vodafone in the Middle East and Africa
5 Vodafone in the United States
6 Corporate sponsorship
Chairman - Ian MacLaurin, Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth
Deputy Chairman - Paul Hazen
Chief Executive - Arun Sarin
Chief Operating Officer - Sir Julian Horn-Smith
Chief Marketing Officer - Peter Bamford
Chief Technology Officer - Thomas Geitner
Vodafone in Europe
Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the European region:
Albania - Vodafone Albania Website (http://www.vodafone.al/)
Austria - A1 Website (http://www.a1.net/)
Belgium - Proximus Website (http://www.proximus.be/)
Croatia - VIP (mobile operator) Website (http://www.vipnet.hr/)
Cyprus - Cyta Website (http://www.cyta.com.cy/)
Czech Republic - Oskar (mobile operator) Website (http://www.oskarmobil.cz/)
Denmark - TDC Mobil Website (http://www.tdcmobil.dk/)
Estonia - Radiolinja Website (http://www.radiolinja.ee/)
Finland - Elisa (mobile operator) Website (http://www.radiolinja.fi/)
France - SFR Website (http://www.sfr.fr/)
Germany - Vodafone Germany Website (http://www.vodafone.de)
Greece - Vodafone Greece Website (http://www.vodafone.gr)
Hungary - Vodafone Hungary Website (http://www.vodafone.hu)
Iceland - Og Vodafone Website (http://www.ogvodafone.is/)
Ireland - Vodafone Ireland Website (http://www.vodafone.ie)
Italy - Vodafone Italy Website (http://www.190.it)
Lithuania - BITE (mobile operator Website (http://www.bite.lt/)
Luxembourg - LUXGSM Website (http://www.ept.lu/)
Malta - Vodafone Malta Website (http://www.vodafone.com.mt/)
Netherlands - Vodafone Netherlands Website (http://www.vodafone.nl)
Poland - Plus GSM Website (http://www.plusgsm.pl/)
Portugal - Vodafone Portugal Website (http://www.vodafone.pt/)
Romania - Connex Website (http://www.connex.ro/)
Slovenia - Si.mobil-Vodafone Website (http://www.simobil.si/)
Spain - Vodafone Spain Website (http://www.vodafone.es)
Sweden - Vodafone Sweden Website (http://www.vodafone.se/)
Switzerland - Swisscom Website (http://www.swisscom.com/)
United Kingdom - Vodafone United Kingdom Website (http://www.vodafone.co.uk)
1985-01-01: First phone call on Vodafone United Kingdom's Analogue network. This event was staged, due to a network failure; the first calls actually being made the next day. The first call was made to Vodafone head office - which was at that point above a curry house in Newbury, where the company remains today.
October 1991: Racal Telecom is demerged from Racal Electronics and becomes Vodafone Group.
June 1992: Vodafone Germany's (still as "Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH") network went live.
July 1992: Vodafone United Kingdom's GSM network went live.
September 1992: Vodafone Sweden's network went live.
October 1992: Vodafone Portugal's (still as "Telecel, Comunicações Pessoais, SA") network went live.
July 1993: Vodafone Greece's network went live.
July 1993: Vodafone Ireland's GSM network went live.
September 1995: Vodafone Italy's (still as "Omnitel") network went live.
November 1995: Vodafone Spain's (still as "Airtel") network went live.
2000: Vodafone took over German mobile network operator Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmBH & Co KG. The deal is one of the largest in European history.
2001-04-16 First 3G voice call on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network.
2001: Vodafone took over Eircell, then part of Eircom in Ireland and rebranded it Vodafone Ireland.
2001-2002: Vodafone acquired Japan's third largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.
2002: Vodafone rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live!™ as its mobile customer portal
2004: Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe.
2005: Vodafone increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99%. Vodafone also bought Czech mobile operator Oskar.
Vodafone in Asia-Pacific
Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Asia-Paficic region:
Australia - Vodafone Australia Website (http://www.vodafone.com.au)
Fiji - Vodafone Fiji Website (http://www.vodafone.com.fj)
Japan - Vodafone Japan Website (http://www.vodafone.jp/), formerly known as J-Phone
Hong Kong - Smartone-Vodafone Website (http://www.smartone-vodafone.com.hk/), formerly known as Smartone
New Zealand - Vodafone New Zealand Website (http://www.vodafone.co.nz)
Singapore - M1 (mobile operator) Website (http://www.m1.com.sg/)
July 1993: BellSouth New Zealand's network went live.
October 1993: Vodafone Australia's network went live.
July 1994: Vodafone Fiji's network went live.
November 1998: Vodafone purchased BellSouth New Zealand, and it became known as Vodafone New Zealand.
1999-2000: J-Phone launched the J-sky mobile internet service in response to DoCoMo's i-Mode service.
December 2002: J-Phone's 3G network went live.
October 1st 2003: Vodafone changed the name of it's Japanese subsidiary from J-Phone to 'Vodafone', and the name of J-Phone's mobile internet service from J-Sky to Vodafone Live!
April 2005: Smartone changed the name of it's brand from Smartone to 'Smartone-Vodafone'
Vodafone in the Middle East and Africa
Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Middle East and Africa region:
Bahrain - MTC-Vodafone Website (http://www.mtc-vodafone.com.bh/)
Democratic Republic of the Congo - Vodacom Website (http://www.vodacom.cd/)
Egypt - Vodafone Egypt formerly known as ClickGSM Website (http://www.vodafone.com.eg)
Kenya - Safaricom Website (http://www.safaricom.co.ke/)
Kuwait - MTC-Vodafone Website (http://www.mtc-vodafone.com/)
South Africa - Vodacom Website (http://www.vodacom.net/)
May 1998: Vodafone Egypt network went live under the name ClickGSM.
Vodafone in the United States
In the United States, Vodafone owns 45%1 of Verizon Wireless, the country's second largest mobile carrier. However, the phone company (Verizon) owns a majority of Verizon Wireless and Vodafone's branding is not used, nor is the network compatible with GSM phones.
1 Vodafone Group Plc. Annual Review & Summary Financial Statement. For the year ending 31 March 2005.
Scuderia Ferrari Formula One constructor
DTM (the German touring car series)
Vodafone Oaks and Vodafone Derby horse races at Epsom.
Newbury AFC (The football club from Newbury, where Vodafone was founded.)
Daily Express Life Savers Awards
Benfica football club (Portugal). (from the 2005-'06 season, the team will be sponsored by Portugal Telecom)
Clare GAA, Ireland (formerly sponsored by Eircell)
ECB dials up £12m deal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/1065350.stm). BBC Sport (11. December, 2000).
Ferrari extend sponsorship deal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4100907.stm). BBC Sport (16. December, 2004).
Man Utd rings up £36m shirt deal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3252120.stm). BBC News (1. December, 2003).
Vodafone's global website (http://www.vodafone.com/)
Reports on Vodafone (http://www.ponyal.net/sprtcasec45.htm)
Template:MobilePhoneNetworks
de:Vodafone es:Vodafone fr:Vodafone Group Plc it:Vodafone ja:ボーダフォン zh:沃達豐
Retrieved from "http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Vodafone"
Categories: Telecommunication companies of the United Kingdom | Companies traded on the LSE
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line10
|
__label__cc
| 0.57846
| 0.42154
|
Map of Fort Greely
Fort Greely is an exciting place to live in or visit. The area surrounding Fort Greely is filled with excitement and adventure. The great outdoors await you once you step outside your house or arrive at the ports or airports. The spectacular scenery and many outdoor activities will make your stay worthwhile. But it was not always like this in Fort Greely, Alaska. Fort Greely is one of the best military posts in the United States. The military post located in Fort Greely has highly trained soldiers and civilian personnel that are willing to serve their country to the fullest.
History of Fort Greely
Fort Greely begun its history in 1942 when 1st Lt. William L. Brame, of the 138th Infantry, led an advanced detail comprised of fifteen men to build an Army Air Corps Base in the Big Delta Area. 1st Lt. Brame was the first post commander of Fort Greely. Brame was a part of an organization that was comprised of a quartermaster, infantry platoon, finance, signal, and medical detachments that was activated in Seattle.
The first Army units established camp on June 30, 1942. These Army units established Station 17, Alaskan Wing, Air Transport Command. Fort Greely played a vital role during World War II because the fort served as a refueling/rest post for American pilots transferring aircrafts to Ladd Airfield for the Lend Lease program. The fort continued as an Army Air Corps Base till 1945 when it was put on inactive. Until 1947, the Civil Aeronautics Authority maintained the military post while it was on inactive status.
After a few years on hiatus, Fort Greely was designated as the site for post-war cold weather maneuver tactics. The War Department tasked Fort Greely to fulfill Exercise Yukon that took place in the winter months of 1947-1948. The installation in Fort Greely was fully reactivated on May 1, 1948. The Department of the Army took control of the base and re-designated it as a full time military post. Under the new directive of the military post, the post was named United States troops, Big Delta, Alaska. The military post became the Arctic Training Center in 1948. The military post in Fort Greely was chosen for the Arctic Center because of its extremely low temperatures that mixed with various terrains. The terrain includes rivers, mountains, open plains, lakes, and swamps that can be training sites for soldiers.
The Arctic Training Center has three subdivisions which were:
The Army Arctic Indoctrination School
Army Training Company for School Troops
Test and Development Section
The schools were established to teach the different living and movement conditions that soldiers would face in arctic and subarctic temperatures. The schools will train soldiers from all over America to withstand extremely low temperatures.
September 1, 1952 was an eventful day for the military post because it was renamed the Army Arctic Center. In 1953, construction began on the new buildings and facilities near the airfield. In the same year the United States Army Chemical Corps-Arctic Test Team was established on the military post. In 1954, another group of buildings were erected on the airbase to further develop the military. The new buildings were post headquarters, fire stations, auditoriums, photographic labs, post engineer facilities, maintenance shops, warehouses, and the Cold Weather & Mountain School buildings.
The military post was renamed Fort Greely on August 6, 1955 in honor of the late Maj. General Adolphus Washington Greely, founding father of the Alaska Communications System and one of a kind arctic explorer. Maj. Gen. Greely was responsible for numerous telephone lines in the United States, the Philippines, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. Maj. Gen. Greely boasts of more than 45,000 miles of telegraph lines in Alaska. At the zenith of his career Maj. Gen. Greely was awarded the Medal of Honor by the United States Congress in 1935.
Facts & Figures About Fort Greely
Fort Greely is home to the United States Army Chemical Corps. The military post is also home to several facilities such as the Arctic Test Board and the Army Cold Weather and Mountain School. There are other several facilities scattered to different parts of the fort such as family housing, recreational centers and other necessary facilities.
Fort Greely is an integral part of the United States Ballistic Mission Defense System and is a National Security Asset. Fort Greely is a vital cog in the United States Army mission at home and all over the world.
Work Force in the Garrison: 420 people (including military, contractors, civilians)
Total Work Force: 1,119 people (including military, civilian, contractors, AAFES, NAF, DECA)
Residents of the Installation: 500 people (including contractors, civilians, military)
Mission of Fort Greely
Fort Greely is an installation mission that focuses on mid-course missile defense. The fort destroys mid-course missiles that are a threat to the United States. Fort Greely also hosts other military missions such as the Northern Warfare Training Center and the Cold Regions Test Center. The overall mission of the fort is comparable to an isolated city which provides the government a multitude of services. The services offered by Fort Greely include police, transportation and protection from fire.
Due to the remote location of the fort, it is important to keep the morale of the troops and the workers at a high level. All the services are provided for them during their stay. They get top notch welfare, schools, housing, health services, religious services, child development and support. Fort Greely is concerned with integrating each individual to form a sense of community with each other. The community fosters leadership in all levels of the community. You can hone and develop other skills during your stay in Fort Greely. The top notch services will provide you all of the necessities. The Army also involves itself with community programs to develop a bond and to help uplift the spirits of soldiers and civilians alike.
Fort Greely was established to serve and protect civilians and the United States. The soldiers and personnel are highly trained to uphold their mission.
Video of Fort Greely Alaska – 300 people who protect at the facility
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line12
|
__label__cc
| 0.645709
| 0.354291
|
Ноты $23.60
Биллингс Уільям
Bill Milkowski. Jaco - The Extraordinary And Tragic Life Of Jaco Pastorius. Book, CD. Jaco Pastorius. --.
Біл Милкауски. Жако - Надзвычайны і трагічнай жыцця Жака Пасториусом. Кніга, CD-. Жако Пасториус. --.
A fitting tribute to the troubled genius who revolutionized electric bass playing and bridged the gaps between jazz, R&B, rock and funk. From his early days in R&B club bands through his international stardom with fusion group Weather Report and on to his solo career and tragic death at age 35, this book portrays the life and music of Jaco Pastorius, the self-proclaimed "world's greatest bass player. This special anniversary edition features new interviews with Jaco's childhood friends, prominent bass players of Jaco's era and afterward, and girlfriend Teresa Nagell, who was with Jaco in the last few years of his life. Some incidents from the first edition have been further researched and expanded to become full chapters. Exclusive to this edition, the CD features newly revealed music tracks from Jaco's early years along with spoken testimonials from Jaco's friends and colleagues. The book also contains new, never-before-seen photos acquired from the Pastorius estate.
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line14
|
__label__wiki
| 0.501865
| 0.501865
|
Overcoming Adversity and Moving Forward
April 1, 2018 by Che Leave a Comment
“Hey, it’s good that you’re upset. It shows that you care.”
My coach’s father leaves me with words of wisdom while I sit in the hallway straight off of a loss. Indistinguishable beads of sweat and tears of frustration roll down my face. At that moment, I couldn’t care less about the difference. I had just been eliminated from the New England Prep Championships after having poured my heart and soul into my training. I went as far as to voluntarily live in poverty six hours away from home during my summer break of high school so that I could find the best opportunities to train. To have a chance of winning it all. What did I have to show for it? Not much, apparently. Every competitor knows the soul-wrenching heartbreak of having their dreams crushed. How can someone possibly maintain their composure at such a time?
Without a doubt, focus and passion for the sport are prerequisites to reaching the highest levels of a sport or anything else. The agony of defeat becomes unbearable. Of course, there’s where greatness begins.
Defeat presents an obstacle. In overcoming obstacles, you progress closer to your goals, and I’ve never heard of any athlete or top performer in any field that did not lose or face adversity in some way or another.
Handled correctly, adversity can be used as a tool to improve and grow. Allow yourself to come to terms with the loss, give yourself enough time to explore and sit with the emotions that come with a heartbreaking loss, and then move on. Now, you’re ready to learn the lesson you need to propel yourself to new and greater heights.
Jordan Burroughs Rising Again
Jordan Burroughs’ heartbreaking loss at the 2016 Olympic Games prevented him from joining the elite company of multiple-time Olympic champions. Despite being in visible and deep emotional pain, Burroughs agreed to an interview anyway. If you listened closely, then you would have noticed that the heart of a champion had never left.
“Something good will come out of this.“
Burroughs battled back to a gold medal at the 2017 world championships following a series of clutch victories in which many of the matches were decided by razor thin margins. Despite being the target of hours upon hours of scouting for weaknesses, Burroughs still found a way to win in one of the most inspiring comeback performances in recent history. One could say that he advanced through the World Championship bracket with an inspiring display of technique and athleticism, but his performances were as gritty as they were technical.
United World Wrestling named Jordan Burroughs as one of the best comebacks of 2017, but some people know better- the champion had been there the entire time.
Conor Mcgregor Unfazed
Setbacks are inevitable. Most of the time, these setbacks happen behind the scenes when no one is watching. Unfortunately some of these setbacks happen in public for everyone to see. Such was the case for Conor Mcgregor after losing to Nate Diaz.
“I will assess it, and I will come back. I’ve been on the end of many defeats in my life and rose back from them. I will not shy away from it, I will not make excuses for it. I will never shy away from a challenge, I will never shy away from defeat. It is what it is- I came up short. I took a chance, it didn’t pay off, I’ll be back.”
Sure enough, he was back at the drawing board and learning from his mistakes leading up to the previous match.
“It got complacent, you know? It got, ‘we’ll show up any time’. It got, ‘we’ll train whatever we feel like. We’ll hit them, and they’ll fall.’ This one; it forced us to look at how we were preparing. It forced us to come back together and do what we’ve been doing from the beginning, you know? Focus. Solid work.”
In interviews, he made it clear that he hadn’t faltered in his confidence.
“I feel strong. I feel strong in my mind; I always do. I don’t let defeat faze me. Like I said before, true champions can come back, true champions rise again, and I am a true champion. So, I look forward to August 20th. We can either run from adversity or we can face adversity head on and conquer it, and that’s what I plan to do.”
Sure enough, August 20th came around and it wasn’t pretty. McGregor didn’t win by typical knockout like many of his other victories. Instead, this rematch required a combination of strategy and grit. At the end of one bloodbath of a fight, he won by majority decision.
Seek Adversity
Champions love a challenge. Champions love the war. They understand that pressure creates diamonds, and that under the pressure of the bright lights and the big stage, they are given an opportunity to shine like never before. In order to have the possibility of performing like that, champions need to put themselves in a situation where they may lose.
Is your life riddled with hardship? Good. Look forward to obstacles. They present an opportunity to grow. In fact, the best in the world seek obstacles in order to feed off of the opportunity to improve even more.
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said it best in his journal, Meditations.
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Extraordinary goals come with extraordinary obstacles.
What obstacles will you face today and how will you overcome them?
Filed Under: Mental Training
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line24
|
__label__cc
| 0.500249
| 0.499751
|
American Business Awards 2016: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, and Public Relations Awards Judging Committee
Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Mon, Apr 11, 2016 @ 03:34 PM
We invite you to meet The 2016 American Business Awards Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, and Public Realtions Awards judging chair and committee.
Now through the end of April, the professionals listed below will determine the Stevie Award winners in 24 categories for communications campaigns, professionals, innovations, and more. See the full list of categories they will be reviewing at the end of the post.
It's not too late to submit your 2016 American Business Awards nominations - the entry deadline was extended to April 19. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.
REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.
Meet the judging chair and committee:
Jock Breitwieser, Head of Corporate Communications
TriNet, San Jose, California, USA
J ock Breitwieser runs corporate communications at TriNet, a strategic partner to small and medium-sized businesses for HR, payroll, employee benefits, employment law compliance, and risk mitigation. He drove the company’s communications during its IPO and is responsible for TriNet’s external communications and social media strategy.
Prior to TriNet, Jock spearheaded global public relations, customer references, and social media for Dell SonicWALL in 17 countries. He drove positioning and communications when the previously public company went private with Thoma Bravo in 2010 and during SonicWALL’s acquisition by Dell in 2012. Before that, he was global head of corporate communications and web marketing at CallidusCloud, a provider of cloud-based sales and marketing solutions.
Zainab Ansari, Director & CEO
Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd, Karachi, Pakistan
A Corporate Image professional, Public Relations specialist with over forty years of high profile and successful career in large multinationals and reputable organizations; extensively exposed to Television, Radio and the literary circles; established writer, poet and a free lance journalist. In 1999, established Xenith PR in affiliation with Fleishman Hillard of USA.
Linda Ashmore, Vice President, Corporate Communications
Rambus Inc., Sunnyvale, California, USA
Linda Ashmore is the vice president of Corporate Communications at Rambus where she is responsible for developing and executing campaigns and strategies to clearly communicate value propositions across the company. At Rambus, Linda oversees global communications, public relations, digital marketing, global events, analyst relations, internal communications, and develops messaging in support of investor relations.
Norman Birnbach, President
Birnbach Communications, Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA
Deirdre Breakenridge, CEO
Pure Performance Communications, Marlboro, New Jersey, USA
Deirdre Breakenridge is an author, entrepreneur and the CEO of Pure Performance Communications. A 25+ year veteran in PR and marketing, she has five books published by Prentice Hall and FT Press including her latest title, Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional. Breakenridge is also an adjunct professor at NYU and UMASS at Amherst. She blogs at PR Expanded and is the host of the podcast show, Women Worldwide.
Lauran Cacciatori, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing & Communications
Deltek, Herndon, Virginia, USA
Lauran is responsible for global PR, Social Media and Analyst Relations at Deltek. Since joining Deltek, she has launched its social media program and created training for her colleagues. She also led communications to media & analysts surrounding several acquisitions and earned numerous accolades through the company's awards program.
Cindy Campbell, Director of Communications
AARP Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Cindy Campbell has more than 25 years’ experience in communications and is Director of Communications for AARP Massachusetts. Campbell worked as the morning SmartRoutes TV traffic reporter for Channel 5’s “Eyeopener” newscast for 15 years and worked as an award-winning anchor, reporter and video producer in the cable industry prior to joining Smartroutes. After Smartroutes, Campbell managed communications efforts for various federal and state highway safety initiatives. Campbell has a Bachelors’ degree in Journalism from Suffolk University and a Masters degree in Communications from Emerson College.
Brian Cronkhite, Managing Director
Burson-Marsteller, San Francisco, CA, USA
Brian Cronkhite is a senior communications counselor with two decades of experience building teams and advising clients in the US and across Asia, on brand development, positioning, reputation management and media strategy.
Adam Dalezman, Communications Manager
Synthesio, New York, New York, USA
Adam Dalezman is the Communications Manager at Synthesio, the leading global Social Intelligence platform. There he runs the day-to-day for external communications, including PR, AR, content marketing, social media and much more. Born and raised in Natick, MA, Adam currently resides in Teaneck, NJ with his wife, son and daughter.
Miles Daniels, Director of Communications
Everwise, San Francisco, California, USA
Saraida De Marchena Kaluche, President & CEO
Markatel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has a degree in Advertising and Media and a minor in Public Relations. Outstanding professional with extensive experience in both Dominican Republic and international markets (US, Latin America and Europe), with 30 years of practice in communications and wide recognition as a consultant and strategist. Founder and President of Markatel, firm Strategic Corporate Communications, Public Relations and Event Management, seminars, conferences and conventions, both nationally and internationally, founded in 1999.
Sarah Dudley, Marketing Strategist
IBM, Austin, Texas, USA
With an MBA in Marketing, I have found my passion in the digital landscape: social media, blogging, content creation, & infusing personality into products and services online. There is no such thing as a boring topic if you are creative enough and understand your audience! Experience in varied industries including IT, Aerospace, Toys, & Hospitality and currently based in Austin, TX working as a Marketing Strategist for IBM Cloud.
Jennifer Edelston, Vice President
Ruder Finn, New York, New York USA
Jenny Edelston has more than 7 years of experience developing, managing and executing effective communications programs for clients within the consumer and technology industries, including McDonald's, PepsiCo, Mondelēz International and Infor, among others. She currently serves as Vice President at global communications firm Ruder Finn.
Joe Escobedo, Head of Communications
Happy Marketer; Future Marketer, Singapore
Joe has nearly of decade of marketing and communications experience in Asia (China and Singapore). He has been featured in Forbes and Chinese national television. Joe is proficient in spoken Mandarin Chinese and is an award-winning public speaker. He holds an MBA in International Business & Finance.
Jim Fanucchi, Managing Director
Darrow Associates, Los Gatos, California, USA
For nearly 20 years I have managed the day-to-day investor relations activities for micro- to large-cap companies as an investor relations consultant, focusing primarily in the technology area. My experience includes guiding companies for their IPO, working with debt ratings agencies through the ratings review process and acting as the day-to-day investor relations lead for several companies.
Lise Feng, Director, Corporate Communications
CipherCloud, San Jose, California, USA
As CipherCloud's first director of corporate communications, Lise Feng built the program strategy and oversees execution for all things PR and AR. During her three year tenure, she helped CipherCloud establish its leadership in the cloud access security broker (CASB) space. At Weber Shandwick, Feng helped launch the tech media team, which provided media strategy and support to the agency's national Technology Practice.
Venancio Figueroa III, Director of Communications
Schneider Electric, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong, China
A communications veteran experienced in developing, implementing and measuring strategic internal communications programs. Capable of designing and orchestrating global leadership and employee communications initiatives related to organizational and cultural transformation, turning employees into brand evangelists, and supporting mergers & acquisitions and consolidations. Skilled at media relations and the use of social media to advance business agendas that achieve desired results with multiple stakeholders.
James Fogal, Professor of Business Administration
Notre Dame de Namur University, School of Business Management, Belmont, California, USA
James Fogal PhD is a professor specializing in graduate courses covering the spectrum of management in regards to technology, organizational behavior, systems and decision sciences. Professional background with 25 years managing supply chain and systems integration development projects and internationally recognized scholar. 2014 recipient of the national TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD by Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs.
Cecelia Fresh, Marketing Communications & PR Specialist
Trimble Navigation Ltd., Westminster, Colorado, USA
Cecelia Fresh works in the Geospatial Division at Trimble Navigation Ltd. – managing a global public relations strategy. She has over 15 years marketing and communications experience and possesses a Master of Arts degree in Applied Communications from the University of Denver.
Holly Gilthorpe, VP Communication and Public Affairs
Johnson and Johnson Medical Devices, New Brunswick, New Jersey USA
Holly Gilthorpe serves as vice president of communication and public affairs for Johnson & Johnsons Medical Devices business. In this role, Holly oversees global stakeholder engagement from media relations, issues management, and employee engagement, to brand reputation. Holly holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of California, Davis.
Melody Kean Haller, Principal
Joule Strategic Communications, San Jose, California, USA
MKH has worked been a principle/owner in the public relations industry since 1990, focusing on emerging technology and entrepreneurial ventures. In 1993 she was CEO of the first firm to focus on the Internet. In 1996 she founded Antenna Group, Inc., which she sold in 2010.
Lisa Helfer Elghazi, President
Celesta Marketing and Public Relations, Needham, Massachusetts, USA
Lisa Helfer Elghazi is the President and Founder of Celesta Marketing & Public Relations. She has worked with numerous companies to develop content, branding initiatives, and public relations and social media strategies in the B2B and consumer sectors. Helfer Elghazi has expert-level team skills and works successfully in groups or independently.
Barbara Hernandez, President
BCH OnPoint, Inc., Marshall, Wisconsin, USA
Barbara specializes in crisis management and public relations. With 35 years of experience in all aspects of public relations and crisis management, she has developed and implemented award-winning strategic communications campaigns for many challenging industries, including technology, healthcare, mining, chemicals, oil corporations, as well as non- service organizations and non-profits.
Anthony Herrling, Managing Director
Brainerd Communicators, Inc., New York, New York, USA
Talisha Holmes, Public Relations Associate
Fareportal, New York, New York, USA
Talisha Holmes possess 5 years of experience in Public Relations, most recently at travel tech company Fareportal and previously at Edelman Public Relations working on lifestyle brands AXE and Dove. as an Account Executive, Talishs clients included Consumer Marketing. Currently specializing in corporate communications and overall branding, Talisha holds a B.S. in Public Relations from North Carolina A&T State University.
Svein Inge Leirgul, Head of Global Media Relations
DNV-GL, Oslo, Norway
Aishwarya Iyer, Director of Communications
Whisper, Venice, California, USA
Aishwarya Iyer is the Director of Communications at Whisper, where she oversees all corporate and consumer communications, and media relations strategy. Aishwarya was previously at an early stage venture capital firm in New York City, and before that, was at SecondMarket and L'Oreal.
Vasu Jakkal, Vice President, Corporate Marketing
Brocade, San Jose, California, USA
Jenny Kassis, Strategic Communications and Content Manager
InBusiness.ae, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Jenny Kassis is a Lebanese journalist based in Dubai. She recently co-founded inbusiness.ae, an online media platform and is working towards developing strategic communications and contents. Previously, she occupied senior positions in leading publications in the UAE and Qatar. Jenny has a BA in journalism and a Maters1 degree in Mass Communication.
Robin Kim, Practice Head, Global Technology & Innovation
Ruder Finn, San Francisco, California, USA
Robin heads Ruder Finn’s global technology & innovation practice. She is a 20 year technology communications veteran with a track record for promoting and protecting brand and corporate reputation for high-growth startups and Fortune 50 leaders at all stages of their life cycle. She has lived and worked in nine markets across five countries in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
Corey Kinger, Managing Director
Corey Kinger is a Managing Director at Brainerd Communicators, an independent full-service strategic communications consultancy. Her areas of expertise include best practice investor relations program development and implementation, strategic messaging, and crisis and issues management. She is an officer of the New York Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute.
Jennifer Leonard, Professor, Public Relations Advanced Diploma Program
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kristina Levsky, Director of Public Relations
Dollar Shave Club, Venice, California, USA
Kristina heads up Corporate and Consumer Communications at Dollar Shave Club which also includes Trade, Internal, and Issues Management. She has been in the industry for over 16 years, previously leading Comms internally for brands like Match.com, ShoeDazzle and Comcast's G4 network, and on the agency side working on accounts like Best Buy, Red Bull, TurboTax and others.
Melanie Lombardi, Senior Communications Manager
Intermedia, Mountain View, California, USA
Melanie Lombardi is a seasoned public relations professional with 12+ years of experience, both in-house and agency-side, leading B2B and consumer brands in growing their profile and elevate their media message. She currently drives outbound communications and corporate strategy at cloud IT company, Intermedia.
Anne McCarthy, President and Founder
Westmeath Global Communications, Denver, Colorado, USA
Most of Annes career has been spent communicating the business of business. From restructuring announcements to CEO succession plans, from thought leadership platforms to issues management initiatives, Anne has a passion for business and a mandate for crisp and clear communications.In 2010, she founded Westmeath Global Communications, a virtual consulting firm, which offers services that help organizations accelerate performance.
Eric McKeeby, Director of Community Engagement
American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
As Director of Community Engagement at the American Board of Internal Medicine, Eric brings more than 15 years of communications, engagement, public affairs, marketing and grassroots action experience with an emphasis on education, health, science and urban renewal.
Chris McKie, Director of Public Relations
Gigamon, Sunnyvale, California, USA
Leveraging more than 20 years in-house and agency experience, Chris McKie has consistently crafted award winning thought leadership and awareness campaigns that have propelled start-ups to industry standouts.
Dana Mellecker, Principal
Mellecker Communications, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Dana Mellecker is a senior communications professional with more than 15 years of experience in communications and marketing. He has provided strategic public relations and communications training to Fortune 500 companies & start-ups, politicians, and even astronauts. Before launching Mellecker Communications, Dana directed global public relations for iCrossing, a unit of Hearst Magazines. For his work at iCrossing, Dana received the Stevie Award for Best Corporate Communicator.
Kathy Menzie, Chair, Washburn Mass Media Dept. and Chair, Communication Studies Dept.
Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, USA
Kathy Menzie is an associate professor at Washburn University. She has been Chair of the Mass Media Dept. for five years and Chair of the Communication Dept. for two years. This is her 18th year at Washburn and she primarily teaches writing, PR and advertising. Before coming to Washburn, Kathy held jobs as: public relations director for Midland Hospice in Topeka, assistant editor for the Topeka Metro News, and senior information specialist for the Learning Research Network in Manhattan. She has a bachelors degree from Baker University, masters from Kansas State University and a PhD from The University of Kansas.
Jessica Moskowitz, Freelance Writer & Communications Specialist
Self-Employed, Greater NYC Area, Hudson Valley, New York USA
Writer, journalist, and communications specialist with 10+ years of achievements in corporate communications, public relations/outreach, and award-winning content creation. NY native with coast-to-coast experience (NYC, San Francisco, Boston) currently freelancing and living in New York's historic Hudson River Valley. M.S. in Media from The New School. B.S. in Communications and Journalism from SUNY Fredonia.
Ann Murphy, Senior Vice President
O’Neill & Associates, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ann Murphy is a senior vice president in the communications practice at O’Neill and Associates. She brings to her role more than 25 years of experience with the media including professional roles in print and broadcast media as well as government, political and corporate public relations.
Rowen Nadia, Account Director
Andarakis Advisory Services, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Rowen is a well-networked and informed, marketer and moderator with a flair for creative writing. As Account Director at boutique management consultancy Andarakis Advisory Services, she is adept at developing practical go-to-market strategies, managing campaign deliverables and content for large scale government, semi- government and private projects and is also an independent contributor to numerous digital and print publications with sector specialism in real estate & finance.
Lindsay Nahmiache, Co-Founder & Partner
Jive PR & Digital, Los Angeles, California, USA
Insatiably curious and results driven, Lindsay is co-founder and partner of Jive PR + Digital, an award-winning Social PR and Digital Marketing agency in LA, Toronto and Vancouver. Lindsay was recently named Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Financial Post and a global Enterprising Women of the Year winner.
Niki Naska, Communications Manager
Eureka, Brussels, Belgium
Experienced strategic communications professional. Proven ability to manage people, budgets and clients, build partnerships and secure new business in public and private sectors. Multilingual, creative, organised and committed with excellent networking and interpersonal skills.
Rebecca Noriega, Sr. Manager, Public Relations
SGI, Milpitas, California, USA
Tor Odland, Vice President, Communications
Telenor Group, Oslo, Norway
Tor Odland is a Vice President of Group Communications at Telenor Group, a top 10 global mobile carrier. He is a senior communications professional with significant experience from managing global technology brands, stakeholders, political relations and issues.
Nick Olsson, Communications/Marketing Consultant
Olsson Consulting, Seattle, Washington, USA
Emily Passer, Director of Communications
Quartz, New York, New York, USA
Emily Passer is Quartzs director of communications. Based in NYC, she oversees all media relations and public relations for Quartz, its staff and events. Previously Passer worked in communications at the Financial Times, and before that was with Fleishman-Hillards Marketing-Communications group in New York. Originally from Kansas City, she attended Columbia University, graduating with a degree in International Relations.
Linda Quach, Marketing Communications Manager
Immersion, San Jose, California, USA
Linda Quach has 15+ years of experience running communication programs for small and large technology companies. Currently, Linda the manager of marketing communications for Immersion, the leader in haptics. Linda was previously at Rovi, a digital entertainment company. She holds a bachelor in communication from the University of the Pacific.
Barbara Riordan, Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Limelight Networks, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA
Sandip Kumar Roy, Manager, Corporate Communications
Societe Generale, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
I help organizations communicate and engage with their most important asset - their people. My passion for storytelling is hardwired into my DNA and I have scripted and directed more than 150 videos to communicate complex concepts through simple narratives and powerful imagery to convey the brand message across the organization.
Ron Sereg, Assistant Professor, Public Relations (retired)
Louisiana State University, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Ron Sereg has extensive international experience as a consultant in the areas of media and public relations for non-governmental organizations. He is a retired professor of public relations at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Simran Singh Sethi, Communications Lead - Education & Philanthropies, Asia
Microsoft, Singapore
Simran currently leads communications and storytelling for Microsoft's Education and Philanthropies initiatives across the Asia time zone.He is also the Editor of the Asia Pacific Citizenship blog which shares inspiring stories of people and communities throughout the region who are creating a real impact for a better tomorrow. Simran is an MBA from the Indian Institute of Planning and Management and has an undergraduate honors degree in biotechnology.
Lisa Sigler, Content Marketing Manager
Clarabridge, Reston, Virginia, USA
Lisa Sigler is a Content Marketing Manager at Clarabridge. Her writing tells the Clarabridge story, educating the market about the importance of listening to customers and putting their feedback to work. Prior to joining Clarabridge, she held brand development and product marketing roles across technology industries including cloud services and telecommunications.
Dara Sklar, Senior Vice President
MSL Group, San Francisco, California, USA
Since joining MSLGROUP in 1999, Dara Sklar has driven communications programs for a variety of emerging-growth companies and played an active role in the growth of the agency’s consumer technology, IT security and renewable energy practice groups. Over the years, she has focused on helping innovative companies build brand awareness, increase demand generation and achieve their business goals.
Te Smith, Vice President, Marketing
Recurly, Inc., San Francisco, California, USA
Experienced software marketing professional, specializing in PR. Expertise in variety of market segments, including online commerce, Internet and network security, enterprise software, desktop productivity and entertainment. Well-versed in the ways of start-ups and established enterprises.
Chris Sorek, EMEA Director, Marketing & Communications
Habitat for Humanity International, Bratislava, Slovakia
Sherry Sorensen, Executive Communications Consultant
NetApp, San Jose, California, USA
Adriana Suharto, Manager, Sustainability & Public Affairs
Neste Singapore Pte Ltd., Singapore, Singapore
Angela Tan, Senior Manager, Communications & Partnerships
ASEAN CSR Network, Singapore, Singapore
A strategic and seasoned corporate and marketing professional with experience in the IT and telco, financial services, agri-resources industries and who's passionate about Corporate Social Responsibility.
Han Tjan, Head of Corporate Communications NAFTA
Daimler, New York, New York, USA
Michelle Toscas, Executive Vice President, Health
Edelman Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Robin Vaitonis, Executive Vice President
Tanis Communications, Mountain View, California, USA
Robin Vaitonis has 20 years of corporate marketing and communications experience in enterprise software, networking, cloud/big data, bio tech and semiconductor markets. Her work with Tanis clients involves developing brand positioning and messaging, orchestrating global communication initiatives and defining financial and investor communication strategies to support clients’ business objectives and goals. She is also responsible for the agency’s creative services and content development team which focuses on bringing together compelling content and visual storytelling to amplify clients’ brand.
Chris Vasan, Senior Communications Lead
Cisco Systems, Platforms Automation & Customer Enablement, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Chris Vasan is a communications strategist, filmmaker, instructional designer and writer. For eight years he has served as Communications Lead for Cisco Digital Support, which helps customers self-solve technical issues using web, mobile and API services. Before joining Cisco Mr. Vasan ran his own strategic communications firm.
Jennifer Villarreal, Corporate Communications Manager
Reputation Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Jennifer Villarreal is Corporate Communications Manager at Reputation Institute overseeing public relations as well as employee and external communications to develop proactive communications campaigns and public relations programs. Jennifer previously worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Research & Technology based out of the Volpe National Transportation System Center, which is a unique federal agency that is funded by sponsor projects. In that role, she consulted for federal government agencies including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, to name a few.
Mickie Wagner, Strategic Internal Communications
Hitachi Data Systems, Santa Clara, California, USA
Mickie Wagner is a highly accomplished, results driven strategic communications professional with more than 15 years of combine public relations, internal and executive communications experience. She is an impactful storyteller, writer, and strategizer with a knack for quickly learning business intricacies, audiences, technologies and individual executive needs to effectively educate, inform and excite internal and external stakeholders.
Richard Wahl, Social Media Techno-Strategist
DimensionalAlternatives.com, San Jose, California, USA
Richard F. Wahl, B.A., is an expat and a US Navy Veteran who in 2009 founded his consulting company, Dimensional Alternatives. It is focused on social media and online marketing and shepherds small businesses through the ever-changing methods of building community, engaging users and improving brand awareness.
Peter Young, Professor of New Media Technologies
San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA
Concurrently serve as a professor of new media technologies and Assoc Director for the Silicon Valley Bigdata & Cybersecurity Research Center @SJSU
The awards categories include:
C01. Public Relations Agency of the Year
C02. Communications Department of the Year
C03. Communications Team of the Year
C05. Communications or PR Campaign/Program of the Year
a. Arts & Entertainment: campaigns/programs undertaken to promote or raise awareness of an artistic or entertainment endeavor, event, or program.
b. Community Relations: campaigns/programs that aim to improve relations with communities in which the sponsoring organization has an interest, need or opportunity.
c. Crisis Communications: campaigns/programs undertaken to deal with an unplanned event and requiring immediate response.
d. Events & Observances: campaigns/programs that generate awareness of or document commemorations, observances, openings, celebrations, and other types of events.
e. Global Issues: campaigns/programs that demonstrate effective global communications implemented in at least two countries, one of which must be the United States.
f. Internal Communications: campaigns/programs undertaken to inform or educate an internal audience, such as employees or members.
g. Investor Relations: campaigns/programs undertaken to communicate information to a company's investors and the investment community and/or to manage the company's relationship with investors.
...and more. see all of the PR Campaign/Program of the Year categories here.
C06. PR Innovation of the Year: this category will recognize singular innovations in communications practice, research, technology, or management since the beginning of 2015.
C07. Communications, Investor Relations, or PR Executive of the Year
C08. Communications Professional of the Year: for non-executive communications, PR, and IR professionals. There is no entry fee for this category.
Tags: PR awards, public relations awards, investor relations awards, ir awards, corporate communications awards
PR Awards Categories in The 2011 American Business Awards
Posted by Michael Gallagher on Thu, Oct 28, 2010 @ 03:54 PM
In 2010 we introduced a lot of new public relations and communications awards categories in The American Business Awards, and we haven't added any new ones for 2011. But I thought I'd take a moment here to outline the categories that I think are the best fit for public relations, corporate communications, public affairs, and investor relations professionals, because not all of them are plainly labelled.
First off, there are those categories that are plainly labelled, and they include the many Communications or PR Campaign/Program of the Year categories we introduced in 2010. Here are the main communications categories (the letter/nomination combinations are our internal category codes):
Read the rest of this article here...
Tags: communications awards, PR awards, public relations awards, pr award, public relations award, investor relations awards, communications award, ir awards, ir award, investor relations award
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line26
|
__label__wiki
| 0.861048
| 0.861048
|
Jeffrey Epstein Conspiracies and the Mysterious Deaths of the Rich and Ruined
By John Cassidy
On the evening of November 5, 1991, a Spanish fisherman spotted the body of Robert Maxwell, a controversial British press baron, floating in the Atlantic Ocean near the Canary Islands. The crew of Maxwell’s luxury motor yacht had been searching for him all day, after he had vanished that morning with no explanation. Almost immediately, conspiracy theories emerged. Maxwell, who came to Britain as an impoverished Eastern European émigré and turned himself into a larger-than-life figure and confidant of political leaders, hadn’t ended his own life: he had been murdered. The rumored perpetrators included agents of the K.G.B. or M.I.6, or a team of frogmen from the Mossad. In support of this theory, it was pointed out that Maxwell had long been rumored to have ties to various intelligence agencies, especially the Israeli one. Maybe he had been silenced to prevent him from spilling the beans.
Almost thirty years later, some people cling to these confabulations, despite the existence of a simpler and more convincing explanation for Maxwell’s death. When he set out on his boat, he knew that the debt-burdened business empire which he had spent decades building, Maxwell Communication Corporation, was on the brink of collapse. He also knew that, in a desperate and failed effort to prevent such an outcome, he and his associates had taken hundreds of millions of pounds from M.C.C.’s employee pensions and used the money to try to prop up the company’s share price. After the inevitable bankruptcy occurred, this illegal scheme would be revealed. Maxwell would be ruined, shamed, and, most likely, sent to jail. To a man who was eaten up by pride and insecurity even as he became a well-known figure on two continents—that year, he had purchased the Daily News—the prospect of financial ruin and public humiliation was too much to take. So he jumped overboard.
Having followed Maxwell’s career closely as a financial writer and editor for the London Sunday Times, I believed at the time, and continue to believe, this version of events. It doesn’t clear up all the mysteries surrounding Maxwell’s death, such as the lack of a suicide note and the fact that a team of coroners couldn’t agree conclusively on the cause, leaving open the possibility of heart attack or accidental drowning. But suicide is intuitively plausible, and it satisfies the principle of Occam’s razor, which says that when choosing between various theories we should choose the one that provides the simplest explanation and requires the fewest auxiliary hypotheses to be true.
In a remarkable quirk of history, the stories of Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein are linked, through Maxwell’s daughter, Ghislaine. The motor yacht on which Maxwell took his last steps was called Lady Ghislaine. Shortly after his death, Ghislaine Maxwell moved to New York, where she met Epstein, becoming his girlfriend, and, according to some accounts, his procurer. (She has vigorously denied these claims.) Like Maxwell, Epstein was a self-made figure—he hailed from Coney Island and didn’t graduate from college—who lived on his wits. Like Maxwell, he cultivated prominent people even though the source of his fortune was opaque. And, like Maxwell in 1991, at the time of Epstein’s death everything was being taken away from him.
Unlike a decade ago, when Epstein had used his money and influence to emerge from a two-year F.B.I. investigation facing just a single state charge of soliciting sex from a minor, he was trapped. In July, a team of federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York had accused him of running a sex-trafficking scheme involving dozens of underage girls. A judge had denied his plea for bail. New witnesses had come forward. The case had attracted enormous publicity. Virtually everyone associated with Epstein had turned on him, including Leslie Wexner, the retail billionaire who appears to have been a primary source of Epstein’s fortune. (Last week, Wexner claimed that Epstein “misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family.”)
At sixty-six, Epstein was facing the prospect of languishing for months in a nightmarish jail that had housed the likes of John Gotti and El Chapo; facing his accusers in a criminal trial; losing his fortune in civil suits; and spending the rest of his life in a federal pen, this time without the work release he’d been granted during his first incarceration. He had lost what sociopaths like him value most: control. Based on what we know now, it appears that Epstein killed himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, on Saturday morning, and that no one else was involved. In some ways, this isn’t a very satisfying explanation, and it raises important questions about why Epstein wasn’t being supervised more closely. But it fits the facts that have been revealed so far. It also fits what we know about Epstein’s psychological profile. And it doesn’t require the involvement of Mossad frogmen, or their equivalent, to be true.
But how was he allowed to do it? According to the Wall Street Journal, Epstein’s own attorneys were the ones who requested that he be taken off suicide watch. This doesn’t explain why the authorities acceded to this request when Epstein, only weeks earlier, had been found unconscious in his cell, with bruises on his neck. Similarly, we don’t know why Epstein was left alone in his cell last Friday night, or why the guards didn’t check on him at regular intervals, as the jail’s standard procedure demanded. “It remained unclear why that procedure was not followed in Mr. Epstein’s case,” the Times reported on Sunday. Bob Hood, a former senior official at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which runs the Metropolitan Correctional Center, told the Times, “The Bureau of Prisons dropped the ball. Period.”
That explanation won’t satisfy many people, of course—not with the President and members of his Administration spreading defamatory conspiracy theories about the Clintons. On Saturday, Trump retweeted a video from a conservative comedian, Terrence Williams, in which Williams suggested that Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were responsible for Epstein’s death. (Earlier on Saturday, Lynne Patton, an official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, posted a headline about Epstein’s death along with the word “Hillary’d!!” and the hashtag “#VinceFosterPartTwo.”) What the forty-fifth President appears to be intimating is that an assassin, working for the forty-second President, broke into one of the most secure jails in the country, hanged Epstein, and left without disturbing the guards or being caught on internal cameras. And perhaps the most remarkable thing is that no one is really surprised to see Trump doing this—disinformation and incitement are two of his trademarks.
Of course, Trump isn’t the only one raising questions. As I pointed out in a column last month, the Epstein saga, in addition to being a sickening sex-crime story, is really about wealth, privilege, and the ability of the super-rich to circumvent the rules that bind ordinary people. Over the weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “Something’s way too convenient here, and we need to get down to the bottom of what happened.” De Blasio, along with Republican Senator Ben Sasse, has demanded an independent probe into the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death. Could someone working for Epstein have got to the warden, or whoever made the suicide-watch decision, and to the guards? Given the way the earlier case was resolved, in 2008, and the list of names that have been associated with Epstein, such a possibility, outlandish as it sounds, needs to be investigated. Right now, though, the simplest explanation seems like the most persuasive one: Epstein wanted out, and a series of screwups allowed him to beat the system, again.
John Cassidy has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1995. He also writes a column about politics, economics, and more for newyorker.com.
Autopsy results say B.C. murder suspects died by suicide: RCMP
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line30
|
__label__wiki
| 0.525146
| 0.525146
|
Reese Lecture Series
Story of the Program
Welcome to the geotechnical engineering program of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin website. Geotechnical engineering is a branch of civil engineering that generally deals with problems involving soil and rock. Examples include the design of foundations for structures, tunneling, disposal of waste products by burial in the ground, design of earth dams, and a variety of other similar topics.
We are proud to offer our students what we feel is one of the best graduate programs in geotechnical engineering in the United States. Our instructional and research programs maintain a strong balance between the experimental, analytical, theoretical, and applied aspects of geotechnical engineering. The program has been deliberately designed to offer a broad range of activities, with a solid basis in the core areas of geotechnical engineering and opportunities for students to participate in research at the forefront of developments in the field. Our graduates obtain an education that serves as a foundation for successful careers in geotechnical engineering practice or academia. Our faculty includes six full-time professors in geotechnical engineering, but our greatest strength derives from the talents of our students.
Our mission is to educate undergraduate and graduate students to become leaders in geotechnical engineering practice and academia. We strive to provide a broad and diverse education that produces graduates who are well schooled in the fundamentals of our field. To achieve these goals, we maintain a balance between research and teaching in our program. Accordingly, theory and practice, experimental and analytical techniques, and traditional and cutting edge ideas are integrated within our research and teaching.
UT Main | UT Directory | UT Direct | Calendars | Privacy Policy | Accessibility
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line35
|
__label__wiki
| 0.513278
| 0.513278
|
The ‘No True Muslim’ Fallacy: How Muslims are intimidated and marginalised for supporting counter-extremism initiatives
Liam Duffy, October 2019
The success of counter-extremism initiatives depends on the support and cooperation of the communities within which extremists seek to gain influence. But, as this new report reveals, Muslims who work on strategies such as Prevent are being routinely subjected to abuse and intimidation by those around them.
Featuring case studies and testimony from counter-extremism practitioners, it details the abuse and pressure that is been brought to bear and how efforts to tackle extremism and terrorism are being undermined. Some individuals have been forced to move home and install CCTV, such is the scale of harassment they have received for supporting initiatives designed to weed out extremists bring communities together.
In one case, the Iranian state became involved in subjecting a community mosque to extreme pressure and intimidation. In another, a small community nursery was forced to return a valuable stream of government funding after coming under pressure for engaging with counter-extremism initiatives. In some cases, individuals have been forced to abandon lifelong friendships and seen romantic relationships suffer as a result.
The report’s author, Liam Duffy, notes: ‘The support of Muslims is essential to the success of counter-extremism initiatives. But those who cooperate are too often made to pay a price for doing so, facing online campaigns of abuse, reputational smears and sometimes even the threat of physical harm.
‘The psychological impact of this abuse is clear. We need to do a better job of protecting and supporting Muslims and Muslim community groups working on this sensitive agenda. If we don’t, then fewer and fewer people will come forward to support this important work.’
Fiyaz Mughal, Founder and Director of Faith Matters, commented: ‘These groups pose a serious threat not only to public discourse, but to the peaceful and law-abiding Muslims they try to intimidate into silence.’
Former Labour Councillor and founder of the Social Action and Research Foundation (SARF), Amina Lone, said: ‘The tactics used to silence anyone who dares to question, critique or reject political Islam include harassment, stalking on social media and highlighting your views to undermine or “expose” you to audiences, online bullying, personal threats, abuse of loved ones, pressure applied to older men within your circles including husbands, fathers and brothers.’
Liam Duffy is a research fellow at Civitas as well as an independent researcher, trainer and speaker on extremism and counter-terrorism. He has worked to deliver the UK government’s Prevent strategy and was previously director of educational charity, SINCE 9/11. He is a frequent broadcast and newspaper commentator, has appeared on BBC News, and has written for the Times Educational Supplement, The Jewish Chronicle and The American Spectator.
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line36
|
__label__wiki
| 0.704365
| 0.704365
|
Subject > Armed Forces
This section illustrates a selection of firearms and bladed weapons used by British and Canadian military units during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Military Art of the American Northwest
War in the Pacific Northwest centred around the canoe, which could be up to 20 metres long. Flotillas of canoes would attack enemy villages, hoping to capture prisoners to keep as slaves. Coastal forts of cedar logs were to be found, used to help control and tax maritime trade.
Captain George Denison, York Dragoons, 1820s
George Taylor Denison (1783-1853) founded both a Canadian military dynasty and a militia regiment that survives into the 21st century. Also known as the York Light Dragoons or York Cavalry, the York Dragoons were raised in 1822 and attached to the 1st West York (later Toronto) Militia Regiment. After many changes of name, the unit is now the The Governor General's Horse Guards, a Toronto-based reserve regiment. The uniform in the 1820s was a dark blue jacket with buff facings and silver buttons, lace and wings. (Library of the Canadian Department of National Defence)
This section is a collection of surviving artifacts and period artists' illustrations. Illustrated are uniform coats of officers or enlisted men from a variety of Canadian and British units that served in present-day Canada during the period 1780-1870.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gustavus Nicolls, Corps of Royal Engineers
Gustavus Nicolls was the designer of the Halifax Citadel, as well as Fort Lennox (Île-aux-Noix, Quebec). He commanded the Corps of Royal Engineers in Canada from 1815 to 1837. This portrait of circa 1813-1824 is attributed to his wife. (Parks Canada)
Military Bands
The British likely introduced the military band to Canada. These regimental musicians were paid for by individual units. Instrumentation favoured flutes, clarinets and percussion. The bands played a strong role in the social life of garrison towns throughout Canada.
Militia of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
This report discusses the organizational features of the militia of the separate provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island prior to Confederation.
Demobilization and Retirement
Before reforms in the mid-19th century, most British soldiers left the army only when their regiment was disbanded in the aftermath of a war. When this occurred in Canada, men were offered land to encourage them to settle in the colony. Pensions were rare, and worth little.
Duties and Honours
British army officers were primarily responsible for supervising the activities of their men. The British took up the practice of awarding military medals only in the nineteenth century. First for officers only, then for all ranks, campaign medals became a source of great pride.
Canadian Militia Prior to Confederation
This report discusses the growth and development of the Canadian Militia from its beginnings in early New France until Confederation in 1867.
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line38
|
__label__wiki
| 0.830474
| 0.830474
|
Posts tagged “Bridget McConnell”
A Poor Day of Remembrance for Burrell
In June ArtWatch UK was invited (as “campaigners for the protection of works of art”) to give evidence at a hearing at the Scottish Parliament on a private bill to overturn the prohibition on foreign loans from the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. The experience was both heartening and depressing.
The transparency of the Scottish Parliament’s procedures could not be faulted and we have rarely enjoyed such courtesy and assistance in making our case, or of proceeding with such comprehensive documentation to hand. Our written submissions to the committee and a number of items of additional information were readily accepted into consideration (as were those of colleagues in Donor Watch and Barnes Watch) and made available online. The witness hearings have been televised and their transcripts published online. The testimonies given at the hearing of 9 September are discussed below by Selby Whittingham of Donor Watch. Those given on 19 September are discussed opposite. (The filmed record of the latter can be seen on YouTube.) The record of what was said by whom of which interest group is there for all to see.
We were impressed, too, by the vigour and vigilance of the Scottish press. The Sunday Times (Scotland) journalist, Mark Macaskill, for example, had done what the Scottish Parliament, the Glasgow Council’s many tiers of cultural agencies, and – shamefully – the Burrell trustees themselves, had all failed to do – locate and heed (6 November 2013) the views of one of Sir William Burrell’s descendants: “Mona Dickinson, who lives in Evedon, Lincolnshire, said neither she, nor the wider family, had been consulted by the council or the trustees of the Burrell Collection. ‘I rather suspect they have tried to smuggle this through’, she said yesterday.” This intervention would not have been lost on the Art Fund’s director of development, Amy Ross, who argued in October’s Museums Journal that where no family members survive who might agree to renegotiate a bequest’s terms, existing arrangements should stand, for fear of clear breaches of trust dissuading others from making future bequests. Ms Dickinson’s opposition to the proposed overturning of Burrell’s terms of her ancestor’s bequest could not have been firmer or clearer: “Glasgow Council obviously thinks it can get the bill ratified this time. I’m sure it thinks sending some of the collection overseas will make money and attract publicity. But this debate was thoroughly rehearsed in 1997. Experts warned then, as now, that every time you wrap and unwrap a tapestry, some sort of damage can occur. It is inevitable.”
The hearing in which we gave evidence took place on 19 September under the committee set up to scrutinise the BURRELL COLLECTION (LENDING AND BORROWING) (SCOTLAND) BILL. We had assumed that consideration was being given to a proposal to over-ride the terms of Sir William Burrell’s bequest but learned, rather, that concrete arrangements were already underway to lend the collection’s works to a succession of venues within Britain and abroad even though this operation (known as “The Tour”) expressly ran against Burrell’s clear wishes and instructions, as set out in both his will and an agreement with the City of Glasgow. It began to seem as if the Scottish Parliament (which the comedian Billy Connolly dubbed a “Wee pretendy parliament”) was in danger of being bounced by an invitation from a big city council not to thwart a linked series of major and mutually dependent projects already set in train and fronted by a co-opted assembly of influential art world players in a new organisation – “Burrell Renaissance” – created to drive the not-authorised plans along.
It had not been reassuring that on the day of the 9 September hearing, the Convener of the scrutinising committee, Joan McAlpine, (SNP), a journalist on The Daily Record, had told The Scotsman that plans were already in motion through Glasgow Life (which she sees as “the arms-length organisation which manages the Burrell”) to send part of the Burrell Collection to the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and that these provided “an opportunity to enhance the reputation of the collection, the city and Scotland”. Nonetheless, she assured the newspaper, her committee had an “open mind”. It certainly appeared that, under the committee members’ interrogations, the case for the (prospective) enterprise had repeatedly fallen apart. The public discomfitting of the enigmatic Glaswegian director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, drew from him both an insistence on an earlier “neutrality” that had escaped some commentators and an impassioned espousal of the present attempt – to which he is party as a co-opted adviser – to overturn Burrell’s terms.
It became apparent during the hearings of 9 September, for example, that the sums being sought (£15m here, £15m there) had the precision of little more than a bureaucrat’s back-of-an-envelope wish list. It had further emerged that in little over a decade there had been a tenfold increase in the claimed cost of remedying the Burrell Collection’s leaky building. The fact that rectifying the Council’s long-standing neglect of the building (the roof of which had leaked from virtually its first days) was said to require such huge and rounded sums – as well as the closure of the collection for no less than four years – was itself presented as a justification for breaching Burrell’s terms and sending his works abroad as revenue-raisers and civic/national flag-wavers. In 2001 the estimated bill for repairing the roof was put at £1.75 million. With further sums allotted to upgrade the museum’s plant, retail and display and exhibition areas, the total was said to be “likely in the region of £4 to £5 million.” Today, the latter is put at between £40 and £45 million. No explanation was given for this staggering inflation.
Because of the clarity and force of Burrell’s explicit wishes and terms of bequest, it had been conceded that no possibility exists of their being overturned or “re-interpreted” in the courts: “As there is no legal remedy which would allow all the restrictions on lending and borrowing to be relaxed, Glasgow City Council must pursue a private bill in order to achieve this end”. If successful, the Council and its cultural satellites would not only breach Burrell’s prohibition on foreign loans but also those against loans within Britain of entire categories of vulnerable works, thereby creating not just a precedent for further general subversions of benefactors’ wishes and terms, but also a potentially lethal one for benefactors’ attempts to protect their art from being subjected to needless risks.
The extent to which, as previously described, all of the arts and sport have been brought under firm political control in Glasgow is remarkable and might be thought unfortunate. The two spheres are administered by an entity known as “Glasgow Life”, which is both a charity and a company with the formal title “Culture and Sport Glasgow”. The directors and trustees of Glasgow Life are appointed by the Council – and its chair is the deputy leader of Glasgow City Council, Councillor Archie Graham. Glasgow City Council manages all of the City’s museums and galleries through this body. In the case of the Burrell Collection, Burrell Renaissance has been created with a chairman who is also a member of Glasgow Life’s own, Council-appointed board of directors. At the bottom of this interlocking edifice is to be found the seemingly ineffectual Trustees of the bequeathed collection (- playing a “long-stop” role, in the chairman’s words). As for the Collection’s curators, when we attempted (through Glasgow Life) to meet them at the museum on September 18th we were met instead by three Glasgow Life officers.
Now we know better: the Committee is today recommending that Burrell’s prohibition be over-turned and that Glasgow Council’s wishes be met in full. The locked-in cash value of a fabulous artistic inheritance gifted to the people of Glasgow may now be harvested internationally by an administration that has brought the collection’s home to a shameful level of dereliction as it indulged itself elsewhere with expensive “Grand Projects”. Yet another tranche of hitherto well-preserved works will be consigned to the unvirtuous conservation cycle as works get “conserved” so as to be made “fit-to-travel” and then “re-conserved” to put them right on their return from their ordeals – if they return, that is, and are not filched en route (see right). The Committee has placed its faith in assurances given by the over-turners. We cannot share it.
THE BURRELL COMMITTEE HEARING OF 9 SEPTEMBER 2013
The Committee: Joan McAlpine (SNP) (Convener); Jackson Carlaw (Con); Mark Griffon (Lab); and, Gordon MacDonald (SNP). The Witnesses: Alan Eccles LLP; Cllr Archie Graham (Glasgow City Council Deputy Leader and Glasgow Life Chairperson); Sir Angus Grossart (Glasgow Life, Independent Director); Dr Bridget McConnell (Glasgow Life, Chief Executive); Hon. Christopher McLaren (Samuel Courtauld Trust, Chairman); Ben Thompson (National Galleries of Scotland, Chairman of Trustees); Jeremy Warren (Wallace Collection, Collections and Academic Director).
THE BURRELL COMMITTEE HEARING OF 19 SEPTEMBER 2013
The Committee: Joan McAlpine (SNP) (Convener); Jackson Carlaw (Con); Mark Griffon (Lab); and, Gordon MacDonald (SNP) (not present). The Witnesses:Michael Daley (ArtWatch UK); Prof. Hope Gretton (University of Edinburgh); Sir Peter Hutchison (Charirman, Burrell Trustees); Frances Lennard (Centre for Textile Conservation and technical Art History); Robert Taylor (Bannatyne Kirkwood France & Co); Peter Wilkinson (Constantine).
Secrecy, Transparency and Equivocations
Dr Whittingham discusses the September 9th hearing:
Ben Thomson for the National Galleries of Scotland on the subject of wills typifies those who want to have their cake and eat it. They profess fidelity to them to encourage future donors, but in practice think that they need not (sometimes/always) be followed. This contradiction is squared by arguing that the donor, if alive, would (mirabile dictu!) be someone of entirely the same opinions as the curator and would not only agree to the changes, but heartily advocate them! (So here Sir Angus Grossart on Burrell, 19; Hon. Christopher McLaren on Lord Lee of Fareham, 60-1).
Thomson’s equivocations are hard to understand, as he says that the NG of S adheres to conditions which they think are either absurd (their former Director, Sir Tim Clifford, derisively listed some in a radio programme in which I took part) or outdated – the latter in the case of the Vaughan Bequest of Turner watercolours, an example which must be awkward for advocates of the Burrell Bill.
The Hon. Christopher McLaren for the Samuel Courtauld Trust/Courtauld Gallery is much more gung-ho about lending and about overturning wills, admitting that they have done this in the case of the Seilern Bequest with the consent of the Charity Commission (47,60). He claims that no one has objected, but I did and I remember that Prof. Michael Hirst did.
In fact hard evidence is not given for many of the assertions and aims of those supporting the Bill. The financial benefits of tours are dubious. Whether they attract more visitors to the lending city is also unclear. The benefits to research are also debatable. The supporters say that loans promote it, whereas Jeremy Warren says that they take up curatorial time. When I first arrived at Manchester City Art Gallery, the committee chairman complained to me that the latter was the case.
Grossart says that the fact that Burrell lent to the 1901 Glasgow International exhibition shows that he was internationally minded (Grossart, 17). But that exhibition attracted visitors from abroad to Glasgow, just the opposite of what Grossart is advocating. The Chairperson of Glasgow Life (Cllr Archie Graham) states that Burrell was determined that his collection “should benefit the people of Glasgow” (14), whereas, Grossart says that “from a museums point of view, collections are left for the benefit of humanity” (17). No evidence is produced that this was Burrell’s aim or that it trumped his wish to benefit Glasgow. Of course supporters of the Bill argue that reciprocal inward loans benefit Glasgow, but again no evidence is produced that that was what Burrell wished. The promoters have conducted polls which show a majority is not opposed to the proposed change. But how was the question framed and how far did the respondents appreciate all the factors?
The Convener says that in the past Neil MacGregor opposed changing the will (33). But he has supported just the opposite. True, David Lister reported in The Independent (13.10.1997) that MacGregor, while maintaining “the need to respect the wishes of benefactors once they have been agreed by trustees”, was going to tell the Burrell Commission next day that the Museums & Galleries Act 1992 allowed some national Museums to ignore those wishes after 50 years. In fact he had stated that in the evidence submitted to the Commission on 1.8.1997. I can only imagine that he felt obliged to enunciate a general (and in practice meaningless) support for donors’ wishes as Director of the National Gallery, while in his heart having little sympathy with that. I remember attending a lecture at the Courtauld Institute years earlier in which he derided donors. Then in 1997-8 it was while he was Director that the National Gallery tried to persuade the Wallace to lend a Rubens contrary to the terms of the Wallace bequest. If he is now reluctant to give oral evidence to the committee, that would not be surprising. When I tried to tackle him in person on the subject of donors’ wills (at the AGM of the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution), he made a quick exit.
As for the 1992 Act, it was a reiteration of those of 1883 and 1954. In 1883 The NG was acutely short of space and had an unbalanced and partly unwelcome collection. It was at a high tide of extreme Liberalism. The responsible Minister, George Shaw Lefevre, was “on the radical wing of the Liberal party” and was following the policy of a predecessor, Acton Smee Ayrton, “a former Treasury apparatchik recklessly determined on cost cutting” (Simon Thurley, Men from the Ministry, 2013, pp.31, 40). Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1882-4, Leonard Courtney, was another radical, who in 1916 supported the abortive Bill allowing the National Gallery to sell pictures. (In that debate he explained the variation in 25 and 50 year terms after which wills could be breached, something which puzzles people to-day; House of Lords, 21.11.1916 ). Both the 1883 Act (passed after virtually no debate and uncritically copied since) and the 1916 Bill had the same aim – of ridding the National Gallery of part of the Turner Bequest. As such they have no relevance to the Burrell question.
Numbers of works in collections are adduced as an argument for lending, on the grounds that there is not space to show most. Thus the Burrell can only display 2,000 out of 9,000 items (25). The National Galleries of Scotland have 100,000 items (44). These figures are meaningless unless broken down into those for works (a) which cannot usually be shown for conservation reasons (b) which are of little interest (c) which are the key ones. It is of course the last that foreigners want to borrow, and which (if not on loan) attract visitors to the home museum. For 150 years the figure of 30,000 or so works has been used by those wanting to argue for splitting up and loaning the Turner Bequest, a wholly misleading and nonsensical figure when one comes to exhibiting it and realises that there are only 20-40 key works that can be shown constantly.
Jeremy Warren admirably puts the case against undoing Burrell’s lending conditions (48-52). On the Wallace’s own record, he refers to the refusal to lend its Rubens landscape to the National Gallery in 1998 despite the pressure to do so from the latter. Warren’s evidence should be accorded great weight also because the Wallace Collection is the museum among those cited most analogous to the Burrell Collection.
The Hon. Christopher McLaren says that he and Warren, contrary to appearances, don’t really disagree, as he has recruited Dame Rosalind Savill to the Samuel Courtauld Trust (56). That begs the question of how far Warren and Savill agree (her somewhat nuanced views were briefly reported by David Lister in The Independent, 16.4.1997). It was under Savill that the Wallace held the Freud and Hirst exhibitions. Was she overpowered by Freud’s charm and forcefulness or did she really believe in her heart that showing his work in the midst of Wallace’s was compatible with the spirit of Lady Wallace’s stipulation that the collection be kept unmixed?
McLaren argues that what matters is the spirit and not the detail (47). Of course disregarding the letter for the spirit conveniently allows the woolly subjectivism which is so often employed to overturn donors’ stipulations. In the case of the Lane Bequest, the National Gallery stuck like a limpet to the letter of the law in disregard of what a House of Commons committee judged was Lane’s actual intention. Ironically it was said that under Scottish rather than English law Lane’s un-witnessed codicil giving his collection to Dublin rather than to London would have been legally valid. MacGregor naturally favoured the National Gallery view, supported by a false understanding of the history, which I had to correct in the columns of the Museums Journal.
McLaren’s view of Lord Lee (60-61) is hard to reconcile with Lee’s opposition in the House of Lords and The Times in 1930 to the British Museum & National Gallery (Overseas Loans) Bill. Lee’s opposition nearly provoked a physical attack on him in the Lords by the proponent of the Bill, Lord d’Abernon! His statement of the risks of travel was reported at length in The Times (16-17.12.1930) and would surely have influenced the views of Burrell. The Bill was opposed by the BM, for which Lord Hanworth, Master of the Rolls, spoke. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, another BM trustee, gave three reasons for opposition: 1. Disturbance of study. 2. Danger of damage. 3. Difficulty of resisting pressure to lend. The BM was dropped from inclusion when the National Gallery (Overseas Loans) Bill was introduced in 1935. This and the exclusion of the BM from subsequent Bills constitutes an awkward fact for Neil MacGregor. The 27th Earl of Crawford found fault with the 1935 as with the 1930 Bill. He argued that, if the object was to promote Britain abroad, that should be done by British art, leaving the restrictions on lending foreign art, which was what was agreed. Mention has been made of art as a tool of diplomacy. Of course art has been used for that from time immemorial, but as gifts. No doubt international relations have a part to play today, but only when other considerations do not militate against lending.
Attempts having failed in 1930 and 1935 to allow the loan abroad of foreign art, in 1953 the 28th Earl of Crawford told the House of Lords that the Treasury was “asking you for the third time to change your minds” (24 November 1953, 466), though again only for the National Gallery and Tate. Again examples of damage done to works when on loan were cited – this time by MPs as well. The debates stretched into a whole year and raised questions about various wills such as Sir Hugh Lane’s. Like other donors Lane changed his provisions over time, as did Burrell, who according to his secretary, Mrs Shiel in 1997, once thought of locating his museum in London. This has been used as an argument for not regarding donors’ final wishes as binding for ever on the reasoning that if they had lived longer they might have changed again. However donors such as Lane, Turner and Burrell had laid their plans over many years and settled on their final one after much thought, perhaps sometimes more thought than that given to the matter by those who wish to change their provisions. The advocates of changing wills might come to change their minds too.
Today’s wish to “liberate” collections (Grossart, 16), the belief that what matters is “getting the works out and about” (McLaren, 56) may in the future seem to be just a fashion, the consequences of which come to be regretted, in some cases too late. McLaren says that the modification of Seilern’s conditions did not remove his one against lending paintings on panel, which the Courtauld would have adhered to anyway (McLaren, 48). This is tantamount to saying that a donor’s wishes should only hold when they concur with those of the curators and trustees for the time being. It should be clear that the main advocates of this Bill in fact do not believe that donors should control their collections from beyond the grave except perhaps for a short time after their deaths, whether or not the collection had been accepted on that basis. Is retrospective legislation desirable?
McLaren says that no one has objected to the changes made by the Courtauld. But the general public will not be aware of such changes. I cannot think of any recent museum catalogue or guide which states the donor’s conditions, much less any changes made to them by the museum. The old catalogues of the Wallace Collection, reprinted in successive editions over many decades, did, but that was unique. The V&A went further in setting up boards giving the conditions of gifts such as that of Sheepshanks, but it is hard now to discover the terms under which many of its main bequests were given. When I suggested some time ago that it would be easy to give these on the museum’s website, I was told that that would be too much trouble. That trouble would arise from the public knowing too much was clearly the unstated thought. The art world in general is shrouded in secrecy. Moves to greater transparency such as the Tate’s publishing the minutes of its board meetings online end in farce when one sees how much is deleted first. Dr Penny has asked for his submission to this committee to be removed from the website and has said that he will reveal details of damage to works of which he knows only under the cloak of the greatest secrecy. In such a state of affairs one cannot have much faith in museum assertions about damage or anything else unless these are closely challenged. Meanwhile curators commenting on a report on the Burrell hearings in the Museums Journal find it advisable to do so anonymously.
Statistics are also sometimes dubious. Thus Ben Thomson states that the Burrell exhibition at the Piers Art Centre at Stromness was visited by 80% of local residents (54). How local? Did they pay or get in free and in the latter case how were they counted? Is he talking about the total number of visitors or of visits?
Reference is made to maintaining or increasing the reputation of museums. In the case of Warren reputation among potential donors seems to be what is meant (49). In the case of the others the reputation of the curators among their colleagues round the world. It is doubtful if the wider public is much influenced by these considerations. A museum’s reputation may be damaged more directly when visitors go to it and are disappointed in their expectation of seeing key works which turn out to be out on loan. Again this may affect only a minority. Mention is made of the Cluny Museum in Paris, which has started lending abroad (Grossart, 22-3). That has lent its famed Unicorn tapestries to Japan. When I checked the first 50 (out of 800) visitors’ comments on the museum on TripAdvisor’s website many mention their absence, but only three thought their visit ruined thereby. Even so, is that an acceptable percentage?
Though I think the Bill makes an unnecessary and undesirable change, I am not wholly out of sympathy with its promoters. Julian Spalding, who initiated the move when he was Director of Glasgow museums, in May gave us a very stimulating talk, most of which I strongly agreed with and which consisted of suggestions probably too radical for many of the Bill’s supporters! When I was a curator at Manchester, I was frustrated by the “squirrelists” (Grossart, 22) and took the conservation concerns too lightly. Long thought about the issues has, I hope, made me wiser. Truly liberal views will take into account the dead and unborn as well as the living and current fashions. J.S. Mill recognised that opinions differ, which is why the peculiarities of donors’ provisions are to be cherished rather than dismissed. Otherwise museums will lose their individuality. Of the Burrell it is said that “the asset and unique selling point … is the imagination and vision of the man who created this incredible collection – that in itself is an amazing story” (McConnell 29) and that it constitutes a union of collection and building (McConnell 20).
I also have sympathy with Sir William Burrell’s Trustees. They opposed change in 1997 but now back it under the pressure of those who urge the dire necessity of raising money for the building (as their Chairman stated in the September 19 hearing). The same much contested argument was used to overturn the wishes of Dr Barnes, resulting in an even more fundamental departure from the donor’s ideas. The Trustees argue that they will have the final say in what should be lent abroad and some say in what should be lent in the UK. However they will be under the pressure to lend which Lords Crawford and others thought could be intolerable. Parts of the lending code are flabby (39-40). An object, it says, should not be lent for 5 years after it has returned from exhibition unless there are “exceptional circumstances”. Any circumstance can be exceptional for those bent on circumventing restrictions. Objects, it adds, shall not be on loan for longer than 3 years except for a tour longer than 3 years. That is no real restriction at all.
If the Committee is minded to back the Bill, the Code should be tightened up and the Trustees given final say in all cases. If a long tour is contemplated, the Bill should limit that to a one-off and thereafter strictly definite restrictions on time, repetition, material etc. should apply.
Selby Whittingham
Selby Whittingham is Secretary of the Watteau Society, Donor Watch and The Independent Turner Society.
UPDATE 19-11-13:
Restoration Damages Market Value
Philip Hook, a director and senior paintings specialist at Sotheby’s, has given further “from-inside-the-art trade” confirmation that restorations can damage the value of paintings. Writing in the Guardian (“Got anything in the red”, Arts, 19.11.13) on the present art market disconnect between sheer artistic quality and realised top prices, Hook gives good account of the Bling Factors driving markets fuelled by super-rich aesthetic chumps seeking instantly recognisable works above better but less familiar ones. He well describes the effects of atists’ biographical back-stories and the assistance given to prices by appealing subject matter: pretty women; animals that are depicted alive and not dead, and so forth. In discussing negative market forces, Mr Hook also cites the effects of picture restoration: “Condition is a factor. Paintings suffer and age over time, some more than others. Like human beings, some are subjected to cosmetic surgery. Where this has been too extensive, the price of a painting will be affected.” It is precisely for this reason that accidents suffered by loaned and borrowed works are so little reported. If paintings were required to be accompanied by log books which listed and described all known previous “conservation treatments”, owners might think twice about agreeing to take risks by lending works to travelling exhibitions.
MR MACGREGOR AND THE BRITISH MUSEUM’S UNDERPINNING OF GLASGOW COUNCIL’S PRIVATE BILL:
Above, top, Fig 1: Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum and former director of the National Gallery (1987-2002).
Above, Fig. 2: Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery (since 2008).
1) A Director’s Thrust…
Item: On 15 September the Evening Standard Londoner’s Diary reported:
“Don your armour. The British Museum’s director Neil MacGregor has unsheathed an antique sword and is pointing it at National Gallery director Nicholas Penny. “At stake is whether a Glasgow gallery can lend out its collection, but it pertains to both institutions’ policies of moving art around. When William Burrell left his art collection to Glasgow in 1944, he stipulated it shouldn’t be moved. It was housed outside the city but the building now needs renovating and its trustees have asked permission of the Scottish Parliament to change the terms of the bequest to allow the works to tour. “Penny wrote a letter to the Scottish Parliament, objecting, adding darkly that there were many incidents of galleries damaging works of art while moving them and he was prepared to describe them in confidence to a ‘single trustworthy individual nominated by Scottish Government [sic]’. The letter went up on the Scottish Parliament website but was then removed . “Now MacGregor has also submitted evidence. The British Museum has offered to help with transportation and MacGregor cites prior examples of successful moves by, er, the National Gallery. “‘The National Gallery in 2011 invited museums abroad to lend their Leonardos for a temporary exhibition,’ he notes. ‘In return, we lent the supremely fragile Leonardo Cartoon to the Louvre, confident it could responsibly move it, exhibit it there, and then bring it safely home.’ “Next year’s Rembrandt exhibition opens at the National Gallery. It has borrowed Man in Armour from Kelvingrove, the Burrell’s sister gallery in Glasgow. Borrowing okay, but lending not?”
It seemed unlikely that Nicholas Penny, who had attempted to give his evidence in confidence to the Burrell Committee, had been the journalistic source for this item. The charge of hypocrisy had been made in the Scottish parliamentary committee hearing on 9 September by Dr Bridget McConnell of Glasgow Life and the Chief Executive of Culture & Sport Glasgow. She declared herself: “surprised to hear that view from Dr Penny, not least of all because we loan items from our museums collection to him. Indeed he has asked for a Rembrandt from Kelvingrove museum – probably our most valuable item – for a major exhibition next year”. At the same hearing, Sir Angus Grossart (he also being of Glasgow Life and the chair of Burrell Renaissance on which Neil Macgregor serves as an adviser), held Penny’s views “inconsistent with his own practice”. Those views were put to ArtWatch UK’s director Michael Daley at the 19 September parliamentary hearing by the committee’s convener, Joan McAlpine (SNP), to which he replied:
“That is perfectly true. As director of the National Gallery, Dr Penny is clearly in an awkward position – after all, the The National Gallery has loan policies – but from the beginning he has made clear his general disapproval of loans. He thinks that far too many loans are made at far too much risk and has sought to introduce new types of exhibitions at the National Gallery in which the need to draw in works from abroad is greatly reduced. Moreover, he thinks that many blockbuster exhibitions are, in fact, quite naked revenue raisers that serve little or no academic scholarly purpose and he personally is very keen and committed to developing exhibitions that are more thoughtful and more helpful to the public and in which the borrowings, in so far as they are made, are of less famous and well-known artworks.”
Item: Nicholas Penny had received support during the hearings of 9 September. In his testimony, Jeremy Warren, the Collections and Academic Director of the Wallace Collection, said: “On Dr Penny’s views, although his head is organising Vermeer and Vienna secession exhibitions – because he has to and it is part of what is expected of museums these days – his heart is probably saying some of the things that I have said. Actually, there is a risk whenever an object is moved. Even if an object is moved within a museum, it is affected in however miniscule a way. We have been through an age of exhibitions having become almost like medieval pilgrimages, but that might change in years to come, and there might be more focus on the integrity of collections…”
Item: Nicholas Penny might have been aware that his predecessor as director of the National Gallery, Charles Saumarez Smith, was reportedly taunted during a Board meeting by its chairman on the low visitor numbers for his special exhibitions. Such pressures are immense in today’s museum world. When serving as the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dr Alan Borg, was chided by Alan Williams MP: “When you have one of the highest grants-in-aid per head per visitor, you have a duty to the taxpayer to try and get more people through your doors. The idea is to get people into the museums…Your blockbusters do not bust many blocks, do they?”
Item: In The Times of 27 February 2008, Dalya Alberge reported that “Nicholas Penny, the new director of the National Gallery, said yesterday that the 184-year-old institution had a duty to display art with which the public was unfamiliar rather than yet another parade of an artist’s greatest hits….What is important is encouraging historical and visual curiosity in the general public…I have a lot of thinking to do about our exhibitions and the direction they are taking.”
Item: The Stifling of Museum Officials’ Anxieties. In his preface to Francis Haskell’s last book The Ephemeral Museum, Penny addressed the charge of hypocrisy…as it had earlier been levelled against Prof. Haskell:
“…And he was also accused of hypocrisy because he was, and indeed continued to be, on advisory committees for exhibitions. Francis’s position was never the simple one of objecting to all exhibitions, though it was always a principle with him to refuse to be associated with pressure on directors who were reluctant to lend. [In any event] No public rebuttal was attempted of the case he made, since it would only have brought to public notice the near accidents of recent years and might have prompted public statements from other senior figures. At least one other eminent art historian – Sir Ernst Gombrich – has expressed misgivings about the transportation of great masterpieces. But museum officials are obliged to stifle their anxieties…”
Item: On 30 December 1995 Sir Ernst Gombrich wrote (letter to Michael Daley):
“…When I was in Vienna in October, the Kunsthistorisches Museum was under enormous pressure to lend Vermeer’s Artist in his Studio, indeed in the end the Queen of the Netherlands rang the President of Austria (who had no idea what she was talking about!) So the Museum called in ‘experts’ including a restorer from Germany who all said that the picture was not in a condition to travel. So even restorers can do some good!”
(On 21 July 1995 Sir Ernst had written: “I need hardly tell you that I have much sympathy for the aims of ArtWatch”.)
Item: The Met’s Strong-arming of Reluctant Lenders. The director of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, Thomas P. Campbell, said in 2007, when serving as the museum’s curator of tapestry: “I do have the potential to organize exhibitions on a level that other museums simply don’t have. I mean no one but the Met could have pulled off the exhibition of Renaissance tapestry we had here a few years ago, where there were forty-five tapestries on show. The politics involved, the financing involved, the leverage, and the expertise involved: No one else had that. We bribed and cajoled and twisted the arms of institutions around the world – well, we didn’t bribe, of course – but politically it was very complicated negotiating the loan of these objects, which came from the British royal collection, the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Vatican and were just absolute masterpieces.” (“Museum ~ Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”, Danny Danziger, 2007, Viking.)
Item: Above, the National Gallery’s 16th century wood panel painting, Beccafumi’s Marcia, which was dropped and smashed on January 21st 2008 during the de-installation of the exhibition Renaissance Siena: Art for a City. After the accident it was said by the gallery (Report, 13 March 2008) that the panel is “fragile” and will “never be allowed to go out on loan.” The panel is one of two Beccafumis owned by the National Gallery. They had been removed from their customary place in the gallery’s high-ceilinged, naturally lit Renaissance galleries for the special, temporary exhibition in the artificially lit basement galleries. There, they had been united with a third panel of the original Beccafumi series, and all three were mounted together in a special showcase. The people who ‘dismounted’ the special showcase had not fully appreciated its complicated manner of construction, and in the process one of the three panels slipped and smashed on the floor. The odds had been two to one against the borrowed panel being the victim in this accident. An international incident had been narrowly avoided. Because the damaged panel belonged to the National Gallery itself, it was immediately repaired before even the Trustees had seen its condition. After repair, the damaged panel and her sister were both placed in the National Gallery’s badly and entirely artificially lit, cramped reserve collection (which is open the public for only a few hours each week). No press release was issued announcing the accident but brief mention of it was later contained in an online report of the Board’s minutes. When ArtWatch UK commented on the accident in its Journal, the press picked up the story. The then new director at the gallery, Nicholas Penny, gave ArtWatch UK hard copy photographs of the smashed panel and a copy of an independent report of the accident commissioned by the gallery. [“Report on the Circumstances behind the Accidental damage to NG 6369 Domenico Beccafumi’s Marcia“, by Tadeusz J. A. Glazbus, Head of Internal Audit, the British Museum.] A striking feature of that report was evidence of the chaotic circumstances that can arise when large exhibitions are dismounted. Once exhibitions are over owners seek to have their works packed and returned as quickly as possible. As a result floor space rapidly fills with packing cases and materials, couriers and conservators, around whom in-house curators and visiting scholars step with guests who are eager to study the backs of works as they are removed from the walls. One Trustee of the gallery told us that it “had been pandemonium on the day”.
Item: In The Times of 19 January 2013, Magnus Linklater reported that the priceless contents of the Burrell Museum are to be taken abroad on tour, despite the specific wishes of its creator, Sir William Burrell that they should never leave the country. The decision that they should do so had been taken collectively by Glasgow Council, Glasgow Life and and the Burrell Trustees even though it would “require a bill to be presented to the Scottish Parliament in order to amend the strict terms of Burrell’s bequest”. [Our emphasis – we would have thought that getting a bill passed by the Scottish Parliament was a more appropriate term.]
Item: On 6 September 2013, Phil Miller in The Herald reported:
“One of the art world’s leading figures has raised serious concerns over Glasgow’s attempt to tour the treasures of its famous Burrell Collection abroad, saying there is a “deplorable tendency” to deny the risks of transporting art around the world.
“In a candid submission to the Scottish Parliament committee considering The Burrell Collection (Lending And Borrowing) Bill, Dr Nicholas Penny, the director of the National Gallery in London, says moving works of art has led to several major accidents, incidents and damage to works, many of which have not come to public attention:
“‘What is very often forgotten in discussions of this kind is the moral advantage and tangible (if not always immediate) benefit of a declared preference for honouring the wishes of of the donor. Real concern for the future is always more persuasive in those who have a genuine feeling for the past;
“‘The financial benefits of touring art collections are also greatly exaggerated and do not lead to any significant increase in visitors to the galleries touring the works;
“‘While there has always been much talk of profile-raising to palliate the mercenary motives or to compensate for disappointing fees, the interests of those brokering or encouraging touring exhibitions may not always be very obvious but should be examined very severely.'”
Item: On 23 January 2013, The Herald reported that the British Museum had been lined up for the first stop of an ambitious world tour of the Burrell Collection: “The British Museum, whose director is Glasgow-born Neil MacGregor, is planning a show of of at least six months if Glasgow City Council’s bid to change the rules governing Sir William Burrell’s bequest…is successful…”
Item: On 25 April 2013 The Herald reported that Burrell Renaissance, led by financier Sir Angus Grossart, will be driving the plans for the Burrell Collection which were expected to cost more than the Kelvingrove museum’s £35m facelift. The newly instituted group included Dr Bridget McConnell, the CEO of Glasgow Life, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, a former ambassador to the US and head of the Foreign Office, and Neil MacGregor, “the Scottish director of the British Museum” who was to be a special adviser. MacGregor listed among potential venues for The Tour the British Museum itself, Europe, North America and Asia.
MR MACGREGOR’S NO-SHOW AT THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT HEARINGS
At the September 9 hearing the following exchange occurred: The Convener: Is it correct that the tour is being organised in collaboration with the British Museum? Dr McConnell: Yes. We spoke to Neil MacGregor last week about this. As you can imagine, given that the British Museum lends 4,000 items a year, it has an extensive touring department. We are talking about contracting the British Museum not to deliver the tour but to mentor our staff, because we want some of the skills to transfer here and we want to build awareness and knowledge. We have some of that, but we want to augment it by either working through his staff or contracting some of his staff to work here in Glasgow. An arts agency – I have forgotten its name, but we can get it for you – co-ordinated the Kelvingrove tour in North America on our behalf. It took all the insurance risks and made all the preparations for opening events and so on. It has indicated that it would be interested in doing that again in North America this time and our staff are exploring with the British Museum any similar opportunities with similar agencies. The Convener: We have invited the British Museum to give evidence, but unfortunately it has not been able to accommodate us. What benefit will the tour bring to the British Museum? Dr McConnell: Without putting words in Neil MacGregor’s mouth, I know that he would be delighted to provide written evidence if the committee wants it. Sir Angus Grossart: He has been on holiday. Dr McConnell: He has been abroad on business and then he is off on holiday, so he is out of the country… The Convener: Neil MacGregor said on record in the past that he was against changing the will, so it would be interesting to receive from him written evidence that tells us why he has changed his mind. Around the time when the Burrell Renaissance was being formed and Neil MacGregor from the British Museum was invited to be a consultant to it, a story appeared in a newspaper – I believe it was The Scotsman – saying that the British Museum would be centrally involved. Could a conflict of interest be perceived in Mr MacGregor’s role in Burrell Renaissance? Were other partners considered? Sir Angus Grossart: Many international options were considered. Neil MacGregor is a pre-eminent figure. He was not chosen out of deference to the British Museum; he was invited to be an adviser on his merits. If we were to show any part of the collection in London, that museum would be the most fitting and matching destination [Over the much better temporary exhibition accomodation of the Royal Academy? – Ed.] I do not think any preference was given. I doubt whether there was any intent to give Neil MacGregor, who was previously the director of the National Gallery in London, a preference. I would not have been party to anything like that. The Convener: The collection could be shown in London without changing the will? Councillor Graham: Yes. Dr McConnell: Yes.
MR MACGREGOR’S (LATE) SUBMISSION TO THE BURRELL COMITTEE:
Item 1: Concerning Mr MacGregor’s 1997 “neutrality” Mr MacGregor submitted to the current Parliamentary Committee a transcript of his earlier views, as submitted to the House of Lords on 1 August 1997 when consideration was being given to the restrictions on international lending at the Burrell Collection. Specifically, MacGregor had then been invited to give evidence on: “the practice of inter-gallery lending in both the domestic and the international context in terms of its prevalence, its purposes, its effects and its risks”. Mr MacGregor stated that although he had been called as a witness “by the Promoters”, [Glasgow Council] he wished it to be made clear that, at that date, he had taken the position in which: “I neither support nor oppose the specific proposal that Glasgow City Council should be allowed to lend abroad objects from the Burrell Collection. On that my position is one of neutrality.” Mr MacGregor further stated that: “The passage from the wall to the packing case is widely considered to be the most dangerous stage of art transport.” Although he did not say so, we would assume that, at that date, Mr MacGregor accepted that sending works abroad on multi-venue tours necessarily and inescapably increased the risks to which all loaned works are exposed. Professional art insurers have assessed the risk of loaning a work to another venue as being six times greater than when the work is left hanging in a museum and gallery. That being so, it would follow that works being sent on a six-venues world tour would be placed at six times six more risk.
Item: In the Spring 2008 ArtWatch UK Journal No. 23, we ran the following report:
“‘Museums now have to do blockbuster shows to get the people in’, Paul Williamson, of the art transporting firm Constantine, said on BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight [on 5 November 2007], adding ‘They’re under financial pressure to tour the exhibitions: so various exhibitions may undertake a five, ten or fifteen-venue tour around the world.’ On the same programme, a spokesman for the art insurers Hiscox disclosed that a large claim was filed when a forklift truck driver at Heathrow drove his forks through a very well-known painting that was very lovely.”
NB – The identity of the painting was not disclosed. This is common procedure with accidents – no owner, whether private or institutional, lightly discloses news of an accident and the subsequent covering of traces by a restorer. For this reason, private owners whose work is damaged when on loan to a large institution will usually prefer to have the in-house restorers make a no-charge repair rather than submit an insurance claim for privately commissioned restoration repairs.
Item: Concealing travel injuries. The role of restorers (aka conservators) in concealing injuries is abhorrent to us but often welcomed by arts bureaucrats. As we reported in posts of 2 February 2011 (Why is the European Commission instructing museums to incur more risks by lending more art?) and 8 February 2011 (The European Commission’s way of moving works of art around), the European Union sees its objective of generating smart, sustainable and inclusive growth at a time when many of its industries are in decline, as being most realisable in the cultural sphere. To create jobs, the Commission exhorts more museums to loan more works and to be prepared to take more risks with their holdings. A specific European suggestion is that lenders should: “not insure works while they [are] at the exhibition venue”. This ignores the fact that (as Neil MacGregor and many others acknowledge) most injuries occur during the time of the exhibitions – and especially at moments of handling: mounting/dismounting, unpacking/repacking. In addition to those principally human hazards, environmental stress and risks can prove higher during exhibitions than during the travelling time. This occurs because when well-publicised exhibitions draw the crowds they seek, the atmospheric “micro-environments” of galleries can fluctuate at alarming and hazardous rates as heat and humidity levels soar and then decline at the end of each day at rates with which air-conditioning units cannot cope. ArtWatch knows of many panics that have been triggered among museums’ curatorial and conservation staffs by the phenomenon of heat/humidity surges. In attempt to avoid this problem, the National Gallery greatly restricted the number of potential visits (and hence income) to the recent Leonardo exhibition, but not all institutions share such scruples. Notoriously, and perhaps least scrupulously of all, the Vatican continues to pack visitors in their tens of thousand each day into the confines of the Sistine Chapel, even though the last (artistically disastrous) restoration had, by stripping off Michelangelo’s final layer of glue-based painting, exposed the bare fresco surfaces to the ravages of modern Roman environmental pollution for the first time, and even though it has been admitted that the present air-conditioning is not fit for purpose. For its part, the EU urges both that greater risks should be taken with security (by reducing the role of couriers) and that the depreciation of value which results from works being injured and then repaired should be discounted because “in many cases, after the exhibits have been restored, only experts can assess the alteration resulting from the damage. The restored artworks can therefore be exhibited as they are”.
MR MACGREGOR’S (LATE) SUBMISSION TO THE BURRELL COMITTEE
Item 2: Concerning Earlier Misunderstandings of Mr MacGregor’s Position:
“1. I have been invited to comment on the application to vary the terms of the Will of Sir William Burrell in order to allow objects from the Burrell Collection to be lent for exhibition outside of the United Kingdom. I am sorry that I was unable to attend the the committee’s earlier meeting. “2. I note that in the proceedings of the committee of 9 September 2013, column 33, the Convener asserts that I ‘said on the record in the past that [I] was against changing the will’. I fear the Convener is mistaken. In previous discussions of the topic, in 1997, I explicitly state that my position was one of neutrality. That is clearly recorded in the formal precognition dated 15th August 1997 and the report of the of proceedings at the public enquiry page 1272 section A dated 14th October 1997. My [then] position was accurately and unequivocally reported in the Glasgow Herald of 15th october 1997. “3. I have no idea why Tom [sic] Dalyell in his obituary of Colin Donald wrongly suggested that I was opposed to a change in the Will – I was not; nor do I know why David Lister (Independent 13th October), writing before I had spoken to the commission on 15th October, mistakenly assumed that I would argue that the wishes of benefactors should always be paramount.”
Item: Tam Dalyell’s 27 October 2006 obituary in the Independent on Colin Donald, Burrell Collection trustee:
“When in 1997 the Director of Glasgow Museums, supported by Glasgow City Council, mounted a legal challenge to the terms of the will of one of their greatest benefactors, there was outrage among museum staff nationwide. Julian Spalding sought to lend out items from the Burrell Collection, contrary to the specified wishes of the collector and ship owner, Sir William Burrell, who died in 1958. Neil MacGregor, Director of the National Gallery, among many others, deplored the challenge, but it was left to Colin Donald to fight it…As senior trustee he was absolute in defence of of the interests of Sir William Burrell’s Trust. ‘The Trustees’, he wrote in a letter to the Independent in 1997, have been obliged to oppose [the Spalding challenge] formally as we are of the view that we have a prescribed agenda to follow, which is to uphold the terms of the gift so meticulously set out by Sir William Burrell…”
Item: “Protect works of art from moving” ~ Colin Donald’s letter to the Independent, 28 April 1997:
“Sir: David Lister (“When treasure becomes a burden”, 16 April) is free to draw his own conclusions about the Burrell Collection from the facts, but it is important that these facts are correct. “It is not the trustees who have ‘called in the parliamentary commissioners’. The draft provisional order has been promoted by the City of Glasgow. The trustees have been obliged to oppose it formally as we are of the view that we have a prescribed agenda to follow, which is to uphold the terms of the gift so meticulously set out by Sir William Burrell. “In any event, the widened lending powers being sought will bring no benefit to the collection, although I suppose they might have a spin-off for Glasgow in tourism terms, but even that is arguable. The trustees have seen no evidence that Glasgow has ‘lost out’ on any exhibitions because of the restrictions on lending items from the Burrell Collection abroad. In any event, there are many items in the rest of Glasgow’s excellent collection which can be loaned without restriction. “The changes which the City seeks to make amount to somewhat more than ‘dots and commas’. The draft provisional order seeks powers to lend items from the collection for exhibition in any public gallery or other public place in any part of the world, without being responsible for any damage or injury thereto or for any loss or depreciation thereof … with such arrangements (if any) for insurance as the Council may decide. They thus want to sweep away the carefully negotiated lending terms inserted by Sir William in the memorandum of agreement and the will.”
NB – The present Burrell Trustees’ seeming abandonment of their primary duty to respect and enforce the wishes of the benefactor is striking. At the 19 September Parliamentary Committee hearing, the Chairman of the Trustees, Sir Peter Hutchison, spoke in a manner indistinguishable from that of Glasgow Life officers: notwithstanding what he described as “the problems of overseas lending”, he welcomed the sending of Burrell Collection works overseas on what he referred to as “the tour”; he expressed confidence that if he were to hold an imaginary conversation between his own and Sir William’s consciences, that the latter, 55 years after his death, might react favourably if asked to trust his [present] trustees; he cited as a kind of authority for the proposed overturning of Burrell’s conditions, the fact that the trustees of the Barnes foundation had recently performed a similar manoeuvre; most disturbingly of all he seemed to show a distinct deference to the wishes and abilities of the municipally over-arching body that is Glasgow Life. He used an unfortunate cricketing analogy: henceforth, although the trustees would assume a new role in monitoring loans in general (- which was to say, loans at home and abroad) their position would be not that of a wicketkeeper but that of the fielding position long-stop (i.e. the hapless role seen in schoolboy cricket of a fielder placed behind the wicketkeeper on the boundary in hope of stopping all of the missed balls from scoring four runs). The reason for this self-diminishing role would seem to be that the trustees will now be working closely with Glasgow Life, which body already directs the lending policy of the city’s museums generally. In effect, Sir Peter was accepting what he might well have felt to be a politically inevitable homogenisation of museums and galleries within the city. We note that in 1997, when Julian Spalding was pushing for an overturning of Burrell’s conditions, the position of Keeper at the Burrell Collection had recently been axed. As mentioned above, opposite, we were unable to discover if anyone might be employed in that capacity today. It seems extraordinary to us that such a fabulous collection should be bereft of both strong and independent curatorial leadership and strongly supportive trustees.
Mr MacGregor’s September 18 Reply to the Burrell Committee, continued:
“5. It was suggested by the Convener on 9th September (column 33) that as the British Museum might be involved in helping organise the logistics of a possible loan, and as works from the Burrell Collection might be shown at the British Museum, I might find myself in a position of conflict of interest. I think I can assure the Convenor that this is not so. The British Museum would not profit financially from either aspect of such co-operation with our Glasgow colleagues…” NB That absence of any financial benefit to the British Museum would only be so if visitors throughout the proposed six-months exhibition were not charged, and if they were to spend no money in the museum’s shops and cafes.
Item: How Future Loan Exhibitions Might Help Fund the Urgently Needed Repairs of the Burrell Museum and the Proposed Refurbishments of the Building.
It is not clear how, without entrance charges, lending works to the British Museum might offset in part the estimated high costs of putting the Burrell Museum to rights during the period between 2016 and 2020 when its building is scheduled to be closed for already urgently needed repairs. During the 9 September Hearing, the Committee’s members showed distinct concerns about what might be termed “the business model” of The Tour. In fact, the revenue-raising capacity of The Tour seemed to disappear in a single question/answer exchange:
The Convener: Paragraph 25 of the promoter’s memorandum suggests that lending the collection will provide a revenue stream to support the [Burrell building’s] remedial works. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and about how much you stand to gain financially from lending to put towards the cost of refurbishment? Dr McConnell: Touring does not in itself make money. If it washes its face and make a small profit, it is doing pretty well.”
Mr MacGregor’s September 18 2013 submitted view on the nature of loan risks:
“…10. The question of the risk of damage to objects lent is a very important one, and has been much discussed. I attach an appendix to this statement detailing the procedures followed by the British Museum to minimise such risk. Clearly there are some objects which which are not fit to travel. But the best argument on this point seems to me to be the the practice of all the world’s great museums. They are all committed to the safety of their collections. All lend valuable and fragile objects, because they believe there is an overall public benefit in doing so. To cite but one item: the works of Leonardo da Vinci are among the most precious and vulnerable objects in all European art. The National Gallery in London in 2011 invited museums abroad to lend their Leonardos for a temporary exhibition – and they did. And in return, the National gallery lent the supremely fragile Leonardo Cartoon to Louvre, confident that could responsibly move it, exhibit it there and then bring it safely home. We take Mr MacGregor’s reference to the loan of Leonardo’s supremely fragile “Cartoon” to the Louvre to be a sarcasm (re his spat with the present director of the National Gallery) and not an expression of confidence on his own part that that highly fragile, shotgun blasted and “restored”, ancient drawing really had suffered no deleterious consequences on its journeys (- by lorry and train through the Channel Tunnel?) How might he know such a thing? The effects of vibration on old fragile paintings have been little studied. How might they be? Would any responsible curator permit an old master painting to be fixed inside a container and shaken variously and erratically for hours on end like an IKEA chair on a test bed? The truth is that Mr MacGregor’s writ on the safety of travel today does not and cannot run throughout the world. On 12 July 2001, when bringing ten panels from Massacio’s Pisa Altarpiece to the National Gallery in London, he claimed that it had become safe at some point in “the past five to ten years” to jet works of art around the world because little gadgets in modern packing cases alert handlers to “any movement in the container”. What then? Mr MacGregor did not explain what a handler might do if so alerted in mid-flight. In the real world, in 2000, pages of the Book of Kells were damaged by vibration when the precious illuminated manuscript was flown from Ireland to Australia. In 2004 a Raphael was found, on arrival for the National Gallery’s “Raphael: From Urbino to Rome” show, to have suffered “a raised crack” in transit. And so on and so forth… 12. Of course there is some risk in any showing of any work to the public. It is the duty of those responsible for collections to strike the reasonable balance between public benefit and the likely danger of damage. In the field of loans, this balance has, thanks to advances in transport and conservation, changed greatly in the last 40 years. Yes, indeed, there is always risk when sending art out into the world, but the notion of “reasonable balance” is weaselish. Trusting to the “likely” when putting irreplaceable works needlessly or lightly in potential harm’s way is not to perform a reasonable action. 13. I can speak with confidence only of the experience of the British Museum. Between 2003 and 2013, the Trustees of the British Museum have lent around 30,000 objects* (many very fragile) to venues within the U.K. and abroad. In those ten years, there have been eight recorded instances of damage – in all cases minor, and repaired by the Museum’s conservation team. While deploring and regretting these eight cases of damage, the Trustees believe the balance of public benefit has been overwhelmingly positive. I think that the recipients of these loans, among them museums across Scotland, would agree.”
Item: While Mr MacGregor appeals to the authority of a Universal Practice among all the Great Museums, in December 2010 ArtWatch UK received an appeal for assistance from leading art historians and restorers in Krakow to help oppose a planned loan (for a substantial fee that was paid by the exhibition’s sponsors) of the many-times loaned Leonardo da Vinci panel painting Lady with an Ermine to the special exhibition at the National Gallery in London in 2011-2012 to which Neil MacGregor has referred. See “An Appeal from Poland” and our post of 29 December 2010. For an account of our objections to that Leonardo exhibition, see “The National Gallery’s £1.5 billion Leonardo Restoration” and “Leonardo, Poussin, Turner: Three Developments in London and Krakow”. On July 14, 2011 it was reported that, as a consequence of the protests and “in order to improve the functioning of the Foundation of the Czartoryski Princes and to assure the correct collaboration with the National Museum in Krakow,” Prince Adam Karol Czartoryski, heir to the collections of the world-renowned Czartoryski Museum, has approved the dismissal of the enterprise’s entire management board, including its chairman, Count Adam Zamoyski.
Item: Concerning Mr MacGregor’s appeal to the authority of his own museum’s performance we note that there are good grounds for treating such accounts with a degree of scepticism: In 1993 the New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman, addressed the problem of self-censorship within museums (- to which Nicholas Penny referred, as cited above, in his introduction to Prof. Haskell’s book): “no museum, either as lender or borrower, wants the taint of irresponsibility or carelessness. Although conservators, curators and directors privately raise doubts all the time about fragile and important works of art being moved around by other institutions, they virtually never speak out. When they do, it is as one chorus: nothing goes wrong where they are.” A further inducement towards scepticism is the public record of the British Museum’s own art handlers. As we reported on 13 December 2010 (“An Appeal from Poland”), in 2006, the British Museum sent 251 Assyrian objects – including its entire, incalculably important, fragile, wall-mounted Nimrud Palace alabaster relief carvings in foam filled wooden crates in two cargo jets to Shanghai for the “Assyria: Art and Empire” exhibition. Mr MacGregor claimed that: “It’s easier to transport these big valuable objects now – but it’s just as important to be certain they’ll be safe at the other end.”
The other end can be a long way away. The only flight capable of transporting all of the massive carvings to Shanghai left from Luxembourg to where the crated objects had to be moved by lorry/ferry/lorry. The planes stopped in Azerbaijan during their 16 hours flights – giving a total of four landings and four take-offs each on the round trip. On arrival in Shanghai, it was discovered that the recipient museum’s low doorways and inadequate lifts required that the crates with the largest carvings be “rolled in through the front door – which meant that we had to get a mobile crane to get them up the stairs”. So said Darrel Day, the British Museum’s senior heavy-objects handler. “Even then we had to unpack three of the crates to get a bit more clearance…[one carving] was still too tall, so we had knock a bit off”. No! – we jest of course, that should read: we had to “lay him down on his side”. When the collection was finally unpacked (delay had occurred because a replacement had to be found for the Chinese museum’s ancient unsafe forklift truck), it was found that “a few little conservation things had to be done” and that a support had broken off one of the carved reliefs. Nic Lee, head of the Museum’s Stone, Wall Paintings and Mosaics Conservation Section, reportedly said: “that was a bit of nineteenth-century restoration that I’d been wanting to get rid of for ages, anyway”. So that breakage was alright, then? A restorer at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, has claimed that within the museum world there is a professional concept of “acceptable potential loss” when considering works for loans. There would certainly now seem to be a systemic tolerance of failures in the movement of great art works. Forward planning seems an art yet to be achieved by many travel-happy museums (- a wider use of tape measures might help). An incoming Morgan Stanley sponsored exhibition of Chinese terracotta figures at the British Museum produced another art-handling pantomime. The more than two dozen wooden crates required were delayed for two days in Beijing because they would not fit into the holds of the two chartered cargo planes. When they finally arrived at the British Museum, they would not pass through the door of the round Reading Room (from which Paul Hamlyn’s gifted library had been evicted for the six months duration of the show). Even after the Reading Room’s main door frame had been removed, the largest crates still could not enter the temporary exhibition space built above the famous circular desks of the library, and had to be unpacked outside the exhibition space in the Great Court. The difficulties loan arrangements can generate were discussed by one of Mr MacGregor’s predecessors, David Wilson, in his “The British Museum: A History”, (The British Museum Press, 2002 – pp 334-336, “Exhibitions – A Vicious Circle?”). Sir David admitted, for example, that objects occasionally get damaged and sometimes even “go missing”. As indeed they sometimes do: Every year, more than £2bn of art is stolen, some of which is art on the move. In November 2006, the Toledo Museum’s Goya, Children with a Cart was stolen en route for an exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 1994 the Tate Gallery loaned two Turner paintings insured for £24m to the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt. “We will not be sending a courier”, Tate director, Sir Nicholas Serota, told the museum, “but as the works have high values we would like a member of your staff to supervise the arrival/depalletisation of the cases at Frankfurt [airport] and their transit to the Schirn Kunsthalle”. In what was clearly an “inside job” the pictures were stolen from the Frankfurt museum and only returned to the Tate in December 2002 after payment of a £3m+ ransom to the thieves in 2000. In December 2010 thieves broke into a warehouse and drove off with a van filled with £5m-worth of works by Picasso, Botero and Eduardo Chillida being returned to Spain from a loan to Germany. Police said that the robbery had all the hallmarks of “an inside job”. Police/Museum/Criminal relationships are a vexed subject. In the February 2001 Art Newspaper, it was reported that Geoffrey Robinson, the former Paymaster General had claimed that the German police had infiltrated the gang (“a group of particularly nasty Serbs”) that had stolen the two Tate Turners, but had “then loused up on the recovery operation”. There are grounds for suspecting a de facto going-rate “reward” of ten or fifteen per cent of a work’s insurance value in order to effect a recovery and avoid a full pay-out.
* This number of cases had been omitted when the post was first published. [With apologies, M. D., 17 November 2013.]
November 11, 2013 | Categories: blog | Tags: Alan Eccles LLP, alan williams mp, Amy Ross, Archie Graham, Barnes Watch, Beccafumi, Beccafumi accident, Ben Thompson, Billy Connolly, Book of Kells, Bridget McConnell, Burrell Collection Bill, Burrell Renaissance, Burrell Trustees, Christopher McLaren, Culture and Sport Glasgow, Danny Danziger, David Lister, Donor-Watch, Dr Alan Borg, Dr Barnes, Evening Standard Londoner's Diary, Frances Lennard, Francis Haskill, Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life, Gordon MacDonald, Jackson Carlaw, Jeremy Warren, Joan McAlpine SNP, Julian Spalding, Kelvingrove Museum, Leonardo Cartoon, Magnus Linklater, Mark Griffon, Mark Macaskill, Michael Daley, Michael Kimmelman, Mona Dickinson, Museums Journal, Neil MacGregor, Nicholas Penny, Peter Wilkinson, Philip Hook, Robert Taylor, Rosalind Savill, Samuel Courtauld Trust, Selby Whittingham, Sir Angus Grossart, Sir David Wilson, Sir Peter Hutchison, Sir William Burrell, Sotheby's, Tam Dalyell, the art fund, The British Museum, The Independent, The Independent Turner Society, The Metropolitan Museum, The prices of art, The Scottish Parliament, Thomas Campbell, Turner Bequest | Leave A Comment »
wibble!
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line41
|
__label__wiki
| 0.812257
| 0.812257
|
Ronnie Dunn Overcomes Shyness
Most people don’t think of big-star entertainers like Brooks & Dunn as shy people, but Ronnie Dunn was incredibly shy in his younger years, so much that you might never have expected to see him on a stage. “I was almost paralyzed with shyness and couldn’t really finish a sentence,” he recalls. Ronnie’s certainly come a long way from those days, but music was always his escape, and he says it still is today.
“I was almost paralyzed with shyness and couldn’t really finish a sentence; I was just so self-conscious. People would come to visit my parents, and I would leave; I would go to the back and shut the door and go to my room. I’d turn the record player on and listen to music. And that’s…that was always…it was always my escape, and it is today.
Craig Morgan and the Fish
Craig Morgan has another big hit with his current single, “Bonfire,” and while he may like spending time around a big ol’ fire, he also enjoys leisure activities that involve water — but his youngest son…well, not so much. Craig says that a fishing trip with his three boys not long ago wasn’t the most rewarding experience for young Wyatt, who saw his big brothers pulling up fish while things were a bit quiet on his line. But Craig completely relates to the frustration. He says, “Fishing is not much fun to me if you’re not catchin’ fish.” He laughs, “That’s like ridin’ a stationary bike…why? I want to go somewhere!”
Look for “Bonfire” on Craig’s latest album, That’s Why, which also features “Love Remembers” and “God Must Really Love Me.”“My youngest was just a little…you know, after him not catchin’ anything for about an hour, he was so ready to go back. Now, my 12-year-old, and Kyle, my oldest son, you know, they were catchin’ fish, so they were havin’ a ball. It’s like, I gotta take h…
Brad Paisley Wins French Country Music Award!
The French Association of Country Music has announced the winners of the 7th French Country Music Awards! Among the top honors, Best Entertainer of the Year is Brad Paisley, who also won Best Album of the Year (for American Saturday Night), and Best Musician. Best Male Vocalist of the Year went to Alan Jackson, and Sara Evans took home Female Vocalist, while Kenny Chesney earned a double win, for Best Duo (for “Down the Road” with Mac McAnally) and Best Song (”Out Last Night”).
Sara Evan's Ready for the Holidays
November is upon us, and with the holiday season right around the corner, it’s perfect timing for a little get-in-the-spirit music from Sara Evans, whose four-song digital E-P, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, releases November 3rd! The collection includes the title track, as well as “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” and the inspiring “New Again,” a song that Sara wrote with — and sings with — Brad Paisley. The fourth track in the collection is the classic “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and it’s just the kind of song that Sara says we learn as children, but really come to appreciate as adults.
The arrival of I’ll Be Home for Christmas will help get you in the mood for Sara’s upcoming Celebrate the Season tour! She’ll be playing a dozen West Coast shows beginning November 27th. Each show will have one set with all holiday music, and another with Sara singing some of her biggest hits. Check out a complete tour schedule, and all things Sara, at saraevans.com
“It’s funny, as an adult, when you sing thes…
Carrie's New CD out Tuesday
One of the year’s most anticipated albums is just days away with the Tuesday, November 3rd arrival of Play On, the new album from Carrie Underwood! And with Play On’s first single, “Cowboy Casanova,” already a blockbuster hit, fans are even more excited to scoop up Carrie’s first new record since 2007’s Carnival Ride. Of the 13 songs on Play On, seven were co-written by Carrie — that’s more than either of her earlier albums — and she’s thrilled to be sharing more of herself with songs that she says are “truly coming from my heart more.” She’s also delighted with the reactions she’s gotten from people who’ve heard the album…in part because they seem to be choosing a variety of songs as their favorites. ”I love that,” Carrie says. ”I love it, love it, love it that it is that kind of an album. You’re not listening to the same song. It takes you all over the place…takes you all around the world.”
When you’ve had the kind of success that Carrie’s had — with her first two records together se…
Kellie Pickler To Appear On Tomorrow’s Halloween Episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Pickler Media Also Includes Country Weekly and Upcoming Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Kellie Pickler will show fans her spooky side as the featured guest on tomorrow’s Halloween episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.On returning to the long-running talk show, Kellie said “Ellen is one of my favorite people, and Halloween is my favorite holiday, so to be able to share it with her will make it extra special this year!”And Ellen is equally excited to have Kellie on the show, as she posted on her website today, “She has such a fun personality, I could just let her talk the entire time. Sometimes I don't really have a choice -- she just keeps going!”
This week also finds Kellie named as Country Weekly's Most Beautiful Woman for the second year in a row in the November 2 issue of the magazine, on newsstands now.
Fans can also tune in to see Kellie lend a hand to build a new home for the Terpenning family…
Charlie Daniels To Perform on CBS The Early Show Nov. 2
WHO: Charlie Daniels Band
WHAT: Watch Daniels perform his 1979 classic, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” as part of The Early Show’s year-by-year retrospective series. Daniels’ performance will be televised during the segment highlighting the year 1979.
WHEN: 7 a.m. CST, Monday, November 2 - (Check local listings for CBS affiliate)
WHERE: CBS The Early Show
Charlie Daniels released a CD/DVD Christmas collection, Joy to the World: A Bluegrass Christmas,on Oct. 13 through E1 Entertainment. The Charlie Daniels Band is currently touring the U.S. through the end of 2009, including a performance at his annual Christmas For Kids concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 23, 2009. For more information or CDB tour dates, visit www.charliedaniels.com.
HOT COUNTRY STAR JASON MICHAEL CARROLL TO PERFORMNASHVILLE CONCERT AT THE EXIT/IN ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10 Nashville, TN - October 29, 2009...One of country music's brightest new stars, Jason Michael Carroll will bring his high energy concert to Nashville's Exit/In onThursday, December 10. Doors open at 8:00 pm and Carroll takes the stage at 9:00 pm. Tickets are priced at $15.00 and go on sale beginning Friday, October 30. To purchase tickets online, visit www.ExitIn.com or www.aeglive.com. Tickets will also be available at the door on night of show. In 2007 Carroll's debut album, Waitin' in the Country, shot straight to #1 on Billboard's top country albums chart and produced two Top 5 singles - "Alyssa Lies" and "Livin' Our Love Song." Country music fans and music peers alike sat up and took notice of the singer's raw talent and uniquely gifted songwriting skills, which also captured the attention of major media such as Entertainm…
LATEST INSTALLMENT OF ‘INVITATION ONLY’ FEATURING
CARRIE UNDERWOOD PREMIERES DECEMBER 1 ON CMT
Underwood Performs Greatest Hits As Well As Songs
From New Album Play On
NASHVILLE – October 29, 2009 – Superstar Carrie Underwood visits the INVITATION ONLY stage to perform her chart-toppers as well as music from her new album, Play On, on Tuesday, December 1 at 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT.Taped in Nashville, INVITATION ONLY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD features the country sweetheart performing before a small studio audience, taking questions from fans and giving revealing and candid answers.
In this one-hour special, Underwood performs her biggest hits including “Before He Cheats,” “Last Name” and “So Small,” in addition to new, lively and energetic songs “Cowboy Casanova” and “Undo It” from Play On. During a casual question and answer segment with the audience, Underwood discusses how life has changed since “American Idol,” admits to being a sci-fi junkie, confesses she still gets excited when…
Taylor and Taylor....Leave Bistro Garden LA
Julianne Hough Goes to See MJ
BRAD PAISLEY TO THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN
NASHVILLE, Tenn.(Oct. 28, 2009) Reigning CMA and ACM male vocalist Brad Paisley will be making an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Paisley will be performing “American Saturday Night”from his album by the same title, which is nominated for CMA Album of the Year.
As previously announced, Paisley will also be performing on ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday, Nov. 10 live from Nashville. He, along with Carrie Underwood, will co-host The 43rd Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 11 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) live from the SommetCenter inNashville and on ABC. Paisley is the most nominated artist for the CMA Awards with seven nominations, and he will also perform on the show.
Paisley just wrapped his 2009 American Saturday Night tour and has posted an all-hands-on-deck celebration thank-you video on Twitter: Tour Celebration Video.
“Welcome to the Future” is Paisley’s current single, in the…
REBA VISITS LIVE W/ REGIS & KELLY AND LATE NIGHT W/ JIMMY FALLON
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD
NASHVILLE, TN – Superstar Reba has a busy day planned in the Big Apple next Tuesday.
The multiple CMA Award Nominee will drop by Live w/ Regis & Kelly for a chat as well as a live full band performance of the fan favorite, “Pink Guitar,” from her #1 album KEEP ON LOVING YOU.
Later that evening, Reba and her nine-piece powerhouse band will perform the club favorite “I Want A Cowboy” for her debut appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
In the meantime, Reba’s hit single, “Consider Me Gone,” jumped to #13 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and to #12 on the USA Today/ Country Aircheck chart (powered by Mediabase) this week.
Reba is nominated for two 2009 Country Music Association Awards for Female Vocalist and Musical Event of the Year (the latter for “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” with Brooks & Dunn). Reba will perform live on the ABC broadcast on Wednesday, November 11.
The superstar also recen…
‘LARRY THE CABLE GUY'S HULA-PALOOZA CHRISTMAS LUAU’
PREMIERES FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 ON CMT
90-minute Special Features Performances by Billy Currington and the Zac Brown Band
NASHVILLE – October 28, 2009 – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas when LARRY THE CABLE GUY'S HULA-PALOOZA CHRISTMAS LUAU holiday special premieres Friday, November 20 at 9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m., ET/PT on CMT.
This 90-minute variety show features Larry along with friends, including Kenan Thompson (“Saturday Night Live”), Caroline Rhea, George Lindsey (“The Andy Griffith Show”),comedians Reno Collier and Jon Reep, Peter Oldring, Sara Erikson,the MuzikMafia’s Two Foot Fred, and returning favorites Tony Orlando and Angela Little MacKenzie (“Reno 911”). In addition to holiday-themed comedy and sketches set on the fictional island of Hula-Poola, the special will include musical performances from Billy Currington and the Zac Brown Band.
With his signature catchphrase, “Git-R-Done”, Larry the Cable Guy continues …
RASCAL FLATTS REIGN AS TOP GROUP IN COUNTRY MUSIC
Nashville, TN - (October 28, 2009) – Rascal Flatts continue their reign as the biggest group in country music. According to Nielsen Soundscan the band’s latest CD, Unstoppable, is one of only three country albums that have scanned platinum in 2009, including Taylor Swift’s Fearless and Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack, with year-to-date sales of over 1 million albums sold on each title.
Of all country titles released this year, Rascal Flatts’s Unstoppable holds the record for the biggest first week sales with 351,000 units sold. Unstoppablealso has the fifth highest debut sales numbers across all genres for all new CD releases this year. Included in the first week numbers are more than 58,000 digital albums, giving Rascal Flatts the biggest first week digital album sales for any country title released this year.
With 126,000 tracks sold the first week of release, the project’s lead #1 single “Here Comes Goodbye,” also holds the record…
Nashville, TN - Lorrie Morganis releases A Moment In Time, her collection of new interpretations of fourteen country classics, on October 26 through Country Crossing Records. The album, produced by Wally Wilson and Chip Voorhis, was recorded live in the studio without overdubs. A Moment In Timeshowcases Morgan’s crystalline vocals and features a stellar cast of studio musicians. Included are such timeless treasures as “Leavin’ On Your Mind,” “Cry” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” The album also features duets with Raul Malo (“Easy Lovin’”) and Tracy Lawrence (“After The Fire Is Gone”). Fans will have numerous opportunities to catch Morgan and learn more about A Moment In Time. She’ll appear on numerous outlets on GAC and CMT throughout October and is set to make appearances on nationally syndicated programs Daytime TV on October 29th and The Daily Buzz on November 2nd. Morgan will also head to New York this week for appearances on Sirius/XM satellite radio, Fox News’ outlets Huckabe…
STEVE MARTIN TO BRING HIS BANJO TO MERLEFEST 2010
WILKESBORO, N.C. (October 28, 2009)—MerleFest 2010, presented by Lowe’s, is proud to announce that multi-talented Grammy® and Emmy® winning actor/comedian/musician Steve Martin will perform on the Watson Stage on Saturday, May 1. “I’ve heard great things about MerleFest for years,” said Martin. “As a musician, it’s an event I’m really looking forward to playing.”
Martin is currently drawing rave reviews as he tours in support of his Rounder Records release, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo, which spent multiple weeks at the top of the BillboardTop Bluegrass Albums Chart. Touring with Martin are the Steep Canyon Rangers, who will perform with him at MerleFest. Together they have performed at the 20th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The View, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Ryman Auditorium, and other venues in cities including Boston, Atlanta, …
009 CMA AWARDS HOSTS BRAD PAISLEY AND CARRIE UNDERWOOD TO PERFORM LIVE ON "GOOD MORNING AMERICA" NOVEMBER 10 FROM NASHVILLE ON THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK
NASHVILLE - Wake up with CMA Awards hosts Brad Paisley andCarrie Underwood when they perform on ABC's "Good Morning America" Tuesday, Nov. 10 live from Nashville on the ABC Television Network.
The "Good Morning America" concert is free and open to the public. The event takes place on the Sommet Center's outside plaza at the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in Nashville and is presented by Chevrolet. ABC's "Good Morning America" will ramp up the excitement leading to "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," airingWednesday, Nov. 11 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) live from the Sommet Center.
"We can't imagine a better way to jump start the excitement leading up to the CMA Awards than to have our hosts Brad and Carrie perform on 'Good Morning America'," said CMA Vice Preside…
FIRST PRESENTERS ANNOUNCED FOR "THE 43rd ANNUAL CMA AWARDS"
Love And Theft to Host Pre-Tel Awards
NASHVILLE - The excitement is building as the first group of presenters are announced for "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," hosted by Brad Paisley andCarrie Underwood, and airing live from the Sommet Center in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 11(8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.
The first celebrities announced as Awards presenters during "Country Music's Biggest NightT" are NASCAR superstar driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.;stars of ABC's "The Middle" Neil Flynn and Patricia Heaton;Julianne Hough; nominee Randy Houser (for both New Artist and Music Video of the Year for "Boots On"); nominee Jake Owen (New Artist of the Year);Kellie Pickler; CMA Award winner LeAnn Rimes; and ABC News's Robin Roberts, co-anchor of "Good Morning America" and host of the upcoming "Robin Roberts: Bright Lights. Big Stars. All Access Nashvi…
Tickets On Sale Friday for Verizon Wireless BamaJam Music & Arts Festival
Kenny Chesney to appear at June 3-5, 2010 Festival
ENTERPRISE, Ala., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Tickets will go on sale Friday, October 30th for the 3rd annual Verizon Wireless BamaJam Music & Arts Festival, slated for Thursday, June 3 through Saturday, June 5, 2010 in Enterprise.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091027/CL99873 )
The Verizon Wireless BamaJam Music & Arts Festival is one of the world's grandest outdoor entertainment extravaganzas. Fans have come from more than 47 states and 8 countries to enjoy the 3-day festival which includes music and activities for the whole family. At BamaJam, the music never stops and the fun goes on 'til the sun comes up ... and then it starts all over again with food, booths, activities and music, music, music.
Tickets are on sale for $99 for a 3-day ticket and $49.00 for a 1-Day Flex Ticket, which may be used on any 1 of the 3 days. Service charg…
Kellie Pickler To Appear On Tomorrow’s Halloween ...
Charlie Daniels To Perform on CBS The Early Show ...
HOT COUNTRY STAR JASON MICHAEL CARROLL TO PERFORM...
LATEST INSTALLMENT OF ‘INVITATION ONLY’ FEATURING...
BRAD PAISLEY TO THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERM...
REBA VISITS LIVE W/ REGIS & KELLY AND LATE NIGHT ...
‘LARRY THE CABLE GUY'S HULA-PALOOZA CHRISTMAS LUA...
RASCAL FLATTS REIGN AS TOP GROUP IN COUNTRY MUSIC...
Nashville, TN - Lorrie Morgan is releases A Momen...
STEVE MARTIN TO BRING HIS BANJO TO MERLEFEST 2010...
009 CMA AWARDS HOSTS BRAD PAISLEY AND CARRIE UNDE...
FIRST PRESENTERS ANNOUNCED FOR "THE 43rd ANNUAL C...
Tickets On Sale Friday for Verizon Wireless BamaJ...
On Dancing with Stars TONIGHT
BRAD PAISLEY’S AMERICAN SATURDAY NIGHT TOUR WRAP...
Kenny Rogers Box Set
GLORIANA UP FOR T-MOBILE BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST AWAR...
Buddy Jewell Helping St Jude
LUKE BRYAN KICKS-OFF FIRST HEADLINE TOUR THIS WEE...
Kenny Chesney Tops All Tours: JoBros, DMB, Spring...
Taylor and Taylor....Show Biz's new hottest couple...
TRACE ADKINS FIRST COMIC BOOK "LUKE MCBAIN" HIT...
Alan Jackson Loves Still Wants $38 Million
Taylor Swift the Cover Girl
MARTINA MCBRIDE: On “Oprah” This Monday!Don’t mi...
Andy Williams’ Moon River Theatre Presents His An...
GARTH BROOKS CONCERTS AT WYNNSOLD OUTADDITIONAL D...
Garth SOOOLLLLD OUTTTTTTTTT
Garth Tickets on Sale SATURDAY October 24
COUNTRY CROSSING ANNOUNCES FIRST CONCERT: KELLIE ...
COUNTRY STAR JIMMY WAYNE RETURNS WITH NEW ALBUM S...
FIRST DATES ON TAYLOR SWIFT’S FEARLESS 2010 TOUR ...
Sara Evans Celebrates the Season with Upcoming H...
Brad Paisley Conquers NYC
Big KennyWill be appearing onThe Today Show on Mo...
JAMEY JOHNSON AND RANDY HOUSER SUPPORT THE TROOPS...
CRACKER BARREL ANNOUNCES – THE ALAN JACKSON COLLE...
GARTH BROOKS TO PERFORM AT ENCORE AT WYNN LAS VEG...
Kenny's Big First Show in 2010
Michael J Fox backstage with Brad in NYC
Kenny Chesney Announces 1st Two 2010 Appearances ...
Chesney Booking a Few Shows...Big Ones
VIDEO FOR BLAKE SHELTON’S NEW SINGLE “HILLBILLY B...
CMA SONGWRITER SERIES ADDED TO EVENTS LEADING UP ...
One million views and climbingG. I. Joe and Lilli...
Heidi Newfield honored at 2009 NSAI (Nashville So...
Terri Clark Kicks Off 6 Week Canadian Tour Today ...
Kenny Chesney's “I'm Alive” Artistic Challenge Br...
Tim McGraw is Everywhere
DAVE MATTHEWS TO JOIN KENNY CHESNEY IN PERFORMANC...
NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME INDUCTS KYE F...
Garth Goes into Oklahoma State Hall of Fame
A bunch of different things...
CARRIE UNDERWOOD: More Early Music Coming!October...
INFORMATION FOR RELEASE: BRAD PAISLEY SURPRIS...
Gary Allan on the Road Again
CRAIG MORGAN WINS VIDEO OF THE YEAR AT INSPIRATIO...
GARTH BROOKS COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT Announces De...
WHITNEY DUNCAN TO MAKE GRAND OLE OPRY DEBUT NASHV...
BRAD PAISLEY ANNOUNCES INVOLVEMENT IN NEW TV SHOW...
GARTH BROOKS COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT TO PERFORM A...
Tanya off to NYC
Luke Bryan's Hard Work Pays Off
Steve Martin and Dogs
JOE NICHOLS PARTNERS WITH THEHOPELINE TO CREA...
GLORIANA NOMINATED FOR COUNTRY BREAKTHROUGH ARTIS...
Oaks in NYC this Weekend
SWIFT LEADS AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS
Carrie Underwood Fans Get an Early Listen of New ...
CARRIE UNDERWOOD TO STAR IN HER OWN NETWORK TELEV...
Chris Young Scores His First #1 Single as “Gettin...
BLAKE SHELTON TEAMS UP WITH TRACE ADKINS ON HIS N...
TAYLOR SWIFT PERFORMS ON “THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW”...
Rascal Flatts To Appear on The Tonight Show with ...
Tim on NET tonight....TV too Letterman
Nashville's Wild Bunch Take A Ride
Garth Brooks...and THE Announcement...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ANNUAL BISCUITS & BLU...
NASHVILLE, TN - Country music legend George Jone...
DARRYL WORLEY HELPS THE TITANS “BRING IT ON” Pla...
DOUBLE DOSE OF BRAD PAISLEY COVERS NASHVILLE,...
LUKE BRYAN PERFORMS FOR HOMETOWN CROWD Nashvil...
Tickets Still Available for Musician's Induction
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAYLOR SWIFT TO EXTEND FEA...
NMA Complete Winners List
TAYLOR SWIFT WINS TOP ARTIST AND SONGWRITER HONOR...
For Immediate Release HEAR IT FROM LYNYRD SKYNYR...
“BACKSTORY: TRACE ADKINS” ON GREAT AMERICAN COUNT...
MIRANDA LAMBERT'S REVOLUTION CONQUEREDTHE CHARTS ...
Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova” Sizzles on t...
Trace Lends a Hand
LADY ANTEBELLUM UNVEILS PLANS FOR SOPHOMORE ALBU...
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line42
|
__label__wiki
| 0.741088
| 0.741088
|
Massive Ancient Settlement Unearthed in Puerto Rico
Bodies, structures, and rock art thought to belong to an indigenous pre-Columbian culture have been unearthed at an ancient settlement in Puerto Rico, officials recently announced. Archaeologists say the complex could be the most significant of its kind in the Caribbean.
"This is a very well preserved site," said Aida Belén Rivera-Ruiz, director of Puerto Rico's State Office of Historic Preservation.
"The site seems to show two occupations: a pre-Taino and a Taino settlement." The Taino are thought to be a subgroup of the Arawak Indians who migrated to the Caribbean from Mexico or South America hundreds of years ago, experts say. They were among the first tribes to encounter Europeans.
Archaeologists have known since 1985 that the area contained indigenous artifacts. But the scope of the site became clear only recently, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on a new dam.
Perhaps the most significant find is a large plaza covering an area of about 130 by 160 feet. The plaza, which contains stones etched with ancient petroglyphs, might have been a court used for ceremonial rituals or ball games.
"If this information is confirmed, this would be the largest known indigenous batey in the Caribbean," Rivera-Ruiz said. Roberto Mucaro Borrero, a representative of the United Confederation of Taino People, agreed. The site "could be the largest ancient Taino cultural area found not only in Puerto Rico but throughout the Caribbean," Borrero said.
And petroglyphs of a masculine figure with frog legs could prove especially important in understanding the culture's roots, he added. "They could reveal evidence of direct links between the Taino and the Mayan peoples," he said.
Confusion and criticisms are already swirling amidst excitement over the findings. Initial reports about bodies found in several graves at the site suggest that the people were buried in unique positions. The bodies were "buried facedown with the legs bent at the knees—a style never seen before in the region," the Associated Press reported.
But Miguel Rodriguez, a member of the Puerto Rican government's archaeological council, said the burial positioning isn't unheard of in the area.
Kit Wesler, a Taino expert at Murray State University in Kentucky, also said that the "facedown position is unusual but probably not unprecedented." Rivera-Ruiz of the state preservation office stressed that any claims about the uniqueness of the burial arrangements must await a full excavation and studies of any funerary objects.
The Patagonian Giants
Labels: Anunnaki, Atlantis, Viracocha
I am happy that this was found in Puerto Rico as there are people who believe we have no culture. The problem lies within the goverment that does not make this important to them and for tourism on the island. Most objects found are taken away by the University that is involved or group that deals with findings of such kind. Puerto Rico has never seen the indigenous woman that was found during the construction of a bridge there. She was found with a baby between her legs and her legs were bent over which according to the archeologist on site, this was the first of its kind found in the caribbean or anywhere else. Where is she now? Puerto Ricans have not seen her. I saw her because I went to the dig site. I would like to see a change in the way this is handled. I would like to visit Puerto Rico and see this as an exhibit. Hilda Nieves
I saw that indigenous woman & her baby in an enclosed glass box during a trip to PR back in the 90's.
Where are those huge rocks with drawings found and when were those found and by. whom?
Where on the island is this site? I would love to see it!
Hello Hilda. I live in a town nearby and would like to know when did this dig site take place. I respect, love and honor my culture. Thank you for your information.
ArtisNovel December 2, 2014 at 4:31 AM
Amazing find. What's next?
Ancient Tattooed Aryan Mummies of Asia
Alchemy: The Green Lion Devouring The Sun - ROBERT...
Ancient Aryan Mummies and Pyramids of China
Ancient Legendary Origins of the Samurai - ROBERT ...
Massive Ancient Settlement Unearthed in Puerto Ric...
Morning Dew and Atlantean Alchemy - ROBERT SEPEHR
Ancient Buddhist Statue Came From Space
Race: Scientists Discover 'Blonde Gene' - ROBERT S...
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0001.json.gz/line44
|
End of preview.
No dataset card yet
- Downloads last month
- 6