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__label__wiki	0.885088	0.885088	European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier talks to the audience during a debate on Brexit at the Charlemagne building in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) The Latest: EU rejects time limit on Irish backstop LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain's talks to leave the European Union (all times local): The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, is rejecting the possibility of putting a time limit on the "backstop" option for the Irish border, saying it would defeat the purpose. Barnier told Deutschlandfunk radio Thursday ahead of meetings in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the whole point of the backstop was to provide credible insurance for Ireland that there would be no hard border. He also rejected the possibility of a deal on the border being negotiated by London directly with Dublin, saying through a translator: "It's not just about Ireland. Every item that crosses from Great Britain over the northern border into Ireland is also entering the common market, so it's not only about Ireland, it's about Germany, France, Poland — it's about the whole common market." The chief executive of Airbus has warned it could move its U.K. operations out of the country in the event there is a departure from the European Union without a deal. Tom Enders issued a sharply worded statement Thursday, flatly warning that Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development in the United Kingdom, a global leader in aviation. He declared that the country now stands at a precipice. Enders urged the country not to "listen to the Brexiteers' madness which asserts that, because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong." Airbus has more 14,000 employees in Britain with a further roughly 110,000 working in jobs supported by Airbus programs. Brexit referendum	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line828
__label__cc	0.54978	0.45022	Tag Archives: Richard Linklater Before Midnight (2013) Posted on September 1, 2014 by Jamie Directed by Richard Linklater According to imdb the characters are by Richard Linklater and Kim Krazan and the screenplay is by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke This is the only one in the trilogy which I had never seen before (9 years on from the last one). It opens with Ethan Hawke saying goodbye to the boy he said he had in the last movie, and I couldn’t help but try and make him the kid from Boyhood… it wasn’t, but I wanted it to be. Celine, we learn straight off, (when we’re in the car with Jesse, Celine and their two beautiful blonde girls in the back,) is a lot more cynical than she used to be. Jesse is tired out, a family man who craves more of a connection to his son who lives in another country. Jesse has published two more books and that they are successful. Celine has become more politically active, and early on there’s a hard conversation where she insists this is the start of their relationship breaking up. I immediately had a NOOOOOOOOO reaction because I am so invested in the characters and I want them to be together. The picturesque location of this movie is Greece, and it’s a beautiful, sun soaked landscape which Jesse has been invited to based on his writerly success. There’s a very upsetting sequence over dinner where Celine points out that what Jesse really wants is a bimbo, and she does an impression of a very Marilyn style girl – a vapid blonde who doesn’t know that Romeo and Juliet is a play. She is doing it to send him up, but the bad thing is that he immediately says “why am I finding myself to attracted to this woman?” and confirms her point. It flows on to a story from two of the other couples, the difference between masculine and feminine – every woman coming out of a coma would ask about the other people; was anyone else hurt? etc. The men without exception would look down to check their cock was still there. It’s told as a humourous anecdote and the conversation about masculine and feminine are compared and contrasted. It’s a very binary conversation, and it’s a very heteronormative one. I find it uncomfortable to watch conversations about breaking up or how people are too different to stay together. Although there is a lovely line at the end of there “It’s not the love of one other person that matters, it’s the love of life.” This is all important backdrop and set up for the second part of the movie where Celine and Jesse go off alone together, wander through some beautiful landscape and talk and talk. But this is also where the movie became very uncomfortable for me. As someone who has been through the breakup of a long term, committed relationship a lot of the conversation was horrifyingly familiar. Maybe not the exact content, but the atmosphere of it, the arguments, the people sticking to one point of view and trying so hard to get the other person to see what they mean. Making jokes at inappropriate times. The shit storm of recriminations and bringing up of old hurts and sudden revelations. It was painful, and that shows how cleverly crafted the script, the characters and the acting all is, because it was tapping into something deeply real. My heart hurt for Celine and Jesse and the investment I feel for them made me want to stop the film so I could write the ending in a happy way inside my head. Does it make me love the people? Oh yes. Always. Linklater really gets my need to have movies that make me love humans. And of course, that love is what makes this movie so incredibly hard to watch. I found the ending problematic mostly because I felt like there was an explicit element of Celine ‘giving in’. The points she had been making were valid – it’s not fair for Jesse to suddenly uproot all of their lives for a shitty situation in Chicago, and his continual assertions that she was crazy, emotional and irrational dismissed her points and made them irrelevant. It’s something that is even addressed in the dialogue, however he never backs down from his assertion of her craziness – he even states it as a thing he adores about her right at the end, winning her back, and she accepts this. At the very end she goes back into the ‘bimbo’ character, so show that she’s coming around to him again, that maybe things will be fine, and that’s very upsetting to me because it’s taking away her personality and allowing it to be subsumed into what he wants. She’s reverting to a character she made to send him up, not to connect to him. More than anything it felt like the movie’s narrative was agreeing with the assertions at the start of the film about the difference between masculine and feminine, that there’s no point trying to change who men are, and what that means (penis first, the world second). It also surrenders Celine’s arguments as just a function of her crazy French girl-ness, which is a problem for me who has always seen her as a complete character, a human being. Bechdel test: Yes it does! Finally we have named female characters who aren’t Celine! Nina and Ella, the daughters talk to her (mostly in French) about apples, the ruins they wanted to visit and what to pick up in the store. Nice and early on too. Plus they also talk in the garden as well. Bliss. Little girls speaking French is just the most beautiful thing, isn’t it? Natalia: Like sunlight, sunset, we appear, we disappear. We are so important to some, but we are just passing through Celine: I feel close to you, Jesse: Yeh? Celine: but sometimes, I don’t know? I feel like you are breathing helium and I am breathing oxygen State of Mind: Ouch. It was pretty, but I don’t know if I’ll watch it again any time soon. Curious to see the next one in 8 years and see what actually happened after that night because despite everything, it is ambiguous to me. Posted in movies \| Tagged empire top 500 movies, ethan hawke, julie delpy, movies, Richard Linklater \| Leave a reply Before Sunset (2004) Posted on August 29, 2014 by Jamie Story by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan, screenplay by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke The start of this movie states that how you interpret the end of the first one shows whether you’re a cynic or a romantic. The first scene is actually incredibly meta and self referential, especially since Jesse’s book is written about the night he spent with Celine. They also set to rest very fast the actual ending – just at first they both claim to have not been there. Celine wanted to but her beloved grandmother died and was buried on that very day and Jesse although he had been there doesn’t want to admit it. Of course, Celine sees straight through him and is at first embarrassed and sorry, laughing at him in a very real reaction. The differences from the first movie are first that it’s in Paris, second that it’s nine years later and third that it’s set during the day time and not over night. It allows for the beauty of Paris to shine through, the beautiful sunny day lighting up the characters, the buildings and the river. The first movie had a time deadline as well, Jesse getting a flight, but this movie’s time deadline is a lot closer, it’s only a couple of hours they have and she’s forever suggesting he get going and he’s forever suggesting that one more thing they could do together until he’s walking up the steps to her apartment and holding Che the cat. Because of the first movie and because of how much crap these two vent at each other, you really want them to be together. You want the ending to be about the two of them finally making a life together. Although the ending is a bit ambiguous as to what will happen from there but they are together and they are smiling, so… it’s a lot happier. Does it make me love the people? The same as with the first one, the two leads are charming and interesting. The beautiful thing is that since they are 10 years older the naivete of the characters in the first movie is gone, they’re more worldly and more educated and that’s really nice to recognise when you watch them back to back. Bechdel test: Again with the no, it’s mostly just Jesse and Celine talking at the other people are mostly not named. Celine talks to her female neighbour but I’m pretty sure it was about Jesse, and of course, the neighbour isn’t named. Celine: No, it’s not even that. I was fine until I read your fucking book, it stirred shit up. It reminded me how romantic I WAS, how I had so much hope in things and now I don’t believe in anything that relates to love. I don’t feel things for people any more. State of Mind: Love! And sunshine and songs! I want to go to Paris! And write! And also sleep because I watched this film back to back after two others and I am movied out. Posted in movies \| Tagged Celine, empire top 500 movies, ethan hawke, Jesse, julie delpy, Kim Krizan, movies, Paris, Richard Linklater \| Leave a reply Before Sunrise (1995) Written by Linklater and Kim Krizan Life from a train and the way it makes you think of new ideas. Linklater is brilliant for human conversation and I think this is one of his first ventures into a film which is just about people shooting the shit. I first saw this movie on video just a couple of years after it came out when I was 17 or 18 and had some girls over for a sleepover. I remember kind of hating it, because I couldn’t understand why anyone would care about two people talking. I think as I got older I started to enjoy it more because I saw the charm of the connection Jesse and Seline have. Also because it’s sort of a time capsule, and also also because I’ve seen so many slow art house movies that I have a lot of patience for the pace of the film. I’ve learned a lot more about how to read into movies and see what the film maker is trying to show us – in this case – it’s pure love of humanity and connections that humans make to each other. Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke are wonderful in this, they totally carry this film and it feels effortless. They’re both charming and interesting. Does it make me love the people? Oh yeah. This movie is like, first love bottled. It’s pure 90s from hr long floral dress over a t shirt to making me remember being a teenager in the 90s and having long talks with people over night. The simple connection you can have to someone just by listening to a song together but missed with this fantasy of exploring a strange foreign city with a beautiful stranger. Jesse is essence of American – being named after a cowboy (as Seline points out), wearing leather and explaining about how he can’t speak another language and her being gorgeous, ethereal French and so very deep. I love the contrast of how they view their own lives – discussed in the quiet of a church. Seline feels she is an old woman, looking back on her life and Jesse feels he s a 13 year old boy who has no idea what he’s doing, like he’s pretending to be an adult. I also love that they talk explicitly about sex and whether they should have it or not. It’s nice to have them being explicit and open about sex. Bechdel test: No, although Seline talks quite extensively to the palm reader, no one in this play is named but for Jesse and Seline. Celine: I hate when a stranger on the street, like a strange man, will tell me to smile. Like to feel better about their boring lives…Each time I wear black, or like, lose my temper, or say anything about anything, you know, they always go, “Oh it’s so French. It’s so cute.” Ugh! I hate that! Jesse: This friend of mine had a kid, and it was a home birth, so he was there helping out and everything. And he said at that profound moment of birth, he was watching this child, experiencing life for the first time, I mean, trying to take its first breath… all he could think about was that he was looking at something that was gonna die someday. He just couldn’t get it out of his head. And I think that’s so true, I mean, all – everything is so finite. But don’t you think that that’s what, makes our time, at specific moments, so important? State of Mind: Ambiguous endings done right. There’s two points open to interpretation: did Jesse and Seline sleep together and of course the more important one: did they both turn up in 6 months to meet each other again? Pessimists say no, optimists/romantics say yes. Of course this question was answered in the next film, but more on that later. I like this kind of ambiguous ending because it doesn’t make you question if what you saw was real or not but instead, what you think will happen next. I like this movie a lot, it’s sweet and lovely and it definitely makes me love humanity. Plus Ethan and Julie’s little smiles as they think about what just happened, separated on different trains are incredibly charming. Film Festival first weekend Richard Linklater’s newest film was filmed over 12 years, tracking mostly the boy from the title but also his older sister, mother and absentee father. It’s a movie about growing, about parents, about life in all it’s dreary normality. And it is so stunning. I don’t like raving about movies because I hate when people build films up for me and I’m disappointed, but I have to emphasise that if anything about the premise or the trailer intrigues you then you should go and see it. Glenn and I went after a very satisfying dinner at Uncle Mikes. It was a long movie, but it didn’t once feel it. It was lovely and beautiful and it made me love humans so much. The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness This documentary is part character examination of Hayao Miyazaki, part diary of his last film The Wind Rises being produced and part immersion into the world of the offices of Studio Ghibli. The pace of the movie was a bit on the slow side, lots of shots of the pretty scenery and loving sequences of the studio’s cat, but getting to see Hayao so up close and personal was a total joy. He’s a hilarious guy, and he was very open with his stories to the camera. I really enjoyed it. I especially loved the bit where the radio calisthenics played over the office and Hayao got up to do them and then complained that it was version 2, which he doesn’t know so well. Trying to work out if I can get this happening in my office… 20,000 days on earth I’ve heard that this movie doesn’t play well if you’re not a Nick Cave fan, and I’d believe that. You sort of have to be invested and thinking he’s cool to start with or he might come off as a self centered tool, but then… most rock stars would. I read somewhere that this was meant to be a doco but Nick Cave ended up helping write a script to show his typical day, the 20,000th day of his life. I loved this film. It was beautifully shot, just stunning on the big Embassy screen and the conversations Nick had – with his Freudian psychologist, with archivists collecting up bits of Nick Cave memorabilia, with his band mates and with himself in voice over were all interesting to me. My most treasured bits of the movie where when he spoke about his creative process. He talked about his song writing as being all stories which take place in another world, a dark violent and strange world where there’s a god like figure taking score of what people do, but he doesn’t actually believe in god in the real world. Those ideas are fascinating to me. The movie also made me fall in love with his latest album Push the Sky Away, which I have since bought, so… there’s that. I’d definitely watch this again, in my head it files in very nicely with the Leonard Cohen doco ‘I’m your man’. Posted in movies \| Tagged film festival, Hayao Miyazaki, movies, music, Nick Cave, Richard Linklater, Studio Ghibli \| Leave a reply	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line832
__label__wiki	0.602256	0.602256	Jewish life alive and well in the South By Rob Friedman \| Apr 26, 2017 \| First Person As a rabbinic student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, my breaks from study are tied to Jewish holidays. This Passover, rather than spend my spring break relaxing and visiting family, I embarked on a 2,300-mile journey through the American South, visiting small communities and leading them in Passover-themed programming as a representative of the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL). Jewish communities exist today all across our country, in both large cities and small towns. Serving congregations across 13 states, the Jackson, Miss.-based ISJL is committed to the belief that every Jewish community, no matter how small, deserves the same access to excellent Jewish programming. For communities large and small, the six departments of the ISJL (community engagement, cultural programming, education, history, museum and rabbinic) serve as a “one-stop shop” for Jewish life in the South, bringing Jewish services and support to communities in need of them. The rabbinic department, consisting of Rabbis Jeremy Simons and Matthew Dreffin, provides rabbinic services to the dozens of congregations throughout the region without full-time rabbis, regardless of their congregational size or financial assets. Providing holiday and life-cycle programming, Simons and Dreffin act as traveling rabbis across the region, spending Shabbats often in these small communities. Now in its seventh year, one of the most successful programs the ISJL rabbinic department is its Passover Pilgrimage, sending the two rabbis on a whirlwind tour of Southern Jewish communities to bring Passover-based programming to as many communities as possible during the week of the holiday. Having served as the rabbinic intern last summer, it was my pleasure to be offered the opportunity to join them on the Pilgrimage, allowing for even more communities to be reached. Over eight days, I visited five communities from Mississippi to Virginia, leading Passover seders, adult education programming and Friday night Shabbat services. In each stop, I had wonderful and unique experiences as I forged connections with the communities and we celebrated the Passover holiday. What follows are highlights of my journey, each stop a snapshot of the vibrancy and joy I found everywhere I turned. Temple B’nai Israel, Natchez, Miss., April 7-8 There is a beauty to small towns. Nestled along a bend of the Mississippi River, Natchez was the first community on my Passover Pilgrimage. As the first permanent Jewish community in Mississippi, Natchez Jews have had a presence in the heart of the downtown for nearly 175 years. However, as with many cities in the South, the Jewish community is aging and shrinking, as younger Jews move to larger cities. But seeing the seder I led, one would have no idea. The 60 people in attendance filled the basement social hall of the synagogue with prayers, songs and conversations, and the home-cooked meal by one of the synagogue members filled the hearts and stomachs of everyone in attendance. One of the special things about this seder was seeing the entire Natchez community come together. Jews, Catholics and Episcopalians sitting together brought new meaning to one of the most well-known lines of the haggadah: “Let all who are hungry come and eat.” B’nai Israel, Hattiesburg, Miss., April 10 Traditionally, during a Passover seder, there are three pieces of matzo on the table. There are several interpretations as to why, but the one that stands out is that the three pieces represent the past, present and future. The middle matzo, the present, is the one that is broken to represent the imperfect world in which we dwell. And as much as that resonates with me, my second stop, in Hattiesburg, drew me much more to the third piece of matzo, symbolizing the future. In many of the small communities where the ISJL rabbinic department works, the communities are shrinking due to the younger generations moving away. However, the opposite was much the case in Hattiesburg. There were nearly 70 people in attendance, of various backgrounds and ages, but nothing made me happier than seeing the 15 children who were there. And rather than seat them with their families or relegate them to the back of the social hall, the community put them up front, at the same table with me, reigniting my hope for the future of communities like Hattiesburg. The Upper Cumberland Jewish Community, Crossville, Tenn., April 12 One of the sad, but unfortunately true, realities of these small communities is that as they age, and as younger people move away, they will lose numbers until they are forced to close. When the ISJL was founded in 1986, it was only a museum, designed to provide a place for closing communities to store and donate their sacred objects and artifacts. Now, with six departments, the ISJL is helping keep small communities afloat by loaning various sacred objects to other communities. I had the pleasure to partake in such a loan in Crossville. Since the 1960s, Crossville has grown into a resort town, with numerous lakes and golf courses attracting residents from across the Midwest, as well as from Florida, New York and California. But due to its transplant nature, the community does not have a permanent building or sacred objects. With that in mind, a family requested a long-term loan from the ISJL of a Torah scroll. However, very few people knew that the Torah was going to be delivered, so we decided to surprise the community by having it be the reward for the afikomen. Seeing the reaction of 80 Jews and non-Jews as we revealed the Torah scroll to them reminded me of the opportunities I take for granted. Blacksburg Jewish Community Center, Blacksburg, Va., April 13 Judaism is a complex experience. For me, in addition to the religious, spiritual and cultural aspects of it, Judaism and Jewish rituals also provide a cerebral and academic experience, allowing us to engage in study on multiple levels. It was for this reason that I was so excited to lead not just Passover seders but also an educational program. Located just blocks from Virginia Tech University, the Jewish community of Blacksburg, I found, is filled with a similar passion for the study of Judaism in both a religious and academic perspective. We are commanded in the haggadah to retell the Passover story, and to do so as if it has happened to us. With that in mind, our discussion focused on bringing the values of the Passover story — freedom, its comparison to enslavement, and the treatment of the other — into the 21st century. To serve as a guide for such a vibrant and lively discussion on how such values can and do appear in our world was inspiring, as it showed that the desire to engage in the study of Judaism and Jewish living exists in every community. Congregation Emanuel, Statesville, N.C., April 14 The ISJL operates as a transdenominational organization, serving communities that identify as Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and unaffiliated. As a student at a Reform seminary, most of my opportunities to lead services occur in a Reform setting. However, the final stop on my Passover Pilgrimage afforded me the opportunity to spend my Shabbat in a Conservative setting, with Congregation Emanuel of Statesville. Housed in one of the few 19th-century synagogues still in existence, the community survives due to the members’ passion and the assistance they receive from various nearby rabbis in addition to the ISJL. As with many small communities, consistent worship is dependent upon lay leadership, as a steady rabbinic presence cannot be taken for granted. When they do receive a visiting rabbi, they are incredibly appreciative, and I loved being able to lead the community in prayer. In addition to enjoying the opportunity to lead in a siddur and tradition different from what I am accustomed, the passion and enthusiasm with which they filled such an historic space was truly uplifting and made my Shabbat truly one of shalom, of peace and wholeness. Rob Friedman is a rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line834
__label__cc	0.509202	0.490798	Warren bill would require disclosure of climate-change exposure By John M. Jascob, J.D., LL.M. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) has introduced legislation that would amend the Exchange Act to require public companies to report their exposure to climate-related risks. Co-sponsored by seven other Democratic senators, the Climate Risk Disclosure Act of 2018 would mandate that the SEC issue rules within one year requiring public companies to report their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and the total amount of fossil-fuel related assets that they own or manage. Public companies would also be required to report their strategies for managing physical and transition-related risks as well as the impact on their valuations from climate change under specified scenarios. "Climate change is a real and present danger - and it will have an enormous effect on the value of company assets. Investors need more information about climate-related risks so they can make the right decisions with their money," said Sen. Warren in a news release. "Our bill will use market forces to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy - reducing the odds of an environmental and financial disaster without spending a dime of taxpayer money." Joining Warren as co-sponsors of the bill are Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore), Kamala Harris (D-Calif), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Stranded assets. The text of the bill notes that many sectors of the U.S. economy are exposed to multiple channels of climate-related risk. These risks include not only the physical damage and economic disruption caused by effects such as flooding, desertification, and drought, but also the transition impacts that result when fossil fuel assets become stranded due to the global move to a clean energy, low-emissions economy. A summary of the legislation quotes a study published in Nature Climate Change which projects that the “stranding” of these assets could involve a discounted global wealth loss of between $1 trillion and $4 trillion, with the U.S. at risk of seeing its fossil fuel industry “nearly shut down.” The bill directs the SEC, in consultation with the heads of the EPA, the Department of Energy, and other federal agencies, to establish climate-related risk disclosure metrics and guidance in issuing its final rules. The metrics and guidance are to be tailored for industries within specific sectors of the economy, including finance, insurance, transportation, electric power, and non-renewable energy. Among other things, the reporting standards must provide for the estimation and disclosure of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by a covered issuer and its affiliates. Issuers must also disclose the total amount of fossil fuel-related assets owned or managed by the issuer and establish a "minimum social cost of carbon" for use in preparing climate-related disclosure statements. A group of 29 environmental and social activist organizations issued a letter in support of the Warren bill, noting that the international financial community has already taken steps to meet global commitments to rapidly transition to a low-carbon economy. For example, the letter references last year’s vote by a majority of ExxonMobil shareholders demanding that the company report on its business plans for a world in which the global temperature increase is kept below 2 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Organizations signing the letter include Greenpeace USA, Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line835
__label__cc	0.529249	0.470751	Senior Education Policy Advisor Based in UK: Location negotiable Education (non-teaching) Pay band 8. Location: Any UK office (London, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast) but very frequent travel to London. Contract type: Indefinite (Permanent). Requirements: Candidates must have the legal right to work in the UK to be considered for the role. Closing date and time: 24th February 2019 at 23:59 UK Time. This role can be based in any UK office but please note very frequent trips to London will be necessary. The Senior Education Policy Advisor is responsible for managing the Education Advisory Group (senior people from the education sector who advise on the British Council’s education activity) and the International Education Advisory Group (a quarterly meeting co-chaired with DfE to share information about government policies with the sector). They will also support the Regional Education Leads Relationship Manager and Head of the Education Policy Unit in facilitating high-level bilateral meetings around events such as Education World Forum, Going Global and inward delegations to the UK. You will have the opportunity to get close to key decision making and to help build the achievement and success of the strategic and operational goals of the function. The main areas of focus for the role, but are not limited to are: Business Management and Delivery - Act as Secretariat for the Education Advisory Group and the International Education Advisory Group and coordinate education briefings for senior bilateral meetings (e.g. for the Chief Executive and Director of Education Policy with international counterparts) Content/thought leadership - Contribute to briefings on current and emerging matters in area of expertise, supporting detailed analysis, research, sector knowledge and content to proposals. Stakeholder Management - Manages and facilitate arrangements for stakeholder engagement events and attend events and engage with Stakeholders. What we require of the successful candidate: Experience of working with senior managers and external stakeholders Knowledge of an Education sector – Higher Education, Schools & Skills, English Language, Science Experienced SAP user and MS SharePoint user Excellent communication skills both written and verbal Planning and Prioritisation skills If you would like to understand more about this post then please see the attached documents: If you are interested in the post and feel that you are suitable for the role, then we would really like to hear from you. Please apply by 24th February 2019 at 23:59 UK Time. The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to UK and the countries we work with changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. We work in over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face to face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Our Equality Commitment: Valuing diversity is essential to the British Council’s work. We aim to abide by and promote equality legislation by following both the letter and the spirit of it to avoid unjustified discrimination, recognising discrimination as a barrier to equality of opportunity, inclusion and human rights. All staff worldwide are required to ensure their behaviour is consistent with our policies.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line839
__label__wiki	0.50258	0.50258	Disney Store: Sales Associate (PT) Apply Now Apply Later Job ID 678391BR Location Gurnee, Illinois, United States Business Disney Store Date posted Jun. 14, 2019 The Disney Store retail chain, which debuted in 1987, is owned and operated by Disney in North America, Europe, and Japan. Disney Store is the retail merchandising arm of Disney Consumer Products, the business segment of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) and its affiliates that extends the Disney brand to merchandise. Disney Store carries high-quality products, including exclusive product lines that support and promote Disney's key entertainment initiatives and characters. Disney Store opened its first store in Glendale, California and, in doing so, originated the themed retail business model. There are currently more than 200 Disney Store locations in North America; more than 40 Disney Store locations in Japan; and more than 100 Disney Store locations in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, plus online stores www.DisneyStore.com, www.disneystore.co.uk, www.disneystore.fr and www.disneystore.de. Each Disney Store location offers a magical shopping experience that can only be delivered by Disney, one of the world's largest and most successful entertainment companies. For more information, please visit www.disneyconsumerproducts.com/press/us/disneystore or follow us at www.facebook.com/DisneyStore and www.twitter.com/DisneyStore. The Cast Member’s primary responsibility is to ensure our Guests have “The Best Retail Experience in the World”. This is done by engaging and providing Guests with an Entertaining and Magical experience. This is a full time, non-exempt role. Performs scripted and non-scripted events for Guests Supports Disney Store Mission, “Creating Magical Moments for Guests of all Ages” Connects with Guests by asking open-ended questions to assess Guest needs and make appropriate suggestions Contributes to a high energy, fast paced environment that provides Guests with an entertaining, fun and dynamic experience Assists Guests in finding solutions that best meet their needs while leveraging all available resources including Disneystore.com Consistently treats all Guests and Cast Members with respect and contributes to a positive work environment Takes a proactive role in maintaining Disney brand standards in Guest engagement, visual and housekeeping Performs cash wrap and mobile POS duties in an efficient and timely manner while maintaining a high level of Guest Service Participates in the processing of shipment, replenishment of the sales floor, and additional operational tasks based on the needs of the business Upholds all company policies as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures, Employee Policy Manual and Code of Business Conduct Promotes and maintains a safe working and shopping environment Engages children at their level allowing them to become part of the story Takes a proactive role in maintaining Disney brand standards in Guest engagement, visual standards and housekeeping Drives Store results by suggesting additional items to Guests to meet their needs Ability to demonstrate strong Guest-focused engagement on and off the sales floor Demonstrated success working as a member of a team Ability to receive feedback and take action when appropriate Must maintain a professional appearance and meet Disney Store grooming guidelines Job may require lifting boxes that weigh up to 45 lbs. and climbing a ladder Available to work a flexible schedule that meets the needs of the business including overnights, evenings, holidays, weekends and call-in shifts (if permitted). Must be available a minimum of two (2) shifts Monday through Friday and have weekend availability that meets the needs of the Store’s business Must be able to submit verification of legal right to work in the United States Previous experience in retail or the service industry Ability to speak fluently in another language in addition to English Comfortable storytelling in front of large groups of people About Disney Store: Disney store, which debuted in 1987, carries high-quality products, including exclusive product lines that support and promote Disney’s key entertainment initiatives and characters from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel. shopDisney.com is the ecommerce destination for guests of all ages, offering a curated selection of the best product from Disney store, Disney Consumer Products licensees, global collections and collaborations, and Disney Parks and Resorts, including trend fashion and accessories, toys, home and collectibles. Disney store and shopDisney offer magical shopping experiences that can only be delivered by Disney, one of the world’s largest and most successful entertainment companies. There are currently more than 240 Disney store locations in North America; more than 40 Disney store locations in Japan; two locations in Shanghai, China including a flagship; and more than 70 Disney store locations in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. This position is with Disney Store USA, LLC, which is part of a business segment we call Disney Store. Disney Store USA, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world. View All of Our Available Opportunities Retail Operations, Gurnee, Illinois, United StatesRemove Disney Store, Gurnee, Illinois, United StatesRemove	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line841
__label__wiki	0.559755	0.559755	Stone Sour Releasing Remastered Version of Debut Album Evil Robb Photography A remastered version of Stone Sour's self-titled debut album is being release on limited edition vinyl for this year's Black Friday Record Store Day. The effort will also include CD of music recorded live at the House of Brick in 2002. The track listing is as follows: 1) Get Inside (Explicit Remastered Version) 2) Orchids (Remastered Version) 3) Cold Reader (Explicit Remastered Version) 4) Blotter (Remastered Version) 5) Choose (Explicit Remastered Version) 6) Monolith (Remastered Version) 1) Inhale (Remastered Version) 2) Bother (Explicit Remastered Version) 3) Blue Study (Explicit Remastered Version) 4) Take A Number (Remastered Version) 5) Idle Hands (Explicit Remastered Version) 6) Tumult (Remastered Version) 7) Omega (Explicit Remastered Version) 1) Intro (Superego) (Live 2002) 2) Get Inside (Explicit Live 2002) 3) Orchids (Live 2002) 4) The Wicked (Live 2002) 5) Idle Hands (Explicit Live 2002) 6) Choose (Explicit Live 2002) 7) Rules Of Evidence (Live 2002) 8) Inhale (Live 2002) 9) Blue Study (Explicit Live 2002) 10) Cold Reader (Explicit Live 2002) 11) Blotter (Live 2002) 12) Monolith (Live 2002) The effort will be limited to 2,500 copies via Roadrunner Records. It'll go on sale Friday, Nov. 23. Check out additional details here. Stone Sour was originally released in 2002. It debuted at No. 46 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and was certified Gold in March of 2003. The song "Get Inside" was also nominated for the Best Metal Performance at the 45th Grammy Awards. Top 50 Hard Rock + Metal Frontwomen of All Time Source: Stone Sour Releasing Remastered Version of Debut Album Filed Under: stone sour	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line842
__label__wiki	0.903216	0.903216	Panel Examines Global Food Security Ahead Of La Francophonie Summit; Global Fund, UNAIDS Call For Greater Cooperation Among French-Speaking Countries World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy highlighted concerns about the global food situation on Friday during a roundtable discussion on the sidelines of the International Organisation of La Francophonie summit, Agence France-Presse reports. "Today's situation is not good and it may get worse in the coming years because of population growth, dwindling available (farm) land and a change in food habits," Lamy said. "Food security is a moral and political must," he added (10/23). Panel participants also included Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe and Djibo Bagna, president of the West African farmer and food producers group ROPPA, swissinfo reports. Panel participants "offered reasons why people around the world are still malnourished." "Brabeck said neither climate change nor commodity speculation were responsible but over population. Lamy said agricultural investment, eradicating poverty and waste, and bolstering international trade are key to solving the problem," according to the news service (10/22). Brabeck-Letmathe also "warned of increasing purchases of arable land in Africa by countries like China and South Korea," AFP writes. "Is this positive for African farmers? I doubt it," said Brabeck-Letmathe. "This is a big challenge which should be resolved quickly, or it will be too late," he added (10/23). Blaise Compaore, the president of Burkina Faso, said climate change played a role but noted that technology and better trade could encourage producers to be more efficient, swissinfo reports. "You need to be able to sell to be able to produce," he said (10/22). Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said it was a "scandal" that "1.5 billion people (...) are suffering from hunger." She added, "But this is not a question of fate (...) for as long as there is a political will, priorities and the general conditions for trade in basic foodstuffs can be set," according to AFP (10/23). Also ahead of the meeting, the "Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and UNAIDS on Friday called on French-speaking countries to do more to fight the diseases," a second AFP article reports. Better cooperation between the International Organisation of La Francophonie's 70 members would result in more "competence and experience," according to a joint statement from the Global Fund and UNAIDS. "The Francophonie is a key forum which groups donor countries of the Global Fund and countries that receive funds," said Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund. "It is an essential bridge between North and South," he said. "Global Fund and UNAIDS experts agree that least developed French-speaking countries are not underfunded compared to their English-speaking counterparts," AFP notes. "These countries have 13 percent of HIV cases in the world and receive 20 percent of the Fund's AIDS aid," said Stefan Emblad, head of the Resource Mobilization Unit at the Global Fund. A lack of skills associated with projects in Francophone countries was a bigger problem than a lack of funding, Emblad said (10/23).	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line843
__label__wiki	0.926028	0.926028	DIVINER – New album “Realms of time” announced The Greek heavy/power metal band DIVINER will release their new album “Realms of Time” on June 7th via Ulterium Records. The album will be available on CD, LP and digital. The band’s debut album “Fallen Empires” was released in November 2015 and received very good reviews and feedback from around the world. After the release of the album the band played many shows and big festivals in Greece and also in Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland, and became known for being a great and energetic live band gaining a strong following. Diviner entered Devasoundz Studios in Athens last year to record their new album “Realms of Time“. The final result show improvements on every level since the band’s debut album and the album won’t leave fans of heavy and power metal disappointed. The album is heavy, melodic and epic and it’s full of energy, power and emotion. Follow Diviner into the Realms of Time! “Realms of Time” was produced and mixed by Fotis Benardo (ex. Septic Flesh), mastered by Henrik Udd (Powerwolf, Hammerfall, Myrath) and the artwork was created by Jan Yrlund (Battle Beast, Apocalyptica, Korpiklaani). 01. Against The Grain 02. Heaven Falls 03. Set Me Free 04. The Earth, The Moon, The Sun 05. Cast Down In Fire 06. Beyond The Border 07. King Of Masquerade 08. Time 09. The Voice From Within 10. Stargate Diviner is: Yiannis Papanikolaou – Vocals George Maroulees – Guitar Kostas Fitos – Guitar Herc Booze – Bass Fragiskos Samoilis – Drums Diviner online Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divinermetalband DIVINERShare0 DIVINER – “Beyond the Border” lyric video released DIVINER – “The Earth, The Moon, The Sun” lyric video released NorthWar 05/04/2019 8:43 05/04/2019 8:43 DIVINER – “Heaven Falls” music video released Nailed To Obscurity Interview	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line846
__label__wiki	0.538187	0.538187	kzo@kzpg.kz BRENT 64.29 18.07.2019 17:00 AST Exploration, development of oil and gas fields. Production with sales of commercial oil. Constitution of KAZPETROL GROUP e-magazine «Мұнайшы» Oil and Gas News Kazakhstan Content Development of staff Practice for students in KAZPETROL GROUP Procurement GSW Procurement Plan Your business offers Archive of purchases Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan On subsurface and subsurface use, Article 1 Local content in conducted work (provided service) is – an aggregated total portion of the cost of the local content in used goods when performing the work, in the price of an agreement and (or) in payment for the service provided by employees who are citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and who are listed in the labour compensation fund of the providers of work (services) under the contract for work execution or service providing, after the deduction of cost of goods used in the performance of work and prices of subcontracts (paragraph 34); Kazakhstani producer of work, services are – the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan and (or) legal entities iestablished in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, located within the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and which has a staff represented with not less than ninety-five percent of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan. (paragraph 36); Local content in personnel is – the number of Kazakhstani personnel in percentage out of total number of personal engaged in the performance of a contract, with a breakdown by each category of workers and employees (paragraph 37); Goods of Kazakhstan origin are – goods which have certificates of origin issued for internal circulation and confirming its origin in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan (paragraph 58); Kazakhstan producer of goods – means the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan and (or) legal entities of the Republic of Kazakhstan are producing goods of Kazakhstan origin. In accordance with the Decree of the Minister for investment and development of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated from January 30, 2015 № 96 on approval of the rules for the purchase of goods, works and services for subsoil use operations through public information system "register of goods, works and services used in operations for subsoil use, and their producers". In case when customer initiates a procurement contract with the Kazakh producer of goods, it is allowed to require a certified copy of the certificate of origin of goods for the domestic use, as well as confirmation of the origin to be the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the provisions of the contract, which is in accordance with the relevant nomenclature of the ongoing purchase, with the condition that the volume of the goods specified in the certificate, cannot be less than the amount of goods delivered under the contract (paragraph 158); In case when customer signs a procurement contract with the Kazakh producer of works or services, the contract provisions should specify the requirement for a statement of the supplier delivered GWS in the form and within the period specified by the customer. Electronic information bulletin KAZENERGY association №6, june-july, 2019 Assistance to big families “Businesses cannot be successful when the society around them fails” Responsible Business Summit, May 2013, London © LLP «KAZPETROL GROUP» 2018 Site development SITER.KZ E-mail: kzo@kzpg.kz Republic of Kazakhstan, 120014, Kyzylorda city, Zheltoksan st, 42	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line847
__label__wiki	0.953278	0.953278	Guns N’ Roses Back on Rock Chart for First Time in Nearly 10 Years For the first time in almost a decade, Guns N' Roses have a song on the charts. "Shadow of Your Love," a b-side from the Appetite for Destruction era that's being used to promote their upcoming box sets of the album, has debuted at No. 31 at Mainstream Rock. According to Billboard, it racked up 1.1 million audience impressions in its first three days of airplay in all formats. "Shadow of Your Love marks the 22nd time Guns N' Roses has charted at Mainstream Rock, with the last time being Chinese Democracy's "Better," which peaked at No. 18 in January 2009. It's also the first chart appearance for the band's original lineup since "Patience," which peaked at No. 7, one of eight Top 10s they've had, in March 1989. Arriving June 29, the new versions of Appetite for Destruction will be available in three editions: a Deluxe Edition that contains a remastered version of the original with a second disc of b-sides, demos and outtakes; a Super Deluxe Edition that adds two CDs worth of demos, a Blu-ray, a 96-page hardbound book, posters and memorabilia; and a limited-edition "Locked N' Loaded" box that includes vinyl and digital formats, as well as more artwork and memorabilia. The news surrounding these collections has also seen a resurgence of interest in the original groundbreaking album. It's jumped five places to No. 39 on the Catalog Albums chart and eight places to No. 146 on the 200 Albums chart. Written by Axl Rose and his childhood friend Paul Tobias, "Shadow of Your Love" had previously been released as a b-side twice, first on the 12" single of Appetite's lead single, "It's So Easy," and then a few years later on their hit cover of Wings' "Live and Let Die." Drummer Steven Adler remembered it as the first song they rehearsed together. “It was magic from the first day,” he said. “The first song we played in rehearsal was ‘Shadow of Your Love,’ and Axl showed up late. We were playing the song, and right in the middle of the song Axl showed up and he grabbed the microphone and was running up and down the walls screaming. I thought, ‘This is the greatest thing ever.’ We knew right then what we had.” Guns N' Roses are bringing their "Not in This Lifetime..." tour back to Europe this summer. They'll begin at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on June 3 and close on July 24 at the Laugardalsvollur in Reykjavik, Iceland. Next: 13 Songs Left Off 'Appetite for Destruction' Source: Guns N’ Roses Back on Rock Chart for First Time in Nearly 10 Years Filed Under: Appetite for Destruction, guns n roses Categories: National & Global News	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line853
__label__cc	0.597814	0.402186	2 oz Vodka 1 oz Kahlua 1 oz Half and Half Shake and strain over ice into an Old Fashioned glass. Category Liquor / Liqueur Tags Digestif, Sweet/ish Most of the time, you'll see a White Russian blended so that all the ingredients are incorporated together. It tastes like a coffee accented thin milkshake with the vodka leaning out the richness of the cream and sweetness of the Kahlua. You can also prepare a White Russian by stirring the vodka and Kahlua briefly on the rocks and then floating the cream on top. The ingredients have a chance to stand out individually and interplay. Unlike the Black Russian, whose origin is fairly well documented, the origin of the White Russian is unclear. In history, the term White Russian most often refers to the anti-communist forces that fought the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution and succeeding cival war from 1917 to the early 1920s. But it is more probably that the name just refers to the addition of cream to the recipe. We start to see the White Russian splitting off from its cousin in the 1950s, and appearing in bar books under its present name a few years after that. Nuts and Berries Related Drinks	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line858
__label__wiki	0.58517	0.58517	Meaning of "New Delhi district" the capital of India, a city in north central India built 1912–29 to replace Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the capital of British India. With Delhi, it is part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Pop. (with Delhi) 12,259,200 (est. 2009). The capital of India, in the northern central part of the country south of Delhi. It was built between 1912 and 1929 to replace Calcutta as the capital of British India and was officially opened in 1931. New Delhi is also a center of commerce and transportation. (Name of the label) See Delhi New` Del′hi (ˈdɛl i) New` Del'hi (dɛl i) n n. the capital of India, in the N part, adjacent to Delhi. 271,990. Compare Delhi (def 2). List of words that start with : "New Delhi district" List of words that end in : "New Delhi district" List of words that contain : "New Delhi district"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line860
__label__wiki	0.698851	0.698851	Justia › US Law › Case Law › California Case Law › Cal. App. 2d › Volume 233 › Eason v. City of Riverside Receive free daily summaries of new opinions from the California Court of Appeal. Eason v. City of Riverside [Civ. No. 434. Fifth Dist. Mar. 23, 1965.] DOUGLAS EASON, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CITY OF RIVERSIDE, Defendant and Respondent. Richman, Garrett & Ansell and Lionel Richman for Plaintiff and Appellant. [233 Cal. App. 2d 192] Leland J. Thompson, City Attorney, and John Woodhead, Assistant City Attorney, for Defendant and Respondent. STONE, J. Appellant, a police officer employed by respondent City of Riverside, was injured while acting within the course and scope of his employment on June 30, 1961. He filed a claim with the Industrial Accident Commission, which found that his industrial injury caused temporary total disability beginning August 17, 1961, through October 30, 1961, again beginning November 27, 1962, through December 3, 1962; again December 26, 1962; again beginning January 3, 1963, through January 7, 1963; again beginning January 9, 1963, through January 13, 1963; again beginning January 15, 1963, through June 25, 1963, and continuing thereafter. Effective March 31, 1963, appellant was retired on permanent disability pension at the request of the chief of police. Appellant received his full salary from the date of injury until April 4, 1963. Part of that time he was employed at a desk job, but he was never able to resume his duties as a patrolman. When not working he was on leave of absence because of temporary disability resulting from the accident. The full salary paid him during his several leaves of absence covered a total of 32-2/7 weeks, spread over nearly two calendar years. Appellant was a member of the State Employees' Retirement System and as such he claims leave of absence salary for an additional 19-5/7 weeks, or a total of one year. Labor Code section 4850 provides that an employee who is injured in the course of his duty and suffers temporary disability, if a member of the State Employees' Retirement System, is entitled to: "... leave of absence while so disabled without loss of salary, in lieu of temporary disability payments, if any, which would be payable under this chapter, for the period of such disability but not exceeding one year, or until such earlier date as he is retired on permanent disability pension." Two questions arise: first, the meaning of the language "not exceeding one year" and, second, the relation of this language to that which immediately follows, "or until such earlier date as he is retired on permanent disability pension." As to the first question, appellant contends that "not exceeding one year" means a cumulative total of 52 weeks so that the temporary disability resulting in leave of absence need not be continuous. Respondent asserts that "one year" means one calendar year from the date of injury. [233 Cal. App. 2d 193] Labor Code section 3202 directs the courts to liberally construe the sections of the Labor Code "with the purpose of extending their benefits for the protection of persons injured in the course of their employment." A number of cases note and reiterate this basic rule of construction. [1] Only the one salary is payable, as Labor Code section 4854 provides: "No disability indemnity shall be paid to any such officer or employee concurrently with wages or salary payments." Therefore any payments of salary between intervals of leaves of absence must be considered salary and not payments for temporary disability. [2] Quite aside from section 3202 and the cases, fair play and logic impel the conclusion that an injured employee who works between intervals of disability should not be penalized by having such periods of employment charged against his right to compensation resulting from temporary disability. [3] Conversely, the employer who is receiving the services of the employee should not be allowed to credit earned salary against the employee's right to a total of one year's leave of absence with pay, arising from his injury. [4] Public policy favors an injured employee's return to work, and he should be given every encouragement to do so. To hold that salary earned during attempts to return to work count against his leave of absence is to penalize him for trying to return to work, and contrary to the spirit of the Labor Code. [5] Respondent argues that if the language "not exceeding one year" in section 4850 is held to mean 52 cumulative weeks it would leave open indefinitely the employee's right to claim leave of absence in lieu of temporary disability payments. The Legislature, apparently in contemplation of a situation of this sort, has provided, in Labor Code section 4656, that: "Aggregate disability payments for a single injury causing temporary disability shall not extend for more than 240 compensable weeks within a period of five years from the date of the injury." [6a] We turn now to the wording "or until such earlier date as he is retired on permanent disability pension" which follows the words "not exceeding one year." They are joined by the conjunction "or," which Webster defines as "a coordinating particle that marks an alternative." Standing alone the phrase "until such earlier date as he is retired on permanent disability pension" is an incomplete statement, but [233 Cal. App. 2d 194] as an alternative joined to the preceding clause by the conjunction "or" it becomes a complete thought. As noted above, we are mindful of the admonition to liberally construe the provisions of the Labor Code for the protection of persons injured in the course of their employment. Yet to hold the word "or" joins independent provisions of section 4850, and not alternative provisions, goes beyond a liberal construction; it would pervert the plain language of the statute. We conclude that when appellant was retired at an "earlier date" his right to leave of absence with full pay terminated. Appellant contends that to construe section 4850 in the alternative would enable an employer to force an employee to retire on permanent disability pension and cut off the employee's leave of absence with full salary before his temporary disability reached a total of 52 weeks. The record before us raises no question whether appellant's retirement on permanent disability pension was "forced," that is, whether it was against his wishes or contrary to law. [7] Since a procedure is provided for determining whether an injured employee comes within the status of "temporary disability" or "permanent disability," the question must be raised as an issue in the case; we cannot treat it as an abstract proposition. We adhere to our interpretation of the statute in the alternative, since the propriety of appellant's retirement on permanent disability pension was not raised in the court below. Appellant, with justification, takes exception to the findings. Number one, that "The City of Riverside has complied with the provisions of Section 4850 of the Labor Code of the State of California," is palpably a conclusion of law. It does not find that appellant suffered an injury, or when, whether he ever was on leave of absence with full pay, or how long and, particularly, whether he was retired, and when. In short, no findings essential to the conclusion that the City of Riverside has complied with the provisions of Labor Code section 4850 were made. Findings 3 and 4 read as follows: "3. Prior to petitioner's filing of his petition for a Writ of Mandate the Industrial Accident Commission of the State of California had assumed jurisdiction of petitioner's claims for Workmen's Compensation and disability retirement payments through petitioner's filing of that action called 'Eason v. City of Riverside and State Compensation Insurance Fund Case No. 62SRB10595.' [233 Cal. App. 2d 195] "4. The Industrial Accident Commission of the State of California in the aforementioned action has made no findings or order to effect that petitioner is entitled to additional payments from the City of Riverside under Labor Code Section 4850." These two findings are predicated upon a misconception of the jurisdiction of the Industrial Accident Commission as to matters coming within the purview of section 4850. Labor Code section 4851 provides that: "The governing body of any city, county or city and county, in addition to anyone else properly entitled, including the State Employees' Retirement System, may request the Industrial Accident Commission to determine in any case, and the commission shall determine, whether or not the disability referred to in Section 4850 arose out of and in the course of duty. The commission shall, also, in any disputed case, determine when such disability exists." (Italics added.) [8] Thus, if a dispute arises as to an employee's rights under Labor Code section 4850, the authority of the Industrial Accident Commission is limited to determining whether the disability arose out of and in the course of duty, and when such disability exists. It follows that since the authority of the commission is limited in this respect by Labor Code section 4851, the commission cannot determine the amount or amounts due a member of the State Employees' Retirement System under Labor Code section 4850; that determination is for the court. [9] On the other hand, a superior court, in a proceeding to determine an injured employee's right under Labor Code section 4850, is bound by the findings of the Industrial Accident Commission made pursuant to Labor Code section 4851. The Supreme Court made this clear in Loustalot v. Superior Court, 30 Cal. 2d 905, wherein it is said, at page 912 [186 P.2d 673]: "Likewise, an order of the Industrial Accident Commission, even though erroneous, may not be reviewed or annulled by the superior court and must stand as a proper and legal order until reversed by this court or a District Court of Appeal. The only relief afforded the aggrieved party is a writ by this court or a District Court of Appeal." [6b] We conclude that under Labor Code section 4850 appellant's right to additional leave of absence with full salary terminated upon his retirement. The findings, however, are wholly inadequate to support the judgment. Since this case rests upon documentary evidence and an interpretation [233 Cal. App. 2d 196] of the Labor Code, we see no purpose in sending it back for retrial. For lack of proper findings, the cause is remanded to the superior court with instructions to enter findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment in accordance with the views herein expressed. Each party to bear own costs on appeal. Conley, P. J., and Brown (R. M.), J., concurred. of California Court of Appeal opinions.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line861
__label__wiki	0.535786	0.535786	Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Fourth Circuit › 1996 › Notice: Fourth Circuit Local Rule 36(c) States That Citation of Unpublished Dispositions is Disfavor... Receive free daily summaries of new opinions from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Notice: Fourth Circuit Local Rule 36(c) States That Citation of Unpublished Dispositions is Disfavored Except for Establishing Res Judicata, Estoppel, or the Law of the Case and Requires Service of Copies of Cited Unpublished Dispositions of the Fourth Circuit.united States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Fred Griffith, Defendant-appellant, 86 F.3d 1153 (4th Cir. 1996) US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - 86 F.3d 1153 (4th Cir. 1996) Submitted: November 21, 1995. Decided: May 24, 1996 Benjamin T. Stepp, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellant. J. Preston Strom, Jr., United States Attorney, Harold W. Gowdy, III, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellee. Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judge, and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge. PER CURIAM: Appellant Fred Griffith appeals his conviction under 18 U.S.C.A. § 924(c) (West Supp.1995) for using a firearm during the commission of a drug trafficking crime. Griffith pled guilty to the offense, and now appeals the district court's denial of his motion to withdraw the guilty plea. Finding no error, we affirm. Griffith was charged in a two-count indictment for the firearm offense and for possession of marijuana under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (1) (1988). The indictment arose from the work of government informant Gary McSwain, who recorded a conversation he had with Griffith concerning a drug transaction. As a result of the recording, police officers searched Griffith's residence, finding more than eighteen kilograms of marijuana and a .45 caliber Ruger pistol. Griffith and the government selected a jury and prepared for trial. On the morning of trial, though, Griffith entered guilty pleas on both counts. The court conducted an appropriate inquiry pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 11, and accepted the pleas. Three months later, at his sentencing hearing, Griffith moved to withdraw the guilty plea for the firearms offense. Griffith claimed government informant McSwain coerced Griffith to plead guilty by intimidating him the night before trial with threats of harming Griffith and Griffith's girlfriend. The district court denied Griffith's motion. We review a district court's refusal to allow a defendant to withdraw a guilty plea for abuse of discretion. United States v. Puckett, 61 F.3d 1092, 1099 (4th Cir. 1995). A defendant does not have an absolute right to withdraw a guilty plea. United States v. Ewing, 957 F.2d 115, 119 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1210 (1992). Rather, the defendant must present a "fair and just reason" for the withdrawal. Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(e). A "fair and just reason" is one that "essentially challenges ... the fairness of the Rule 11 proceeding." United States v. Lambey, 974 F.2d 1389, 1394 (4th Cir. 1992) (in banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 63 U.S.L.W. 3460 (U.S. Dec. 12, 1994) (No. 94-6055). However, an appropriately conducted Rule 11 proceeding raises a strong presumption that the guilty plea is final and binding. Id. The court will consider several factors in determining whether to withdraw a guilty plea: (1) whether there was a delay between the entry of the plea and the filing of the motion; (2) whether the defendant was assisted by competent counsel; (3) whether the defendant credibly asserted his legal innocence; (4) whether the defendant offered credible evidence that his plea was not knowing or voluntary; (5) whether the withdrawal will prejudice the government; and (6) whether the withdrawal will inconvenience the court and waste judicial resources. United States v. Moore, 931 F.2d 245, 248 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 857 (1991). The defendant carries the burden of establishing a fair and just reason for withdrawal, even if the government has not shown prejudice. Lambey, 974 F.2d at 1393. Consideration of these factors weighs against Griffith. First, three months lapsed between the time he entered his plea and the time he made the motion. See United States v. Craig, 985 F.2d 175, 178 (4th Cir. 1993); Moore, 931 F.2d at 248. Second, Griffith did not assert that he had incompetent counsel; in fact, he told that court that the attorney was "very competent." Third, Griffith never credibly asserted his legal innocence. Rather, through his attorney, he simply stated that he wanted to challenge the firearms count of the indictment, and made no declaration of actual innocence. Fourth, Griffith failed to offer credible evidence that his plea was not knowing and voluntary. The district court fully complied with the requirements of Rule 11 and specifically asked Griffith whether he had been coerced or threatened into pleading guilty. Griffith answered that he had not. As this court stated in Lambey, an "appropriately conducted Rule 11 proceeding ... raise [s] a strong presumption that the plea is final and binding." 974 F.2d at 1394. After consideration of these factors, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Griffith's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Accordingly, we affirm his conviction. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. of Fourth Circuit opinions.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line862
__label__cc	0.706243	0.293757	You searched for Nursing Home Abuse. Did you mean Nursing Home Abuse in Medical Malpractice? Trusts, Wills, Health Care, Elder Law Oak Creek, Franklin, Racine, New Berlin, Milwaukee Top Caledonia Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers - Wisconsin Nearby Cities: Oak Creek, Franklin, Racine, New Berlin, Milwaukee Related Practice Areas: Trusts, Wills, Health Care, Elder Law Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Wisconsin) A premiere and award-winning firm that serves the entire State of Wisconsin. Call today for a free consult. Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. is a Milwaukee personal injury law office with over 75 years of history. Founded with the goal of providing a voice to victims in the Milwaukee area, the firm now protects people from all across the state of Wisconsin from 13 separate office locations. If you or someone you love suffered injuries because of another party's negligent act, you can depend on the... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Racine) The attorneys at the personal injury law firm of Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. serve the residents of the state of Wisconsin by providing high-quality legal services to those in need. From our offices in the southeastern part of the state, such as the one in Racine, to our offices in North Central Wisconsin, we offer legal representation to those who are victims of other people's negligent... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Milwaukee) McCormick Law Office McCormick Law Office represents clients throughout Milwaukee, and Wisconsin who have suffered serious injuries due to auto accidents and work injuries. You may rest assured that our firm will work diligently to obtain the compensation so you can move beyond this difficult period in your life. Serving Milwaukee and Wisconsin Since 1982 Led by Attorney Dan McCormick , our law office prepares each... Habush Habush & Rottier, S.C. Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Kenosha) At Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., we can trace our history as a Wisconsin personal injury law firm back over 75 years. By virtue of our long history, we offer a record of success that few other firms can equal. In addition to our proven record of accomplishment, we can also offer something that few other firms can — accessibility. Our firm has 13 office locations stretching from Kenosha in... Hippenmeyer, Reilly, Blum, Schmitzer, Fabian & English, S.C. Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Waukesha) Having served our community for more than 100 years, the law firm of Hippenmeyer, Reilly Blum, Schmitzer, Fabian & English, S.C. ("HRB") in Waukesha, Wisconsin, has become the trusted source for high-quality counsel to individuals, families and businesses throughout Waukesha and Milwaukee counties and the surrounding areas. Continuing our tradition of excellence into the 21st Century... Schott, Bublitz & Engel s.c. Schott, Bublitz & Engel s.c. has been assisting clients with their legal matters in Waukesha, Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin for more than 23 years. Our legal team has handled cases involving personal injury cases, civil litigation, family law, school law, workers’ compensation and more. Whether we are protecting individuals or businesses, our sole focus is on our clients... The founders of Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. established our personal injury law firm over 75 years ago with the goal of providing high-quality legal services to the people of Wisconsin. Today, our attorneys continue to strive toward that original goal by serving clients from across the state who seek help at one of our 13 office locations, including our office in Waukesha. A Waukesha resident... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Lake Geneva) Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. has been representing victims of negligence in Wisconsin for over 75 years. In the years since our law firm's founding, we have expanded our practice while retaining the quality for which we are so well-known. From our satellite locations, such as our Lake Geneva office, to our headquarters, we pride ourselves on providing high-quality personal injury services to... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (West Bend) At Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., the legal community not only recognizes us as one of Wisconsin's oldest personal injury law firms, thanks to our long history, but also as one of its most respected, thanks to our attorneys and professional staff. We have more attorneys listed among the Best Lawyers in America* and a greater number of board-certified trial attorneys than any other law firm in... Lawton & Cates, S.C. Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Jefferson) Lawton & Cates, S.C. - Jefferson, Wisconsin Serving clients in Jefferson and throughout Wisconsin , we at Lawton & Cates, S.C., are attorneys dedicated to the values first laid down by our firm's founders, John A. Lawton and Richard L. Cates. Promoting our clients' interests in myriad legal practices, we provide services that emphasize the human dignity of all our clients. While promoting... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Sheboygan) Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. is one of the most highly respected personal injury law firms in the state of Wisconsin. Part of the secret to our success is our ability to provide easily accessible legal services to clients from all over the state, including those in the Sheboygan area. If you are a victim of negligence and you live in Sheboygan, you can turn to our law firm for representation... Steimle Birschbach, LLC Providing practical, cost-effective solutions to the businesses and residents of eastern Wisconsin since 2009, the Steimle Birschbach law firm in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is here to help you protect yourself, your loved ones and your company for the future. As a small boutique law firm, we offer the same high-caliber legal counsel and representation found at larger practices, but our small size means... Averbeck, Hammer, & Slavin, S.C. Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Fond Du Lac) As personal injury attorneys representing the people of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, we are passionate about the rights of the injured and committed to serving them. At the law firm of Averbeck, Hammer, & Slavin, S.C., we have over three decades of experience handling legal cases involving injuries caused by auto collisions, drunk drivers, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents, bicycle... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Madison) Lawton & Cates, S.C. - Madison, Wisconsin As a firm founded on principles of integrity and excellence, we at Lawton & Cates, S.C., are lawyers committed to championing values that promote our clients' interests in a variety of practice areas. Serving the people of Madison and throughout Wisconsin, we provide legal services that emphasize the human dignity of all our clients. Our firm's... The personal injury law firm of Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. has been serving the residents of Wisconsin since its founding over 75 years ago. Today, we continue to serve victims of negligence in Madison with the same pride and dedication that motivated our firm's beginnings. The attorneys at Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. represent victims of a wide variety of accidents, crimes and abuse.... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Appleton) Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. is one of the largest and oldest personal injury law firms in the state of Wisconsin. Founded over 75 years ago to provide representation to victims of negligence in the southeastern part of the state, our firm now has 13 office locations, including our law office in Appleton from which we proudly serve all of the residents of Fox Valley. If you suffered a personal... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Green Bay) In the years since we opened our Green Bay law office, the people of the community have learned that they can turn to Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. for personal injury representation that they can depend on. Not only do we have a long record of success helping victims of negligence in the Green Bay area with their legal needs, but we also have the largest number of board-certified trial... Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Serving Caledonia, WI (Stevens Point) Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. expanded from our original office location in southeastern Wisconsin to having 13 offices located all over the state, including our law office in Stevens Point. Today, over 75 years since our founding, we are proud of the growth that has made it possible to deliver high-quality personal injury representation to victims of negligence regardless of where they reside... Need help with a Nursing Home Abuse matter? You've come to the right place. If you are a resident of a nursing home or other long-term care facility and have suffered physical or psychological harm because of your caregiver's negligent or intentional acts, a nursing home abuse lawyer can help. Use FindLaw to hire a local nursing home abuse lawyer near you if you are the victim of nursing home abuse or nursing home neglect. Need an attorney in Caledonia, Wisconsin? Use the contact form on the profiles to connect with a Caledonia, Wisconsin attorney for legal advice.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line863
__label__wiki	0.69161	0.69161	Fred Kruger (Germany, Australia 18 Apr 1831 – 15 Feb 1888) Fred Kruger was a professional photographer based in Geelong. Born in Berlin, he had arrived in Australia by 1863, where he joined his brother Bernard as a partner in a Melbourne-based furniture business. In 1866 Kruger opened a photographic studio and in the same year photographed the Aboriginal Australian cricket team, which toured England in 1868. Kruger became known as a skilful landscape photographer and his views of the Melbourne area were exhibited to international acclaim in Vienna in 1872 and Philadelphia in 1876. In 1877 he was commissioned by the Victorian Board for the Protection of Aborigines to photograph the Coranderrk Aboriginal Mission Station. The photographs, including a famous image of a cricket match, were compiled into an album and published in 1883. Through the 1870s and 80s Kruger continued to take view photographs, including a three metre panorama of Geelong and numerous images of estates commissioned by local property owners. Conscious of the need to attract business from a local clientele, he often photographed disasters in the Geelong area such as the flooding of the Barwon River and the ship wrecks of the 'George Roper' and the 'Glanseuse' at Point Lonsdale in 1883 and 1886 respectively. albumen photograph 13.1 x 8.9 cm image/sheet Gift of Josef & Jeanne Lebovic, Sydney 2014	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line865
__label__cc	0.724532	0.275468	Keith G. Henry, SIOR A native New Orleanian, Keith received a bachelor degree from Louisiana State University after pursing studies in business administration at the Baton Rouge campus. While attending college, he worked summers for an established industrial developer located in Elmwood Industrial Park. That experience caused him to eventually seek a career in industrial brokerage. After getting a start as department researcher for CB Commercial, he joined the Elmwood based industrial firm of Max J. Derbes, Inc. in 1987. Keith has over twenty years of specialized experience in commercial and industrial leasing, acquisition, marketing, design, development, consulting and management of income producing property. He has a keen understanding of the area user market with which he has been aligned through much of its growth and maturation. Keith has confected over 1,200 transactions involving tens of millions of square feet that total in excess of 125 million in dollar value. He has represented the interests of a host of companies and individuals who have benefitted from his depth of knowledge which has been responsible for the placement of clients throughout Southeast Louisiana, including those listed below. Particular areas of expertise include publicly traded commodities warehousing of green coffee beans and non-ferrous metals, both of which require specialized facilities; the redevelopment of existing industrial facilities through adaptive change of use; and the marketing and disposition of special purpose property having narrow scope application. Other services provided are lease divestiture, highest & best use analysis through which greatest value is determined, summary appraisals for estate planning and tax abatement review to ensure appropriate assessment. Keith also conducts commercial assemblages for a preferred developer of Walgreens, and has been involved with the efforts of a developer for Sav-A-Center and Lowes. He has performed strategic site selections on behalf of other national and regional concerns such as PF Changs, Krispy Kreme, Krystal, Extended Stay America, Safeguard Storage, Piccadilly Cafeteria, Exxon, Shell and Hancock Bank. Recent projects consist of marine related use property including river batture, petro-chemical plant site analysis and surplus land liquidation. Keith is an active member of various professional and social organizations. He has served on committees and panels, and has helped create and perfect many of the firm contracts that are widely used by the company’s seven member brokerage team. The Derbes brokerage team is responsible for a majority portion of the industrial brokerage completed each year in the New Orleans metropolitan area market. keith@maxderbes.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line871
__label__cc	0.674297	0.325703	St Andrew Double Murder Jamaica Crime News: St Andrew Double Murder – One man and a woman were shot and killed, and another man shot and injured during a drive-by shooting which occurred along a section of Duhaney Park, in St Andrew on Friday, February 8. Those killed have been identified as 34-year-old, Craig Murray, a mason of Duhaney Park and Pauline Burke-Frazer otherwise called ” Judith ” a vendor of Burroughs Avenue in Kingston 20. The identity of the injured man has not been released. Reports by the Duhaney Park police are that about 9:20 p.m., Murray along with Burke-Frazer and the other man were standing along a section of the Duhaney Park main road when a group of men travelling on board a motor car opened fire on them. All three victims received gunshot wounds to their upper bodies and were rushed to hospital by residents, where Murray and the female were pronounced dead, and the other man admitted. The gunmen managed to escape in the motor car. St James Male and Female Charged with Lottery Scamming Latest Jamaica News, St James: A St James man and a woman were arrested and charged for their alleged involvements in the Lottery Scamming, on Tuesday evening, July 16. Facing charges of Possession of Identity Information are 28-year-old Lincoln McKay, unemployed of Copper in Montpellier, St James and 30-year-old Roxanne Harvey, unemployed of Catherine Hall, […] Motorcyclist Killed in Manchester Latest Jamaica News, Manchester: A motorcycle rider died from injuries he sustained in an accident which occurred along a section of the Smithfield main road in Manchester, on Tuesday, July 16. Dead is 25-year-old Oshane Greenwood, labourer of Woodland district, also in Manchester. Reports by the Cross Keys police are that about 9:45 a.m. on […] Montego Bay Resident Shot Up By Gunmen While Attending Party Latest Jamaica News, Montego Bay: A man is now battling for life at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, following an incident where he was shot multiple times by gunmen, while attending a party which was being held in Paradise community on Tuesday night, July 16. The identity of the injured man is being withheld pending further […] Bethel Town Celebrates the Demise of Dushane Allen Drama as Cop Chase Taxi Driver Amidst a Woman’s Plea Jamaica News: Business leaders and tourism stakeholders in Montego Bay are expecting a major financial boost from the staging of the annual Reggae Sumfest. The event is being held over seven days, from July 14 to 20, and will be highlighted by a stage show on July 19 and 20 at Catherine Hall. Montego Bay’s […]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line874
__label__wiki	0.820718	0.820718	Highway safety research & communications Return to IIHS press room New tests show some bike helmets protect heads better than others David Zuby, IIHS Steve Rowson, Virginia Tech Helmet Lab Megan Bland, Virginia Tech Helmet Lab Testing bicycle helmets Testing other sports helmets Selection of rated bicycle helmets Shopping for bicycle helmets Helmet Styles Monday, June 25, 2018 (11:42am) BLACKSBURG, Va. — Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injuries in cycling, but, until now, consumers who want to buy one that offers the best protection have had little information to go on. A new ratings program, based on collaborative research by Virginia Tech and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, fixes that. The first 30 helmets to be tested — all popular adult-size models — show a range of performance, with four earning the highest rating of 5 stars, two earning 2 stars, and the rest in the 3-4-star range. Cost wasn’t a good predictor of performance. Both the $200 Bontrager Ballista MIPS and the $75 Specialized Chamonix MIPS earn 5 stars. “Our goal with these ratings is to give cyclists an evidence-based tool for making informed decisions about how to reduce their risk of injury,” says Steve Rowson, director of the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab and an associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanics. “We also hope manufacturers will use the information to make improvements.” While the government requires that helmets pass a series of tests to be sold in the U.S., the new ratings rely on a more realistic evaluation based on joint Virginia Tech and IIHS research. “As more people choose the bicycle as a mode of transportation, better helmet design is one of the tools that can be used to address the increasing number of cycling injuries,” says David Zuby, chief research officer at IIHS and a frequent bike commuter. A total of 835 bicyclists were killed in crashes with motor vehicles in 2016. That is the highest number of bicyclist deaths since 1991. More than half of those killed in 2016 weren’t wearing helmets. Helmet use has been estimated to reduce the odds of a head injury by 50 percent. The bike helmet rating system developed by Rowson and his colleagues builds on their years of experience evaluating other types of sports head protection. The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab currently rates football and hockey helmets, as well as soccer headgear. “In cycling, we saw an opportunity to reach a broad cross section of the public and bring a new level of safety to an activity with a wide range of other benefits,” Rowson says. Bike helmets in the U.S. are required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to pass a series of tests in which helmets are struck against an anvil at a set speed. The only requirement is that the helmets prevent head impact accelerations over 300 g, a level associated with skull fracture or severe brain injury. There is no requirement for helmets to limit concussion-level forces, which are more common among bicyclists in crashes. CPSC tests reveal a range of performance within the 300 g limit, and Consumer Reports takes that variation into account for its own helmet ratings. However, those tests don’t reflect the circumstances of most real-world bike crashes. One shortcoming of the CPSC testing is that it doesn’t evaluate the entirety of the helmet. For instance, the helmet rim is excluded from CPSC testing, even though studies of bicycle crashes have found that a large number of cyclist head impacts are at the helmet rim, often at the sides or front of helmets. In addition, the CPSC testing requires helmets to be dropped perpendicular to the impact surface. In contrast, a bicyclist’s head is more likely to strike the pavement at an angle during a crash. Finally, the speed at which the helmet hits the anvil in the CPSC testing represents an extremely severe impact that isn’t typical of most bike crashes. Before developing their test protocol, the Virginia Tech researchers conducted two studies with IIHS support. In the first one, they used the CPSC rig to test a group of helmets at two locations — one at the side of the helmet, within the CPSC test area, and one at the front rim, which isn’t subject to the required testing. They found that on certain models, the rim location was more vulnerable. The second study used a different test rig with a more realistic dummy head hitting a slanted anvil, covered with 80-grit sandpaper to approximate the roughness of asphalt. These tests were designed to replicate more accurately the angle at which a bicyclist’s head is likely to strike the pavement in a crash. The rig with the slanted anvil and more realistic head did a better job teasing out differences among helmets, the researchers found. A slightly modified version of that rig is being used for the ratings. For the ratings, the lab tests each helmet at six commonly impacted locations, including two at the rim. Helmets are dropped on the anvil at two speeds taken from studies of real-world crashes — the median speed at which a rider’s head is estimated to hit the ground and a higher speed equivalent to the 90th-percentile speed in the real-world crash studies. Sensors embedded in the headform measure linear acceleration and rotational velocity, and the risk of concussion is estimated from those measurements. The number of stars assigned to each helmet represents how effectively that model reduces overall injury risk. Of the four 5-star helmets in the initial test group, all are equipped with a Multi-Directional Impact Protection System (MIPS). This technology creates a low-friction layer inside the helmet. “The idea behind MIPS is that, when the helmet hits the road and sticks initially due to the high friction, your head actually slides relative to the helmet,” says Megan Bland, a Virginia Tech doctoral student who conducted much of the research for the new ratings. That slip plane reduces the rotational forces that jostle the brain, causing concussions and other injuries. In addition to MIPS, helmet style also seems to play an important role in performance. So-called road helmets, which have an elongated, aerodynamic shape tended to perform better than “urban” helmets, which have a more rounded shape with fewer vents and thicker shells. The lab is continuing to test more adult helmets of different styles, including mountain bike and skate/BMX helmets, and will update its website as new ratings are released. Evaluations of youth helmets also are planned. For more information from the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab, go to vt.edu/helmet The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab provides independent, evidence-based ratings of protective equipment on a five-star scale, empowering athletes, coaches and parents to choose helmets and other gear that best reduce concussion risk. For more information from IIHS, go to iihs.org The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses — deaths, injuries and property damage — from motor vehicle crashes. IIHS is wholly supported by auto insurers. Contact: Eleanor Nelsen, Virginia Tech +1 540 231 2761 (office) or +1 540 761 9448 (cell) Joe Young, IIHS +1 434 985 9244 (office) or +1 504 641 0491 (cell) Watch our channel © 1996-2019, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute, 501(c)(3) organizations	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line875
__label__wiki	0.883552	0.883552	Ancient and medieval architecture Map of Estonia Map of Latvia Map of Slovakia Map of Wales Patrons of medievalheritage.eu Gdańsk – St Joseph’s church plan of St Joseph’s church and buildings of the Carmelite monastery Initially, on the site of St. Joseph’s church, there was a hospital and a chapel of St. George. In the fifteenth century, monks from the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary from Mount Carmel settled here, commonly known as Carmelites. Financial difficulties after the Thirteen Years War meant that intensive construction works began only around 1482, beginning with the construction of the chancel. Most of the works were completed at the beginning of the sixteenth century, not much before the first Reformation protests. In 1523, robberies, plundering and requisition of monastic and church property occurred. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the condition of the monastery and Catholics in Gdańsk improved slightly, and the church was renovated. In 1623, after receiving compensation for the destructions of the war with king Stefan Batory, the temple was enlarged, raising a slightly lower so-called western annexe. The church suffered in 1668 during a fire that broke out in the vicinity of the brewery. In 1678, there was an attack on the monastery and the Carmelite church during the riots associated with the celebration of the anniversary of the peace in Oliwa. In 1823, the Carmelite monastery was dissolved, and the monastery’s buildings until 1920 were taken over in majority by the army to the administration headquarters, while the temple itself with chapels, as well as a part of the monastery intended for the clergy house, were transferred to the Chełmno diocese. In 1847, the church was renovated, but still many elements of the temple, including the vaults were in bad condition. The renovation works were continued in 1885-1906. In 1945, as a result of artillery fire, the church was burned and partly demolished. Equipment, most of the altars, sculptures and paintings have been completely devastateed. The vaults and roofs were destroyed, the western facade collapsed. From 1947, the reconstruction of the temple was undertaken, securing the walls and covering with a makeshift roof. In 1953, the partially rebuilt church was consecrated and made available to the congregation. The originally planned church was to be a three-nave building and much larger than it was finally built, because the project was abandoned due to lack of funds. Only one aisle was built, the northern one. Most of the foundations and part of the walls of the planned building were made, so that the planned expansion of the building could be started at a convenient moment. Around 1496, a stepped, late gothic eastern gable with characteristic two corner towers was completed, and around 1500 a sacristy was added to the chancel. The western wall of the choir also obtained a stepped finial, followed by a small ridge turret. At the beginning of the 17th century, a two-span, hall and single-nava western part was built, preserving elements of the gothic style. The third tower from the side of east gable was also added in 1642, now no longer existing. The monastery buildings, built in parallel and connected with the temple, rose to the north of the church. west facade, photo: D.Delso, Wikimedia Commons eastern facade, photo: J.Michalew church from the south, photo Wikimedia Commons late gothic eastern gable, photo J.Michalew church from the north, photo: J.Michalew east gable turret, photo: J.Michalew interior of the chancel, photo Wikimedia Commons show this monument on map return to alphabetical index Webpage gedanopedia.pl, Kościół św Józefa (Stare Miasto). Medievalheritage.eu is supported by: D.A. Kaczmarek Bartek Elem Sokołowski Michał Majka Robert Młynarczyk – StormCafe.pl Stanislaw Zawadzki Marek Maciążek Wojciech Nowakowski Martyna Makosa Anonymous patron Jan Grygo SEO Consulting provides Lukasz Zelezny Jacek Dzudzewicz Medievalheritage.eu 2017-2019 powered by Wordpress, contact zabytkisredniowiecza@op.pl	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line876
__label__cc	0.668563	0.331437	Home SEC Filings Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) Files An 8-K Regulation FD Disclosure Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) Files An 8-K Regulation FD Disclosure On April 9, 2018, Simulations Plus, Inc., a California corporation (the "Company"), issued a press release announcing that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share of common stock, payable on May 2, 2018 to shareholders of record on April 25, 2018. A copy of press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference. On April 9, 2018, Simulations Plus, Inc., a California corporation (the "Company"), issued a press release announcing financial results for its second quarter of fiscal year 2018 ended February 28, 2018. The press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K. On April 9, 2018, Simulations Plus, Inc., a California corporation (the "Company"), held an investor conference call reporting its second quarter financial results of fiscal year 2018 ended February 28, 2018. The PowerPoint slides, which were used for this Investor Conference Call, are attached herein as exhibit 99.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K. The information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K shall not be deemed to be "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing. The information set forth in this Current Report on Form 8-K shall not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any information in this report on Current Report on Form 8-K that is required to be disclosed solely to satisfy the requirements of Regulation FD. This report on Form 8-K (the "Report"), including the disclosures set forth herein, contains certain forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. When used herein, the terms "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," "believes" and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this Report or hereafter, including in other publicly available documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission"), reports to the stockholders of Simulations Plus, Inc., a California corporation (the "Company" or "us," "our" or "we") and other publicly available statements issued or released by us involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause our actual results, performance (financial or operating) or achievements to differ from the future results, performance (financial or operating) or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such future results are based upon management's best estimates based upon current conditions and the most recent results of operations. These risks include, but are not limited to, the risks set forth herein and in such other documents filed with the Commission, each of which could adversely affect our business and the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained herein. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. (d)Exhibits 99.1 Press release issued on April 9, 2018. SIMULATIONS PLUS INC Exhibit EX-99.1 2 simulations_8k-ex9901.htm PRESS RELEASE Exhibit 99.1 For Further Information: Simulations Plus,… To view the full exhibit click here About Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) Simulations Plus, Inc. (Simulations Plus) develops and produces software for use in pharmaceutical research and for education, and provides consulting and contract research services to the pharmaceutical industry. The Company offers five software products for pharmaceutical research. ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion and Toxicity) Predictor is a computer program that takes molecular structures as inputs and predicts over 140 different properties for them at the rate of about 200,000 compounds per hour. MedChem Designer includes a small set of ADMET Predictor property predictions, allowing the chemist to modify molecular structures. MedChem Studio is a tool for medicinal and computational chemists for both data mining and for designing new drug-like molecules. DDDPlus simulates in-vitro laboratory experiments used to measure the rate of dissolution of the drug. GastroPlus simulates the absorption, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of drugs. NASDAQ:SLP Simulations Plus Inc.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line881
__label__cc	0.65425	0.34575	Explosion Rocks iPad 2 Production Plant [VIDEO] By Charlie White 2011-05-20 13:26:08 UTC On Friday, an explosion ripped through the Foxconn Chengdu plant in China, the factory where the Apple iPad 2 is made. The amount of damage caused by the explosion isn't clear yet, but there were reports that two people were killed and 16 injured. Shortly after the explosion, 10 fire engines, numerous ambulances and 10 police cars reportedly arrived at the scene. The explosion occurred around 7 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), when hundreds of people were working inside the building, according to CNN. Early reports say the explosion originated in a building that contains part of the iPad 2 assembly line. Topics: Apple, Chengdu plant, explosion, Foxconn, iPad 2, Tech	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line884
__label__cc	0.521639	0.478361	Table of Contents Sections The organisms we modify What is genetic modification, generally? What is GM of crops, why do we do it, and how is it done? How common are GM genes in our crops? Where are GM crops being eaten? How are GM crops regulated? How are GM crops labeled? The mouths we feed Do the genes that have been introduced into GM crops so far have any implications for human health? Do GMO crops have different health consequences than crops generated by selective breeding? The land we sow Have GM crops caused damage to the environment? Do GMOs use different herbicides, and if so, are they dangerous? What will we find on the market in the next years? Our growing pains Could GMOs feed more people? Could GMOs affect biodiversity? How can GMOs help us adapt to climate change? Do GMOs use resources more or less efficiently than conventional crops? Jackie Grimm The term “genetic modification,” sometimes called "genetic engineering," typically refers to when DNA is modified directly, on the molecular level. But that definition is pretty slippery. In the 1970s, the US was staring down the barrel of an insulin shortage. Diabetes, once a virtual death sentence, could be easily controlled with injections of insulin derived from the pancreas glands of pigs and cattle. But making just one pound of pure insulin required over 20,000 animals, and as the demand for insulin rose, manufacturers worried that they wouldn’t be able to keep up. The solution seemed like something straight out of science fiction. Researchers at a fledgling company, Genentech, inserted the genes for human insulin into a harmless version of the bacteria E. coli, transforming the bacteria into tiny, insulin-producing machines. These bacteria could be grown in massive fermenters, like the ones used to brew beer, churning out nearly unlimited quantities of the drug. The bacteria-derived insulin, named humulin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1982, making it the first product on the market to be produced through genetic modification. So how did the researchers coax bacteria into making a protein from an entirely different species? The first step was to build strands of DNA containing the instructions for making human insulin. Insulin, like all proteins, is composed of molecules called amino acids that are strung together to make a chain. You can imagine this like a necklace, where every bead is a different kind of amino acid. Which amino acids are part of the chain, and what order they’re in, is what gives the protein its unique function. The process of making a protein starts with DNA. DNA is also a strand of smaller molecules, each of which contains one of four chemicals called bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), or cytosine (C). The instructions for making a protein are encoded in the sequence of bases. The process is a little different in bacteria, but the basic order of DNA to RNA to protein is the same The sequence of DNA that contains the code for making a particular protein is called a gene. To make the genes for insulin, the researchers used a method called gene synthesis, a genetic engineering tool still used today. They took small pieces of DNA and, through a series of chemical reactions, strung them together in the right order. The next step was to insert the gene into a small circle of DNA, called a plasmid, so that it could be taken up by the bacteria. First, they cut the plasmid using restriction enzymes. Restriction enzymes are often portrayed as molecular scissors because they cut chemical bonds in DNA. But they don’t cut DNA just anywhere. Each type of restriction enzyme recognizes a specific sequence of DNA and only cuts there, allowing researchers to cut DNA at a specific location. Next, they added their synthetic gene and used a protein called DNA ligase to stick it all together. Using restriction enzymes and DNA ligase to link different pieces of DNA together is the first kind of recombinant DNA technology. This method, called “cut-and-paste cloning,” is also still used today. More recently, a new approach called CRISPR has made genetic modification much easier. In this approach, a piece of RNA guides a protein called Cas9 to the region of DNA to be modified. Cas9 then cuts the DNA in that location. When the cell repairs its DNA, it fills in the break by copying from a strand of DNA that the researcher provides. By providing different template sequences, it's possible to delete, insert, or change the sequence of almost any gene. The term “genetic modification,” sometimes called "genetic engineering," typically refers to when DNA is modified directly, on the molecular level. But that definition is pretty slippery. Since the early 20th century, people have produced new varieties of plants by exposing seeds to radiation or to certain chemicals called mutagens. This damages the seed's DNA, and when the plant repairs the damage, it sometimes adds the wrong base, changing the DNA sequence. Although this process directly changes DNA, resulting in plants that do not occur in nature, it is also not considered a GM technique by regulatory agencies, because we were doing it since before the advent of modern genetics. It's surprisingly difficult to pin down a conclusive definition of "genetic modification." That means that when deciding whether a product is healthy or unhealthy, dangerous or unsafe, it's not enough to know whether or not it's genetically modified. The important part is exactly what genetic change was made, no matter what tools were used to make it. Comment Leave a Comment Table of Contents See all Sections Sikora, P., Chawade, A., Larsson, M., Olsson, J., & Olsson, O. (2011). Mutagenesis as a Tool in Plant Genetics, Functional Genomics, and Breeding. International Journal of Plant Genomics, 2011, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/314829 Genetic engineering is the process of changing an organism's genome to give it a desirable characteristic, and there are a handful of GM methods originating from research done in the 1970s that we use today. There are many reasons to engineer crops: to suit tastes, increase yield, tolerate rapidly changing environmental conditions, resist pests, or create medications. A species' collection of traits doesn't usually change very quickly. The hair on your head, walking upright, and even color vision, evolved gradually from the fur, feet, and eyes of humanity's ancestors. Numbers of teeth, two legs or four, the pattern of flowers, the sweetness of fruit – they all evolve slowly. In the distant past, if you were a corn farmer, you planted a very small relative of the modern, sunny yellow variety. If you wanted your plants to, say, grow taller, your options were limited. You could do nothing and hope life worked out OK. Or, if you were more proactive and also lucky, you might find one plant in your whole field that grew a smidge taller. Not a lot – just a touch. Being better than nothing, you start exclusively planting that slightly-larger-than-average plant. This process continues, with the slightly taller plants getting selected and cultivated, year after year, until there are fields of tall green stalks, weighed down with heavy yellow ears, all over the countryside. This process of selecting and breeding the most desirable corn is crop engineering. Unwitting weavers of a genetic loom, every selection for larger kernels, sweeter taste, or greater yield changes the corn genome. The process is often slow (though it's still a useful technique today), and the selection of traits is usually small and barely distinguishable from one another. Changing corn from the small, ancient variety to the large modern one took 5,000 years. But nevertheless, this picking and choosing of valuable attributes is not so different from modern genetic engineering. In the past, these selections were made the old-fashioned way: plant sex. Sexual reproduction gives each offspring plant half of their genome from one parent and half from another. Mating two plants that individually have the traits you want – maybe one has a huge yield but doesn't grow well on your plot of land, while another barely produces crop at all but grows like gangbusters – is a convenient way to hopefully produce plants that have the best features of both. This leaves you with a limited selection of traits, though. Anything that can't be bred into a crop from the same species or a related one is off the table. That would leave you with no recourse but waiting for new traits to evolve. But, if you could artificially insert the gene for a trait you wanted, then the list of possible traits becomes potentially endless. Whether slowly, generation by generation, or quickly in a modern lab, genetic engineering is the process of changing an organism's genome to give it a desirable characteristic. There are many reasons to engineer crops: to suit tastes, increase yield, tolerate rapidly changing environmental conditions, resist pests, or create medications. There's also another advantage. It's counter-intuitive, but once you notice, it's hard to forget: engineering a crop specifically for the trait you want actually involves a much smaller change to the genome than breeding. When you breed crops in pursuit of specific traits, as it's been done for millennia, you make wholesale changes to the plant's genome. If you examined each variation between two related plants, their differences at the genetic level would number in the thousands or tens of thousands. Taking two plants, making parents of them and mixing their genomes 50/50 causes a huge, wide-scale change. In trying to acquire one feature of a plant, you could bring in other, unwanted traits or leave another out. Making one, targeted, specific change preserves far more of the original genome. Many different modifications have been made in a number of different crops, but there are two common goals: reducing insecticide use and conferring herbicide resistance. One of these modifications adds toxic proteins to the plant's genome that targets Lepidoptera, caterpillars and butterflies, that eat and damage crops. The proteins come from Bacillus thuringiensis, a common soil-dwelling bacteria. Any crop with these proteins often gets nicknamed "Bt." Bt crops are safe to eat for humans, other mammals, and even other insects, because the toxic proteins are only activated in the stomachs of Lepidoptera when they nibble on a plant. A pest, like the European corn borer, chews on a Bt corn ear, for instance, and dies, while a human can walk up to the same ear of corn, slather butter on it, and chow down with no detrimental effects. A farmer growing Bt crops doesn't need to use as much spray-on insecticide, which can have broad effects on other insects and the environment, since their crops produce their own, highly specific insect resistance. In a 10-year period, use of Bt modifications in just two crops, corn and cotton, resulted in a 30 percent worldwide reduction in insecticide use. The other common modification gives crops tolerance to glyphosate, commonly known as RoundUp, the commercial name given to it by Monsanto. Glyphosate targets a protein, called EPSP synthase, involved in creating amino acids, the individual units of proteins. If EPSP is inhibited by glyphosate, the production of other proteins is inhibited and the plant dies. Glyphosate-tolerant plants carry a modified version of EPSP that is unaffected by glyphosate (so they're "RoundUp Ready"). So, a farmer can spray a field with the herbicide, weeds that compete with and crowd out crops die, and the crop lives. Engineering Crops: How? Biologists never miss an opportunity to turn a discovery into a tool. In the late 1970s, when scientists were studying bacteria that can cause tumors on plants, they saw these tumors forming because the bacteria had inserted a piece of its DNA directly into the plant's genome. This caused a mutation and cancerous growth, much like how cancers can form in humans. In less than five years, that bacteria, Agrobacterium, was used as a delivery service in plants for whatever DNA sequences scientists wanted. They could alter the bacterial genome easily, cut out the cancer-causing DNA, replace it with their own desired genes, and that DNA would end up in the plant's genome instead. This can be used for simply delivering one gene to a random location in the genome (though it can also be used to deliver genes for CRISPR proteins, which can make more precise changes). That's one approach to getting new DNA into a plant. But there are many more, each with their own technical advantages and limitations – fascinating differences, if you're the kind of person who talks about technical advantages and limitations at parties. There's another approach worth mentioning: biolistics. If that sounds like a word for a gun that shoots genes, your ears do not deceive you: colloquially, it's called the gene gun. It's a device that turns DNA into a projectile, literally propelling the gene coding for a desirable trait at high speeds so it penetrates a plant's exterior. It's a useful and popular way to deliver DNA to plants, and follows the amusing logic of "have we tried just shooting the plants?". Similar to Agrobacterium, gene guns can be used to deliver genes directly, or you can shoot CRISPR proteins for more elegant, precise changes. Other methods, like electrically shocking plants in a way that opens pores in plant cells' membranes, allowing DNA to be sucked in, are less commonly used to make GE crops (though in research settings it is one of the more common ways plant biologists use CRISPR in the lab). Ramos-Madrigal, J., Smith, B. D., Moreno-Mayar, J. V., Gopalakrishnan, S., Ross-Ibarra, J., Gilbert, M. T. P., & Wales, N. (2016). Genome Sequence of a 5,310-Year-Old Maize Cob Provides Insights into the Early Stages of Maize Domestication. Current Biology, 26(23), 3195–3201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.036 Scheben, A., Yuan, Y., & Edwards, D. (2016). Advances in genomics for adapting crops to climate change. Current Plant Biology, 6, 2–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2016.09.001 Takeyama, N., Kiyono, H., & Yuki, Y. (2015). Plant-based vaccines for animals and humans: recent advances in technology and clinical trials. Therapeutic Advances in Vaccines, 3(5–6), 139–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/2051013615613272 Clevenger, J., Chavarro, C., Pearl, S. A., Ozias-Akins, P., & Jackson, S. A. (2015). Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Identification in Polyploids: A Review, Example, and Recommendations. Molecular Plant, 8(6), 831–846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2015.02.002 Rodrigo-Simon, A., de Maagd, R. A., Avilla, C., Bakker, P. L., Molthoff, J., Gonzalez-Zamora, J. E., & Ferre, J. (2006). Lack of Detrimental Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry Toxins on the Insect Predator Chrysoperla carnea: a Toxicological, Histopathological, and Biochemical Analysis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 72(2), 1595–1603. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.72.2.1595-1603.2006 Naranjo, S. (2009). Impacts of Bt crops on non-target invertebrates and insecticide use patterns. CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 4(11). https://doi.org/10.1079/pavsnnr20094011 Dill, G. M., CaJacob, C. A., & Padgette, S. R. (2008). Glyphosate-resistant crops: adoption, use and future considerations. Pest Management Science, 64(4), 326–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.1501 Funke, T., Han, H., Healy-Fried, M. L., Fischer, M., & Schonbrunn, E. (2006). Molecular basis for the herbicide resistance of Roundup Ready crops. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(35), 13010–13015. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603638103 Chilton, M.-D., Saiki, R. K., Yadav, N., Gordon, M. P., & Quetier, F. (1980). T-DNA from Agrobacterium Ti plasmid is in the nuclear DNA fraction of crown gall tumor cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 77(7), 4060–4064. Bowmaker, J. K. (1998). Evolution of colour vision in vertebrates. Eye, 12(3), 541–547. https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1998.143 Herrera-Estrella, L., Depicker, A., Van Montagu, M., & Schell, J. (1983). Expression of chimaeric genes transferred into plant cells using a Ti-plasmid-derived vector. Nature, 303(5914), 209–213. https://doi.org/10.1038/303209a0 Gelvin, S. B. (2003). Agrobacterium-Mediated Plant Transformation: the Biology behind the “Gene-Jockeying” Tool. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 67(1), 16–37. https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.67.1.16-37.2003 SANFORD, J. C., KLEIN, T. M., WOLF, E. D., & ALLEN, N. (1987). DELIVERY OF SUBSTANCES INTO CELLS AND TISSUES USING A PARTICLE BOMBARDMENT PROCESS. Particulate Science and Technology, 5(1), 27–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/02726358708904533 Liang, Z., Chen, K., Li, T., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y., Zhao, Q., … Gao, C. (2017). Efficient DNA-free genome editing of bread wheat using CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes. Nature Communications, 8, 14261. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14261 Van Wert, S. L., & Saunders, J. A. (1992). Electrofusion and Electroporation of Plants. Plant Physiology, 99(2), 365–367. Corn and soybean alone account for 93 percent of all GM crops in the US (each is 46-47 percent of the GM crop market). Because corn and soy byproducts are ubiquitous in most processed foods, and ‘living modified organism"’ plants (like a tomato or beet) are much harder to find, your best bet in avoiding GM crops is to avoid processed foods that contain soybean or corn or their byproducts. All the crops in the United States cover about 318 million acres, an area about twice the size of Texas. A 2016 estimate put the acreage of GE crops at 180 million, or about one Texas. In other words, roughly 57 percent of all crops planted in the US are genetically engineered in some way. But if you account for the most common GM crops, those numbers shrink dramatically. Corn and soybean alone account for 93 percent of all GM crops in the US (each is 46-47 percent of the GM crop market). If you add cotton, which most people don't eat, that accounts for 99.81 percent of all GM crops in the country. All other GM crops grown in the US – squash, potatoes, apples, among others – is in that leftover 0.19 percent. Most corn grown today is either glyphosate-resistant, Bt-modified, or both (crops that carry both are called "stacked"). Corn is everywhere – corn starch, corn syrup, corn oil, processed corn meals, and animal feed, for starters. It's useful and ubiquitous. Add to that the nearly complete takeover of the soybean market by engineered plants, avoiding GM crops in some way would be nearly impossible – especially since soybean products are also in everything, from soy sauce to soybean oil to biofuels, from paint stripper to AstroTurf. Anything that contains corn or soy as an ingredient could contain a GM ingredient. Estimates vary, but most put 70 to 80 percent of processed foods in the US as having some kind of modified ingredient. Finding an actual, whole GM crop (the precise phrase is "living modified organism") in your supermarket is much more difficult. There just aren't that many of them out there. This is chiefly thanks to the difficult regulatory process for getting one approved for sale in most places. But there are other reasons. The first whole GM food available was the Flavr Savr tomato, which ripened more slowly than other tomatoes to allow it to stay on the vine and remain fresh longer. It was on the market starting in 1994 but was soon removed from stores because it tasted terrible. But, other GE vegetables are available today, like virus-resistant squash, which come with macho, flag-rippling names like Freedom II and Liberator III. Until 2017, the only whole, actual engineered fruit available in the US was papaya. Papaya in the US is mostly grown in Hawaii, where it was first introduced in the 1910s from Barbados and Jamaica. Commercial harvest began in the 1940s on the island of Oahu. Soon after, farmers discovered the crop was infected with papaya ringspot virus, spread by aphids and rendering the plant stunted and misshapen. Infected crops yield fewer fruit, and the fruit that is left behind tastes and smells bad. In the 1950s, papaya harvesting was moved to the Big Island, where the virus didn't yet exist. But the virus slowly encroached over the decades, even when, In 1978, research into controlling the virus began. By the late 1990s, the Hawaiian papaya industry was on the brink of collapse. In 1997, the FDA and EPA gave approval to virus-resistant, GE papaya. Within three years, most Big Island papaya growers were planting GE crops. Now, all papaya grown in the US is a GE variety resistant to the ringspot virus, though non-GE papaya is still grown in other parts of the world. Recently, the Arctic apple was introduced to the US market. This apple's distinction is that it doesn't turn brown after being cut. While that doesn't sound like much of a change, proponents argue this change will cut down on food waste, since people won't be inclined to throw out a discolored but otherwise edible apple. It's also unique because instead of inserting a gene from another species, this apple is modified to produce less of an existing gene, the one responsible for browning; its modification is entirely within the apple's own genome. The list of GE food available is not lengthy but if you enjoy databases, feel free to peruse one that sorts by plant, trait, and country here. They include alfalfa engineered to have less lignin and make more digestible animal feed, virus resistant plums, and carnations engineered to be colored blue. Schultheis, Jonathan & Walters, Alan. (1998). Yield and Virus Resistance of Summer Squash Cultivars and Breeding Lines in North Carolina. HortTechnology. 8. 31-39. Tripathi, S., Suzuki, J., & Gonsalves, D. (n.d.). Development of Genetically Engineered Resistant Papaya for papaya ringspot virus in a Timely Manner: A Comprehensive and Successful Approach. In Plant-Pathogen Interactions (pp. 197–240). Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-966-4:197 Heu, R.A., N.M. Nagata, M.T. Fukasa and B.Y. Yonahara, 2002. Papaya Ringspot Virus. New Pest Advisory No 02-03 Gonsalves, D., Gonsalves, C., Ferreira, C., & Fitch, M. (2004). Transgenic Virus-Resistant Papaya: From Hope to Reality in Controlling Papaya Ringspot Virus in Hawaii. APSnet Feature Articles. https://doi.org/10.1094/apsnetfeature-2004-0704 GM crops are eaten all over the world. But attitudes toward them – and regulations – vary from country to country, to the point where it's hard to keep track of who's doing what, and why. In total, 28 countries are planting GM crops, on every continent except Antarctica. GM crops are eaten all over the world. But attitudes toward them – and regulations – vary from country to country, to the point where it's hard to keep track of who's doing what, and why. In total, 28 countries are planting GM crops, on every continent except Antarctica. The United States and Brazil lead these nations in terms of production, followed by India, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, South Africa, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, and Australia, among others. There is no federal legislation in the US regulating the growth or importation of GM crops. In the EU, only five countries grow them: Spain, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. But even the countries in the EU that don't grow GM crops still import them. In the rest of the world, another 31 countries allow GM crops imports, with 59 countries, in all, where GM crops are available, including everything from cotton, potatoes, corn, soybean, to canola. On the other hand, there are about as many countries that explicitly ban the growth or importation of GM crops. The largest country with a ban is Russia, which recently signed a law banning GM crop cultivation, although regulated imports are still allowed. Most of the EU also bans their growth, although attitudes vary from country to country. In some parts of Africa, attitudes can be similarly hesitant. Several countries, like Benin and Zambia, among others, ban GM crops, although a number are loosening restrictions. Kenya, Uganda, and eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) are all conducting field trials with GM crops. Reluctance to allow GM crops comes from a number of concerns. Many folks fear that engineered genes will spread into the wild or that GE crops might have adverse effects on human health. In some developing nations, in addition to human health or environmental fears, leaders fear that giving power to foreign biotech companies could turn political tides. Acceptance of pest-resistant corn into India was delayed in part for this reason. In October 2017, the Ugandan parliament passed a law allowing GM crops, but it wasn't signed by the president, in part over concerns of corporate colonialism, and also from human health and environmental concerns. The bill was re-introduced in late April 2018 with language that could imprison farmers or scientists if any adverse environmental effects of GM crops (whatever those might be) were discovered. There isn’t a simple answer. There is no federal legislation in the US regulating the growth or importation of GM crops. The regulation of GM crops in the US is messy and involves three agencies: the EPA, the FDA and the USDA. The regulation of GM crops in the US is a complete mess. Three different agencies have different areas of oversight, depending on the crop, the modification, and what purpose it was made for; you can see a summary here. Again, the growth or importation of GM crops is not regulated. What is regulated is the sale and consumption of those crops as food, so you can grow whatever you want as long as you don't sell it. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for all food safety issues in the country. With GM crops, they pay attention to things like changes to the nutritional content (that table on the side of a cereal box) or the potential inclusion of an allergen into a crop. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) examines environmental concerns, with particular interest in pesticides and the spread of pesticide-related products to the environment. That can include things like "Bt" crops, which carry genes that give them resistance to insect predators, all the way down to tiny pieces of DNA that fine-tune expression of other proteins. Finally, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) examines the safety of planting GM crops and field testing them for approval. If some of those roles seem like they might overlap, it's because they do. Some crops require different combinations of review from different agencies. The recently released Arctic apple, which does not brown after being cut, was looked at by the USDA and the FDA, but not the EPA. Bt corn, however, was examined by all three agencies. Approval is given on a case-by-case basis, needs to be OK'd by any agency that claims oversight, and requires hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of documentation. Other parts of the world take their own approaches, but for the most part it's an arduous process. In the EU, each crop is considered case by case, and only approved for 10-year periods. The marketing and import of GM crops is regulated by the European Commission, the legislative body of the EU. But each member of the EU is free to pass its own sub-regulations to restrict the sale or cultivation of GE crops within their own borders. In addition to their own laws and regulations, 171 countries enforce the Cartagena Protocol, an international agreement to protect the environment from any potential risks that genetic modification might pose (the US is one of the few countries that doesn't enforce it). The Protocol does a lot of things: it requires exporters of GM crops to inform their importers that they're getting engineered crops, both for consumption and for release into the wild (like modified seeds or fish); it also establishes an online repository for information exchange about their engineered crops. What it doesn't do is require product labeling for consumers or speak to food safety issues in any way. (2016). Genetically Engineered Crops. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/23395 In the US, there is no requirement to inform consumers whether a food is engineered or not. The FDA offers guidelines to anyone who wants to do so, but from their point of view it's voluntary. The USDA is currently taking comments until July 3, 2018 from the public on proposed labelling for ‘bioengineered’ products. Labeling is a messy and complicated fight. Biotech companies that produce GM seeds and crops lobby against labeling, because they believe it diminishes their sales. Organic food companies lobby for them, to drive consumers to them. Advocates for labeling list several concerns that generally fall into two categories: Concerns for human health – from the direct product of engineering or from overuse of herbicides and pesticides on crops engineered to be resistant to them. And the simple right to know that a food they're eating is engineered (similar to labels that state that a food was produced in the same facility that nuts were processed). Opponents fear that labeling might reinforce a stigma against GM food; that restructuring of infrastructure to separate non-GM and GM crops would raise prices (for example, should a farmer who plants both require two sets of equipment to the crops from fraternizing?); and that the economic (like higher yields increasing farmers' income) or environmental benefits of GM crops (like reduced water usage) would be lost if they go off the market. Interestingly, there's evidence that foods that are labeled "free from GMOs/pesticides" or something similar are seen as healthy, even if the label doesn't make health claims at all. Deciding whether or not a food should be labeled as GM is tricky. For instance, does something highly processed like corn oil need to be labeled as engineered? If the oil is derived from, say, Bt corn, which carries proteins toxic to the insects that eat corn, those proteins (and the DNA that codes for them) won't be present in the final oil product. Is the resulting oil a GMO? Questions like these, if not specifically addressed, can lead to situations like China's. Labeling GM crops is nominally mandatory there, but guidelines for what should or should not be labeled are vague (for instance, it's unclear if foods that contain ingredients from GM crops need to be labeled). The imprecise directives have made confusion and noncompliance widespread. In the US, there is no requirement to inform consumers whether a food is engineered or not. The FDA offers guidelines to anyone who wants to do so, but from their point of view it's voluntary. In summer 2016, US Congress passed a law that directed the USDA to come up with federal labeling guidelines within two years. That law also specifically prevents states from creating their own labeling laws (and so will supersede laws in Connecticut, Maine, and Vermont that already require it). On May 4th, the USDA released their proposed, though not finalized, labeling rules. They settled on using the term "bioengineered" as opposed to "genetically modified" to refer to food carrying genes inserted by humans. Any engineered food for human consumption (including things like chewing gum) would be labeled. Processed foods like oils that don't contain DNA or the product of an engineered gene (like the protective proteins Bt corn carries) would not need to be labeled. Processed foods that only contain engineered ingredients (like cornmeal) would be labeled. For the labels themselves, the guidelines offer a few options for labeling, including a short sentence ("Contains a bioengineered food ingredient"), a symbol on the label indicating an engineered food (similar to a symbol denoting kosher status) or a QR code. The rules are open to commentary and likely won't be finalized until the end of summer 2018. In the EU, labeling is compulsory on packaged food for anything that contains more than 0.9 percent GM food or ingredient. For any whole food GM crops, it has to be indicated nearby (as in, near the food in the store) that the food is engineered. Other countries like Japan and Australia also require GM foods to be labeled. Only two African nations – South Africa and Kenya – require labeling, although Kenya has not approved any GM crops for sale yet. Hartmann, C., Hieke, S., Taper, C., & Siegrist, M. (2018). European consumer healthiness evaluation of “Free-from” labelled food products. Food Quality and Preference, 68, 377–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2017.12.009 Oh, J., & Ezezika, O. C. (2014). To label or not to label: balancing the risks, benefits and costs of mandatory labelling of GM food in Africa. Agriculture & Food Security, 3(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/2048-7010-3-8	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line885
__label__wiki	0.852098	0.852098	The 7 ages of Pink Floyd – all you need to know about the godfathers of progressive rock James BaldockSaturday 5 Aug 2017 12:01 am Pink Floyd through the years. (Pictures: Getty / Rex / Shutterstock) Pink Floyd. They were there for the psychedelic sixties, they rocked us through the seventies, and then it all fell apart (briefly) in the eighties. But if your knowledge of the progressive giants stops at Dark Side Of The Moon or Another Brick In The Wall, you’re missing out on a heap of fantastic music. And with the band celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its very first album – Piper At The Gates Of Dawn – we thought it was a good opportunity to take a closer look at one of the most influential British acts of all time. So here’s our essential whistle-stop tour through the history of Pink Floyd. MORE: Dark Side of the Peak? Rainbow bears an uncanny resemblance to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon cover Pink Floyd, 1967 – Roger Waters, Syd Barrett, Nick Mason and Richard Wright (Picture: Chris Walter/WireImage/Getty) Founded by a group of friends studying architecture at the London Polytechnic in the mid 1960s, the classic lineup of Pink Floyd – once it had stabilised – consisted of bassist Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason, keyboard player Rick Wright and their artist friend, vocalist and guitarist Syd Barrett. Originally called The Tea Set, the name The Pink Floyd Sound was chosen spontaneously by Barrett, who fused together two of his favourite blues artists (Floyd Council and Pink Anderson). A gradual shift from R&B standards towards a more experimental, psychedelically tinged music saw them make it big in the London Underground scene, where they became known for long instrumental passages and colourful light shows. Eventually, they were signed to EMI. 2. Piper While the Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper, Pink Floyd burst onto the national scene. The band’s debut album, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn – named after a chapter in Wind In The Willows – was released in 1967 to critical acclaim, thanks to its heady mixture of moody space rock and strange songs about bicycles and gnomes. But all was not well in camp Floyd, with Barrett’s drug use and mental heath issues leading to some increasingly erratic behaviour both on and off stage. Barrett experienced mood swings and periods of disorientation and would often spend entire concerts staring into space, absently strumming his guitar. Barrett’s friend David Gilmour was brought in to lend support to the group and play the parts that Barrett no longer could – and the group briefly operated as a dysfunctional five-piece until Barrett effectively left the band the day they decided not to collect him on the way to a performance. While Barrett was out of Pink Floyd, he didn’t leave the music business, recording two solo albums in the 1970s. When his career faltered he returned to his mother’s home in Cambridge, becoming a virtual recluse. 3. Life after Syd ‘I’m very sad about Syd, [though] I wasn’t for years,’ Waters would admit in 1975. ‘It couldn’t have happened without him, but on the other hand, it couldn’t have gone on with him.’ Nevertheless, the band persisted, with Roger officially assuming lead writing duties. Pink Floyd would go on to pioneer the space rock for which they had become renowned, as well as record a variety of diverse albums, including playing with brass orchestras and choirs, and providing musical accompaniment to the sounds of their roadie eating breakfast. But it wasn’t until 1973 that they released the album which would make musical history… 4. Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd’s masterpiece, with its iconic cover and groundbreaking production, dealt with the nature of life and death – with the titular Dark Side referring to the idea of madness and mental illness. The album would eventually sell over 40 million copies, ranking it among the best selling albums in the world. The band would frequently play it in full during live shows – and it supposedly reduced Roger Waters’ wife to tears the first time she heard it. Dark Side also gave birth to one of fandom’s more bizarre theories, namely that all kinds of weird things happen if you play the album alongside The Wizard Of Oz. (This is entirely coincidental, as are other theories like it – although it must be said that the 23-minute Echoes syncs very well with the end of 2001.) 5. The Dark Side of fame Life has a tendency to mimic art, and an apocryphal story tells of the time a confused, overweight and barely recognisable Syd Barrett interrupted recording sessions for Shine On You Crazy Diamond, unaware that the song was actually about him. Following up Dark Side Of The Moon was never going to be easy, but Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd’s 1975 successor – ranks among their finest work, with its themes of detachment and isolation. The band were always as visual as they were musical, whether it was crashing a plane live on stage, floating a pig balloon (which famously escaped its moorings) over Battersea Power Station – or setting up hundreds of beds on a beach in Devon for a cover photo. (Many of the band’s covers were the work of longtime friend and collaborator Storm Thorgerson, who died in 2013.) Some of Pink Floyd’s album cover work on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum. (Picture: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images) But Pink Floyd were feeling increasingly disconnected from their audience, and even the sell-out arena tours couldn’t make up for the sense of disillusionment they were experiencing. The story goes that, in a concert in Montreal in 1977, Waters was so incensed at the frenzied behaviour of one teenage fan that he spat in his face. It was an incident that he came to regret, although it did spur him to write The Wall – the tale of a selfish rock star who puts up a metaphorical wall to protect himself from the rest of society. The album spawned a spectacular live show and a film (starring Bob Geldof) – and the iconic Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), with its catchy refrain insisting that ‘We don’t need no education’, would become the last number one single of the 1970s. 6. The Final Cut – and the final straw After The Wall, Pink Floyd released The Final Cut, a dark, politically charged anti-war manifesto that covered everything from the Second World War to the Falklands Conflict. But years of creative differences had taken their toll, and the band seemingly split for good – although to cut a very long story short, ‘split’ actually meant ‘carrying on without Roger Waters’. Needless to say, Waters fought the decision – and lost, which meant the remaining band members could carry on using the Pink Floyd name without his involvement. Gilmour, Mason and Wright continued to tour and record new material, as well as headlining festivals and selling out arenas. Meanwhile Roger Waters embarked on a successful solo career, including a spectacular all-star performance of The Wall in Berlin in the summer of 1990. 7. Putting the band back together Although the remaining members of Pink Floyd were happy working as a three-piece, it didn’t stop fans clamouring for one last gig with Waters – something that seemed all but impossible given all the bad blood that had passed between them. But in 2005, Bob Geldof organised Live 8, and after some persuasion, all four members decided to play. Accounts differ as to the state of backstage relations and the varying degrees of tension in the buildup to the event, but onstage, differences seemed to have been cast aside. The band were as good as ever – offering blistering solos, searing vocals, and genuine poignancy when Roger announced that Wish You Were Here was dedicated to ‘anyone who’s not here…but particularly, of course, for Syd.’ Ever the recluse, Barrett would die just over a year later. And sadly, any possibility of a further reunion was quashed when Rick Wright died of lung cancer in 2008. The Pink Floyd dream was finally over, with a series of mini-reunions, guest appearances and fan edits the sole remnant of an incredible band. Well, that and the 15 studio albums, 3 live albums, DVDs, compilations, and assorted soundtracks, anyway. Seriously, why are you still here? Go have a listen… MORE: Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters to release his first solo album in 25 years MORE: Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters calls Donald Trump a pig, a Nazi, and a member of the Ku Klux Klan MORE: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is almost 50 – here are 15 things you didn’t know about The Beatles’ masterpiece David GilmourRichard WrightRoger Waters K-pop sensations TXT on who’s the sexiest, their superhero alter egos and motivating each other Legendary musician Johnny Clegg dead at 66 Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello have got everyone hot and bothered with sexy Senorita music video Brian May insists Freddie Mercury would approve of ‘true phenomenon’ Adam Lambert Brian May defends Adam Lambert’s place in Queen, says he can do ‘more’ than Freddie Mercury Home › Entertainment › Music	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line891
__label__wiki	0.855225	0.855225	‘I’ve got to find life again’: Simon Thomas ‘in early stages of new relationship’ a year after wife’s death Emma KellyTuesday 6 Nov 2018 12:01 pm Simon’s wife Gemma died from an aggressive form of blood cancer (Picture: Instagram) Simon Thomas has revealed he is in a relationship a year after the death of his wife. The Sky Sports presenter was left devastated when his wife Gemma, 40, died just three days after she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia – an aggressive blood cancer – in November 2017. The couple, who got married in 2005, are parents to nine-year-old Ethan. Now, a year on from Gemma’s passing, Simon has revealed he is in the ‘early stages’ of a new romance. Speaking to Anna Foster on BBC Radio 5 Live, Simon said: ‘I’m very aware she was someone I didn’t know before and have got to know over the last few weeks and months. “She became slowly and surely this incredible support for me” Former Sky Sports anchor @SimonThomasSky, who lost his wife to cancer in 2017, reveals to @AnnaeFoster that he is in the early stages of a new relationship. pic.twitter.com/PbwpuUfTDj — Radio 5 Live on BBC Sounds (@bbc5live) November 6, 2018 ‘Right from the early stages – she had this empathy towards me. She’s Christian as well and that’s important to me as a man of faith. She’s been an incredible support for me. She was the only person who would always pick up the phone. ‘What I saw in her, I saw in Gemma. When she said my phone is always on, she meant it.’ The 45-year-old admitted he was starting to fall in love, saying: ‘I’m getting there, yeah. It’s in many ways strange to feel that way again.’ However, he said that he ‘struggled’ with the phrase ‘moving on’ in pursuing a new relationship after his wife’s death. Simon said: ‘I don’t think you ever really do move on from what’s happened. That hole that a loved one leaves doesn’t shrink over time. Life begins to grow around it. You begin to deal with some of the challenges grief throws up, being a single parent throws up. Simon is in a new relationship (Picture: Twitter/5 Live) ‘I’ve got two choices. Give up – I can’t do that, I don’t want to do that, I’ve got a boy to bring up, I promised Gemma. The only other choice then is you walk. Right from the start I felt, I’ve got to find life again.’ He also urged others to understand he was not replacing Gemma. He said: ‘This is potentially an area that can cause a lot of hurt. There’s a lot of misunderstanding that comes from this – we equate meeting someone else with forgetting the person who’s gone. ‘There are no shoes left to be filled. There will never be another Gemma. We are unique – we come to the table with our different personalities. If you’re embarking on a new relationship, comparing is ultimately a futile task. There is no comparison. It’s not my fault what happened to Gemma – it’s nobody’s fault. More: Simon Thomas Simon Thomas 'nagged by guilt' over not getting help for late wife Gemma sooner Simon Thomas shares his tools for dealing with depression as he returns to television Simon Thomas reunites with Blue Peter pal Matt Baker and CBBC co-stars ‘This person is helping me define life again, helping me to feel happy again. I can completely understand why some people do [feel that way]. But for most people we lose, they won’t want us to remain in this empty landscape of grief.’ The broadcaster added that he would be taking his time in introducing his new partner to Gemma’s family, acknowledging ‘it will be a very painful reminder of the physical absence of Gemma’. Anna Foster is on BBC Radio 5 Live weekdays, 10am to 1pm. MORE: Granddad says the secret to his 50-year marriage is giving his wife the better piece of toast MORE: Singer who desperately needs cancer treatment in Germany has earned star-studded army of fans Simon Thomas	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line892
__label__wiki	0.605214	0.605214	Father Of 5-Year-Old Girl Says School’s 1970 Bathroom Layout Is Inappropriate, Caused Child To Wet Herself TAYLOR, Ark. (CBS Local) — The “Jack and Jill” style bathroom layout is under scrutiny after the father of a 5-year-old girl noticed his daughter wasn’t comfortable using the restrooms at her elementary school. “Boys and girls do not belong in the bathroom together,” Chase Lindsey told KTBS. “In today’s world, places are saying it’s okay.” With the restrooms’ layout, the only time boys and girls are in there at the same time are at the sinks. But Lindsey says that’s not right. “Even if they’re fully enclosed stalls, you shouldn’t come out of your stall and see a boy at the sink. That’s wrong,” he explained. Lindsey believes the stress caused his daughter to wet herself twice. He also said a boy in another classroom tried to get in the girls restroom before, but wasn’t sure if anyone was in the stall or not. Since then, the school has allowed Lindsey’s daughter to use a private bathroom in the office. The principal and superintendent say the bathroom layout, installed in 1970, has never been an issue before and teachers monitor restroom breaks. “Our policy is, when a student goes to the restroom, as the teacher is teaching, she navigates over towards the bathroom just to keep that observation of the students. And that’s even with the privacy measures that we’ve already got in place, which we think are more sufficient,” said Principal Robby Frizzell. School Superintendent Gary Hines says the only reason a child could walk in on another student is if the child isn’t locking the door. “If you don’t close the door properly and activate the lock, then someone could open the door up,” Hines said. “So that’s also a good time to teach proper bathroom etiquette,” Superintendent Gary Hines said. But Lindsey believes a wall should be built between the two stalls so each class has its own restroom. “I have full confidence in the teachers,” said Lindsey. “I was trying to say that by doing this, you put the trust and responsibility back in the teacher’s hands and not have to worry about another kids from another classroom.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line893
__label__wiki	0.54025	0.54025	Mic the Whispers A Journey into the Matter of Blindness from Mr. DiDonna This past summer I had the privilege of attending a permanent exhibit at the Israeli Children’s Museum in Holon, Israel. I was delivered to the venue by an Israeli host without forewarning of what was about to ensue. I could tell something was up by the look of mischief on her face, and this made me a bit suspicious. I mean, it was a “museum,” not a house of horrors. Upon checking in, I was led over to a small waiting area and handed a walking stick usually reserved for people who are blind. I was surrounded by a gathering of about a dozen fellow participants (with identical walking sticks) whom I had never met, and with whom I believed I had nothing in common. As I continued to focus on the sign overhead which read “Dialogue in the Dark,” I searched for clues as to what I was about to experience. My hosts remained silent. Soon, a concierge introduced herself and explained that we would be escorted through the “installation” for the next hour and a half by a person who was blind. We were told his name would be, Seadya. We were led out of the foyer and into another room, where a door closed behind us. In that instant, I was cast into pitch darkness. Now, there is the kind of darkness where one’s eyes eventually adjust over time, and where figures and shadows, along with other sources of light (door cracks, for example) come into focus. This room was sealed of any such leakage. There weren’t any contours, not one silhouette, or outline. The only color that existed was black, without even an inkling of gray. In that room our tour guide, Seadya, would introduce himself and informed us that he, the blind person the concierge had eluded to, would be leading us through several rooms over the course of the afternoon, each its own separate environment, each its own separate experience. He told us we would find objects in our path that we would have to navigate with the help of our walking sticks and by following the sound of his voice. We were ushered along through environments like a simulated street corner with an actual “parked” car in the room, then into a movie theater, then a grocery store, and later, a discotheque. This was all in the same pitch darkness. Whenever Seadya sensed we were feeling lost and insecure, he would make his way to us individually and helped us advance with the knowing reassurance of his hand and his voice. Despite his all too familiar sensitivity to our journey, I began to feel a deep sense of loneliness, and not the kind of loneliness one feels because they haven’t any friends on a Friday night. This loneliness was existential. We had lost our eyes. We were subject to a condition that created a rupture in everything we had considered normal up to that moment. As participants we began to talk to one another, not out of a need to be polite, but because we needed one another to find our way forward through the tour. It became all too evident how truly interdependent we each were and have probably always been. It became all too evident what life had been like for Seadya his entire life. For many of us who have the luxury of going through our daily lives with relatively healthy eyesight, the vicarious possibility of closing one’s eyes to simulate the experience of blindness, seems plausible. One can, for example, place themselves in a darkened room at home, with closed eyes to ensure a full effect, and think, “oh, this is what it feels like.” However, the knowledge that the experiment could be aborted at any time, prevents any real anxiety from entering one’s experience. Further, in any dark room of a standard house, some source of light would always be present. However, in the passageways of this “installation,” there wasn’t any relief to be found. We were all cast in darkness together. And, in this darkness, we were also alone in our thoughts. Questions and doubts around trust emerged. Along with that, the consideration that I could one day find myself in this condition, began to hound me. The vulnerability was exceptional. I was dizzy, often off balance, and deeply confused. As I reached out my hand feeling for the security of the strangers accompanying me, I also found myself feeling deep gratitude for the presence of those very strangers. What would I do on a Boston street corner in this condition? At the end of the exhibit, we all sat at a table in a cafeteria with Seadya and were given the opportunity, while still in the dark, to ask him questions as he informed us of his own experiences and some general statistics around blindness. For example, he stated that approximately only 10 % of people who are blind see absolute darkness. He stated that the other 90% see some variation of shadow. He urged us to not think of people with disability as weak, but as possessing a special brand of strength. While listening to him, I began to develop a sober and respectful insight into the categories of human courage and faith. My inner world directed by my own internal radar, became the guidepost. We live in a world that isn’t designed for people possessing only four of the five known senses. The world makes accommodations for those people, but rarely does the creator of the design factor such individuals into its overall vision. In a sense, they come after; they are an afterthought. On this afternoon, I was exposed to what it feels like to be rendered incidental in a world of people defined by their own derived sense of purpose, where something as mundane as pouring a glass of water, the buttering of one’s bread, or the counting of money, becomes a challenge that must be navigated...in the dark. In the last two years I've been involved with a regional conflict regarding Native American representation in Pioneer Valley. This has been my social justice initiative outside of my work as a teacher. Many of you may have come across biased articles in the local newspapers attempting to swing this matter in an inaccurate direction. I am stating here that this is not a matter of property rights, or "green energy," but a matter of civil rights. What is pasted below is a public record already in circulation. I invite your comments. Facts About Destruction of Sacred Lands in Shutesbury, MA Lake Street "Development" and Cinda Jones Ignore Science and Decency in Rape of Burial and Sacred Site Using a pay-for-service report from a development service company based in the distant Southwest, a pair of Midwest extraction capitalists have come to the East to tear down a forest in the name of "green energy." The sham report of the hired surveyors, SWCA, ignores ba… Yoga, Trauma and Social Justice Yesterday I participated in a great workshop called "The Issues In Our Tissues: Yoga, Trauma and Social Justice." You may be wondering: what the heck does yoga have to do with trauma and social justice? Well...plenty. It's well documented that communities and subgroups of folks who suffer the injustices of the world are more likely to suffer trauma. Trauma is what happens when our ability to cope is overwhelmed, leaving us feeling helpless, hopeless and out of control. In situations of trauma and stress, our sympathetic nervous system activates and we go into fight / flight / freeze mode. Being in an activated state for a prolonged period of time takes its toll on our bodies and minds. Whether we as individuals belong to an oppressed group, or whether we are taking part in social justice work, or even if we are just existing in today's political and social landscape, our nervous systems are, no doubt, activated. When we're in this state of high alert ac… What Ms. Strelke shared with Mr. DiDonna https://www.buzzfeed.com/adamserwer/how-an-1891-mass-lynching-tried-to-make-america-great-again?utm_term=.inpaaLN0vB#.pmWqq7ReVm In the hysteria following the murder of a New Orleans police chief, 11 Italian-Americans were lynched by a vigilante mob angry about the city's influx of immigrants. Here's how the past and future of American nativism may not be that different. Click the link Ms. Strelke	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line895
__label__wiki	0.665383	0.665383	Why Is Obama’s Favorite Middle East Leader an Anti-American Islamist by Jeff Dunetz \| Jan 7, 2012 \| Other By Barry Rubin For the first time in forty years, Israel is not the American president’s favorite Middle Eastern ally. Instead, that role is played by Turkey’s government. This would not be such a bad thing if we were talking about the “old” Turkey, the secular republic. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama’s favorite advisor among the regional leaders is Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Pretend all you want but Obama really dislikes—hates? –Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and truth be told Netanyahu has done nothing to deserve that treatment. The fundamental problem with Erdogan is despite being embraced by the United States, he is an enemy of the United States, the West more generally, and Israel. He is on the side of radical, anti-American Islamists who want to wipe Israel off the map. So angry and passionate is Erdogan’s loathing of Israel that the leader of the opposition mockingly but pointedly asked if the prime minister wanted to go to war with the Jewish state. In contrast, the list of Erdogan’s dearest friends includes Hamas, Hizballah, Iran, the repressive Sudanese dictatorship, and Syria (formerly the regime there; now the Islamist portions of the opposition). Erdogan would like to be good buddies with the Muslim Brotherhood forces in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, though they are suspicious of him. Erdogan’s record at home and abroad shows what he and his regime are all about. Indeed, what is truly bizarre about Obama’s judgment is that Erdogan has done nothing so beneficial to the United States and a number of things detrimental to it: Iraq war: Whatever you think of the Iraq war, the refusal of the Turkish government to deliver on their promise to let U.S. troops cross into northern Iraq in 2003 was unfriendly and many American officials and members of Congress were outraged at the time. Israel policy: Erdogan has gone to an extreme in attacking Israel and sabotaging any possibility of conciliation. His government sponsored the Gaza flotilla knowing that a lot of the Turkish participants were violent Islamists who wanted to stage a confrontation. Iran: The Erdogan’s regime tried to sabotage sanctions against Iran in 2010. He has repeatedly defended Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and denied that Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons. While there have been some bilateral disagreements—the Turkish decision to allow in NATO installations to watch Iran and backing different sides in Syria, the two countries remain quite close and Erdogan is currently visiting Iran. Lebanon and Palestinians: In opposition to U.S. policy, Erdogan backs radical, openly antisemitic Islamist terrorist groups, Hamas and Hizballah. The leader of the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip has just been received as a hero by Erdogan. Syria: While Turkey opposes the continuation of the Asad regime in Syria, this is not out of a love of democracy but rather due to support for a Sunni Islamist takeover there. When Obama gave Erdogan the task of organizing a Syrian opposition leadership, the Turkish regime packed that leadership with Islamists. Worldview: Erdogan’s foreign minister wrote a book in Turkish explaining the regime’s strategy of aligning with the Islamic world against the West. This is clearly what Erdogan has been doing. The bonus, however, is that he has been able to pretend otherwise and thus act without any real cost or pressure from the West. On the contrary, he can tell Turkish voter that Obama loves him. Then there’s Erdogan’s domestic policy which grows worse with each day: increasing repression; massive arrests without trial; trumped-up phony charges of terrorism and treason; intimidation of the media; constitutional changes that give him control over all institutions including the courts. The very real fear and despair within Turkey is generally not reported in the West. Now the former army chief of staff, retired General Ilker Basbug, has been humiliated and will be put on trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the regime. One thing that’s never explained is that if the hundreds of officers who have been arrested were working to stage a coup how come in ten years not the tiniest action was ever actually taken? Meanwhile, journalists are on trial for alleged terrorism and other crimes. Wait a minute! Maybe that’s what the “Turkish model,” which the Obama Administration wants to spread to the Arabic-speaking world, is: an elected government that makes itself into a dictatorship. Talk to almost any Turk, at least to those who aren’t regime supporters, and they’ll tell you that the only explanation they can figure out is a conspiracy in which the United States wants an Islamist regime in Turkey to prove its sympathy for Islam and possibly affect such groups elsewhere. One thing that the regime has done very well—or, at least, benefitted from conditions—is regarding the economy. Despite recent claims that Turkey’s economy is in trouble, the country seems to be flourishing. Soner Cagaptay, a frequent critic of the regime, describes Turkey as in an unprecedented “sense of global confidence” not seen for centuries; a “Eurasian China;” a country whose economy grew a record 8.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011. Since 2002, he continues the economy has nearly tripled in size. Its trade is shifting from Europe to Islamic countries. As one journalist put it: “After suffering through eight coalition governments and four economic crises, the Turkish people have welcomed ten years of a stable…government even if it has meant entrenched single-party rule” Cagaptay argues that to continue this economic success the Turkish government must avoid “a belligerent foreign policy.” But that’s a bit misleading. Turkey can have a radical, pro-Islamist foreign policy that is objectively anti-Western at little cost. It just has to avoid getting involved directly in wars, which it can easily do. Now with the Turkish army broken, Erdogan needs merely complete his control of the courts to be able to do whatever he pleases within the country. And with Obama following Erdogan’s advice and trying to help spread the “Turkish model”—electing radical Islamist regimes that will be repressive at home and backing radicals abroad—things look bright for Erdogan as he steadily consolidates control. Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His book, Israel: An Introduction, will be published by Yale University Press in January. Latest books include The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org and of his blog, Rubin Reports, http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com Where Is Ivanka? - Her silence on the border crisis ... (Elaina Plott/The Atlantic) memeorandum The Morning Report - 07/18/19 Ace of Spades HQ J.J. Sefton U.S. Women’s Soccer Goalie Rips Christian Player, Says She Was Cut For Being Intolerant The Mental Recession Rusty Weiss	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line899
__label__wiki	0.815861	0.815861	The logo of the red umbrella was created in 1870 when it appeared in a newspaper ad for the young insurance company. It was revived in the early 1960s, when it was given its signature red color by Harry W. Knettell, then the account executive for The Travelers and Vice President at the Charles Brunelle advertising agency. During the late 1960s Charles Brunelle was the largest advertising agency in Hartford, a city known as "the insurance capital of the world" due to the many insurance companies in that town. The Travelers was one of their many insurance company clients.[44][better source needed] Many of Travelers' ancestor companies, such as St. Paul and USF&G, are technically still around today, and still write policies and accept claims in their own names (under the overarching Travelers brand name). As is typical of most insurers in the United States, Travelers never dissolved the various companies it acquired, but simply made them wholly owned subsidiaries and trained its employees to act on behalf of those subsidiaries. This is a common risk management strategy used by U.S. insurance groups. If any one company in the group gets hit with too many claims, the situation can be easily contained to that one company (which is placed in runoff and allowed to run its policies to completion), while the remainder of the group continues to operate normally. Flight Atlantic City - Fort Lauderdale (ACY - FLL) $89+ Flight Atlanta - Fort Lauderdale (ATL - FLL) $105+ Flight Denver - Fort Lauderdale (DEN - FLL) $107+ Flight Houston - Fort Lauderdale (HOU - FLL) $111+ Flight Houston - Fort Lauderdale (IAH - FLL) $111+ Flight Philadelphia - Fort Lauderdale (PHL - FLL) $111+ Flight Washington - Fort Lauderdale (BWI - FLL) $113+ The capital may be set on banks of the Potomac, but it’s never had a reputation as a great waterfront city. That could all be about to change, thanks to the $2.5 billion, 24-acre District Wharf, which opened in October just south of the National Mall. The shiny new InterContinental Washington D.C.-The Wharf offers access to the development’s new parks, music venues, 50-plus shops, and 20 restaurants — which include projects from area chefs like Fabio Trabocchi, Mike Isabella, and wunderkind Kwame Onwuachi. This is also set to be a banner year for culture: the Freer and Sackler galleries, sister museums that champion Asian art, recently reopened after a 20-month renovation, the National Gallery of Art will host the first-ever show dedicated to Cézanne’s portraits from March to July, and the Kennedy Center continues its inaugural season of hip-hop programming curated by Q-Tip. —Brooke Porter Katz The first season of Travelers has a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews with an average rating of 8.0/10.[9] Neil Genzlinger, writing for The New York Times, described the first season as "tasty", and "enjoyable science fiction", with "some attention-grabbing flourishes and fine acting".[10] Hanh Nguyen, writing for IndieWire, describes the series as "fun and freaky," finding the series' appeal "in how the core group of five travelers adjust to life in our present," noting the "human nature in the travelers".[11] Lawrence Devoe, of TheaterByte.com, called the series "tautly paced and suspenseful" with "well-developed characters", declaring that "Brad Wright has a real knack for creating futuristic series".[12] Evan Narcisse, reviewing the first five episodes for io9, appreciated the moral dilemmas offered by the series premise and the awkwardness presented by the characters' interactions with their hosts' friends, colleagues, lovers, or caretakers: "This is a superhero show in double disguise, offering up clever explorations of the secret identity concept that touch on the guilt and contortions that come with living a double life."[13] Netflix announced that the series was one of its "most devoured" series in 2017.[14] To better accommodate the millions who visit Iguazú Falls, a UNESCO site of 275 mighty waterfalls straddling the border of Argentina and Brazil, nearby Cataratas del Iguazú Airport is being modernized and enlarged. Within Iguazú National Park, the Ecological Jungle Train, which takes visitors on a 25-minute journey to the epic Devil’s Throat cascade, is converting from gas to environmentally friendly electric trains. Starting this February, travelers will be able to bed down at the long-awaited Awasi Iguazú resort where 14 rainforest villas will each have plunge pools and guests will have access to a personal excursion guide and 4WD vehicles. Expect visits to native Guarani tribes, river kayaking, and jungle treks led by a resident biologist. Selvaje, an upscale 12-room lodge, will also open early this year and will offer a menu of couple-friendly activities, from picnics to spa treatments. For the ultimate in romance, though, Argentinean travel outfitter Mai 10 (run by Travel + Leisure A-List Agent Maita Barrenechea) can arrange private dinners alongside the falls under the light of a full moon. —Nora Jean Walsh	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line904
__label__wiki	0.727092	0.727092	Previous article : « Iceland’s loud No » Next article : « Global reaction against reactors » > August 2011 ‘The bullets killed our fear’ Syria waits for Ramadan In August it is Ramadan and every day is like Friday — demonstration day for the population of Syria’s cities, not least those of Hama who have already endured one major army attack since the year’s protests began, and are expecting more by Alain Gresh Hama is not all of Syria. This town of 500,000 people has made trouble since Syria gained independence in 1946. It was bombed flat in 1982 after an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, and became a focus of attention once again when the uprisings began this March. Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Erdogan, has warned the Syrian government against repeating the killings of 1982. The international media have been spreading wild rumours about this symbolic town — without verifying them. Getting to Hama, 200km north of Damascus, was easier than I expected, by a well-maintained motorway. The approach to the city was guarded by a single army checkpoint. On the outskirts of town there were half a dozen tanks concealed at the side of the road. Hama was deserted; I saw a few families leaving in taxis. My driver had to weave between obstacles erected at the mouth of every street — piles of cobbles, tree branches, breezeblocks and dustbins. There were burned-out buses and cars. These flimsy barricades were intended to slow any surprise attack by the army on this “liberated” town. Crudely written slogans on sheets proclaimed: “The people say the regime must go” and “No repeat of 1982”. I arrived at a checkpoint manned by youths and had to explain who I was. One came to guide me through the maze of streets and alleyways and get the barriers moved. At my first stop, I was invited to sit down and dozens of people crowded around, joining in the conversation and answering my questions. They showed me photos of martyrs (brothers, cousins, friends) or pictures taken on their mobile phones. Some were unbearable — an exploded brain or a crushed head. One picture was of two bodies crushed by a tank, according to the man who showed it; another said: “No, no, it was a big car — look at the tyre tracks.” Why were the streets empty? Except on Fridays, when there’s a demonstration, people stay at home. The men take turns to keep watch, around the clock. Some of the women have been evacuated; many fear a repeat of 1982. What had happened to that burned-out bus? “The government forces set it alight and they are trying to blame us. They say we want to create an Islamic emirate. They are trying to plant weapons in the mosques to incriminate us.” “Our revolution is peaceful (silmiyya),” they told me. From Egypt to Yemen to Bahrain, it’s the most powerful weapon in the demonstrator’s arsenal: nobody I met was armed with more than a stick. In other areas, armed groups, their numbers swelled by “Arab fighters” from Lebanon or Iraq, have run amok, and there have been vendettas against army officers and soldiers, but these are rare. A pamphlet published in Hama on 1 June gave the demonstrators precise instructions: they should avoid causing disorder, respect public buildings and avoid insulting or provoking government forces. The demonstrators say they are protesting against oppression, and don’t want to oppress anyone. ‘They can take everything but our dignity’ Among those gathered around me, one had a degree in philosophy, another was a doctor, another an engineer. All wanted to see a “civilised” regime, an end to arbitrary and humiliating treatment, and respect for their dignity (karama). “They can take everything from us, but not our dignity,” said one man. Arrest, ill treatment and torture had traumatised them. “We decided we would never go back to prison. Our only choice now is between death and freedom.” Several hundred people from Hama are political prisoners; nationwide, there are 10-15,000. As we talked, young volunteers collected dustbins in the street. One of the leaders put the flood of eyewitness accounts into some kind of order by reviewing the sequence of events in Hama since the beginning of the troubles in Syria. Still paralysed by 1982, Hama took its time about joining the movement. The first demonstrations, and the first deaths, came at the end of April; but Hama was still willing to talk. “A delegation met President Bashar al-Assad on 11 May. He promised that those responsible for the killing would be brought to trial and that the army would not come into the town. And then the third of June happened.” I listened to stories that occasionally differed in their details, but agreed on the key points: on Friday 3 June, “Children of Freedom Day”, thousands of peaceful demonstrators gathered in the streets, armed with flowers to present to the soldiers. The flowers were answered with bullets, leaving between 150 and 230 dead. “And yet,” said the leader, “three days later, we agreed to meet the president. Again, he promised to punish those responsible, and the head of the government forces, Mohammed Muflih, was recalled to Damascus for an inquiry.” The government forces withdrew and calm followed — until the massive demonstration of Friday 1 July, which according to some of the media attracted 800,000 people (one and a half times the population of Hama) but which was probably more like 200,000. A journalist close to the authorities said 70,000. The regime panicked, dismissed the governor Ahmed Abdelaziz, who was in favour of a peaceful solution, and reinstated Muflih, who was also promoted. Everyone was expecting an all-out attack on the city when, on 4 and 5 July, government forces tried to enter Hama, arresting several dozen people and killing four. “We pushed them back. The American and French ambassadors arriving on 7 July helped us to foil their plans.” Hama’s trust was broken. “The president said twice, in speeches, that the army would not open fire on the people. The only governor who applied [Assad’s] orders was dismissed. From now on, we are insisting that the regime goes.” At another crossroads, I heard the same stories and appeals to international opinion — and refusal of any foreign military intervention — and was treated to the same hospitality: I was invited to sit in an armchair, and offered drinks, sandwiches and flowers. “We are not Salafists,” explained one of our hosts. “We want a ‘middle-of-the-road’ Islam.” Like fingers of the same hand Hama may be very conservative, but its people insist they are open, notably towards the Christian minority. One said: “We are like fingers of the same hand.” A Christian confirmed this view: “These young men you see are like sons to me; they call me their uncle.” Yet the Christian church leaders support the authorities. “The Church has authority in matters of religion but not in politics. In my family, we all have different political opinions, and the Church can’t settle our arguments.” Yet in private there is hate talk too, especially against the Alawites (the Shia minority from which many of Syria’s leaders come), although pamphlets published by the resistance committees repudiate it. The previous evening, in Bab Tuma, the Christian quarter of Damascus, several thousand people had gathered around a stage for a concert in support of Bashar al-Assad. Young people, boys and girls together, wearing T-shirts with his picture or wrapped in Syrian flags sang, danced and shouted. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians have taken refuge in Syria, and the local Christians fear for the future. A banner denounced “the lies of Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya”. The two satellite TV channels, one financed by Qatar, the other by Saudi Arabia, have been accused of partiality, spreading unverified rumours and acting as instruments of those seeking to overthrow the regime. This is not entirely false, but government restrictions on foreign journalists help the rumours to spread. The regime has banned the Lebanese dailies Al-Akhbar and Al-Safir, which have always sided with the Syrian government and Hizbullah against Israel but have condemned the killings. Thousands of people gathered in front of Hejaz Station to protest against the US ambassador’s visit to Hama and western interference in Syrian affairs. It was a holiday, and none of the young people taking part were civil servants or schoolchildren forced into demonstrating. The regime still has its supporters, even if their numbers have dwindled (1): some of the minorities, who are worried that Islamists will seize power, and some of the bourgeoisie (including Sunni Muslims), which has grown rich over the past decade thanks to economic opening-up. Damascus (where most demonstrations are in the suburbs) and Aleppo have yet to move; it is the poorer regions (such as Deraa), where the ruling Ba’ath Party drew its strength in the 1960s and 1970s that have mobilised, feeling that they have been abandoned over the past decade. Damascus has changed: hundreds of traders have set up stalls along its pavements; nobody dares move itinerant salesmen on; the traffic ignores the speed limit; buildings go up without planning permission. The police are busy elsewhere and respect for the law is declining, in spite of a government advertising campaign appealing to citizens: “Great or small, we respect the law”, “Optimistic or pessimistic, we respect the law”. “The bullets killed our fear,” said one person I talked to. Half a dozen opponents of the government had sat down to dinner in an open-air restaurant, “in broad daylight”, without fear of being overheard. They all knew they might be arrested the next day, but now they were acting openly. Should they take part in the “national dialogue” meeting that the government had called, due to begin the next day? Most were sceptical and only one intended to go, in order to “to make my opinion heard”. “What is the point of discussing new laws,” asked another, “if nothing changes in practice? Do we really need new laws to give political parties freedom of action right away, or to ask independent figures to run one of the ‘official’ daily papers?” (2). A third talked of the amnesties: “I was put in prison and, in spite of the first amnesty, I was not freed, although the only charge against me was of making a speech on foreign television. The constitution forbids torture, but it takes place on a daily basis.” Boycotted by the opposition, the national dialogue was broadcast live. For the first time on official television, the Syrian people were able to hear many voices denounce the regime’s choice of the “security option” and abuses of power by the police and the shabbiha (“ghost”) militias, which are often made up of criminals. The regime justifies itself by talking of a foreign conspiracy. It is clear that a weakening, or even the fall, of the regime is an objective for the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and rightwing forces in Lebanon (3). But the crisis is an internal one, and demands an internal solution. Michel Kilo, a long-term opponent of the regime who has spent years in prison, believes there must be a transition, and that it can only begin if two conditions are met: “Repression at local level must stop; the ‘street’ — the committees that organise resistance in each neighbourhood and town — must participate. The ‘street’ is the true protagonist of our revolution; the opposition parties and the key figures no longer represent many people.” I met an educated young woman who, although rather nervous — she is wanted by the police — believes in a better future. She is part of a national leadership of the resistance committees that is using the internet to coordinate political positions and actions. “We don’t want to become a political party. Our role is to be present on the ground, to unite all the different watchwords and points of view, and to develop our information functions. We are learning to look beyond our prejudices, to work together. We all express our hopes and fears in different ways; some of us are Muslim Brothers, some are secular, others are Arab nationalists, but we all want the same thing: a civilian government. And we reject violence. In August, it will be Ramadan, the most sacred time for Muslims. For a whole month, there will be communal prayers every evening; every day will be a Friday.” Alain Gresh is founder and director of the online publication OrientXXI.info and the author of Un Chant d’amour: Israël-Palestine, une histoire française, La Découverte, Paris, 2017. (1) The best analysis of the Syrian crisis and of its protagonists can be found in two reports published in July 2011 by the International Crisis Group, “The Syrian People’s Slow-motion Revolution” and “The Syrian Regime’s Slow-motion Suicide”; www.crisisgroup.org (2) Al-Baath (the Ba’ath Party daily), Tishreen (government-run) and Al-Thawra (also government-run but slightly more open). Another daily paper, Al-Watan, is owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of the president and one of Syria’s richest and most hated men. (3) A section of the Christian right in Lebanon shares the fears of many Syrian Christians and refuses to attack the Syrian regime. Alain Gresh is vice president of Le Monde diplomatique français — Jours de tourmente en Syrie Español — Días de agitación en Siria « Iceland’s loud No » « Global reaction against reactors »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line905
__label__wiki	0.533278	0.533278	German automakers confront a diesel rebellion in their own backyard by Ivana Kottasová @ivanakottasova August 2, 2017: 12:07 PM ET 3 things you need to know about the Volkswagen scandal German automakers are frantically trying to save diesel. Executives representing the country's top car brands -- Volkswagen (VLKAF), Audi, Porsche, BMW (BMWYY), Opel and Daimler (DDAIF) -- met with German government officials on Wednesday amid growing calls for cities to ban diesel cars over pollution concerns. The carmakers agreed at the meeting to retrofit over 5 million vehicles with a software update that reduces nitrogen oxides emissions by as much as 30%, according to a statement issued by the German Association of the Automotive Industry. The companies said they would cover the cost of the voluntary upgrade. They also said it would not hurt an engine's performance, fuel consumption or service life. Environmental activists have been pressuring authorities to improve air quality by cracking down on diesel cars, which were at the center of a major emissions scandal that has roiled the industry. A judge ruled last week that Stuttgart, the hometown of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, may have to ban or severely limit diesel vehicles to bring down pollution and meet air quality standards. It could happen as soon as January 1. Other German cities also face legal challenges to their clean air plans. On one side of the issue are the angry voters, who are demanding tougher regulation and cleaner air. They are opposed by a mighty car industry that keeps the German economy humming. With a national election looming in September, the government must carefully balance the competing interests. A crucial industry One in every five cars worldwide carries a German brand and the country's economy relies heavily on the industry. Germany is home to 41 automobile assembly and engine production plants, and the sector employs over 800,000 people. That makes it a powerful voice in regional and national politics. Industry sales totaled €404 billion ($477 billion) in 2016, according to the industry's association. Cars and auto parts accounted for roughly one fifth of all German exports (€260 billion or $308 billion). Still, many Germans think more could be done to reduce pollution. A study commissioned by the newspaper Die Welt showed that 73% of Germans think government policies toward the auto industry are too soft on the issue of air pollution. Related: These countries want to ditch gas and diesel cars Nearly half of all new cars sold in Western Europe still run on diesel, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. But the technology is under increasing pressure. Daimler said in July that it believes a ban on diesel cars is a bad idea because it would hurt the economy, trade and commuters. "In our view there are other measures that could contribute more easily, effectively and faster to the reduction of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides," the company said in a statement. Britain, France, Norway and India all want to completely ditch gas and diesel cars in favor of cleaner vehicles. At least 10 other countries, including Germany, China and Japan, have electric car sales targets in place. Industry problems The industry is still trying to turn the page on its diesel scandal. Volkswagen (VLKAF) admitted in 2015 that it had been cheating on diesel emissions tests after its vehicles in the U.S. were found to be emitting up to 40 times the legal limit on nitrogen oxide. Other automakers including Daimler (DDAIF), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) and Renault (RNLSY) are also facing probes over diesel emissions. More trouble could be on the horizon. In July, European antitrust confirmed they were looking into claims that Germany's major carmakers may have been operating a cartel since the 1990s, colluding on everything from vehicle development to diesel emissions systems. -- Nadine Schmidt and Chris Burns contributed reporting. CNNMoney (London) First published August 2, 2017: 8:39 AM ET	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line906
__label__cc	0.65745	0.34255	AFSA Is Awarding $20,000 In Scholarships To High School Seniors Sometimes, a financial boon can come from the oddest sources. Sometimes, a financial boon can come from the oddest sources. Chances are you don’t really think of the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA), often, but Rolling Out reports that the organization is spreading the word about fire sprinklers while offering $20,000 in scholarships to high school seniors. The 2017-2018 contest is open now through April 1, 2018, and is available to high school seniors who wish to pursue a college degree or technical education. Ten winners will be randomly chosen, and each winner will receive a $2,000 prize that will be paid directly to the accredited educational institution of the winner’s choice, to be used for tuition and/or books for the fall 2018 semester. Seniors who want to enter need to visit afsascholarship.org, where they read an educational essay and then are asked to take an eight-question, multiple-choice reading comprehension test. For each question answered correctly, students receive one entry into a drawing for one of the 10 $2Kscholarships. A total of eight entries into the drawing are possible. The 2016-2017 contest garnered 70,742 entries, as well as 185K unique hits, translating into people learning about the benefits of fire sprinklers, how fire sprinklers operate, campus fire safety, and careers in the industry. Last year’s winners have shared the life-safety message with others and taken it to heart themselves. Winner Anna Newton who is studying nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill in North Carolina says: “I was looking up scholarships on Google and did not know much at all before this contest. They are vital to the safety and protection of your homes and families.” Winner Zachary Duncan, who plans to be a meteorologist, states he now “understands how important it is to have fire sprinklers installed. The impact fire sprinklers can have on the safety of people and the preservation of property is enormous.” Students who have already graduated from high school or earned a GED have a chance to get in on the action as well, though they’ll have to wait until next year.The Second Chance Scholarship Contest offers five $1K scholarships annually, and is targeted towards those seeking to pursue a college degree or trade school education — including returning military, parents returning to the workforce, as well as high school seniors. Dr Boyce Watkins: Nick Cannon’s racial battle with NBC makes him a hero Papa John’s Called Out By Pizza Industry Over NFL Protest Comments Editorsgrey3 Understanding Insurance Offered By Rental Car Companies Does Trinity College Represent A Caste System In American Education? This Man Got 55,000 Instagram Followers With Only 6 Posts- Learn His Secrets Lottery Winner Plans To Use $52 Million Winnings To Boost Historic Community Director Says We Can’t Trust Hollywood To Tell Our Stories Detroit Restaurant Faces 300% Rent Hike, Possibly Being Pushed Out OMG! Amazon’s Cuts Whole Foods Prices 43%	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line907
__label__wiki	0.548666	0.548666	Find Out How Much Floyd Mayweather And Conor McGregor Are Slated To Make Saturday will be coming soon enough, and with it is one of the most anticipated fights in quite some time, between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. Saturday will be coming soon enough, and with it is one of the most anticipated fights in quite some time, between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. Many purists are a bit skeptical about the fight, as the MMA fighter McGregor is taking his skills to a boxing ring, and people feel that this is more of a media circus than a true piece of athletic competition. However, even if the fight disappoints, it will likely be worth it for both men, and according to Celebrity Net Worth, it’s all about the bottom line. Mayweather knew this fact well, as he mentioned that the only way he would come out of retirement and put his undefeated streak on the line for a potential 50th fight is if he brought a nine-figure payday. All things look like he will get his wish at a bare minimum, with the potential to come home with nearly half-a billion for one night’s work. There is potentially $100 million as a baseline for the fight, while McGregor will earn at least $75 million. Note that that number is five times more than McGregor ever made in a UFC event–certainly explaining why he may feel interest in stepping outside of his comfort zone. McGregor has seen big money from endorsement deals, but the fact that he could pull in a paycheck like that for the fight itself is something new. According to info from Boxing Kingdom, if the pay-per-view numbers are a hit (and interest is certainly at a high), McGregor stands to earn a purse of $127 million. Mayweather, meanwhile, could make $400 million. This is $150 million more than he's ever made in the ring to date. Note that these numbers are all estimates, as the two sides have a confidentiality agreement that limits what can be shared publicly. The day before the fight, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will release the purses, but this fails to account for PPV, gate percentages, and other bonuses. No matter the result, both men are winning out financially for this fight taking place. Is there any loser at all? One loser could be UFC President Dana White, who says that he expects McGregor to defend his UFC Lightweight title. But with a payday like this, he could certainly afford to leave that world behind if he wishes. Program Teaches Students About Business By Having Them Run One What Makes A Great Small Business Leader Dr Boyce Watkins: Her mother was dying, but the corporation still forced her to go to work Several Black groups aim to empower authors and entrepreneurs with BWOT Dr Boyce Watkins: Don’t teach your kids to get a job, teach them to CREATE a job Bonita_Fambro Is Black Entrepreneurship The Key To Closing The Wealth Gap Between Blacks And Whites? Dick Gregory - The Entrepreneur Remembered Reality Check: Half of Self Published Authors Don’t Even Hit the $500 Mark How One Woman Went From The Post Office To Interior Design	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line908
__label__wiki	0.765176	0.765176	Subject: The Investment Lesson Behind the Kodak Bankruptcy URL: http://mney.co/1XC0b1k 5 + = nine Required Please enter the correct value. S&P Index The Investment Lesson Behind the Kodak Bankruptcy By Martin Hutchinson, Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning - February 10, 2012 The recent bankruptcy of Eastman Kodak reminds investors they don't make companies like they used to. Founded in 1892, Kodak shows that very few of these 19th century giants exist anymore. Companies, like washing machines, just don't have the staying power they used to. Even the largest companies these days are unlikely to outlast a 40-year investing career. The evidence for this increased corporate mortality rate is both substantial and startling. According to John Hagel III, Co-Chairman of Deloitte LLP Center for the Edge and author of "The Power of Pull" (Basic Books, 2010), the lifespan of such companies is now about 15 years. That's a stunning change from 1937 when the average life expectancy of the companies in the Standard and Poor's 500 Index was 75 years. A similar 1983 study of the 1970 Fortune 500 found the life expectancy of its companies to be around 40 years, with a third of them vanishing in the intervening 13 years. Thus the progression from 75-year corporate lifespans to 40 and now to 15 since 1937 has been clear and more or less smooth. To continue reading, please click here... Buy, Sell or Hold: When to Buy Shares of Facebook Are Federal Reserve Presidents Gaming the System? By Jack Barnes, Global Macro Trends Specialist, Money Morning - February 7, 2012 You might have heard.... Facebook Inc. (NYSE: FB) is the most awaited initial public offering (IPO) since Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG). The recent registration of the company's IPO documents means it won't be long until Facebook shares begin trading freely. But will Facebook shares make you rich beyond your wildest dreams like mural painter David Choe? Or would you be better off watching from the sidelines before you buy shares of the social media giant? The Details behind the Facebook IPO Here's what I've learned from Facebook's S-1. Some of the data points buried in the IPO document are eye-opening, to say the least. Chief among those are Facebook's assertion that 6% to 7% of the entire world population logs in every day. More importantly, they stay logged in for a significant amount of time. However, what will happen in the future to drive the stock's share price after it's brought to market is buried deeper in the details. It's these details that make Facebook's IPO a hold if you already own shares, but also a "wait to buy" if you are like most people and want to own them. In a nutshell, what I've learned is the banks are bringing Facebook to market fully priced. My opinion is the bankers have gotten greedy and decided to push the valuation numbers above the levels that I believe are sustainable. The company is being valued at $75 billion - $100 billion dollars at launch. This would make it one of the most valuable companies in the world, yet its actual revenue, let alone profitability, is at a more mundane level. Currently, Facebook is reporting about $4 billion in revenue and profits of $1 billion. That means if Facebook prices in at the top of its estimated range ($100 billion), based on current disclosures it would have a 100-to-1 price to earnings (P/E) ratio. In other words, it's only going to take about 100 years for Facebook to eventually earn what it may price at. Compared to other blockbuster stocks, that's quite rich. By comparison, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) has $100 billion in cash and a P/E ratio of 11 while Google's P/E is 20. That's why it's time to "Hold" Facebook (**) or wait to buy it until insiders get a chance to sell their shares and bring the price down to levels common people can realistically afford to purchase. To continue reading please click here... By David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @DavidGZeiler - February 6, 2012 The presidents of the U.S. Federal Reserve may not have used their knowledge for personal gain, but a look at their assets does show several apparent conflicts of interests. More than 600 pages of disclosure documents were released last week after Bloomberg News filed a Freedom of Information Act request. The most troubling revelation concerned […] About Us How Money Morning Works FAQs Contact Us Search Article Archive Forgot Username/Password Login to Private Briefing Address: 1125 N Charles Street \| Baltimore, MD 21201 \| USA \| Phone: 888.384.8339 I Disclaimer \| Sitemap \| Privacy Policy \| Whitelist Us	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line909
__label__wiki	0.97591	0.97591	If you see one Express game this season, club hopes you can make it Saturday Jim Parker, Windsor Star If you go to just one Windsor Express game this season, Jim Walls wants it to be Saturday. A season-ticket holder for all seven seasons that the club has been in Windsor, Walls has helped to organize the club’s Project Support initiative for Saturday’s game against the London Lightning at the WFCU Centre. Game time is 7 p.m. “I love the team,” said the 73-year-old Walls, who is a retired school principal. “I would hate to lose the team and know how hard they work. I offered my help and I had this idea.” Attendance has been an issue for the club ever since the NBL of Canada granted Windsor a franchise. “I remember the days when Windsor was basketball,” Walls said. “All the best players came through here or they were from here.” The Express has produced two league titles in seven years, but that has not translated to fans at the gate. The club averages about 1,000 fans per game, which included 960 on hand Friday to see the club win for the fifth time in six games with a 102-86 win over the Saint John Riptide. “It’s about the same as last year, but its worse in some case,” Express president and CEO Dartis Willis said of attendance. “Discounts don’t work. Promotions don’t work.” And Saturday’s game won’t come with any ticket discounts, which range from $20 for adults to $13 for youths age 13 and under. “You know what, sometimes you just need to know you’ve got the support and show it and I think that’s what Jim is after,” Willis said. “We don’t want to make it a discount this or a discount that. Come out and just say you support. I think the players will appreciate even more than I would. We want to get the most fans we can get in the building.” Walls has been out trying to pump up support for the event, but honestly doesn’t know what will come of the project. “Hopefully, from this point, we can continue to push for support and grow the fan base,” Walls said. “Show up, buy a ticket and bring a friend. “It’s hard to know for me. I know I’ve contacted many of my friends. They’re all thinking the same thing. I’ll have no idea until the game on Saturday, but everyone says it’s a good idea. You just do what you can. I’m just a loyal fan, who wants to see them do well and want to see them succeed.” Bill Jones, who has served as head coach of the Express for all seven seasons, would love to see the WFCU Centre filled for one night. “It’s my seventh year and I love Windsor and I love coming over here every day,” Jones said. “I wish the fans would jump on board and support us a little bit, but, you know, one fan at a time. Hopefully, this initiative will go and we’ll be able to fill this place up.” The Express (7-8), rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second quarter to get the win with DeAndre Thomas and Horace Wormely each scoring 18 points. Juan Pattillo had 17 points against Saint John (4-12) while Tyrrel Tate and Ryan Anderson finished with 12 points and Chris Jones with 11 points off the bench. jpparker@postmedia.com twitter.com/winstarparker While you were sleeping: Child sex-doll ban, fatal fire in Dhaka,... Jack Todd: Baseball has become an exercise in tedium Photos: Def Leppard brings heavy metal to Montreal	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line911
__label__wiki	0.919232	0.919232	Drop in to the Army.ca Chat Room. The Mess » Foreign Militaries » Topic: The Russian Military Merged Thread- Navy Pages: 1 ... 10 11 [12] 13 Go Down Author Topic: The Russian Military Merged Thread- Navy (Read 154668 times) MarkOttawa Two birthdays Re: The Russian Military Merged Thread- Navy « Reply #275 on: March 15, 2017, 13:56:53 » New Yasen-class SSNs--not SLCMs, possible threat to North America and worry for NORAD; seven in all to be built: Russia's Most Powerful Nuclear Attack Submarine Ever Is Almost Ready for Sea Russia is set to launch its second Yasen-class nuclear-powered attack submarine on March 30. Called Kazan, the new vessel is an upgraded Project 885M design that is in many ways much more capable than the lead ship of the class, K-560 Severodvinsk. "Kazan is expected to be rolled out and put afloat on March 30," a Russian defense source told the Moscow-based TASS news agency. The Russian Navy will take delivery of Kazan in 2018. Once the vessel is operational, she will be the most formidable enemy submarine that the U.S. Navy has ever faced. “It’s probably the most capable nuclear powered submarine out there fielded by a potential adversary,” Center for Naval Analyses Russian military affairs specialist Michael Kofman told The National Interest. Indeed, Kazan is expected to be substantially improved over her older sister, the Severodvinsk... “[Severodvinsk] is Russia’s first truly multipurpose submarine,” Michael Kofman and Norman Polmar wrote in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings journal. “The Severodvinsk is capable of antisubmarine, antiship, and land-attack missions. Among the more interesting features are a large bow sonar dome for the Irtysh-Amfora sonar system and an amidships battery of eight vertical-launch cells that can carry 32 Kalibr (SS-N-27/30 Sizzler) or Oniks (SS-N-26 Strobile) cruise missiles. These antiship and land-attack weapons are particularly significant after Russian surface ships and submarines fired long-range missiles into Syria in 2016 [emphasis added].” Russia plans to build a total of seven Project 885M submarines—Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Arkhangelsk and Perm are currently under construction at the Sevmash shipyards on the White Sea port city of Severodvinsk... http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-most-powerful-nuclear-attack-submarine-ever-almost-19775 Graphic of Severodvinsk: Build Limited Missile Defenses Against Russian, Chinese Strikes: Experts http://breakingdefense.com/2017/03/build-limited-missile-defenses-against-russian-chinese-strikes-experts/ Ça explique, mais ça n'excuse pas. Plus on SSBN Borei-class front: Russia to Launch 1st Project 955A SSBN Submarine Knyaz Vladimir in August-September 2017 The Project 955A Borei-A class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Knyaz Vladimir will be floated out in August or September 2017, a source in Russia’s defense industry told TASS. "The fourth Borei-class submarine is planned to be put afloat in August or September 2017," the source said in reply to the relevant question. The submarine Knyaz Vladimir was laid down in 2012. It will be the fourth out of eight Project 955 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and the first vessel built under improved project 955A. Russia’s Navy has already received three Project 955 submarines. The submarines Knyaz Oleg and Generalissimo Suvorov were laid down in 2014. The submarines Emperor Alexander III and Knyaz Pozharsky were laid down in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Each submarine carries 16 Bulava (NATO reporting name: SS-NX-32) intercontinental ballistic missiles. A source in Russia’s defense industry told TASS earlier that the submarine Knyaz Vladimir would join the Navy in 2018 or one year later than planned. The submarine was expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2017... http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2017/march-2017-navy-naval-forces-defense-industry-technology-maritime-security-global-news/4988-russia-to-launch-1st-project-955a-ssbn-submarine-knyaz-vladimir-in-august-september-2017.html West coast best coast. I get paid to travel. I just don't pick where. Did someone forget to tell the Russians that ASW is dead? Philip II of Macedon to Spartans (346 BC): "You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city." Reply: "If." Quote from: Dimsum on March 15, 2017, 17:19:17 I think someone forgot to tell the GoC it isn't dead. CASEX tomorrow! Article Link Masters of the Arctic: Russia to Permanently Station Submarines in Icy North Russian combat submarines have returned to the Arctic region, where they will increase their presence in the near future, Rear Admiral Viktor Kochemazov, the head of the combat training department of the Russian Navy, told the Russian newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda. In an interview with the Russian newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Rear Admiral Viktor Kochemazov, the head of the combat training department of the Russian Navy, said that the next few years will see Russian battle submarines increasing their presence in the Arctic region. Developing the Arctic Ocean basin is one of the main tasks set by the Russian Commander-in-Chief, a task that Kochemazov said will be resolved by stationing Russian submarines there on a permanent basis. Kochemazov noted that after a long pause, the advanced Russian nuclear powered submarines have returned to the Arctic Ocean, including the Borey- and Yasen-class multipurpose ballistic missile submarines. He recalled that the Kalibr missile systems were earlier successfully used against the terrorist group Daesh in Syria. "I want to note that the development and testing of new types of weapons is underway; in this vein, we are not lagging behind the NATO countries, and in some respects we even surpass them," Kochemasov said. Separately, he noted that in order to improve the professional training of submarine crews, competitions are regularly held among Russian Navy units, in what is expected to add significantly to the combat capability of the Russian submarines. jollyjacktar « Reply #280 on: April 27, 2017, 12:24:30 » Ivan has lost a naval recce ship in a collision off the coast of Turkey. Russian navy vessel sinks after collision off Turkey Crew of both ships safe after crash near Bosphorus Strait Thomson Reuters Posted: Apr 27, 2017 8:02 AM ET\| Last Updated: Apr 27, 2017 11:10 AM ET A Russian reconnaissance ship sank after it collided with a Togo-flagged cargo vessel off the Turkish coast on Thursday, according to Turkey's coastal safety authority. The Russian ship Liman and the other vessel, identified by authorities as Youzarsif H, collided in fog and low visibility in the Black Sea. The Turkish coast guard said all 78 personnel aboard the Russian ship were rescued after it sent a tugboat and three fast rescue vessels to the area. The freighter sustained minor damage — it is able to continue sailing — and all crew members are safe, according Turkey's transportation minister. The ship was taking sheep from Romania to Jordan, according to Turkish broadcaster NTV. Russia's defence ministry said the collision occurred about 40 kilometres northwest of the Bosphorus Strait. The Bosphorus, which cuts through Istanbul, is one of the world's most important waterways for transit of oil and grains. The 27-kilometre waterway connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. With files from The Associated Press and CBC News © Thomson Reuters, 2017 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russian-ship-collision-1.4088014 « Reply #281 on: August 04, 2017, 15:48:29 » Aging sub woes (note cruise missiles re NORAD): A Grim Future For Russia’s Nuclear Sub Fleet The Kremlin can't replace its aging subs fast enough In March 2017, Russia’s new Yasen-class nuclear attack submarine Kazan launched at the northern port city of Severodvinsk. Perhaps the quietest Russian submarine ever, the event was further evidence the Kremlin can still build capable and lethal subs capable of a variety of missions, including cruise-missile attack. But it won’t be enough. The Russian navy — already badly depleted since the collapse of the Soviet Union — can’t quickly replace most of its existing nuclear submarine fleet, which is approaching the end of its collective lifespan. The outcome will likely mean a shrinking of the Russian nuclear submarine force in the years ahead. By 2030, the bulk of Russia’s nuclear-powered attack and cruise-missile submarines will be in their mid-thirties at least — with some pushing into their forties. For perspective, the three oldest active American attack submarines, the Los Angeles-class USS Dallas, Bremerton and Jacksonville, are all 36 years old and waiting to be decommissioned during the next three years. Submarines wear out in old age, particularly due to hull corrosion. Another serious concern is corrosion affecting components inside the nuclear reactor compartments, but data surrounding this subject are tightly guarded secrets among the world’s navies. More to the point, naval vessels staying in service during old age require more maintenance and longer rest periods. Given that only around half of Russia’s submarine force — a charitable estimate — can be at sea at any given time, a force made up of mostly old boats will strain operational readiness. The Kremlin’s relatively new multi-role Yasen class, of which two — the Severodvinsk and Kazan — launched in 2010 and 2017 respectively, cannot make up for the future retirements of Russia’s 11 Akulas, three Sierras, four Victor III attackers and eight Oscar II cruise missile subs, which are all getting long in the tooth. The youngest Akula class, Gepard, entered service in 2000. Most date to the early 1990s. The Yasen is a late-Soviet design with seven planned submarines, with the last one planned to enter service in 2023. This is again being generous given the Yasen class’ enormous expense, which is twice as high as one of Russia’s new ballistic missile subs. While Russia could attempt to keep its Cold War-era subs going as long as possible, “given the obvious risk of rising costs, Russia will be able to have no more than 50 percent of the current number of nuclear submarines [by 2030],” the Russian military blog BMPD warned in a particularly grim assessment. Russia’s ballistic missile submarines will be in somewhat better shape in 2030. Few countries possess “boomers” capable of dumping nuclear warheads into enemy cities — the United States, India, China, France, the United Kingdom and North Korea. Russia currently has 13, including three from the new Borey class, with up to five more on the way. But by 2030, Russia’s three Delta III, six Delta IV-class boomers and its one Typhoon class will all be at least 40 years old if they remain in service. Nevertheless, even if Russia scrapped these boats and only relied on its newer Boreys, no country can likely match them in numbers except for the United States, China and possibly India... http://warisboring.com/a-grim-future-for-russias-nuclear-submarine-fleet/ Negative appreciation of state of Russian Navy: Why Russia's Once Superpower Navy Is in Big Trouble Over the past year, the Russian Navy has undertaken several high visibility operations, most notably the deployment of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov off the coast of Syria, and the launch of cruise missiles from ships based in the Caspian Sea. Russian submarine activity has also increased, although not quite to the level seen in the Cold War. But Moscow might be best advised to heed Matthew 26:41 where maritime adventures are concerned; “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The Russian Navy is a mess, and it will probably become more of a mess in the future. Current Ships The Russian Navy inherited a massive, modern fleet of surface ships and submarines. Most of these disappeared in short order, as Russia was incapable of maintaining such a flotilla. The remaining major units of the Russian Navy are very old, and in questionable states of repair. Of the twenty-four major surface combatants operated by the Russian Navy, three (the frigates of the Admiral Grigorovich class) were laid down after the end of the Cold War. Most of the holdouts from the Soviet Navy are approaching the end of their useful lifespans, although the Russians have made some effort at refitting and updating parts of the fleet. How long the Russians can keep the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in a kind of service without a major refit is up for serious question, but despite ambitious promises no replacement has been laid down. The nuclear battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy has remained active for the past decade, and reports persist that Admiral Nakhimov will return to service in the next couple of years, but both ships are in excess of thirty years old. If Moscow built every ship that they had promised to build over the past decade, then the Russian Navy would indeed become a world class fleet. The Russian national security state thrives on the announcement of big projects, but not so much on their fulfillment. The actual record of Russian surface ship construction is, by international standards, rather grim. The biggest successes of Russian shipbuilding have been the Admiral Grigorovich (4,000 tons) and the Admiral Gorshkov (5,400 tons) frigates. The former have endured construction times of roughly seven years; the latter of nine or so years. Two Grigorovich frigates have entered service, with four more under construction. The first Gorshkov should enter service sometime later this year, with three more on the way. By contrast, it took the British about six years to construct the Type 45 destroyers; the Americans about four for an Arleigh Burke; the Japanese four years for an Atago; and the Chinese about four for a Type 052D. All of these ships are roughly twice the size of the frigates Russia is struggling to complete [and RCN?]. The twelve ships of the Lider class, a proposed 17,000 ton destroyer, could easily replace the existing cruisers and destroyers of the fleet, but there is little indication that the Kremlin plans to lay these ships down, much less complete them in a reasonable timeframe... The strength of Russia’s position depends, to great extent, on an evaluation of the centrality of nuclear submarines to naval power. Nuclear submarines, in both their ballistic missile and attack variants, are really the only things that the Russian shipbuilding industry has done well since the end of the Cold War. While the size of the flotilla has dropped (thirteen SSBNs, seven SSGNs, seventeen SSNs and about twenty diesels, depending on what’s available that day), the Russian Navy has worked hard to ensure that replacements are on the way. The eight submarines of the Borei class (three in service, five under construction) should serve as a capable deterrent for the foreseeable future, and the seven Yasen class nuclear attack submarines provide a modern complement to Russia’s existing stock of Sierra, Oscar and Akula class subs... [More links at original of this para] Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to TNI, is author of The Battleship Book. He serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. His work includes military doctrine, national security, and maritime affairs. He blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money and Information Dissemination and The Diplomat. http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russias-once-superpower-navy-big-trouble-21796?page=show Quote from: MarkOttawa on March 15, 2017, 17:04:19 A later article on the Knyaz Vladimir : Russia to Launch its Deadliest Ballistic Missile Submarine in August The Russian Navy will float out an improved variant of its latest class of ballistic missile submarines in the summer. The Russian Navy will launch the first advanced variant of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) Project 955A Borei II-class (“North Wind”) aka Dolgorukiy-class in August, the head of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Korolyov, announced on June 26 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The new boomer, christened Knyaz Vladimir (Prince Vladimir), will strengthen Russia’s sea-based nuclear deterrent, according to the admiral. “In August this year, the Severodvinsk-based Sevmash Shipyard will flout out the new Borei-class strategic underwater cruiser, the Prince Vladimir, which will strengthen the potential of the nuclear component of the Navy’s submarine fleet,” he said, TASS news agency reports. The Knyaz Vladimir, the lead boat of the improved Borei II-class, was laid down in July 2012 at the Sevmash Shipyards in Severodvinsk, a port city on Russia’s White Sea, following a two year delay due to contract disputes between the Russian Ministry of Defense and the ship contractor, which pushed back the commissioning date of the ship from 2017 to 2018. The likely 2018 commissioning date was confirmed by Vice Admiral Viktor Bursuk, the deputy commander of the Russian Navy, in March. The major difference between the Borei and Borei II-class is the latter’s capability to carry a much bigger nuclear payload, as I noted elsewhere (See: “Russia Will Start Constructing New Ballistic Missile Submarine in December”): In comparison to the Borei-class, Borei II-class submarines are fitted with four additional missile tubes, boast smaller hulls and cons, and feature improved acoustics and lower sound levels, next to a number of other technical improvements. Both variants of Borei-class subs will be armed with Bulava (RSM-56) intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The Borei-class will be capable of carrying up to 16 Bulava ICBMs, whereas the improved Borei II-class can carry up to 20 ballistic missiles. The improved variant of the Borei-class will be capable of launching 96-200 hypersonic, independently maneuverable warheads, yielding 100-150 kilotons apiece. The Russian Navy plans to operate eight Borei-class SSBNs–three Borei-class and five improved Borei II-class boats–by 2o25. As of new, three Borei-class SSBNs have been commissioned to date with one submarine, the Yuri Dolgoruky, serving with the Northern Fleet and the remaining two–Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir Monomakh—deployed with Russia’s increasingly more active Pacific Fleet. Next, to announcing the launch of the Knyaz Vladimir, Admiral Korolyov also told reporters on June 26 that Russia is developing a next-generation nuclear-powered submarines. “Along with this, work is already under way to develop fifth-generation nuclear-powered submarines,” the admiral said. As I reported in June 2015, the new sub class will likely consist of two variants specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare missions. “The main purpose of the [underwater interceptor] is to protect groups of [ballistic] missile carrying submarines, and to battle with enemy submarines. The second ship will be a cruise missile carrier [used] for defeating coastal and surface targets,” a senior Russian defense industry official said at the time. « Reply #284 on: September 02, 2017, 15:09:35 » Red October Revisited: Massive Submarine Hunt Along Norwegian Coast After a series of agonizingly unsuccessful submarine hunts in Sweden, searching for Russian subs seems to have become one of the Nordics' favorite pastimes. Even now, an intense hunt for an alleged Russian submarine is taking place along Norway's coast. In the past few weeks, NATO has been at pains to locate a state-of-the-art Russian submarine along the Norwegian coastline. The suspected target is the Kazan (K-561), recently launched at Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, the Norwegian news outlet Aldrimer reported. According to Aldrimer, the hunt features maritime resources from the US, Canada, France, Germany and Norway. Maritime patrol flights are being carried out from Norway's Andøya and Bodø, Keflavik in Iceland, Lossiemouth in Scotland and also from French territory. NATO defense sources told Aldrimer that the purpose of the extensive flights is to trace the current location of the Kazan, a Russian nuclear-powered Yasen-class submarine launched on March 31 this year. The same sources ventured that NATO completely lost track of the Russian submarine, which was rumored to have been monitoring the US-UK North Atlantic exercise Saxon Warrior 2017. According to Aldrimer, the US and the UK have contributed the USS George H.W. Bush and the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers, alongside a number of frigates, missile cruisers and a destroyer. Meanwhile, the Norwegian Navy contributed the KNM Helge Ingstad frigate to the search party. The US, Canada and France are responsible for scouting the southern parts of the search area, whereas Norway and Germany jointly run P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft in areas north of Andøya. The P-3C were previously revealed to be struggling with submarine detection. The Twitter account MIL_Radar, which regularly reports on military aviation movements, recently published a map chart over the North Atlantic, which allegedly only reflected a small part of the operation. When confronted with the graphics and asked to clarify whether a submarine hunt was underway along the Norwegian coast, the Norwegian Armed Forces Operational Headquarters (FOH) declined to comment. https://twitter.com/MIL_Radar/status/902218958207672321 The Kazan's predecessor, the Severodvinsk, which also became the flagship of the Yasen-class, has a submerged displacement of 13,800 tons, a length of 119 meters, can travel up to 31 knots per hour, even in submerged mode, and can dive to 600 meters. Yasen-class submarines are widely regarded as being fearsome opponents with no adequate counterparts and are far quieter compared with older-generation Russian submarines. Russia plans to have at least eight Yasen class cruise-missile carrying attack vessels in its submarine fleet. « Reply #285 on: January 05, 2018, 16:23:30 » Russian navy, cruise missiles and deterrence, conventional and nuclear (NORAD, RCAF and RCN [ASW and surface-to-air missile capabilities on CSC] note): The Russian Navy Is Relying More on Precision-Guided Weapons And less on nukes for deterrence By Dave Majumdar The Russian navy will be focusing more effort on fielding new long-range precision-guided weapons as a form of non-nuclear strategic deterrence, reducing Moscow’s reliance on so-called “tactical” nuclear forces. Nonetheless, Russian forces are likely to retain significant non-strategic nuclear forces indefinitely into the foreseeable future. “The Navy General Command will particularly focus on forming strategic non-nuclear deterrence groups that will include vessels armed with long-range precision weapons, as well as on improving the system of naval bases and ensuring balanced supply of weapons and munitions,” Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Korolyov told the TASS news agency. The shift is a significant departure from previous policy, notes former Soviet and Russian arms control negotiator Nikolai Sokov, now a senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. “From a broader perspective this looks like a significant development because historically the Russian navy has been the greatest proponent of non-strategic nuclear weapons: they said they cannot face U.S. Navy without them,” Sokov told The National Interest. “Now they not only have new weapons, but, more importantly, a new mission; new and more capable weapons will emerge eventually.” “Moreover, weapons are usable and, perhaps even more importantly, can be deployed on a broad range of platforms, including those that have never carried nuclear weapons (big help to the Russian naval program — small vessels can be very tangible and it’s easier to cut funding for big-ticket items).” However, while the new Russian development is significant, Moscow will still rely on its nuclear forces to some extent. “This is part of an overall Russian strategy to bolster its conventional deterrence, and ability to retaliate with long range conventional weapons,” said Michael Kofman, a research scientist specializing in Russian military affairs at the Center for Naval Analysis. “However it does not obviate the navy’s role in escalation control with non-strategic nuclear weapons as clearly stipulated in the naval doctrine signed in 2017.” Russia’s conventional deterrence will be used in conjunction with its nuclear forces. “The two are not exclusive but complementary pursuits, as the former (non-nuclear deterrence) is intended to deter the U.S. from leveraging its conventional superiority, while the latter (nuclear deterrence with Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons [NSNW]) is intended for escalation control [emphasis added].” Indeed, all of Russia’s new long-range precision-guided weapons are dual nuclear and conventional capable weapons. “The missiles are the same, the difference is solely in the payload,” Kofman said. “You can logically assume that nuclear-tipped missiles will have substantially longer ranges [emphasis added, really?].”.. https://warisboring.com/the-russian-navy-is-relying-more-on-precision-guided-weapons/ Very interesting ship. https://youtu.be/E4iZv_Mjl0A NATO and US Navy reacting to Russians and North Atlantic (e.g. growing nuked SLCM threat)--presume RCN will be represented at Norfolk: 'Great power competition': Nato announces Atlantic command to counter Russia US to reactivate its Second Fleet and host new naval command in Norfolk, Virginia, amid rising tensions with Moscow Amid rising tensions with Russia, the Pentagon has announced the official launch of a new naval command and the reactivation of the US Second Fleet to bolster the US and Nato presence in the Atlantic Ocean. “The return to great power competition and a resurgent Russia demands that Nato refocus on the Atlantic to ensure dedicated reinforcement of the continent and demonstrate a capable and credible deterrence effect,” said Johnny Michael, a Pentagon spokesman. He said the new Nato command “will be the linchpin of trans-Atlantic security”. The decision reflects escalating worries across Europe and within Nato over Russia’s increased military presence and patrols in the Atlantic region. Under the new plan, the US will set up Nato’s new Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. Outlines of the plan were approved at the February meeting of Nato defence ministers as part of a broader effort to ensure the security of the sea lanes and lines of communication between Europe and North America. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at the time: “We have seen a much more assertive Russia, we have seen a Russia which has over many years invested heavily in their military capabilities, modernized their military capabilities, which are exercising not only conventional forces but also nuclear forces.” He said the new Atlantic Command would be vital for the alliance to be able to respond. Nato also created a new logistics command, which is expected to be located in Germany. At the same time, the US navy is re-establishing its Second Fleet command, which was was merged with the navy’s Fleet Forces command in 2011 to cut costs. The command will oversee ships, aircraft and landing forces on the east coast and northern Atlantic Ocean, and will be responsible for training forces and conducting maritime operations in the region. Restarting the command was recommended in the navy study done following the two deadly ship collisions in 2017 that killed a total of 17 sailors. Admiral John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said the move comes as the security environment “continues to grow more challenging and complex”. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/05/great-power-competition-nato-announces-atlantic-command-to-counter-russia?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Navy Reestablishes U.S. 2nd Fleet to Face Russian Threat; Plan Calls for 250 Person Command in Norfolk https://news.usni.org/2018/05/04/navy-reestablishes-2nd-fleet-plan-calls-for-250-person-command-in-norfolk From June 2016: USN “Admiral Warns: Russian Subs Waging Cold War-Style ‘Battle of the Atlantic’”–and RCN? Further to this post and the “Comments” on Russian subs (note cruise missile threat to North America)... https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/mark-collins-usn-admiral-warns-russian-subs-waging-cold-war-style-battle-of-the-atlantic-and-rcn/ Hunting for Red October and cruise-missile subs--re-created USN Second Fleet to the Arctic and Russian SSBN havens (implications for NORAD): CNO: New 2nd Fleet Boundary Will Extend North to the Edge of Russian Waters ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH – The boundaries of the Navy’s reestablished U.S. 2nd Fleet extends well past the old submarine stomping grounds of the Cold War and into waters north of Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle, near the submarine headquarters of Russia’s Northern Fleet, Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson said on Friday. “A new 2nd Fleet increases our strategic flexibility to respond — from the Eastern Seaboard to the Barents Sea,” Richardson said. “Second Fleet will approach the North Atlantic as one continuous operational space, and conduct expeditionary fleet operations where and when needed.” Richardson and new 2nd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis stressed the standup of the new command was a reflection of the National Defense Strategy from Secretary of Defense James Mattis that signaled a return to “great power competition” with nation-states, rather than the low-intensity ground wars the U.S. has waged since 2001... Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work told USNI News on Friday the extension of the boundary to Russia’s doorstep was in line with the new Mattis-led strategy. “This truly is about great power competition and demonstrating it to the great powers that we can operate in waters nearby when and where we chose to do so. It’s signaling we’re here. We’re ready to go,” Work said. “In China we have a rival that is really has a full-spectrum naval capability. The Russians truly are more of an undersea competitor. The best way to get there is to operate in those grounds close to them and not let them break out into the open ocean.” ...Richardson declined to talk to reporters about specific Russian capabilities he views as threats. However, it’s well known the Russian Navy has invested heavily in its attack submarine fleet and its new Kalibir land strike missile with about a 1,000-mile range... https://news.usni.org/2018/08/24/cno-new-2nd-fleet-boundary-will-extend-north-edge-russian-waters Anyone seriously expect any large-scale reinforcing by sea of NATO Europe would actually occur? How Russia’s Sub-Launched Missiles Threaten NATO’s Wartime Strategy NATO used to worry that Soviet subs would decimate supply convoys and carrier battle groups. Now Russia can simply wreck ports from afar. Three years ago, the Russian submarine Rostov-na-Donu wrapped up its sea trials by firing a few test missiles in the Barents Sea. This is not particularly unusual; such tests are sometimes conducted just off the Norwegian coast, close enough to be seen by the NATO ally’s border guards. Nor was it unusual for the newly commissioned attack submarine to head off toward its new homeport, Sevastopol in annexed Crimea, home of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The unusual part came in early December, when the improved Kilo-class submarine began to loiter off Syria — and on Dec. 8, unleashed a volley of Kalibr cruise missiles against what Moscow alleged were ISIS targets ashore. The cruise missile attack itself counted for little in the Syrian civil war, where both Russia and the U.S.-led coalition have been pounding targets from the air with missiles and bombs for years. But it signaled that Russia had joined the small global club that can deliver no-notice long-range strikes from the relative safety of the underwater domain. This technological achievement has game-changing implications for NATO and America’s ability to come to the aid of its European allies if Russia and the transatlantic alliance ever comes to blows in Europe... https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/10/how-russias-sub-launched-missiles-threaten-natos-wartime-strategy/151803/ Quote from: MarkOttawa on October 09, 2018, 16:25:58 Wouldn't it? Are you saying that you don't foresee any need for the US to reinforce NATO (there isn't a realistic threat from Russia), you don't think that the US would reinforce NATO (political decision not to get involved) or that the reinforcement would be by air instead of by sea? If the last I'd like to know from more knowledgeable people if that would be accurate. It's a very long flight from the US to say Poland (or Japan, or the Middle East, etc.) and I imagine the very long flights with high fuel requirements would put a major strain on US strategic airlift assets (both crews and aircraft) to transport troops, vehicles, munitions, etc. in order to reinforce and then sustain a major ground war. I would think that a more logical approach would be to use sealift to get the materials closer to the conflict zone (Atlantic coast of Europe, Japan, Guam, Saudi Arabia, etc.) then focus your airlift on shorter hops toward the front. Just a total speculation though on my part. CBH99 I would think your right. You can move A LOT more vehicles, ammo, fuel, and supplies on those massive cargo ships than you ever could with a C-17. Why move one Abrams when you could move 50? Why move 4 Humvees when you could move 100? or 200? I would think there WOULD be large scale reinforcement of Europe/NATO via the Atlantic. Between the US, Canada, and all of the EU countries relying on those reinforcements - I'm thinking the Atlantic would be a fairly high priority to control. It's the "highway" between the western countries of North America & the western countries of Europe - I'm thinking that highway between the 2 would be kept fairly clear of enemy assets. Also agree, Russia isn't a realistic threat. Could they disrupt? Sure. Full scale naval war? Their fleets are too widely dispersed in the various seas to go toe to toe with the US, Canadian, British, French, Italian, Danish, Finnish, etc etc fleets. On or below the surface. Fortune Favours the Bold...and the Smart. Wouldn't it be nice to have some Boondock Saints kicking around? More on the US re-inforcing NATO Europe by sea: ‘You’re on your own’: US sealift can’t count on US Navy escorts in the next big war In the event of a major war with China or Russia, the U.S. Navy, almost half the size it was during the height of the Cold War, is going to be busy with combat operations. It may be too busy, in fact, to always escort the massive sealift effort it would take to transport what the Navy estimates will be roughly 90 percent of the Marine Corps and Army gear the force would need to sustain a major conflict. That’s the message Mark Buzby, the retired rear admiral who now leads the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, has gotten from the Navy, and it’s one that has instilled a sense of urgency around a major cultural shift inside the force of civilian mariners that would be needed to support a large war effort. “The Navy has been candid enough with Military Sealift Command and me that they will probably not have enough ships to escort us. It’s: ‘You’re on your own; go fast, stay quiet,’” Buzby told Defense News in an interview earlier this year... https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/10/10/youre-on-your-own-us-sealift-cant-count-on-us-navy-escorts-in-the-next-big-war-forcing-changes/ All the more reason for Canada to increase the number of escort ships we have. It would also be a contribution recognized and valued by the US. There is more to contend with than Russian surface and sub-surface; naval air. The 3 combined are somewhat more capable than I think most people give them credit for. 1 unlocated Oscar is a significant threat on it's own. Any major reinforcing across the pond would likely involve both sea and air assets. Will it ever happen? Likely not but they are contingency plans for it regardless. This is true, and in the case of conflict with China - especially near it's territory - I think that's a bigger threat. Lets keep in mind the Russian carrier may or may not even be able to get underway, and may or may not be able to conduct flight operations. That's not a slant against them or the crew. It's an old ship, and as Syria showed us, it has enough difficulty generating sorties without an adversary hunting for it. I don't know how much of a role Russian naval air would play in any Atlantic conflict. NORAD/missile defence implications for RCN, RCAF: Russia’s Newest Yasen-Class Attack Submarines Are the Equal of America's Subs Russia has had a lot of wonder weapons in the news, from combat walkers to nuclear-powered cruise missiles. Many of these weapons verge on the ridiculous or are the product of propaganda, but some are legitimately concerning. One scenario that keeps Pentagon planners up at night: the threat of sea-launched cruise missiles, ferried halfway across the Atlantic by Russia’s new submarines, threading their way through American airspace to deliver their deadly nuclear warheads on unsuspecting targets. Welcome to the new Yasen-class submarines... One such project was the Project 855 nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, or Yasen-class. The first ship in the class, Severodvinsk, was laid down in December 1993. Just three years later, Moscow halted construction due to a lack of funds with only a third of the hull completed. The submarine finally entered service in 2014 as Russia’s first truly modern nuclear attack submarine of the post-Cold War era. Severodvinsk is a big submarine. She is approximately 393 feet long and displaces 11,800 tons submerged. An OK-650KPM pressurized-water nuclear reactor provides 200 megawatts of power, driving her to speeds up to 31 knots submerged. A Irtysh-Amfora sonar system provides near all-around sonar coverage, with a bow-mounted spherical sonar array, flank arrays on the hull of the submarine, and a towed sonar array dragged from the rear of the submarine while moving. The Yasen-class combat systems are formidable, with ten 533-millimeter torpedo tubes armed with UGST-M heavyweight guided torpedoes. The weapon systems of greatest concern to Western analysts however are the eight multipurpose vertical launch tubes behind the sail. These launch tubes can accommodate P-800 Oniks missiles, ramjet-powered ship killers that in the final moments of an attack speed up to a blistering Mach 2.5, all the while staying as low as 16 feet above the wavetops. Basically, a surprise attack by a Yasen armed with Oniks missiles would give U.S. carrier strike groups little time to react. Another weapon that fits in the vertical launch tubes: Kalibr land attack cruise missiles. Similar to the American Tomahawk cruise missile, Russia has launched several waves of Kalibr missiles from submarines and surface ships against Islamic State targets in Syria. Kalibr missiles are also nuclear tipped. The first Yasen submarine, Severodvinsk, can carry up to 40 Kalibr cruise missiles while the second, Kazan, can carry 32. The result is a potent potential first strike platform. For years, Russia has tried to devise a means of bypassing American ballistic missile defenses. Even though U.S. defenses are oriented against smaller states like Iran and North Korea, the Russians believe the potential exists for Washington to scale up its defenses to the point where they could threaten Moscow’s nuclear deterrent. If Washington can shoot down Russia’s missiles, that’s not much of a nuclear deterrent. U.S. missile defense efforts are concentrated against high-flying ballistic missiles. Cruise missiles like Kalibr on the other hand fly a low, terrain-hugging profile to evade early warning radars. Russia’s implied threat in fielding nuclear-tipped cruise missiles is that no matter what kind of missile defenses the U.S. deploys, Russia will seek to go around them. The problem with missiles like Kalibr is that they could easily be nuclear first-strike weapons. Kalibr has a range of 1,600 miles. As submarine expert H.I. Sutton, author of World Submarines: Covert Shores Recognition Guide, points out, a Type 855 submarine armed with Kalibr missiles “could target East Coast U.S. cities from the mid-Atlantic.” Submarines with Kalibr missiles could launch decapitation strikes against key government targets across the United States, crippling the ability of U.S. strategic forces to retaliate. The closer the launching submarine can get to the U.S. mainland, the deeper the cruise missiles can fly into North America and the harder it is to stop them [emphasis added]... https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/russia-s-newest-yasen-class-attack-submarines-are-the-e-1829644713 « Reply #297 on: December 14, 2018, 13:35:14 » USN P-8s sub-hunting (mostly) from Alaska (as well as Iceland), mainly interested in Russkies I imagine but also to keep eye out for Chinese in north: Navy Looking To Fly P-8s From Cold War-era Base In Alaska The Navy may begin deploying submarine-hunting P-8 Poseidon aircraft to a small airstrip hundreds of miles off the Alaskan coast, signaling a new emphasis on keeping watch over Russian and Chinese moves in the Arctic. The remote runway sits on the island of Adak in the Aleutian island chain, and is the westernmost airfield that can handle passenger aircraft in the United States — in fact, it currently handles Air Alaska flights two days a week. Formally known as Naval Air Facility Adak, the small airport has been operating commercially since the Navy moved out in 1997, but increasing Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic has the Navy looking at new patrols as it searches for ways to keep a closer watch on the far north. Navy officials previously estimated that reopening the base would cost around $1.3 billion, but Navy Secretary Richard Spencer indicated Wednesday at a joint hearing of the Senate subcommittees on sea power and readiness and management that he isn’t looking to reopen the entire facility. “The airstrip is in great shape,” Spencer said after the hearing when I asked about flying aircraft from the island. The Navy would likely have to pay to clean up one of the hangers, but the airport “has a fuel farm up there that Air Alaska is using to fuel its planes, it has de-icing platforms that we could use for fresh water washdowns for the P-8. They have lodging up there that is supposedly coming forward to us on a rental availability, so it really isn’t a big bill.” Navy photo Navy Secretary Richard Spencer speaks to sailors. In recent years the US has spent millions of dollars to fix up another Cold War-era airfield — Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland — to accommodate P-8s to keep watch on Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. The waterway — dubbed the GIUK Gap — is the primary outlet for Russian subs moving from their northern ports into the Atlantic [emphasis added]. The Pentagon has grown increasingly concerned over ceding ground to Russia and China in the Arctic, as both countries are outpacing the US in building icebreakers to help move ships and supplies to far-flung outposts as the region’s ice disappears due to global warming. Spencer told lawmakers “our Russian friends are warming up five airstrips and 10,000 Spetsnaz troops [in the Arctic] for quote unquote search and rescue. The Chinese are up there. Everybody is up there.” “Everybody but us,” retorted Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan... The Navy isn’t the only service looking to beef up its presence in Alaska. The Air Force suggested recently it is looking to move some of the F-22s made homeless after Hurricane Michael battered Tyndall Air Base in Florida to Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson [emphasis added]... Adak, a 3-hour flight west from Anchorage deep in the Bering Sea, would allow US aircraft to not only push deeper and more consistently into the Arctic, but give US spy planes a new base from which to keep an eye on Russia’s Pacific Fleet and the increasing number of Chinese subs prowling the Pacific [emphasis added]... https://breakingdefense.com/2018/12/navy-looking-to-fly-p-8s-from-cold-war-era-base-in-alaska/ How focused on sub-hunting in North Atlantic will RCN and RCAF be in future? One trusts USN thinking mainly of NATO's European Arctic: The Navy Is Gearing Up for 'Leaner, Agile' Operations in Arctic, North Atlantic This is not your grandfather's 2nd Fleet. The Navy's newest combatant command will be "leaner, agile and more expeditionary" than the U.S. 2nd Fleet that was deactivated in 2011, Rear Adm. John Mustin, the fleet's deputy commander, told attendants Wednesday at the Surface Navy Association's annual symposium. The 2nd Fleet, which the Navy re-established in May, is designed to assert U.S. presence in the Atlantic and support operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic. While its actual makeup is still in the works, it is expected to reach initial operational capability this summer. When it does, it will be a small fighting force [emphasis added] that has taken lessons from the service's overseas fleets and II Marine Expeditionary Force, Mustin said. "The focus of 2nd Fleet is to develop and dynamically employ maritime forces ready to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic," he said. According to the service, the fleet will serve as the maneuver arm for U.S. Navy North in the Western Atlantic, "ensuring freedom of the sea, lines of communication and executing operational missions and exercises as assigned." It also will serve as a maneuver arm for U.S. Naval Forces Europe in the Eastern and North Atlantic. The idea is that the fleet will focus on force employment, capable of deploying rapidly, regardless of area of operations. "When I say lean, what does that mean? The staff complement is organized and billeted to be operational. The majority of staff will focus on operations, intelligence, plans and training," Mustin said. The Navy first established the 2nd Fleet in the 1950s, a response to deter Soviet interest in the Atlantic, especially Europe. It was disbanded in 2011, and most of its assets and personnel were folded into Fleet Forces Command. But growing concern over potential Russian dominance in the North Atlantic and Arctic prompted Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson to reactivate the unit [emphasis added]. 2nd Fleet version 2.0, however, won't look much like its historic predecessor. Mustin said the command staff will be small, currently consisting of 85 members. The full number is still being determined, a 2nd Fleet spokeswoman said. And while technically it will be headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, Mustin said sailors can expect that it will have the ability to deploy its command-and-control element forward, with a small team operating forward from a command ship or "austere offshore location." The command also will integrate reserve forces on an as-needed basis and bolster its staff with personnel from allied nations, he added [emphasis added, RCN?]. "This is not your grandfather's 2nd Fleet or, as my staff likes to point out, my father's 2nd Fleet," Mustin said. It will resemble overseas fleets, he said, which means it will become responsible for forces entering the integrated phase of composite unit training exercises, and "we will own them through deployment and sustainment." The ships will fall under operational control of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, but tactical control will be delegated to 2nd Fleet [emphasis added]. Standing up a fleet within a year has been a challenge, Mustin said, but there's excitement surrounding the concept. He noted that many surface warfare officers interested in being assigned to the command had approached him at the symposium. "It's fast and furious, but we are getting there," he said. At the symposium, some observers questioned how integration will work with other naval fleets with overlapping areas of responsibility. Vice Adm. Lisa Franchetti, commander of 6th Fleet, said the integration will be seamless. "Our idea is not to make a line in the water. When you make lines, adversaries exploit them. Our idea is to figure out how to flow forces and how to address anything that flows our way," she said. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/01/16/navy-gearing-leaner-agile-operations-arctic-north-atlantic.html Retired AF Guy Interesting video about the Russian Akula class submarines. http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26261/video-takes-you-inside-russias-beast-devision-of-akula-class-nuclear-fast-attack-subs "Leave one wolf alive, and the sheep are never safe." Pages: 1 ... 10 11 [12] 13 Go Up	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line915
__label__cc	0.574748	0.425252	Welcome to your Milton Keynes Safeguarding Children Board Procedures Manual Updates/Contact us MKSCB Site Working Together 2018 Launch Quick Guide 2.3 Agency Roles and Responsibilities Show amendmentsHide amendments Detailed information on the roles of agencies in safeguarding children and promoting their welfare can be found in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015 (Chapter 2: Organisational Responsibilities). In October 2015 this chapter was reviewed and updated to reflect publication of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015. 2. Common Features of All Agencies 3. Statutory Responsibilities 4. Armed Services 5. British Transport Police 6. Early Years and Childcare 7. Children & Family Courts Advisory & Support Service (CAFCASS) 8. Local Authority 9. Schools and Colleges 10. Faith Communities 11. Fire & Rescue Service 12. Health Services 13. Housing Services 14. Licensing Authority 15. National Offender Management Service 16. Secure Estate for Children & Young People 17. Police 18. Voluntary and Private Sectors 19. Youth Offending Team 20. Youth Services 1.1 An awareness and appreciation of the role of others is essential for effective collaboration between organisations and this chapter represents a summary of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015. 1.2 The aims of this chapter are to: Emphasise the common obligations of all agencies and professionals; Describe the specific contributions of each to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; Inform partner agencies of mutual expectations; Enhance the effectiveness of multi-agency work. 2.1 All organisations, including those whose primary responsibility is to provide services to adults, must consider the implications of service users' behaviour for the safety and well being of any dependent children and/or children with whom those adults are in contact Under Section 11 Children Act (2004) organisations that work with children need to have in place: Clear priorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children explicitly stated in key policy documents and commissioning strategies; A clear commitment by senior management to the importance of safeguarding and promoting children's welfare through both the commissioning and the provision of services; A culture of listening to and engaging in dialogue with children - seeking their views in ways appropriate to their age and understanding, and taking account of those both in individual decisions and the establishment or development and improvement of services; A clear line of accountability and governance within and across organisations for the commissioning and provision of services designed to safeguard and promotethe welfare of children; Recruitment and human resources management procedures and commissioning processes, including contractual arrangements that take account of the need to protect children and young people including arrangements for appropriate checks on new staff and volunteers and adoption of best practice in the recruitment of new staff and volunteers; A clear understanding of how to work together to help keep children and young people safe online by being adequately equipped to understand, identify and mitigate the risks of new technology; Procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against members of staff and volunteers (see Allegations Against Staff, Carers & Volunteers Procedure) or, for commissioners, contractual arrangements with providers that ensure these procedures are in place; Arrangements to ensure all staff undertake appropriate training to equip them to carry out their responsibilities effectively, and keep this up to date by refresher training at regular intervals, and that all staff, including temporary staff and volunteers who work with children, are made aware of both the establishment's arrangements and their responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and their responsibilities for that; Policies in place for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children including a child protection policy, effective complaints procedures and procedures that are in accordance with guidance from the local authority and locally agreed inter-agency procedures; Arrangements to work effectively with other organisations to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, including arrangements for sharing information; A culture of listening to and engaging in dialogue with children - seeking their views in ways appropriate to their age and understanding, and taking account of those both is individual decisions and establishment of services; and Appropriate whistle blowing procedures and a culture that enables issues about safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children to be addressed. Safeguarding & promoting the welfare of children 'Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children' is defined in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015 as: Protecting children from maltreatment; Preventing impairment of children's health or development; Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes. Scope of duty Statutory guidance makes it clear that safeguarding children is a shared responsibility, and s.11 Children Act 2004 places a duty on the following key persons and bodies in: Local authorities and district councils that provide children's and other types of services, including children's and adult social care services, public health, housing, sport, culture and leisure services, licensing authorities and youth services; NHS organisations, including the NHS England and clinical commissioning groups, NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts; Police including police and crime commissioners and and the chief office of the police force; British Transport Police; National Probation Service / Thames Valley Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC); Youth Offending Service; Governor of any prison or secure training centre (STC). The above key agencies or individuals must ensure that: Their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children; and The services they contract out to others are provided having regard to that need. The remainder of this chapter summarises in alphabetical order, the roles and responsibilities of specified agencies. Local authorities have the statutory responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children of service families in the UK In discharging these responsibilities: Local authorities should ensure that the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Families Association Forces Help, the British Forces Social Work Service or the Naval Personal and Family Service is made aware of any service child who is the subject of a child protection plan and whose family is about to move overseas; and Each local authority with a United States base in its area should establish liaison arrangements with the base commander and relevant staff. The requirements of English child welfare legislation should be explained clearly to the US authorities, so that the local authority can fulfil its statutory duties. When service families or civilians working with the armed forces are based overseas the responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of their children is vested in the Ministry of Defence. The Army welfare contact is through the Army Welfare Service Intake and Assessment Team: Tel. 01904 662613 or email: AWS-HQ-IAT@mod.uk; The Naval Service welfare contact is through the RN RM Welfare(RNRMW) Portal: Tel: (Mil): 9380 28777; (Civ): +44 (0)23 9272 8777 or email: navypers-welfare@mod.uk; The RAF welfare contact is through the Personal Support & Social Work Service RAF (SSAFA): Tel: Mil:95221 6333; (Civ): +44 (0) 01494 49 6477/6333 or email: air-cospers-polssafahd@mod.uk. The British Transport Police is subject to Section 11 duties set as set out above of. In its role as the national police for the railways, the BTP can play an important role in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, especially in identifying and supporting children who have run away or who are truanting from school. The BTP should carry out its duties in accordance with its legislative powers. This includes removing a child to a suitable place using their police protection powers under the Children Act 1989 and the protection of children who are truanting from school using powers under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. This involves, for example, the appointment of a designated independent officer in the instance of a child taken into police protection. Early years providers have a duty under section 40 of the Childcare Act 2006 to comply with the welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Early years providers should ensure that: Staff complete safeguarding training that enables them to recognise signs of potential abuse and neglect; and They have a practitioner who is designated to take lead responsibility for safeguarding children within each early years setting and who should liaise with local statutory children's services agencies as appropriate. This lead should also complete child protection training. The responsibility of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), as set out in the Children Act 1989, is to safeguard and promote the welfare of individual children who are the subject of family court proceedings. It achieves this by providing independent social work advice to the court. A Cafcass officer has a statutory right in public law cases to access local authority records relating to the child concerned and any application under the Children Act 1989. That power also extends to other records that relate to the child and the wider functions of the local authority, or records held by an authorised body that relate to that child. Where a Cafcass officer has been appointed by the court as a child’s guardian and the matter before the court relates to specified proceedings, they should be invited to all formal planning meetings convened by the local authority in respect of the child. This includes statutory reviews of children who are accommodated or looked after, child protection conferences and relevant adoption panel meetings. 8.1 Staff who discharge the 'social care function' are the principal point of contact for children about whom there are welfare concerns and contact details for the service need to be clearly signposted, including on local authority websites and in telephone directories. 8.2 Children's Social Care should offer the same level of support and advice to independent and free schools, academies and Further Education (FE) colleges in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and child protection as to maintained (state) schools. 8.3 It is particularly important staff establish channels of communication with local independent schools (including independent special schools), so that children requiring support receive prompt attention and any allegations of abuse can be properly investigated. 8.4 Children's Social Care staff, with the help of other organisations as appropriate, also have a duty to make enquiries if they have reason to suspect a child in their area is suffering, or likely to suffer Significant Harm, to enable them to decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the child's welfare. 8.5 Where a child is suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm, Children's Social Care staff are responsible for co-ordinating an assessment of the child's needs, the parents' capacity to keep the child safe and promote his or her welfare, and of the wider family circumstances. Children's Services (Education) 8.6 S.175 Education Act 2002 obliges CSAs to 'carry out their functions with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children'. 8.7 Keeping Children Safe in Education (2015) contains guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment in education. Links with Adult Social Care Services 8.8 Those who work with service users in Adult Services (Social Care) must consider the implications of service users' behaviour for the safety and well being of any dependent children and/or children with whom those adults are in contact. In particular, child protection issues may arise (e.g. a parents' mental illness) amongst parents, carers or pregnant women in receipt of the following: Community mental health support; Substance misuse services; Learning disability services; Support services for victims of domestic abuse. Adults' Social Care must establish and maintain systems so that: Managers working with adults can monitor those cases which involve dependent children; There is regular, formal and recorded consideration of such cases with Children's Social Care staff; Where both Adults' and Children's Social Care are providing services to a family, staff communicate with each other and agree interventions. 8.11 Adult Social Care staff who receive referrals about individuals who are also parents, should consider if they need to alert Children's Social Care to a child potentially In Needor suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm. 8.12 Once action is taken under child protection procedures (and regardless of whether the work is undertaken jointly or separately) Children's Social Care becomes responsible for its co-ordination. The governing bodies, management committees or proprietors of the following schools have duties in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils: Maintained schools (including maintained nursery schools), further education colleges and sixth form colleges, and pupil referral units; Independent schools (including academy schools, free schools and alternative provision academies); and Non-maintained special schools. As established under the Further Education and Higher Education Act 1992. In order to fulfil their safeguarding duties, these bodies should have in place the arrangements set out Section 11 Children Act 2004. Schools and colleges must also have regard to statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (2015), which provides further guidance as to how they should fulfil their duties in respect of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their care. Faith communities should ensure that all clergy, staff and volunteers who have regular contact with children: Have been checked for suitability (inc. Disclosure and Barring Service checks) in working with children and understand the extent and limits of the volunteers' role; Are sensitive to the possibility of child abuse and neglect; Have access to training opportunities to promote their knowledge; Know how to report concerns about possible abuse or neglect; Are vigilant about their own actions so they cannot be misinterpreted. Faith communities should have the following arrangements in place: Procedures for staff and others to report concerns they may have about children they meet, that are consistent with 'What to Do if You Are Worried A Child Is Being Abused' and LSCB procedures; Appropriate staff codes of practice, particularly for those working directly with children, e.g. those issued by the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) or their denomination or faith group. All faith communities should, with support from nominated individuals in the local LSCB, develop and maintain their own child protection procedures, consistent with these procedures. Churches and faith organisations can seek advice on child protection issues from CCPAS, which can help with policies and procedures. Its 'Guidance to Churches' manual can help with policies and procedures and its 'Safeguarding Children and Young People' can assist other places of worship and faith-based groups. CCPAS provides a national 24 hour telephone help-line for churches, other places of worship and faith-based groups and individuals, providing advice and support on safeguarding issues. Whenever there is concern a child has been abused or neglected, the concern should be referred, without delay, to the duty social worker for the area in which the child lives. The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire & Rescue Service is committed to its Child Protection Policy O/C 88-18-08 which is applicable to all staff and enshrines 2 key principles: The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration; All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial or ethnic origin, religious belief and sexual identity have a right to protection from harm. Staff who for any reason become concerned that a child may be at risk, is being or has been abused either by: A member of staff; A member of their family; Any other person, including another child; Themselves - self abuse; Or is told by a child that they are being, or have been abused. must report that concern to a designated person at the earliest opportunity - a 'designated person' being the Human Resources Department Head, or any Duty Divisional Officer - who must complete the required Child Protection Proforma for Referral to Children's Social Care Services (Appendix 5 of OC88-18-08). The role of the 'designated person' is to: Act as an official contact with Children's Social Care Services and any other involved statutory authority in the matter of a child protection referral; To instigate any internal actions that may be necessary following a referral being made. The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire & Rescue Service designated persons consist of the Human Resources Department Head and Duty Divisional Officers. The Human Resources Department Head can be reached during office hours at Brigade Headquarters (01296 424666) on x120. Duty Divisional Officers can be contacted via Brigade Headquarters (01296 424666) during office hours, and otherwise via Fire Service Control (01296 395959). NHS organisations are subject to the section 11 duties set out above. Health professionals are in a strong position to identify welfare needs or safeguarding concerns regarding individual children and, where appropriate, provide support. This includes understanding risk factors, communicating effectively with children and families, liaising with other agencies, assessing needs and capacity, responding to those needs and contributing to multi-agency assessments and reviews. A wide range of health professionals have a critical role to play in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children including: GPs, primary care professionals, paediatricians, nurses, health visitors, midwives, school nurses, those working in maternity, child and adolescent mental health, youth custody establishments, adult mental health, alcohol and drug services, unscheduled and emergency care settings and secondary and tertiary care. All staff working in healthcare settings – including those who predominantly treat adults – should receive training to ensure they attain the competencies appropriate to their role and follow the relevant professional guidance. Safeguarding Children and Young People: roles and competencies for health care staff, RCPCH (2014); Looked after children: Knowledge, skills and competencies of health care staff, RCN and RCPCH, (2012); For example, Protecting children and young people: the responsibilities of all doctors, GMC (2012) and Safeguarding Children and Young People: The RCGP/NSPCC Safeguarding Children Toolkit for General Practice, RCGP (2014). Within the NHS: NHS England is responsible for ensuring that the health commissioning system as a whole is working effectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It is also accountable for the services it directly commissions, including health care services in the under-18 secure estate and in police custody. NHS England also leads and defines improvement in safeguarding practice and outcomes and should also ensure that there are effective mechanisms for LSCBs and health and well- being boards to raise concerns about the engagement and leadership of the local NHS. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)are the major commissioners of local health services and are responsible for safeguarding quality assurance through contractual arrangements with all provider organisations. CCGs should employ, or have in place, a contractual agreement to secure the expertise of designated professionals, i.e. designated doctors and nurses for safeguarding children and for looked after children (and designated paediatricians for unexpected deaths in childhood). In some areas there will be more than one CCG per local authority and LSCB area, and CCGs may consider ‘lead’ or ‘hosting’ arrangements for their designated professional team, or a clinical network arrangement. Designated professionals, as clinical experts and strategic leaders, are a vital source of advice to the CCG, NHS England, the local authority and the LSCB, and of advice and support to other health professionals. All providers of NHS funded health services including NHS Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts and public, voluntary sector, independent sector and social enterprises should identify a named doctor and a named nurse (and a named midwife if the organisation provides maternity services) for safeguarding. In the case of NHS Direct, ambulance trusts and independent providers, this should be a named professional. GP practices should have a lead and deputy lead for safeguarding, who should work closely with named GPs. Named professionals have a key role in promoting good professional practice within their organisation, providing advice and expertise for fellow professionals, and ensuring safeguarding training is in place. They should work closely with their organisation’s safeguarding lead, designated professionals and the LSCB. Housing and homelessness services in local authorities and others at the front line such as environmental health organisations are subject to the section 11 duties set out above. Professionals working in these services may become aware of conditions that could have an adverse impact on children. Under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004, authorities must take account of the impact of health and safety hazards in housing on vulnerable occupants, including children, when deciding on the action to be taken by landlords to improve conditions. Housing authorities also have an important role to play in safeguarding vulnerable young people, including young people who are pregnant, leaving care or a secure establishment. The Licensing Act 2003 modernised the legislation governing the sale and supply of alcohol and public entertainment licensing. The Act removed liquor licensing powers from the magistrates' courts and created a 'licensing authority' in each local authority in England and Wales responsible for processing applications covering the sale and supply of alcohol, as well as public entertainment. Historical restrictions on the hours when alcohol could be sold were also removed so that licence applicants can request their own, independently determined hours of operation. There are 4 'licensing objectives' contained with the Act: Prevention of crime and disorder; Public safety; Protection of children from harm (including child sexual exploitation); Prevention of public nuisance. The Act allows the licensing authority to attach conditions relating to children's access to reflect the individual nature of each establishment, if relevant representations are made and this is necessary to do so in order to protect children from harm. Where there is no risk of harm, there need be no conditions applied. Responsible Authorities A number of specified 'responsible authorities' must be notified of all licence variations and new applications and include: Police; Fire & Rescue; and 'A body which represents those who, in relation to any such area, are responsible for, or interested in, matters relating to the protection of children from harm, and is recognised by the licensing authority for that area for the purposes of this section as being competent to advise it on such matters'. The LSCB or a named individual e.g. a child protection manager can be what is termed a 'responsible authority' and can make representations to the licensing authority about a 'variation' or new licence application, where applicants fail to consider the protection of children. The LSCB / named individual can request that the protection of children be incorporated by way of condition/s on the relevant premises licence or club premises certificate. Responsible authorities also have the power to call for a review of an existing licence, based upon 1 or more of the above 4 licensing objectives. The responsible authority for child protection can be contacted for advice and guidance by applicants prior to their submission of an application at Milton Keynes Safeguarding Children Board above. All applications must clearly state which licensing authority is responsible for dealing with the application, to enable an appropriate and prompt response to be made by the responsible authority. Full applications should be forwarded to the responsible authority by the licence applicant. The responsible authority for child protection will acknowledge receipt of the application (to both the applicant and the licensing & safety team). The responsible authority for child protection will respond to the licensing & safety team, specifying what conditions are seen to be necessary in respect of the application to meet the licensing objective of protecting children from harm. If no representations are made by Children's Services or other agreed 'responsible authority' within four weeks of receiving the application then it will be assumed that no representations are being made. In view of the likely lack of information available to Children's Services in respect of licensed premises, it is not envisaged that it will often initiate adverse comments. Applications should though, be considered in the light of how the objective of protection of children from harm has been addressed in the application, plans and the operating schedules. If a licensing authority has any particular concerns about an individual license in respect of a child protection matter this should be specifically drawn to the attention of the 'responsible authority'. Children's Services staff have a responsibility to share (via their nominated 'responsible authority') any child protection concerns about licensed premises, with the relevant licensing authority, e.g.: Premises having a reputation for under-age drinking; Premises with a known association with drug taking or dealing; Children present and a strong element of gambling on premises; Young people being present when entertainment of a sexual or other adult nature is provided on premises; Premises where children are regularly present when they would normally be expected to be in full-time education; Excessive nocturnal noise outside licensed premises in residential areas; Children living in licensed premises and inadequately supervised; Known concerns of a child protection nature about an applicant for a personal license, or for staff working in licensed premises where children may be present. Each 'responsible authority' should define the issues to be considered in formulating its response to a licence application, e.g.: Direct or indirect sale of alcohol and other restricted goods to under 18s; Use of illicit drugs on licensed premises; Impact on local children of noise associated with premises; Protection of children from gambling or unsuitable films; Protection from the impact of adults' smoking; Disclosure and Barring Service checks on those who have access to children; Appropriate policies /procedures that recognise the need to protect children. National Probation Service and Thames Valley CRC The National Probation Service supervises high risk offenders, with the aim of reducing re-offending and protecting the public. Thames Valley CRC supervises medium and low risk offenders. As part of their main responsibility to supervise them in the community, offender managers will be in contact with, or supervising, a number of offenders identified as presenting a risk, or potential risk, to children. They will also supervise parent/carer offenders. By working with them to improve their lifestyles and enable a change of behaviour, offender managers safeguard and promote the welfare of those children for whom offenders have a responsibility. Offender managers should also ensure there is clarity and communication between Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and other risk management processes e.g. in the case of safeguarding children, procedures (summarised in Management of Those Presenting a Risk to Children Procedure) covering: Registered sex offenders; Domestic abuse management meetings; Child protection procedures; and Procedures for the assessment of persons identified as presenting a risk or potential risk to children. Governors of prisons (or, in the case of contracted prisons, their directors) also have a duty to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, not least those who have been committed to their custody by the courts. In particular Governors / Directors of women's establishments which have mother and baby units have to ensure that staff working on the units are prioritised for child protection training, and that there is always a member of staff on duty in the unit who is proficient in child protection, health and safety and first aid / child resuscitation. Each baby must have a child care plan setting out how the best interests of the child will be maintained and promoted during the child's residence on the unit. Governors / Directors of all prison establishments must have in place arrangements that protect the public from prisoners in their care, including effective processes to ensure prisoners are unable to cause harm to the public and particularly children. Restrictions should be placed on prisoners communications (visits, phone calls and correspondence) that are proportionate to the risk they present All prisoners who have been identified as presenting a risk to children must not be allowed contact with children unless a favourable risk assessment has been undertaken that has taken into account information held by police, probation, prison and Children's Social Care. When seeking the views of parent / person who has Parental Responsibility or carer, about contact, it is important that the child's views are sought and (subject to age and understanding) her/his views considered. Responsibility for children in custody Children's Social Care has the same responsibilities towards children in custody as it does towards other children in the authority area. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) introduced significant changes to the Remand framework for 10-17 year olds subject to criminal proceedings.). All children must be remanded into Local Authority Accommodation or (where certain criteria are met Youth Detention Accommodation. In both situations, the cost of this accommodation is met by the designated Local Authority, and the child when remanded will attain Looked After Status. Management of the secure estate The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has statutory responsibility for commissioning and purchasing all secure accommodation for children and for setting standards for service delivery. The secure estate comprises Prison Service accommodation for juveniles - Juvenile Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), Secure Training Centres (STCs), and Secure Children's Homes provided by local authorities (CHs). Young Offender Institutions Governors / Directors are required to have regard to policies agreed by the Prison Service and the YJB, for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children held in custody that are published in Prison Order 4950 (Juvenile Regimes'). Arrangements prescribed for juvenile establishments include the following: A senior member of staff, known as the 'child protection co-ordinator' or the 'Safeguards Manager', who is responsible to the Governor / Director for child protection and safeguarding matters; and a child protection committee whose membership includes a senior manager as the chair, multi-disciplinary staff and a representative of the LSCB who could be a member of the LSCB (i.e. someone from another organisation) or an LSCB employee; A local, establishment-specific child protection and safeguarding policy, agreed with the LSCB, which has regard to the Prison Service's / YJB's overarching policy and which includes procedures for dealing with incidents or disclosures of child abuse or neglect before or during custody; Suicide and self-harm prevention and anti-bullying strategies; Procedures for dealing proactively, rigorously, fairly and promptly with complaints and formal requests, complemented by an advocacy service; Specialised training for all staff working with children, together with selection, recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure that new staff may work safely and competently with children; Action to manage and develop effective working partnerships with other organisations, including voluntary and community organisations, that can strengthen the support provided to the young person and their family during custody and on release; An assessment on reception into custody to identify needs, abilities and aptitudes of the young person and the formulation of a sentence plan (including an individual learning plan) designed to address them, followed by regular sentence plan reviews; Provision of education, training and personal development in line with the YJB's National Specification for Learning & Skills and the young person's identified needs; Action to encourage the young person and her/his family to take an active role in preparation and subsequent reviews of their sentence plan, so that they are able to contribute to, and influence, what happens following release. Secure Training Centres STCs are purpose built secure accommodation units for vulnerable, sentenced and remanded juveniles (male and female) aged 12 - 17 years old. The regime is focused on child-care and considerable time and effort is spent on individual needs so that on release young people are able to make better life choices. Each STC has a duty to protect and promote the welfare of those children in its custody. Directors must ensure effective safeguarding policies and procedures are in place that explain staff responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and welfare promotion. These arrangements must be established in consultation with their LSCB. The police are subject to the section 11 duties set out above. Under section 1(8)(h) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 the police and crime commissioner must hold the Chief Constable to account for the exercise of the latter's duties in relation to safeguarding children under sections 10 and 11 of the Children Act 2004. All police officers, and other police employees such as Police Community Support Officers, are well placed to identify early when a child's welfare is at risk and when a child may need protection from harm. Children have the right to the full protection offered by the criminal law. In addition to identifying when a child may be a victim of a crime, police officers should be aware of the effect of other incidents which might pose safeguarding risks to children and where officers should pay particular attention. For example, an officer attending a domestic abuse incident should be aware of the effect of such behaviour on any children in the household. Children who are encountered as offenders, or alleged offenders, are entitled to the same safeguards and protection as any other child and due regard should be given to their welfare at all times. The police can hold important information about children who may be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, as well as those who cause such harm. They should always share this information with other organisations where this is necessary to protect children. Similarly, they can expect other organisations to share information to enable the police to carry out their duties. Offences committed against children can be particularly sensitive and usually require the police to work with other organisations such as local authority children's social care. All police forces should have officers trained in child abuse investigation. The police have emergency powers under section 46 of the Children Act 1989 to enter premises and remove a child to ensure their immediate protection. This power can be used if the police have reasonable cause to believe a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm. Police emergency powers can help in emergency situations but should be used only when necessary. Wherever possible, the decision to remove a child from a parent or carer should be made by a court. The police are subject to the section 11 duties set out in paragraph 4 of this chapter. Under section 1(8)(h) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 the police and crime commissioner must hold the Chief Constable to account for the exercise of the latter's duties in relation to safeguarding children under sections 10 and 11 of the Children Act 2004. Voluntary agencies and groups and private providers play an important role in delivering services for children and young people including in early years and day care provision, family support services, youth work and children's social care and health care. Voluntary organisations also deliver advocacy for looked-after children and young people and for parents and children who are the subject of a Section 47 Enquiry and Child Protection Conferencesand often play a key role in delivering Child Protection Plans. All voluntary agencies / groups should be encouraged and supported (and those undertaking formally contracted work, required) to develop protection procedures consistent with these procedures. All agencies / groups should ensure that all staff and volunteers: Have been checked for suitability (including Disclosure and Barring Service checks)(Recruitment, Selection, Supervision and Training Procedure) for working with children and understand the extent and limits of the volunteers' role; Are aware of their responsibilities’ for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; Know how they should respond to child protection concerns and make a referral to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) if necessary; Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) are subject to the section 11 duties set out above. YOTs are multi-agency teams responsible for the supervision of children and young people subject to pre-court interventions and statutory court disposals. They are therefore well placed to identify children known to relevant organisations as being most at risk of offending and to undertake work to prevent them offending. YOTs should have a lead officer responsible for ensuring safeguarding is at the forefront of their business. The statutory membership of YOTs is set out in section 39 (5) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Under section 38 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, local authorities must, within the delivery of youth justice services, ensure the 'provision of persons to act as appropriate adults to safeguard the interests of children and young persons detained or questioned by police officers'. Youth and Community Workers (YCWs) have close contact with children / young people and should be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and how to act upon concerns about an individual's welfare. Local authority youth services should give written instructions, consistent with 'What To Do If You're Worried A Child Is Being Abused' and LSCB procedures, on when staff should consult colleagues, line managers, and other statutory authorities about concerns they may have about a child / young person. Guidance for staff should emphasise the importance of safeguarding the welfare of children / young people and assist staff in balancing the desire to maintain confidentiality with the individual, and the duty to safeguard and promote her/his welfare and that of others. Volunteers within the Youth Service are subject to the same requirement. Where the local authority funds local voluntary youth organisations or other providers through grant or contract arrangements, it should ensure that proper arrangements to safeguard children / young people are in place e.g. this might form part of the agreement for the grant or contract. This page is correct as printed on Thursday 18th of July 2019 12:52:36 PM please refer back to this website (http://mkscb.procedures.org.uk) for updates. The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. However any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of the Milton Keynes Safeguarding Children Board Copyright 2019 \| Terms of use Site by Phew	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line918
__label__cc	0.583289	0.416711	Conversation: Augusta Read Thomas & Doyle Armbrust By Doyle Armbrust Photo: Anthony Barlich Something peculiar has been incubating here in Chicago for decades now, something that doesn’t look or sound quite like any other new music community. And it is, at long last, getting top billing. One of our champions here is composer Augusta Read Thomas, who with the help of an army of volunteers is about to unleash Ear Taxi Festival 2016, a city-wide series in which virtually every local new-music-identifying ensemble will participate, offering 54 world premieres and a total of 88 recent works by Chicago-based or Chicago-affiliated composers. We are a DIY music scene, and Ear Taxi Festival is an extension of that dynamic, assembled piece by piece. “Gusty,” as she’s known to all of us, is one of those composers whose volume of output makes one’s brain do somersaults. The term “Energizer Bunny” pops up frequently when performers talk about her. An email from Gusty will almost always include personal praise that would make your mom jealous, and an affirming preponderance of exclamation points. This is all to say that she is an unshakably positive advocate for us here in Chicago…and that I have zero journalistic distance from my interviewee (Spektral Quartet performs on three of the festival’s concerts). Traditional newspaper and magazine interviews of the Ear Taxi originator have been copious, so our intention here was to have a more spontaneous conversation, to move beyond the talking points that are admittedly necessary when promoting an endeavor of this scope. The decision to launch something this audacious – essentially from a living room – is nothing short of preposterous. It is also the most highly-anticipated celebration of new music in Chicago history, and, in a way, an opportunity for the city to be introduced to itself. DOYLE ARMBRUST: I want to start out with a question that is as much to satisfy my own curiosity as it is for this piece, but in terms of the drive necessary to get something like this festival off the ground, what did middle school or high school Gusty’s motivation look like? AUGUSTA READ THOMAS: I fear that speaking about my past can come across as immodest, but I will say that even in day school, I was incredibly focused and super-energized. I always tried to be nice, to be reliable, and to go out of my way to help someone out. Was that something that came by way of your folks, or a religious upbringing, or just the culture around the house? Well, the culture around my house was a bit frenetic, because I’m the tenth of 10 children. When I was four, my parents split and my mother supported the family by teaching kindergarten for 30 years. We were not wealthy, and at one point for three years I was sent to live at my godparents’ house. I saw my mother work very, very hard just to keep food on the table – that kind of thing. My dad was a brilliant, genius kind of person who was never able to hold down a job. That generosity is evident to any musician in Chicago, and that’s why it’s not immodest. Let me put it in a different frame: Growing up, my dad’s stories about his childhood centered around his finding the kid in class who everyone was picking on and befriending them, So that became a priority for me. So your desire to give – was that innate, or was there someone or something that cultivated that part of your personality? I don’t really know. My father was extremely violent and scary, and not nice to my mother, who was working so hard just to keep the heat on. I suppose what I’m getting at is that now, your version of being a good person is doing big, audacious projects like Ear Taxi. To me that’s indicative of something that comes from deep down. Basically, I love music, and people that have been fortunate, as I’ve been fortunate, should give back. It’s just a piece of supporting and sustaining this art form that I love and to which I’ve devoted my life. When I talk to out-of-town performers like Claire Chase, or even other music writers, people seem really excited about what’s happening in Chicago. They say it seems different from what’s happening in other cities. I’ve been reading [famed Chicago journalist] Mike Royko, and he talks about Chicago being a bootstrap city, people making their own way. And since I’ve been involved with it, new music has been that way in Chicago. It’s going to be what you make of it, and to me, that’s why there’s not a dominant style or group here. That’s what makes it exciting. What do you think? I agree, and would amplify what you were implying. I think – well, there’s 25 things coalescing – but I think people go to each other’s concerts and there’s a real sense of collegiality. Maybe I’m in the wrong circles, but I don’t hear people badmouthing each other. There’s a sense of community that I think is incredibly unique, and there are several key leaders who set the tone for that kind of group effort. For instance, [Chicago Tribune classical critic] John von Rhein and [former Sun-Times critic] Wynne Delacoma and [the late Sun-Times critic] Andrew Patner have been writing about new music for 25 or 30 years, giving it a chance and supporting it. Also, there’s [the Chicago Symphony’s] MusicNow series, which I started in 1997, which put new music on the map in the city in a different way. Why is that, though? I feel like the cheap answer is, ‘Oh it’s the Midwest and people are nice here.’ Where does that camaraderie come from? Is it because there’s not a brass ring, or no such thing as getting to the top of the pyramid? I think of Peter Margasak’s Frequency Festival or Ear Taxi, and these feel inclusive in a way that seems unique to Chicago. Maybe that’s just a construct of my own mind, but it feels true. I definitely think it’s true. It’s about the people. We all have out-of-town projects, but we’re also working together. It’s a braid of donors and composers and performers and music lovers and presenters and venues – and we’re all living it – that makes Chicago special. We shouldn’t underestimate the goodness of all of these people. If I were to go to a big presenting organization somewhere in the country and say ‘I have a big idea and no money and I want to do 65 world premieres with 500 people involved’…they’d never do it. A festival like Ear Taxi in a way has to come from the grassroots. That’s also what’s made it so much work, because everything had to be put together literally à la carte. So the last thing I needed was to put something like this together in my living room, both building and climbing the mountain. Big presenters have a marketing team and a closet full of percussion instruments and a caterer…and chairs! To me this is like a macrocosm of what it’s like to be a new-music performer in Chicago. One thing we’re short on here is presenting organizations for new music. The majority of series that we have here focus on out-of-town or in-house talent. If you are a new-music group, you are doing everything yourself. Really, until Constellation came around, there wasn’t a real home for it. Ear Taxi is essentially that paradigm, exploded. There’s another side to this that I find interesting, which is that there’s an element in Chicago of doing things ‘in spite of’ or because someone said you couldn’t. On some level, I feel like Ear Taxi is an attempt to introduce the city to something that’s been here for a long time, and that is celebrated outside of Chicago, but perhaps the city is unaware of. I totally agree. It’s like our coming-out party on some level. I find that to be a motivation. If classical music is already a fringe music, and new-music is a fringe of a fringe, there’s a sea of people out there who can come to something this huge, if we can get them in the door, and totally find their piece or their group or their composer. We’re throwing it all at them and seeing what sticks. I want to credit [festival manager] Reba Cafarelli with these two words: She says that Ear Taxi will have a huge “ripple effect,” and I agree. Someone is going to come and fall in love with Spektral Quartet and want to commission [composer/cellist] Tomeka Reid. They’re going to go up to her and find her so dynamic and spiritually rich, and want to dive in and do a project with her. Or join a group’s board. Or go to the next concert by Ensemble Dal Niente. I’m hoping it will have fruitful aftershocks for years and years to come. One of the things I was very adamant about was recording everything. To be able to hand everyone back their recordings is a big part of this investment. Maybe those recordings help a group win a prize, or help a composer get tenure. Maybe an ensemble loves their commission and tours it and records it, and then it wins a Grammy or a Pulitzer. All sorts of things can come out of it. I worked really hard to arrange for five ETF concerts to be broadcast on the European Broadcast Union, which is a union of many radio stations in Europe. I’m proud of us all. It’s a gigantic collaboration. As you know, everyone is being paid a minimum amount, and I’ve been raising funds for three years, so in that sense everyone is pitching in. Everyone should be paid more, and many people are volunteering 100 percent of their time to make this thing happen. I could have written a three-hour opera in the time it took to put this together. I’m going to ask myself, was it worth it? Are the halls half-empty, or are they packed? Did new and diverse audiences attend? Whether or not the seats are filled is an indicator of the festival’s success, but the conundrum is that we’d need to have a few more festivals to know its real longevity, right? I hope someone will take it over and say, “Gusty, can I do another one in three years?” I can’t do another one – it’s close to killing me. It would need to be led by someone the composers and performers and donors trust to get it done. The fact that this festival is a composer’s vision-project, rather than an administrator’s one…I would imagine that feels different to you performers. For sure, and I would imagine you’ve had to put some projects on the shelf to make room for this festival. I actually have not put composing on the shelf. What I jettisoned from my life is sleep and exercise…I haven’t been to the movies or anything like that in three years. I haven’t cooked a meal in a very long time. I wanted to keep composition and teaching at full-throttle through all this. I would never sacrifice composition, and I think it’s important that if this is a composer’s project, that the composer is still writing every day. Artistic street cred and unambiguous hard work is a key part of the endeavor. So, is what’s going to make this all feel successful something quantifiable? Is it something like attendance, or is it something more elusive than that? I want people to feel like they made good work, and that they played with great skill and grace and radiance. I want people to understand the depth and breadth of what this all takes. A composer spends something like eight months on a piece, and then a group like Spektral spends so many hours, all before walking out on the Harris Theater stage and playing three world premieres. The amount of time, energy, love, expertise – you guys have been practicing your instruments since you were three – there’s just so much human time that went into this. People need to pay attention to this collective industriousness and hopefully appreciate it. As for attendance, I approached the Ditson Fund and said, I have this idea and am going to try and get the whole city involved, and I don’t know if there’s going to be big audiences. And the Ditson board unanimously said, “Gusty, we’re not giving you this money to count numbers. If you have 300 people there, if you have 100 people there, or if you have 1,500, it makes no difference to us. We understand ETF is part of this whole bigger vision.” Those words have stuck with me. You asked if butts in seats is going to make the difference, and I just go back to those words: that they know ETF’s got more ripples than just bean counting. I know that the music community is very excited about this festival, but I don’t have a sense of how on-the-radar it is for the city at large, or city government. I did reach out to the mayor, and he wrote us a letter of introduction for the festival book with his official seal. I don’t know to what extent it’s on his radar, but I felt it was important that the first thing you see in the festival book is a letter from our mayor. As for the city, if the poets here were to do something like this, say a hundred of them, from Chicago, reading their poems – where I can hear their syntax and vocabulary and rhythm of their words, and see their body language as they read, and meet them and ask them out for coffee – I would buy a festival pass to that the minute it was announced. That’s basically what Ear Taxi is. I would like to think that poets and architects and school bus drivers and chefs and gardeners and dancers and business people will have that same curiosity. Ear Taxi Festival 2016 runs Oct. 5-10 at the Harris Theater and elsewhere in Chicago; www.eartaxifestival.com. Interview was condensed and edited. Doyle Armbrust is the founding violist of Spektral Quartet and a core member of Ensemble Dal Niente. His writing has been published by Crain’s Chicago Business, Chicago Magazine, Music + Literature, and Q2 Music. Contact Doyle at doyle@spektralquartet.com. Prologue Allan Kozinn: Critics, composers, and performers	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line921
__label__wiki	0.990805	0.990805	Playlist (Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!). A weekly tally of memorable things National Sawdust Log editor Steve Smith has stuck in his ears, including recordings featuring Eva-Maria Houben, Napalm Death, Weston Olencki, Christina Vantzou, and Cecil Taylor (RIP). https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Playlist-April-9-2018.jpg 500 2000 Steve Smith https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/national-sawdust-log.png Steve Smith2018-04-09 19:17:142018-05-01 00:37:37Playlist (Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!). On the Record: April 6, 2018 This week in On the Record, details about a new album by the influential trumpeter, composer, and "Fourth World" pioneer Jon Hassell, due June 8 on his own new label, Ndeya. https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Hassell-insert.jpg 599 899 Steve Smith https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/national-sawdust-log.png Steve Smith2018-04-06 20:00:132018-05-17 02:34:16On the Record: April 6, 2018 Victoria Bond: Conducting a Life at the Cutting Edge Composer, conductor, and curator Victoria Bond talks about her creative development, experiences with Harry Partch and Pierre Boulez, and what led her to start Cutting Edge Concerts, which opens its 21st season April 9. https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Victoria-banner.jpg 800 1500 Susan Brodie https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/national-sawdust-log.png Susan Brodie2018-04-05 15:02:172018-04-06 16:20:39Victoria Bond: Conducting a Life at the Cutting Edge Rafiq Bhatia: Designing Sounds That Contain Multitudes Guitarist Rafiq Bhatia talks about abandoning old habits and discovering new tools to make his new album, 'Breaking Language,' which he'll celebrate at National Sawdust on April 9. https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/rafiq-banner.jpg 800 1500 David Menestres https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/national-sawdust-log.png David Menestres2018-04-04 20:00:482018-04-05 14:10:17Rafiq Bhatia: Designing Sounds That Contain Multitudes Clarice Jensen: A Consummate Team Player Calls Her Own Tune Cellist Clarice Jensen, founder of the versatile and in-demand new-music ensemble ACME, talks about her new solo album, 'For this from that will be filled,' on which she makes her debut as a composer. https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/clarice-banner.jpg 844 1500 Steve Smith https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/national-sawdust-log.png Steve Smith2018-04-03 20:00:002018-04-04 12:14:01Clarice Jensen: A Consummate Team Player Calls Her Own Tune Playlist. A weekly tally of memorable things National Sawdust Log editor Steve Smith has stuck in his ears, including recordings featuring Sarah Davachi, Kyle Gann, Steve Tibbetts, Christina Vantzou, and Michael Winter. https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Playlist-April-2-2018.jpg 500 2000 Steve Smith https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/national-sawdust-log.png Steve Smith2018-04-02 20:00:012018-04-03 01:10:55Playlist. In Review: SWELL In Review: Oliver Beer, Vessel Orchestra Playlist (Greensleeves by Mozart). Playlist (Chinen In). In Review: Anthony Davis, The Central Park Five Inside National Sawdust Essays & Opinions	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line922
__label__wiki	0.615191	0.615191	Civilian Control? Surely, You Jest. By Andrew J. Bacevich Add to Pocket The principle of civilian control forms the foundation of the American system of civil-military relations, offering assurance that the nation’s very powerful armed forces and its very influential officer corps pose no danger to our democracy. That’s the theory at least, the one that gets printed in civics books and peddled to the plain folk out in Peoria. Reality turns out to be considerably more complicated. In practice, civilian control—expectations that the brass, having rendered advice, will then loyally execute whatever decision the commander-in-chief makes—is at best a useful fiction. In front of the curtain, the generals and admirals defer; behind the curtain, on all but the smallest of issues, the military’s collective leadership pursue their own agenda informed by their own convictions of what is good for the country and, by extension, for the institutions over which they preside. In this regard, the Pentagon’s behavior does not differ from that of automakers, labor unions, the movie business, environmental groups, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Israel lobby, or the NAACP. In Washington, only one decision is considered really final—and that’s the one that goes your way. Senior military officers understand these rules and play by them. When the president or secretary of defense acts in ways not to their liking—killing some sought-after weapons program, for example—they treat that decision as subject to review and revision. To overturn or modify a policy they judge objectionable, military leaders forge alliances with like-minded members of Congress, for whom the national interest tends to coincide with whatever benefits their constituents. Senior officers also make their case by working the press, not infrequently by leaking material that will embarrass or handcuff their nominal superiors. Sometimes, the military strikes preemptively, attempting to influence decisions not yet made. A classic example occurred in 1993: Led by General Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the senior uniformed leadership mounted a fierce and very effective campaign to prevent President Bill Clinton from acting on his announced intention to allow gays to serve openly in the military. Powell and his confreres prevailed. A humiliated Clinton beat a hasty retreat and, thereafter, took care not to court trouble with an officer corps that made little effort to conceal its lack of fondness for him. A more recent example occurred just a year ago. With President Obama agonizing over what to do about Afghanistan, The Washington Post offered for general consumption the military’s preferred approach, the so-called McChrystal Plan. Devised by General Stanley McChrystal, who had been appointed by Obama to command allied forces in Afghanistan, the plan called for a surge of U.S. troops and the full-fledged application of counterinsurgency doctrine—an approach that necessarily implied a much longer and more costly war. The effect of this leak, almost surely engineered by some still unidentified military officer, was to hijack the entire policy review process, circumscribing the choices available to the commander-in-chief. Rushing to the nearest available microphone, members of Congress (mostly Republicans) announced that it was Obama’s duty to give the field commander whatever he wanted. McChrystal himself made the point explicitly. During a speech in London, he categorically rejected the notion that any alternative to his strategy even existed: It was do it his way or lose the war. The role left to the president was not to decide, but simply to affirm. The leaking of the McChrystal Plan constituted a direct assault on civilian control. At the time, however, that fact passed all but unnoticed. Few of those today raising a hue-and-cry about PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeak-er, bothered to protest. The documents that Manning allegedly made public are said to endanger the lives of American troops and their Afghan comrades. Yet, a year ago, no one complained about the McChrystal leaker providing Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leadership with a detailed blueprint of exactly how the United States and its allies were going to prosecute their war. The absence of any serious complaint reflected the fact that, in Washington—especially in the press corps—military leaks aimed at subverting or circumscribing civilian authority are accepted as standard fare. It’s part of the way Washington works. Which brings us to the present and to what is stacking up to be an episode likely to reveal a great deal about how much or how little actual civilian control currently exists. In adopting the McChrystal Plan, Obama added this caveat: U. S. troops will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan by July 2011. Before the president or anyone in his administration had explained exactly what that July 2011 deadline signifies, General McChrystal departed the scene, having violated the dictum that calls on senior officers to sustain, in public at least, the pretense of respecting civilians. To replace McChrystal—and to forestall the growing impression that things in Afghanistan are falling apart—Obama appointed General David Petraeus, an officer possessing in abundance the finesse and political savvy that McChrystal lacks. Having now sacked two successive commanders in Afghanistan, Obama can hardly afford to fire a third, least of all someone of Petraeus’s exalted stature. It would be akin to benching Tom Brady or trading Derek Jeter. You might be able to pull it off, but not without paying a very severe price. You might even find yourself out of a job. Within the past week, complaints dribbling out of Petraeus’s headquarters in Kabul—duly reported by an accommodating press—indicate growing military unhappiness with the July 2011 pullout date. Now, Petraeus himself has begun to weigh in directly. This past weekend, he launched his own media campaign, offering his “narrative” of ongoing events. Unlike the ham-handed McChrystal, who chose a foreign capital as his soapbox, Petraeus sat for a carefully orchestrated series of interviews with The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” each of which gratefully passed along the general’s view of things. In the course of sitting for these interviews, Petraeus placed down a marker, one best captured by the headline in the Times dispatch: “Petraeus Opposes a Rapid Pullout in Afghanistan.” Or, as The Daily Beast put it, adding a twist of hyperbole, Petraeus told “David Gregory that he has the right to delay Obama's 2011 pull-out target for troops in Afghanistan." A bit over the top, but you get the drift. Dexter Filkins of the Times interpreted Petraeus’s comments as “a preview of what promise[s] to be an intense political battle over the future of the American-led war in Afghanistan.” The operative word in that statement is “political,” with the stakes potentially including not only the ongoing war, but an upcoming presidential election. At the center of that battle will be a very political general, skilled at using the press and with friends aplenty on Capitol Hill, especially among Republicans. To have a chance of winning reelection in 2012, Obama needs to demonstrate progress in shutting down the war. Yet it is now becoming increasingly apparent the general Obama has placed in charge of that war entertains a different view. One, but not both, will have his way. Between now and July 2011, when it comes to civilian control, even the folks in Peoria will have a chance to learn what the civics books leave out. Andrew J. Bacevich is a professor of international relations at Boston University and author of Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War. Andrew J. Bacevich is a professor emeritus of history and international relations at Boston University and the author of America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History. Washington, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, London, Afghanistan, United States, Bradley Manning, Bill Clinton, David Petraeus, Colin Powell, bin Laden, Obama, Derek Jeter, Stanley McChrystal, Congress, Tom Brady, Washington Rules, Pentagon, Taliban	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line926
__label__wiki	0.770595	0.770595	Portrayal of spring break excess may be stereotypes gone wild UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The popular perception that college students are reaching new levels of self-indulgence and risky behavior during spring break excursions may be based on media coverage and scholarship that oversimplifies what has become an annual rite for many young adults, according to researchers. The researchers, who analyzed studies on spring break from 1980 to 2010, concluded that scholars are divided on whether college students actually increase extreme behaviors during the break. In fact, activities at most spring break destinations may not differ significantly from typical weekend behavior on campuses. "The more you are part of the party atmosphere in the university, the more likely you are to engage those behaviors during spring break," said Benjamin Hickerson, assistant professor of recreation, park and tourism management, Penn State. "You probably won't completely deviate from your campus behaviors, and those behaviors are a very good predictor of how you'll behave on spring break." Hickerson, who worked with Nuno Ribeiro, who recently received his doctorate in recreation, park and tourism management at Penn State, said that the media portrayal of spring break, and most current scholarship on the subject, may not give the complete picture of the experience. Ribeiro, who focused his doctoral work on spring break culture and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, said that while some studies show that substance abuse and promiscuity increase during spring break, other reports indicate that there is little change between behaviors on spring break and behavior on campus. The researchers, who reported their findings in the current issue of Tourism Review International, said that since much of the research is based on data derived from self-reporting surveys, students may skew their actual behaviors. "Most of the data in the studies were self-reported, which could lead to a certain pressure for the subjects to conform," said Ribeiro. "In males, for example, that means they may overstate and, for females, they tend to underestimate those behaviors." Researchers should conduct more objective and quantitative studies, as well as qualitative studies, on spring break participants to add more depth to the findings, according to Ribeiro. "There is little agreement between scholars currently," said Ribeiro. "This leaves a great deal of room for future research." Studies that focus on certain party spots may also over-emphasize the amount of self-indulgence, according to the researchers. Ribeiro added that most research on the spring break phenomenon ignores alternative spring trips for college students, such as mission work, service trips and study abroad programs. The spring break experience also changes over time for students. Risky behaviors tend to peak in the first year as students experiment with drugs, alcohol and sex, and then decrease as students find their limits in subsequent years. The behaviors rise again in the last year of school for the students, which Ribeiro calls the last hurrah effect. "The variety of spring break experiences is huge," said Ribeiro. "In certain spots and in certain cases, the stereotypes of spring break excesses are correct, but in other areas it's not as extreme as the media seem to present." Hickerson said that while the spring break phenomenon is relatively new, researchers have focused considerable attention on student motivation and behaviors during these trips over the last few decades. For the systematic review of the literature, the researchers reviewed 29 articles on spring break tourism, as well as media coverage, conference presentations, book chapters and dissertations. Written in the sand, "I love spring break" with a martini glass instead of a heart. Andrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu http://live.psu.edu Abstinence may not be the best policy for avoiding online risk Prevention Research Center aims to help families and their children Professor receives award for work in parks and recreation Impact, National, Research, Society, Arts and Humanities Benjamin Hickson, extreme behavior, recreation parks and tourism management, risky behavior, spring break	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line928
__label__wiki	0.967226	0.967226	Home World-News Napa, Sonoma, Santa Rosa wine country fires: 11 dead, more than 150... Napa, Sonoma, Santa Rosa wine country fires: 11 dead, more than 150 missing SANTA ROSA, Calif. — After battling massive, fast-moving wildfires that have killed at least 11 people and torched more than 100,000 acres across Northern California, most of them in wine country, firefighters are hoping for some reprieve Tuesday morning as strong winds that fanned flames the day before continue to weaken. Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director for Cal Fire, said winds have slowed to single-digit speeds, down from the 50 to 60 mph gusts reported Monday. “That’s given us a good opportunity to make progress on these fires,” Berlant said. “We’re hoping to continue to see less wind and cooler temperatures. That combination is a welcome sight compared to what we dealt with just 24 hours ago.” Crews are fighting 17 wildfires that destroyed at least 1,500 homes and commercial buildings across several Northern California counties and sent more than 20,000 people fleeing for safety. Ten people from California’s wine country have been reported dead as of Tuesday morning, and officials warned that the death toll is likely to rise. Seven of the deaths were in Sonoma County, where the sheriff’s office said Tuesday that they had received about 150 missing-persons reports. “We are confident that many of these people will be found safe and reunited with loved ones, but unfortunately we are preparing for further fatalities,” sheriff’s officials said. Two deaths were reported in the Atlas Fire in Napa County. One person was killed during a smaller but fast-moving fire in Mendocino County to the north, said Jonathan Cox, a battalion chief and spokesman for Cal Fire. An 11th death was reported in Yuba County near the Sacramento area, well outside of wine country, Cal Fire said. [Images show the devastation caused by California’s deadly wine country fires] “This is really serious. It’s moving fast,” Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said Monday at a news conference in which he declared an emergency in seven counties. “The heat, the lack of humidity and the winds are all driving a very dangerous situation and making it worse. It’s not under control by any means. But we’re on it in the best way we know how.” Later Monday, Brown wrote a five-page letter to President Trump seeking federal emergency aid. A vocal critic of Trump’s politics, Brown wrote that he has “determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments and supplemental federal assistance is necessary.” The pace of the burn took firefighters by surprise: The fires torched 20,000 acres in about 12 hours Monday, which Cal Fire’s Cox called “a phenomenal rate of growth.” The fires, which first whipped up Sunday night, added to what has already been a severe fire season in the West. More than 8 million acres have burned in at least four states, raising questions from across the political spectrum about the connection to climate change and forest management practices. The current wildfires had burned more than 73,000 acres in Northern California by Monday evening, nearly all of those in Sonoma and Napa counties, the heartland of the state’s renowned wine industry. The situation in Santa Rosa, the largest city in Sonoma County, appeared dire. The Tubbs Fire, as the biggest blaze in Sonoma is known, has charred 27,000 acres in the county. The fire sped southwest from Calistoga in Napa Valley, jumped Highway 101 and entered Santa Rosa. Cal Fire officials said the cause is under investigation. A resident, Ron Dodds, told TV station KTVU that “people are running red lights, there is chaos ensuing.” “It’s a scary time,” Dodds said. “It looks like Armageddon.” The city imposed a curfew Monday, running from 6:45 p.m. until sunrise Tuesday, to prevent looting in the evacuation zone, according to the Los Angeles Times. Kaiser Permanente evacuated about 130 patients from the Santa Rosa Medical Center by ambulance and private bus early Monday morning, according to Jenny Mack, the health system’s public relations director for Northern California. The patients were taken to Kaiser Permanente in San Rafael, in Marin County, and to other hospitals and evacuation sites. Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital also evacuated all of its patients. By Monday afternoon, the hospital was inaccessible because of road closures. Will Powers, a Cal Fire representative, said the California Highway Patrol was evacuating some people by helicopter in rural areas of Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties. Fire glows on a hillside in Napa. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images) The vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties are the source of some of the country’s best wines, and the scores of tasting rooms are among the state’s most popular tourism destinations. There are more than 100,000 acres of wine grapes planted in the two counties, which are home to more than 650 wineries, according to the Wine Institute, which represents the industry in the state. The two counties produce about 13 percent of all wine made in California, according to trade group’s data; a much higher percentage of the most acclaimed and coveted U.S. wines come from Napa and Sonoma. The sector’s economic impact is immense: The Wine Institute estimates that the industry generates more than $55 billion in economic activity in California — and twice as much nationally — each year. Witness accounts Monday suggested that damage to the industry could be significant, especially if the fires continue to burn in the days ahead. “It looks like a bombing run,” Joe Nielsen, the winemaker at Donelan Family Wines in Sonoma County, told SFGate. “Just chimneys and burned-out cars and cooked trees.” Images showed one Napa winery, Signorello Estate, completely destroyed by fire. The entrance to fire-ravaged Signorello Estate winery Monday in Napa. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) Evacuations began at about 11 p.m. Sunday evening and continued through Monday. Some people left burning homes for evacuation centers, only to find those centers threatened by fire a few hours later. In Rincon Valley, on the northeast outskirts of Santa Rosa, pastor Andy VomSteeg opened his New Vintage Church to those fleeing the fire. By Monday afternoon, more than 400 people, many of them elderly, had taken refuge inside. “I left without my clothes,” said Nell Magnuson, a resident of the luxury retirement home Villa Capri. She wore only a maroon robe. “We had to get out in a hurry,” she said. “When we left, the flames were in the second floor.” Magnuson, who was worried about where she would sleep Monday night, said that “our whole lives have turned upside down. We don’t have a clue what’s going to happen. It’s just losing everything. All the pictures, my whole life.” But before her concerns could be addressed, the fire began to threaten the church. “You caught us just in time,” Magnuson said as she headed for the exit. “We’re being evacuated again.” Thick smoke hung over Sonoma County, and ash rained down in some towns. People wore masks on the streets, and businesses shut down. In Healdsburg, a town nearly circled by fire 16 miles north of Santa Rosa, exhausted evacuees bought supplies, fueled up and looked for a place to stay for the night. A woman goes through a destroyed home in Santa Rosa on Monday. (John G. Mabanglo/European PressphotoAgency/EFE/REX) Cindy Luzzi, who was visiting her son and his family in Santa Rosa, said her daughter-in-law got a call from a neighbor at about 2:30 a.m., telling them to evacuate. “At first we didn’t think it was anything to worry about. Then we went downstairs, opened our front door and looked toward the center of town,” Luzzi said. “It was just red, nothing but red.” Luzzi, her daughter-in-law and two young grandchildren took refuge at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in nearby Geyserville from 3 a.m. until 8 a.m., waiting for her son to join them. They were then able to book a room at the Best Western in town. But by 2 p.m., the hotel had filled up. Shortages of rooms, bottled water and fuel were affecting surrounding towns as well. “We’re almost out of gas,” said Hardeep Gill, who owns a filling station in downtown Healdsburg, just off Highway 101. Gill, who came into work because his employees couldn’t get there, said he had lost a commercial building he owned worth about $9 million. “I got a call around 3 a.m. because the fire sprinklers were going off,” he said. “That’s when I knew it was a total loss.” Kerr reported from Healdsburg, Calif., and Wilson and Phillips reported from Washington. Alissa Greenberg in Berkeley, Calif., and Mary Hui, Herman Wong and J. Freedom du Lac in Washington contributed to this report, which has been updated. Las Vegas gunman shot security guard minutes before massacre, police say ‘Do not shoot!’: The last moments of communist revolutionary Che Guevara Firefighters tackle ‘large’ mountain fire at Sychnant Pass Several feared dead in suspected arson attack on Japanese animation studio \| World News Licence fee: BBC could become a subscription service, says director-general – The Times Labour: shadow Brexit minister sacked over Corbyn comments \| Politics Michael Sheen having baby with 25-year-old girlfriend	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line930
__label__wiki	0.887878	0.887878	Rate of U.S. Deaths Tied to Dementia Has More Than Doubled THURSDAY, March 14, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Dementia is now one of the leading killers in the United States, with the rate of deaths linked to the disease more than doubling over the past two decades. "Overall, age-adjusted death rates for dementia increased from 30.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2000 to 66.7 in 2017," say a team of researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In sheer numbers, the new analysis of death certificate data shows that dementia was noted as the primary cause for nearly 262,000 deaths in 2017, with 46 percent of those deaths due to Alzheimer's disease. That's up from about 84,000 deaths attributed to dementia in 2000. "It's a huge increase from 2000 to 2017," said Keith Fargo, director of scientific programs and outreach for the Alzheimer's Association. "It's a big problem, and it's getting bigger." America's aging population is probably fueling this increase in dementia-related deaths, said lead researcher Ellen Kramarow, a CDC health statistician. "Part of what is likely happening is people are living to older ages, and those are the ages where your risk of dementia is the highest," Kramarow said. "If you haven't died of heart disease or cancer or something else and you get to the very oldest ages, your risk for getting dementia is higher." Not only are people living longer, but older people now make up a larger percentage of the overall population, said Fargo, who wasn't involved with the study. Some portion of the observed increase could also be attributed to better records being kept of dementia-related deaths, Fargo added. "Doctors are getting better at identifying dementia and putting it on the death certificate," he said. Even then, this report probably understates the number of people actually dying from dementia, Fargo said. "We know death certificates underrepresent the true death rate from Alzheimer's and other dementias," he said. To that point, the new report also noted another 129,700 deaths in 2017 where dementia was listed on the death certificate as a contributing factor but not the main cause of death, Kramarow pointed out. Dementia is a progressive brain disease, and it proves fatal if the person doesn't die from some other cause first, Fargo said. "It begins with brain changes and ends with death," he said. "Fundamentally, Alzheimer's is a universally fatal brain disease." For this latest study, Kramarow and her colleagues reviewed death certificate data for four reasons of death related to dementia -- Alzheimer's disease, dementia with no specified cause, vascular dementia and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system. The death rate was higher for women (about 73 per 100,000) than men (56.4). Dementia death rates were higher among whites (70.8) than either blacks (65) or Hispanics (46), the researchers found. Previous research has shown that both blacks and Hispanics are more likely to develop dementia than whites, creating a "little bit of a puzzle," Kramarow said. "It could be that those groups are more likely to die of other things before they would die of dementia," she said. As expected, the death certificate data also shows that age plays a major factor in dying from dementia. Death rates were about 57 per 100,000 among people 65 to 74, but 2,707 per 100,000 among those 85 and older. The key to driving these numbers down is further research into dementia and Alzheimer's, Fargo said. "If you look at the same kind of CDC statistics for the other major killers, almost all of them are trending down over that same time period," he said. "They have all been taken seriously by society to the point where we have invested billions of dollars per year into defeating those diseases, and we have a great record of success that when we decide to defeat a disease through biomedical research, we can do it. We have to take that same approach with Alzheimer's and the other dementias," Fargo noted. The study was published March 14 in the CDC's National Vital Statistics Reports. The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about end-of-life care for people with dementia. SOURCES: Ellen Kramarow, Ph.D., health statistician, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Keith Fargo, Ph.D., director, scientific programs and outreach, Alzheimer's Association; March 14, 2019, National Vital Statistics Reports Death &, Dying: Misc.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line934
__label__cc	0.705786	0.294214	Tag: Investigation Shanghai Sun – The Curse of the General; Chapter 37 (Black Swan) John returned to the living room holding his head down. Vic’s fiancée request put a doubt into his head and the opportunity of negotiations with his neighbors was slowly fading out. He didn’t want to hear this, he was all in for negotiations, for a peaceful end to this story. Vic realized that he was in a certain amount of distress and mutely asked him what was going on. -Zhaohui asked me to move immediately. -This ain’t good. But she must’ve had a valid reason if she asked you to do it. -I believe so, too. Another round of silence encompassed the room. Both men were now holding their heads down, trying to think at what the better way is out of this situation. Vic was first to react and change the tone in the room from a deep, gloomy and negative atmosphere into a friendlier and more optimistic one. -Let me call Zihuan….Vic grabbed his cell and soon he was on the call with his primary detective. John didn’t lose the chance to head for the window and admire again the unmatchable spectacle of barges sliding down onto Huangpu. It was a show he just couldn’t take out of his mind, a show which was acting on him like a drug on an addict, like a pill which brings instant happiness and relaxation. -Guess what? -What? -Pictures are not ready. There are so many that they couldn’t finish arranging them in a chronological way. We will have to wait until tomorrow. -This is not good…we are wasting an evening. -That’s OK. Let’s go out take a short walk. Are you tired from the walk into the Gardens? -No, I am not. Let’s go! I wouldn’t mind taking a stroll on one of the bridges above the river…something is telling me that we will witness a great view, something is telling me that I can take a look at Huangpu and its lights from a proximity which would make me “touch” the barges sliding down stream in their eternal attempt to reach the mouth of the Great Yangtze and then dock at the Shanghai Harbor. John grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. Vic was mesmerized! The last sentence which came out of John’s chest, made his eyes as large as an owl’s eyes, while pulling a real and sincere yell of admiration: -Wow! Now you spoke like a poet! That was magnificent, man! Wow! -Oh, well…this is what I do, man! A great and loud laughter came out of their chests and in no time they were at the elevator and then downstairs at the Reception. The city was still buzzing from the night life and was lit up like a Christmas tree during winter celebrations. They took a side walk and inevitably ended up on one of the bridges above the river. John’s heart was pounding inside his chest as he never looked at the waters below him so closely. It was such a great feeling! Maybe for others, the look at the dark waters, the height from which you were looking down, the intriguing and lurking message sent by the barges’ lights would’ve sent a different message, but for John, there was a message of calmness and relaxation, a message of normality and familiarity, a sign that he belonged somehow to this environment of commerce and sailing, of trade and perhaps war; but ultimately…it was sending a message of infinite freedom. John closed his eyes, largely opened his arms and deeply inhaled the odor of the waters patiently waiting for the moment when they will join the waters of the Great River and then merge into the immensity of the China Sea. To his surprise, the odor had a salty taste. It made him understand that the wind was blowing upstream and was bringing into the city the scent of the sea, the scent of the mixed sweet and salty waters of the Yangtze Delta. John opened up his eyes and a great sense of easiness encompassed him. The spectacle he has been admiring from his hotel room and from the office was truly magnificent, now that he was standing right on top of the river. They were ready to move on, when all of a sudden a car passed by honking the horn and then stopping ten yards further down the street in a horrible tire squeaking noise. Their hearts stopped from beating! The car literally (few yards) passed by them, making both John and Vic become one with the protective fence of the bridge. There were already beads of sweat running down their temples. First thoughts were that Tony or his neighbors want to get rid of John and hired a driver to run him over. But then they realized that the car was a cab and the driver was probably just trying to pick up a piece of business. John’s heart started beating at an almost normal pace; however, when he saw the driver getting down and heading his direction, his eyes caught on fire and at that point were throwing bolts of anger. He was fuming from rage and fury. -You gotta’ be kiddin’ me! -Mister! Mister! Hello! Me, driver… -I know you, of course! Of course I know you, you maniac! -Mister! Mister! Go show! Take you show! -What? I think I am going to take you by the neck and throw you into the river! This is what’s going to happen, you maniac! You think I am still going to ever get into a car with you? John was screaming as he just found a way to release all the frustration he accumulated while heading to Vic’s place from the flower store. Yes, amazingly the same driver who took him last night from the hotel to the flower shop and then to Vic’s, stopped by and offered his services again. It was more than whatever John could take… -I don’t wanna’ see you! Go away! -Mister! Mister! Take you show! Good show! -Didn’t you hear me? I will never get into that car of yours as long as you are driving! Isn’t this clear? How else do you want me to say this to you? Which part exactly you don’t understand? The one with driving, or the one when if you don’t immediately go away, I will dump you into the river? John was not only screaming, he was now gesturing and imitating the sudden turns and the hard breaking situations from the previous night. His hands were simulating holding a steering wheel while his right foot was trying to replicate a breaking situation. Whoever was watching this little show, was rapidly drawing the conclusion that John was a mad man who just happened to have a spectator watching his show. Vic was laughing so hard that he dropped onto one knee. Tears were coming out of his eyes while his whole body was shaking in an uncontrollable motion. -Why are you laughing, man? This is the maniac who last night took me at your place! I think I am going to choke him! -This is something to die for, man! To die for! You should’ve seen your face! Sorry man…I just couldn’t stop from laughing. You were all red while your face and the arms were gimmicking such strange motions! You put up quite a good spectacle. -And this maniac wants to take us to some show, right? John’s voice was already high pitched and the tonality was still showing a great deal of frustration. -Yeah, let me talk to him. -You’re kiddin’, right? You want to go to a show taking this maniac’s cab, right? Is this what I am actually hearing, or all of a sudden I lost my English comprehension? -Hey, you never know what he has in mind…it could be a good show which I would never say “no” to. -I can’t believe you are doing this! -Relax, man…let me see what this show is about. Vic headed towards the taxi driver which as a result of John’s gestures retreated towards his car. The conversation between Vic and the taxi driver took a couple of minutes; in this time frame John realized that he has to calm down that he has to bring his spirit back up to the level which allows him to have a clear mind in order to make the right decisions. J.J.’s words popped up again into his mind: “only look at the big picture, John; only at the big picture” He felt how his face and the whole body relaxed, thus giving him another chance to take a look at the river underneath. -We are heading for the show. Let’s get in. -You gotta’ be joking! We are heading to a show now? -Yes, I think it is a good one. -What sort of show, man? And where about? -It is a traditional music show. The driver told me that the band is made up of four girls and they are performing in a Club not far from here. He also told me that their style of singing is based on traditional Chinese music but then it turns towards pop-rock style. So basically is a blend between the two. -This is crazy! These are two completely different styles of music! How can they go together? John burst into a large laughter while his arms were simulating a gesture of distrust and amusement. -Well, this is why we will go there. Let’s see what this music style is about. The cab driver is very enthusiastic about this show. -Don’t mention! I still feel like chocking him! It was Vic’s turn to burst into laughter. Nevertheless, John took the back seat while Vic chose the passenger front seat, in an attempt to keep an eye on the driver and his behavior. It didn’t work out…the cab owner stepped on the accelerator so hard, that made Vic feel like he dove into the seat. -Here we go again! I told you that this guy is mental! Vic burst again into a huge laughter while telling John to relax and enjoy the ride. John didn’t want to argue with Vic anymore and so he put on the seat belt and prepared himself for the worst. It wasn’t long before the cab pulled in front of Club, situated somehow on one of those little side streets of downtown Shanghai. Of course, the driver felt again like he wanted to show off his driving skills and slammed on the breaks so hard, that made Vic almost hit the windshield with his head. This time it was too much even for Vic…his conversation with the driver was quite heated up, which made John burst into laughter this time. -Told you! This guy is a maniac! The argument between Vic and the driver carried on, so John realized that it is much more productive for him to get out of the car and start assessing the surroundings. He started methodically look at the building from both the point of view of a man who’s never been in that place and wanted to know his surroundings and from the point of view of someone who was bracing for unusual situations. For some reason he felt at unease, he felt like he was about to step into something strange, into something he did not understand or comprehend, into something surrounded by mysticism and unknown. “Black Swan” was the name written in English only, which made John raise an eye brow. He couldn’t help but admire the picture of the bird depicted by the name of the club, shown on the frontispieces and majestically represented with its two wings fully stretched. The place was not even close to be called a real Club and this was not due to the location being non-central or at least at one of the main streets. No. It was due to the fact that one would’ve expected a certain level of western like atmosphere. When you say: “Club” one would think at a noisy band playing pop or rock music, one would think at someone playing the guitar or the drums…the small stage was pretty much fully taken by four chairs and some strange instruments John did not recognize. One of them however, stirred his interest: it had the shape of a pear and looked like a mandolin. When he asked Vic what was the name of that strange looking instrument, the answer came quickly: “Pipa” John raised his left eye browse, signaling that he was not happy with the answer. Vic raised his shoulders and answered John’s muted question: “it’s all I know about those instruments” John started screening more carefully for the other instruments…one of them was the shape of a flute, while the other two had the silhouettes of a violin and a double bass. His curiosity and the ear for music were now enticed by the unusual shape of those four instruments which somehow reminded him modern “tools” used by the pop or rock bands. Then he looked at Vic. His friend wasn’t paying much attention to the details John did, but was somehow focused on scrutinizing the crowd inside the Club. John followed his friend’s sight and inevitably identified four individuals sitting at one of the tables in the front. They were making lots of noise and one would guess that they were already drunk. John assessed immediately the situation: four large drunk males, all westerners, all speaking with a strange English accent waiting for the show to start. They were pounding already on their table with their fists demanding for the band to show up on the stage. -This could be trouble…Vic was interrogatively looking at John, mutely asking: “Shall we go? I don’t like it” -No, I want to stay. Initially it was his tremendous curiosity in learning more about the sounds those instruments were making, curiosity which was asking him to stay. But now, it was something else…it was a rage he was feeling towards those individuals who were behaving in such a manner which back home would’ve found them being tossed out of the Club by now. His blood was boiling and he was all tensed and ready to confront them. There was still something which was holding him back. His eye sight was periodically checking the back stage place where the artists supposedly were entering for the show. Not a move was coming from that direction. -These guys are sailors. I believe they are Aussies. I heard this accent before…when I was doing…you know… -You think so? -Positive. When they dock, those are the first places they visit. Chinese gambling. They bet on anything you can imagine. Of course they lose their shirts in a matter of hours… -It looks to me that these guys have been here before. -I had that feeling to. Let me ask the cab driver. -You are telling me that this maniac is joining us for the show? -Relax. I like him. He told me that he learnt some things on a special driving class he was taking and he wanted to show them to us. Both John and Vic burst into a long, loud and healthy laughter. Tears were coming from John’s eyes. -Man, I am so happy I have you as a friend in this weird and completely strange environment! I owe you a six pack, whenever you are up to the task. -Roger that! Don’t forget what you just said! Another round of laughter came out of their chests. The mood was set for the two friends to have a great evening. -Hang on…your cab driver is waving at us. -Where? Can’t see him. -To the left…to the left of the table where those four drunken scumbags are sitting. -Great! Now we have them as our neighbors. -Never mind. Those are premium seats. Let’s go take them. He must’ve bribed the waiter a fortune. I saw a “Reserved” sign on the table. -How can you remove a “Reserved” sign? What if the people who booked it showed up? Vic abruptly stopped then turned a hundred eighty degrees around and looked John straight into his eyes: -As I mentioned to you at the Gardens…please, please, please, don’t move to China. -What did I say, man? I just believe that it is not fair for us to take the table of someone who reserved it. That’s all. It was the time when Vic hit his forehead with his palm and started nervously shaking his head… -Would you mind just follow me, please! -OK, OK…but this doesn’t mean that I agree with the strategy. -John, why don’t you understand that you are not in America anymore? Why don’t you understand that things at this level (Vic put his palm half way to the ground trying to mimic a normal life situation), are unfolding at a different pace, and have a completely different meaning comparing to back home? For instance, what we are seeing now, it’s normal. The people who made the reservation didn’t show up, so we took their seats! Clear? -OK, OK…I am not arguing with you anymore, but this is not right. Vic hit his head once again with his palm, making a noise which was noticed by the cab driver as they were approaching the table. The man jumped from his seat and greeted the two friends with a deep bow and respectfully invited them to have a seat. -Is he trying to tell us something? He is behaving like a host. -Let me ask…it was a short conversation between Vic and the cab driver. At the end it got quite heated up, which made John raise once again his eye browse… -OK, he is telling me that this is his treat because he likes us. -No way, man! What do you mean his treat? -He pays for seats and obviously he picked up the bribe he gave to the waiter. -No way…what if we want to do some drinks? -That’s on us. -OK. Then this becomes more doable…what a strange night! -Welcome to Shanghai, man! Vic burst again into laughter and grabbed John by the shoulder: we will have fun. I know it. -I hope so. Twenty four hours ago, I was threatened with death… -We’ll get out of this, John…don’t worry. -How can you be so sure? How can you be so positive? -Because Zhaohui has a plan. And this is all I care about. She always finds a way…always. She has a sense of avoiding danger and navigate through the choppy waters like nobody else on this planet. -Alright then. I trust you…actually let me rephrase it: I trust Zhaohui. Both friends burst again into a huge laughter, which this time brought the attention of the four persons sitting next to them. -G’day, mates! How you going? Both Vic and John were perplexed. They didn’t expect their neighbors to approach them. It was either the beginning of a normal, friendly and peaceful event, or it was just the calm before the storm. John tilted his head forward thus simulating a greeting and then with a voice of a man who was in command, replied: -Good evening to you too, gentlemen! -What you mates having for a drink? -We are here just for the show. We are not drinking. A huge laughter was heard from the neighbors’ table. John’s face turned red from what he considered a very insulting type of behavior. Vic looked at him and with a very discrete sign told John to calm down. Another man from the neighbor’s group weighed in even more, just to add to the insult: -What, yaw ladies too delicate to drink? It was the moment when John was already at the edge of his chair being ready to spring into action…Vic grabbed his wrist and managed to stop him, while the cab driver was still trying to comprehend what was going on. Fear was written on his face and one would’ve realized that he was frightened, that he was trying to find a solution. He stood up and headed straight for the side door, where the waiters supposedly were coming out with their food and drinks. It seemed that he was at home, that he knows everybody in that place. Immediately he came out accompanied by someone who looked like to be the owner. They both approached the table of the four disturbers and in an English which seemed to be quite OK for a non-English speaking person, politely asked the men to behave so the show could get on going. The reaction from the drunken individuals was as John and Vic expected and feared. They all stood up and started noisily mocking the man and his English. It was too much for John to take. He sprung from his chair and headed straight for the troubling table. Vic followed and soon, a stand up of small proportions was facing the actors of this unusual scene. -So, yaw all want to get a beating, yaw? -We just want to watch the show, that’s all. So, we are asking you to take a seat and stop disturbing. -Really, yaw pretty boy? And if we don’t take a seat what yaw going to do? John was trembling. He felt so close of launching a jab into man’s jaw, but the next second something unusual and strange happened…through the same door where the owner came out, a massive, truly impressive individual came out. This man was literally the size of the door. He was dressed into a black suit, white shirt and a black tie. The sun glasses he was wearing were hiding his slender eyes, but the face physiognomy was betraying an Asian individual. He slowly walked at the table and placed himself between John and the turbulent individual. John was amazed by the size of this person, in spite of the fact that during his Football career he played alongside many big individuals. The appearance of this Goliath brought a sudden quietness at the two tables, his stature implying nothing less but respect and admiration. The four troubling men found themselves into the situation where they had to sit as they were also impressed by the size of the man wearing a black suit. Once every sign of disturbance was removed, the body guard stepped aside and leaned against the wall. It was a detail which was noticed by both tables. A two minutes of silence made everybody from the restaurant think that if one would’ve dropped a pin, the echo would’ve been heard. The cab driver rubbed his hands thus expressing a high degree of happiness. -Show good, Mister. Show good! -I believe you. What is your name? -Yuan Jun. Nice meet you, Mister… -Parker is my name. John Parker. -Nice meet you Mr. Parker. Show good! -Again, I do believe it will be a good show. Nice to meet you too, Yuan Jun. The happiness on man’s face was something which made John smile. “Well, as they are saying: happiness resides in small things. Let’s see what the show is about” John’s insatiable curiosity made him whisper a question into Vic’s ear: -By the way…what does Yuan Jun mean? -Fountain of joy. -It makes lots of sense…looks like he is pretty happy we are here. -Yeah…it seems like he is quite joyful. Let’s watch the show now. The lights came down and on the stage four girls showed up; they bowed and then each one took her place into the band. It was the moment when John felt like he swallowed his Adam’s apple…his whole body was captured by emotions running from reverence and wonder to sincere admiration. sergiu Action, America, China, History, Hotel, Humor, Investigation, Romance, Shanghai, Uncategorized Leave a comment July 6, 2019 July 13, 2019 17 Minutes Shanghai Sun – The Curse of the General; Chapter 36 (Investing in books is always a good idea) Investing in books is always a good idea -So, John…what would you like to share with us? Vic’s voice was the voice of a man who was a little puzzled, the voice of a person who was expecting something out of extraordinary, something new and exciting. John brought the glass in front of his eyes trying somehow to filter his thoughts through the red liquid, trying to balance the way he was going to get out of his chest the story. After taking another sip, he placed the glass on the table and calmly, looking straight into his friends’ said: -Last night I met my neighbors… A heavy silence (similar to the one when they all looked at the barges sliding on Huangpu) settled. All three glasses were now resting on the table, signaling the fact that John’s last statement managed to completely capture the attention of his friends. Vic was mesmerized…his face showed a man who was deeply disturbed by the announcement. Zhaohui’s face was expressing astonishment, surprise, wonder and perplexity, but in the same time was betraying a deep and insatiable eager to know more about the event. Jon picked up on the fly that Zhaohui is dying to find out more about the encounter. He grabbed his glass, took another sip and started speaking while looking straight into his friends’ eyes. The story came out naturally. John was totally relaxed and while telling it he felt how his mind and heart were easing, were giving up a heavy load which they were unable to carry anymore. Both his friends were literally absorbing the words which were coming out of his mouth. John tried to keep the inflections on his voice as steady, as flat and emotionless as possible, in order not to influence his interlocutors. When the story got to the point when John described the weaponry his neighbor possessed, Zhaohui startled and her eyes became slimmer and slimmer, indicating that she was now concentrating her all attention only on this matter. She looked at John and with a whispery like tonality in her voice asked him: -Did you somehow manage to count the numbers of antlers on each side of the two horns? John hesitated to answer and for few seconds he rubbed his forehead with his right palm. He was trying to bring back the whole endeavor: the moment when he was attracted by the arsenal hanging on the wall, the strange feeling he had when grabbed the cold, yet very expressive handle of the blade and the very artistic touch of the scabbard. The butt of the handle with the beautiful hart head and two red goggled eyes was still imprinted into his memory, but he couldn’t recall himself counting the antlers. -I really can’t remember and I never did count them. I am sorry, Zhaohui… -It’s alright John. Judging by what you are saying, your neighbors belong to a high nobility family and they admitted it. If somehow you remember the number of antlers of that stag and if you can compare that smell with anything known to us, maybe I can precisely pin-point who your neighbors are. -I have to scratch my head really hard…not sure. A short moment of silence followed, a moment when John was trying to remember these little details, while Zhaohui was almost begging him with her eyesight to do an effort and answer the question. -Wait a minute! Didn’t you say that on the wall he had the head of a majestic stag? I bet you that the number of antlers would be the same on the sword’s handle! -Good one, Vic! Zhaohui’s voice had an upbeat and excited tonality, signaling a glimpse of anticipation and hope. John’s eyes dilated and a spark one could’ve seen into his eyes… -Right! The massive stuffed head on the wall! It was so big and frightening and those two eyes trying to tell the story of that hunting event which apparently ceased the existence of that superb beast were so expressive and large! -Exactly! Now try to remember the number of the antlers, John…her voice was switching now to a soft, begging tonality, to a voice which was eagerly asking for an answer to questions that were burning inside of the heart. Again John started rubbing his forehead but this time he didn’t realize that he was actually loudly speaking, trying to recall the chain of events and hoping that it will somehow tickle his memory. -I got in; it was dark…few fascicles of light were trying to squeeze themselves underneath the bathroom door and were barely reaching the living room area. Someone was taking a shower…this was the moment when John stopped. He didn’t know if he wanted to tell his friends about the encounter with the beautiful woman living next door. His hesitation was promptly speculated by Zhaohui. Her eyes were asking many questions and John knew that he had to be fully transparent and honest with his friends. The story started flowing and soon all the details of last night’s event spilled over the glass. Vic and Zhaohui were all ears. John felt like taking a break to catch his breath. It was the moment when Zhaohui pulled a question which made John startle: -So, she is beautiful, isn’t she? -Yes, she is! She is very beautiful. John’s voice turned soft and tender, still betraying a great level of admiration for the woman he saw naked, for the woman he had got to understand that was a warrior from a very high level aristocratic family – same like her brother – for the lady who served him tea while his eyes were undressing her from the thin like air bathrobe she was wearing. Few long minutes of complete silence followed up. Each of the three actors participating at the scene tried to put their thoughts in order, sensing that the outcome of this discussion will shed some light on the next steps they will have to make. One could hear his heart beating – this is how quiet it got into the room. Everyone was now waiting for someone else to say something. Finally, Zhaohui summoned up her spirits and ask again the question: -How many antlers did the stag have? Can you remember? To everyone’s surprise (including his own), John answered without hesitation: -Seven on each side. Zhaohui startled! Her face became white like the wall of the living room. Her hands started shaking and the sweat on her forehead was showing a deep distress level. Both Vic and John were mesmerized; they were looking at her with the eyes of two individuals who just saw a ghost. Another round of quietness struck the room; John started to feel very uncomfortable but refrained from saying anything. His eyes were pointing straight at Vic’s fiancée, waiting for her to reveal what she had in mind. -It’s them… Her answer made the two men present in the room look at each other…their eyes were exhibiting fear, discomfort, dread and anxiety as Zhaohui’s enigmatic statement completely caught them by surprise. The unknown of the situation laying in front of them was terrifying and their line of thoughts broke down into an array of unasked questions, into a panel of scenarios made up by second guesses and probably unrealistic assumptions. -Do you remember their names, John? -They gave me two names which are most likely not their real names. One of them was: Zhiming mao and the other one was Zhiming de jiàn. -So, she is a master of the sword… -Apparently. The man told me that he is equally good with both the lance and the sword, but prefers the lance. Few more minutes of silence encompassed the room. It looked like now the ice was broken and at least the three friends were at ease to communicate with each other. -They are members of the “Seven Orchids Order” -What does this Order do and how do you know they are members of this Order? Zhaohui was about to answer the question, when John realized that all of a sudden she hesitated and changed her mind by dropping her head while holding it between her palms. Few more moments of heavy silence and uncomfortable quietness made the two men feel like chocking. Suddenly Zhaohui lifted her head, stood and with a calm and firm voice said: -It is time…she grabbed her glass and headed towards the window again; one would’ve said that the few moments she spent by the large window were meant to take a last look at the night spectacle on the river. But whoever better knew her, would’ve realized that she wanted to say “good bye” to Huangpu, she wanted to apologize for the fact that she won’t be coming back again to watch the barges slide down or up the waters of the river which was feeding the Great Yangtze since the beginning of time. -You must move! You have to do it! He may kill you if he wants. This time her voice was harsh and authoritarian, a voice that was missing any sort of inflections and was demanding nothing less but obedience. -I thank you for your concern, Zhaohui…but I will not move. I asked Zhiming mao: “what do you want in return for stopping to drain money from Glenworth?” He said that he will think about. I want to pursue a negotiation path as well, rather than catching him red handed. Slowly and silently, Zhaohui returned to the couch. Placed the glass on the table and looked straight into John’s eyes. -John…you still don’t understand that we are all caught – actually we are all part – into this curse. The fact that Tony and Zhiming mao are stealing from J.J. is just secondary facts. This curse must end and will end soon. This is why I said: “It’s them” -Then tell me who are: “them”? I am tired of this story already…I want to solve the mystery and go back to my wife, my kids, my home and my life! John’s voice became loud and the gradual increase into the tonality made both Zhaohui and Vic startle. -I am sorry guys…I am sorry that I raised my voice. But I want this thing to end as soon as possible. And I am willing, yes, I am willing to negotiate with Zhiming Mao. -You are willing to negotiate with him even if this comes at the cost of one of our lives? Her question hit John the same way if someone would’ve punched him right between his eyes. He dropped into the closest love seat and mutely asked Zhaohui to finish her story. -Your neighbors’ real family name is: Chonghuan; they are descendants of this great family, one of the highest aristocratic houses during Ming Dynasty. Their blood line stretches for few centuries before Ming. This family produced many great generals and high officials. They are the founders of “The Order of the Seven Orchids”. Only members of the highest aristocratic families were allowed to join and only based on their bravery onto the battle fields. It was exclusively a military Order; you had to be a soldier by profession in order to join. Many representatives of the high level aristocratic families joined “Seven Orchids”. It was one of the highest honors in state and the Emperor encouraged and supported the Organization. However, after the decapitation of Chonghuan, the Order was dismembered and many members found their end under the sword of the executioner. -Chonghuan was charged with treason and executed. Why? He defended the country against the Manchu invaders. -Politics at the Court…politics and scheming from the eunuchs. Chonghuan was a great warrior and a brilliant general. But the eunuchs managed to convince the Emperor that he deliberately let the Manchu army slip away to make it to the walls of Beijing and then crash them, in order to gain even more power and fame. -Hard to believe that the Emperor fell for this. -He was surrounded by bad advisers and unfortunately he listened to them. -So this is how this curse started? This great General cursed the Emperor, cursed him because he knew he was innocent and he did nothing wrong but defend his country. Zhaohui dropped her head again; John remained mute and refrained from saying anything anymore. He knew at this point that this was a gesture of acceptance, an act of being at peace with the past and with the decisions of the past no matter how harsh they were. In John’s mind, the mystery around the Curse started to clear up and he understood that the two opposing sides cannot be other but Zhaohui on one side and Tony and his neighbors on the other side. He got goosebumps. “So, Vic’s fiancée is a royal? She belongs to the lineage of Chongzhen Emperor?” This scenario made him look at her with lots of uncensored respect and astonishment. “She can trace her lineage back to the late days of the Ming! This is unbelievable! What if she came back from the past to close this thing called “cosmological path”, this Curse which is supposed to end after nine generations from its origination?” He shook his head and with a smile on his face he reminded himself: “there is no such thing as time travelling!” Few minutes of complete quietness fell again on top of them and nobody wanted to say a word anymore. Everyone was chewing on his own thoughts, on his own plan to eventually break the silence and open up a conversation again. John couldn’t stand anymore the situation and stood up. He looked at his friends and with the voice of a commander who is making a decision said: -OK. We know that they are stealing from J.J. We also know that they are descendants of this great family. What do they want? Other than securing funds for their royal life style, what do they want? John’s voice became high pitched and the frustration in his tonality brought both his friends to the point on which they mutely asked him to keep it down. John apologized and dropped into the love seat. He just wanted to get all his frustration out, as once again he felt like he started spinning his wheels. Zhaohui stood up and with a calm and well balanced voice made John understand that things must be left to happen naturally, without being pushed, without being rushed or forced into the action. -Your neighbors have the task to close this Curse from their family side. I am tasked to close it from my side. This is the short story. John felt how the goosebumps were slowly sneaking underneath his skin while poking it with a myriad of sharp red hot needles. Both Vic and him looked at Zhaohui frightened and scared in the same time, helpless and interrogative. “So, she will lead the defense. She will probably have to withstand by herself whatever was coming from the other side” -Can you tell me a little more about the lance you saw on his wall? Can you remember more details? I am particularly interested in the tip, the way the iron tip was shaped…did the iron triangular blade have another two smaller “fins” on it, somehow perpendicular on the main surface? John grabbed his temples signaling that he was trying to remember… -Is this little detail important? -It is not a “little detail” John…it is something which defines a certain fighting method, it is a feature not every lance has. Only the most skilled lance fighters have this little “wings” on their lances. They add weight but they can be lethal if the person who is handling the lance knows how to make use of them. Let’s put it this way: instead of two cutting edges, you have four. The two main ones are meant for killing (obviously), while the other two (smaller ones) are meant for wounding the opponent and thus offering a greater advantage during a fight one on one. If you manage to wound and weaken your opponent, it is just a matter of time before you have the chance to kill him. -I wish I could remember…John started rubbing his temples. Methodically, he reconstructed the whole previous night scene from the moment he got to meet Zhiming mao and the moment he got to hold and admire his weapons. His mind was still set at the exquisite piece of art represented by the ceremonial sword…for few moments he closed his eyes and tried to remember anything unusual on that spear which he believed it was just a secondary type of weapon, a weapon used by poor and unimportant soldiers. It turns out that it was a weapon of choice for many nobles, for many representatives of the highest aristocratic families. “It had that black painted wooden handle, the metal tip and the two edges were very sharp…I could actually sense it. Then it had that red piece of shredded material. What else? Did it have another cutting edge?” Few minutes passed by and John was still holding his temples between his palms…all of a sudden, he raised his head and with the voice of someone with a high degree of certainty in his mind, said: -Yes, it did have two little wings, closer to the base of the triangular shape of the metal. They were small, but were placed perpendicular to the main cutting edges. I thought they were meant for defending purpose, to stop a sword from making it closer to the man. -They can be used to stop a sword blow, John…yes, they can be used for this purpose. But it is not what they are meant for. As I said, their main function is to create cuts on opponent’s face if possible. Why face? Because you will lose lots of blood as this particular section of the human body is heavily irrigated with blood and if the blood flows into your eyes, you won’t be able to see, right? Cuts on arms, upper body and legs are also making your opponent weak due to the blood loss. It is a very dangerous weapon into the hands of a trained soldier and it seems to me that your neighbor is one of those skilled great warriors who knows how to handle a lance. -OK then. It looks like the big fella’ is a master of the lance. Is this so terrible? Zhaohui looked at John and then with a gesture of a very worried person dropped her head. It was something strange and unusual into that attitude of resignation, something John couldn’t have ever associated with her. In his mind, she was a strong and balanced individual, she was a master of knowing how to hold her head upright even in the most adverse situations, a person of high confidence and great moral virtues. But now, seeing her so distressed and turbid, a different feeling encompassed him: it was a sense of fatality, a sense of set destines which cannot be changed, a sense of sorrow and grief, of bitterness and dismay. All of a sudden, she raised her head and looked John straight into his eyes: -John, I need to see those books you bought yesterday. Both Vic and John looked at each other the way two individuals would do it after they barely escaped the strike of a thunderbolt. Their face expression showed two men completely caught off guard, incapable of saying anything which could be either legible or audible. John pointed with his hand towards the office desk and towards the coffee table in the living room where the large Map collection book was resting. Zhaohui picked it up and shortly after, she put it right back…apparently there was nothing in there that could interest her. With a swift movement, she stood up and headed towards the office table close to the window. Her hands were opening one book at the time and feverishly flipping pages in search of something which apparently was of great importance to her. John and Vic were stunned! Vic at least, has never seen her so emotional, so pale and distressed, so impatient and in the same time so afraid of what would her findings uncover. Eventually, she pulled a barely audible yell out of her chest…it looked like she found what she was looking for. Her fingers were now quickly turning page by page and judging by the fact that her face was slowly lightening up, made both John and Vic crack a timid smile. Few minutes passed by and Zhaohui stood up again, this time holding the book. -I need to borrow this book from you if you don’t mind. -That’s it? Uff! You scared us! Vic and John burst in laughter to relieve some of the stress that built up in the last few minutes, but both of them knew that situation is still not very rosy and it will take Zhaohui some time to give them an explanation. The two men picked up on each other’s mute signal and kept quiet, refraining to ask Zhaohui what is so special about that book. -OK, I will be heading home now. You two guys can stay here and look at the pictures made by the detectives. -OK, I am ordering a cab for you. I’ll see you soon. -Great! I am heading down. John, please give me a bag. I don’t want strangers’ eyes to see this book. Maybe I am overreacting, but now we all know who your neighbors are and we know that they are spying on you. -Sure. Here it is, Zhaohui. While handing over the bag to her, John couldn’t help himself but taking a sneak peek at the book’s cover. It was a book on weaponry used during Medieval times of China, specifically during Ming Dynasty, a book which captured his attention when he came back from dinner last night. The hand drawings were so real, that made him spend some time flipping through content. The book was not only an atlas of weaponry, it was also a book on handling those deadly weapons. At this very thought, he startled! “Don’t tell me that Zhaohui wants this book because she wants to learn some fighting technique!” Then, out of nowhere, he remembered that she insisted quite a lot in finding out from him about that little detail about the construction of Zhiming mao’s lance. He looked at her with the eyes of someone who believed that just unlocked a puzzle; however, something was telling him to be cautious and not draw conclusions based on assumptions. Zhaohui carefully placed the book into the bag and headed for the door. -You have your key with you, don’t you? It was a question directed at Vic… -Yes, I do have it. In a couple of hours I will be home too. -OK. I will see you later. She opened the door and before heading for the elevator, she turned around, looked John straight into his eyes and with a voice which demanded nothing less but obedience said: -You must move! You are not safe here anymore. Then quietly she slipped away along the corridor towards the elevators. sergiu Action, America, China, Investigation, Romance, Shanghai Leave a comment June 22, 2019 June 22, 2019 16 Minutes sergiu Action, America, China, History, Humor, Investigation, Romance, Shanghai, Uncategorized Leave a comment June 15, 2019 June 15, 2019 15 Minutes Shanghai Sun – The Curse of the General; Chapter 34 (Suzhou Gardens – Humble Administrator’s Garden) Suzhou Gardens – Humble Administrator’s Garden When the cell phone went off, John realized that it was already late and Vic and Zhaohui might’ve already been waited for him in the Lobby. -Hey, how you doin’, man? -I am doing fantastic! Ready? It’s a gorgeous day outside. -Actually I was still sleeping when you called. -Oh, I am sorry, John! Should we come later and pick you up? Do you still want to go see the Gardens? This time of the year the colors are absolutely splendid. -Of course I want to go, but I need to get ready. Come on up, don’t wait in the Lobby. -OK. We’ll be there in few minutes. -I will unlock the door. Just get in and make yourself at home. You can even make coffee for us if you want. -Great! I will see in a few. John headed for the shower in spite of the fact that he was half asleep. Yesterday’s events were still fresh into his mind. As the water was running down onto his body, he started getting into the “ready” mood, the state of mind he was always beginning his days with. As usual, a quick cold water run at the end, made him completely come out of his sleepy mode and gave him that energy boost which was always bringing good and fresh ideas for the day in front of him, which was always guiding him on setting priorities. He quickly dried himself out, put on a pair of jeans, a thick fleeced V-shaped T-shirt and a pair of sneakers. In the living room, Vic was making coffee, while Zhaohui was admiring the panoramic view of the Huangpu and downtown Shanghai. -Good morning, guys! -Good morning, John! Did you sleep well? Zhaohui’s face was radiant and her almond shaped eyes were radiating such a great level of happiness that made John reconsider his initial thought of telling them of his last night encounter with his neighbors. “I am not going to ruin her happiness! She is obviously so excited that we are going to see the Gardens! I will for sure talk to Vic tomorrow. I have to tell them. Zhiming mao threatened me and it is clear that we are playing into different teams” -Coffee is ready! Vic was rubbing his hands against each other with a deep feeling of satisfaction imprinted on his face. Your tea is done too, Zhaohui. -Thanks, Vic! -Thank you, man! Now, let’s assess the quality of your product! -Don’t you dare say anything wrong about my coffee making talents! The room filled up right away with a sincere and healthy laughter, with a great joy and heartfelt friendship. -Would you two guys mind if I have my tea by the window? -No, not at all, Zhaohui! That is my favorite spot too. Especially at night…it is so beautiful! I like to watch the barges slipping downstream into the night. Their lights into the night are captivating, in spite of the fact that they are competing against the city’s illumination. Zhaohui looked straight into John’s eyes. Her sight was so intense and profound, was so daring and bold, that made John almost swallow his Adam’s apple. Her eyes were acting like two laser beams trying to pierce a thick iron shield, trying to penetrate John’s soul and mind all the way to its last hidden spot. Realizing that she put John into an unusual situation, she apologized immediately. -I’m sorry John. I didn’t mean to be so intruding. -That’s alright, Zhaohui. We both love that spot. It is magic, indeed. -Which spot? What are you two guys talking about? -Nothing…both Zhaohui and I like the view from that large window. -Yes, it is a great view, I have to admit. Now let’s have a coffee. That being said, John and Vic took a seat on the couch and started chit-chatting, bringing to the surface memories of the office life back in America, memories of parties at the local pubs during a football game, or just memories of the good old times when they were much younger. Zhaohui was simply too absorbed in watching the great spectacle Huangpu was offering on a Sunday morning, to even bother listening to what the guys were saying. She took a seat into the nice, comfortable chair and sank her eyes into the waters of the river which was part of so many centuries of hardship during the great Imperial Chinese history. One hour passed by so fast, that all three of them felt like it was just five minutes ago when Vic and Zhaohui made it to the apartment. Eventually Vic looked at the clock on his cell phone and jumped on his feet: -It is getting late. If we want to see all the gardens, we have to leave now. -Great, then let’s move! Zhaohui turned her chair around and in a heartbeat was on her feet. One could see that she was sad for not being able to watch the spectacle below anymore, but in the same time her face was radiating from the fact that they were heading to Suzhou to visit the Gardens. It was something that she and Vic were doing as often as they had a chance, or when they felt tired and worn out. For Zhaohui, the gardens always represented an immense reservoir of energy, of life, of optimism and drive to move on. She has seen them many times, in different seasons. But every time she was coming back, she felt like she discovered something new, she felt like a small portion of her heart was left there, among the water lilies and lotus flowers. While locking the door of the apartment, John couldn’t help but throwing a peak at his neighbors’ door. It was shut and no movement or noise was coming out of there. All the booths which were selling tickets were very busy and huge lineups were formed around the gates. Vic got in line and with a resigned shrug of the shoulders signaled to his friend and fiancée that they have no choice but to wait in line like everybody else or come back next week at an earlier time. All of a sudden, Zhaohui headed towards one of the volunteers responsible with directing the crowds and managing the orderly entrance into the gardens. It was one of her students. They shook hands and an unstoppable flow of greetings followed from both sides. Zhaohui’s interlocutor was a girl in her teens, who managed to catch John’s attention through her beautiful, large smile. The glasses she was wearing were a little too large for her face, but the overall look showed a girl determined to succeed in her life through hard work and willpower. Shortly after encounter, Zhaohui made a discreet sign to John. Initially, John didn’t know how to react, but realized right away that the girl Vic’s fiancée was chatting with, would be able to get them in without lining up. John hesitated, as his mind and his training, his professional and moral structure would’ve never had agreed to cut off in line and get ahead of somebody. But Zhaohui insistently was pointing towards Vic. John turned around and grabbed Vic by the sleeve. -Apparently your fiancée wants to tell you something. Vic turned his head and in few seconds understood exactly what Zhaohui was signaling. -She found a way in, without us lining up. -I don’t want to be special! -Fortunately, it’s not up to you. We have an easier way in and it is perfectly legal and moral. Is this OK with you? John was stunned! -How is this morally acceptable to get ahead of everybody else who is lining up and is waiting for his or her turn to get in? -You’ll see. Come and stop asking questions, man! We are already late. The days are shorter this time of the year. John put his head down (in a sign that he was ashamed of what he was doing) and simply followed Vic towards the direction where Zhaohui was still chatting with the girl she met. He shook hands and once again, he had the chance to admire a beautiful and innocent smile. -OK. Fantastic arrangement: she will be our guide inside. -Our guide? You guys had visited these gardens probably a hundred times! Why do you need a guide? -John, let me tell you something: you have to put this into your mind: in China everything is possible if you know somebody or you know how to use the system. And it doesn’t have to necessary be illegal or immoral. But you must know the system. -OK, smart guy…then tell me how are you using the system to get us ahead of everybody who is lining up here and still be legal or at least moral? -I will tell you how: we are here for the first time and we need a guide to explain to us the history of these gardens, how they were built, who built them, and so on. And because we need a guide, we will pay a premium price for the tickets. The Gardens are making some extra cash and we get in faster. Understood? -You were here before, you know these gardens better than the guide! -Pardon! Nobody knows that. The system is telling us that if we take a guide and we pay a premium, we can cut off into the line. Simple like that! John shook his head and dropped his chin again, mutely telling Vic that he is not buying his story and he still believes that they should’ve lined up like everybody else. Vic looked for few seconds at his friend’s face and while grabbing the back of John’s neck with his hand, he looked deeply into his eyes and said: -John, my friend…please promise me that you will never move to China. John startled and while looking Vic straight into his eyes, asked him: -Why are you making me promise something like this? -Because this country will eat you alive, man! Will eat you alive. -Alright gentlemen, let’s get in. Ah Lam will be our guide. Zhaohui’s voice was crystal clear and was exuberating from such a joy that made John completely give up his qualms of conscience and simply joined in, making Vic take a breath of fresh air and sigh peacefully. This time of the year, the Gardens were astonishing! The multitude of different colored leafs starting with the green of the conifers, the hot red of the maple trees and then to the specific yellowish of the oaks, made this spectacle of nuances a festival of colors, a festival of joy and admiration towards the power and the beauty of the Mother Nature. John was stunned by the beauty in front of him, but mostly he was dazed by the way the architects managed to blend the nature with the human touch, the way the fish ponds and the waterfalls were speaking to the huge stones brought by the masons to simulate the mountains, the way the outstanding red pagodas were overseeing the landscape eventually ending up by whispering into the ears of the colorful fishes which cautiously were taking cover between the leafs of the royal lotus and water lily flowers. The guide was doing her job and was explaining the way the architects built the nine Gardens, the way each of them was envisioned, the period in which was built and what was its main significance, meaning, purpose and of course the story which led to building it. John was listening very carefully, like a kid taken into a trip to a place he loved, like a scholar listening to the favorite teacher. In his eyes, the way the architects managed to marry the nature and the man made features of the Gardens, was impressive to say the least. Two hours passed by when they realized that they had barely seen four out of the nine Gardens. It was already two a ’clock in the afternoon and all four of them increased the pace. Every Garden had something different, something that was making it unique, yet making it an integral part of the whole assembly. -Last one, announced Ah Lam. -Great, it is already getting dark. -Vic, John…if you want you can go ahead and wait for me at the exit. I need to meditate a little by the water fall. John was shocked! “She needs to meditate!” Vic saw the expression on his friend’s face and quickly came with an answer which removed any sort of wonder from John’s physiognomy. -She has a favorite spot here, inside of Humble Administrator’s Garden, a place where she likes to meditate in front of a water fountain. It’s OK, Zhaohui…we will wait for you by the pond. We will look at the fishes while resting a bit. We’ve been walking for more than three hours. -Thank you Vic, I appreciate your understanding. Ah Lam, we thank you very much for your help, it’s been a delight to learn from you things I actually never knew. There is no point for you to wait for us. This is the last Garden and we will be out of here in fifteen minutes probably. -I thank you for the opportunity. You have a good night now! Ah Lam bent from the middle, in a sign of respect towards her teacher and then towards John and Vic. The two men replied identically and soon, the cute girl they had as a guide disappeared into the dusk, as the wonderful Sunday they spent together was preparing to say goodbye and go to sleep as well. Vic grabbed his friend’s arm and together headed for the pond. John couldn’t help but turn his head back. The wooden kiosk they were crossing was opened all around; It was ingeniously built with wooden blinds at the windows, which on a rainy day could’ve been closed and thus protect the people inside. Zhaohui was already into a lotus position facing the water fall, and in few seconds became a part of the masonry which was surrounding that particular part of the courtyard. This time John didn’t ask himself: “Why is she picking that particular spot from all the options she had? Why this particular Garden? Why does she have to meditate?” During these few days since he stepped onto Chinese soil, he went through so many strange situations, that one more wouldn’t’ve made a difference anyway. He took a sit beside Vic on one of the wooden benches by the pond and deepen his eyes into the water which was taming with fishes; the abundance of aquatic plants provided a perfect playground and habitat for them, a habitat masterly designed and maintained by Suzhou Gardens. In no time he felt so relaxed and at ease, so happy and detached from this world that his mind completely forgot about last night’s encounter with the neighbors, about his plan to tell Vic and Zhaohui what happened. The eyes of his imagination started wandering again through places he has never been before, through places which were at first sight strange to him, but felt so alive and familiar, so colorful and sweet-scented. “Why do I have the feeling that I know these gardens, that I know this particular one? This is so strange, but it feels so good! It is almost like I have been here before, that I did spend some time here in this garden and that everything is known to me” John shook his head in a sign that he wanted to come back to reality. Vic was not sitting on the bench anymore. He was on his knees by the pond and was making waves in the water, playing with the fishes. Amazingly, the game he started was happily shared by the numerous Koi fishes in the pond and soon two kids joined him in that wave making endeavor. John looked at his friend and smiled…”he has the heart of a kid” sergiu Action, America, China, History, Humor, Investigation, Romance, Shanghai, Uncategorized Leave a comment June 8, 2019 June 15, 2019 11 Minutes Shanghai Sun – The Curse of the General; Chapter 33 (The Neighbors) Once he reached his floor, he decided to not even look at his neighbors’ door – as he was usually doing it. There was a little problem though: this time, the door was cracked open again. His insatiably curiosity made him look. For the first few minutes, he limited his curiosity to taking a peek inside – as much as the opening of the door allowed him. However, there was not much to see…the place where the large man was doing his meditation was empty, but the white tatami he was using was still in the same place, on the ground. The same unknown to him scent hit his nostrils. The smell was so powerful yet delicate, noble and intriguing that made John push the door open even more. Now he had a better view of the whole living room. As the room was almost dark (just partially lit by few candles), John realized that the layout was similar to his apartment. Soon, he figured out that those burning candles were releasing the smells which for now were completely making his mind forget about the dream, forget about his desire to end the adventure and the investigation. But in the same time these unknown scents, unwillingly were luring him to venture into a territory he did not know, into a land he would rather avoid stepping onto, a land made of quick sands ready to swallow you at the first mistake you were making. He wiped the sweat which was flooding his forehead with his sleeve and decided to enter. First few steps were similar to the steps a cat makes when in a hunt for a mouse…cautious, very slow paced, with large timing intervals between them. Judging by the movements he was making, one would say that John was a professional criminal entering a future murder scene. He was slowly advancing towards the center of the room when the dancing shadows on the walls, magnified by their own reflections into the large window, made him stop. A large and strange thing was hanging against the wall. John couldn’t figure out what was it, but the size of it made him tremble with fear. The lights were dancing like ghosts while the scents in the room were making his sense of smell play mind games on him. His whole attention was now focused on the immense dark spot on the wall. His initial guess was that it was a hunting trophy. However, the playful shadows were enticing his mind to think at mystic scenarios; the doubt and the fear were now encompassing his judgement. All of a sudden, a noise came from the bathroom area. He realized that when he entered the apartment, he ignored a light which was curiously stretching underneath the bathroom door. He turned around. There was somebody in the bathroom and judging by the noise coming out of there, the person was taking a shower. His attention was now completely switched towards that direction. There was so much mystery lurking around: an opened door, a hanging creature on the wall and a person taking a shower! All these, made John grasp for air while still standing in the middle of the living room. Unexpectedly, the bathroom door opened up. A woman wrapped into a magnificently embroidered silk bath robe was now standing into the door frame, playing with her long black hair. In a swift yet delicate motion, she brought her beautiful flowing hair on one of the shoulders, so most of it was now running down her left shoulder and resting over her left chest. The robe was so light that all her forms were revealed. The roundness of her breasts, the tightness of the waist and the slim shape of her thighs were now playing a magnificent spectacle in front of John’s eyes. With delicate and flowing motions, she continued to strike her hair, apparently in an attempt to make it softer, to make it more appealing and sexier to the viewer. She knew exactly how to tickle John’s imagination. It was the mysterious woman he met on the night when he checked in, the same woman he greatly admired in the restaurant at the breakfast. Even now, when she was barely wearing clothing, John couldn’t help but notice that all her gestures and movements were carefully paced, measured and methodically repeated under a set timing and rhythm. John could see the water running into the shower cabin and he figured out that the woman was preparing to get in. Slowly, she turned around, dropped the robe and entered the cabin enticingly leaving the door open. The water started running down her shoulders and soon a white wave of body shampoo foam (which was magnificently contrasting with her tanned skin), made its way onto the shoulders, then encompassed the hips, kissed the buttocks, and finally circled around the thighs and the legs. It looked like a white snake was trying to wrap her shoulders into his coils and then was working his way down her body slowly grabbing her hips with a vice like grip. The smell of that shampoo, hit John’s nostrils immediately: it was the same captivating scent as the one produced by the candles. The scene was breathtaking and it became even more alluring: the woman turned around and her whole femininity splendor was now fully exposed. John felt how his Adam’s apple was sliding up and down until finally got stuck into a position which betrayed a severe emotional distress. He was now contemplating a piece of art, a charming symbiosis between perfect shapes, skin tan and overall proportions. Her big, black, slanted eyes were looking at John with the eyes of a feline which is monitoring her prey: methodical, focused, intensive, potent and diligent, not leaving anything to the chance or to anything else that could alter the result of the hunt. She was stunning, to say the least! And to make things even worse (for John), she started washing her body with slow and calculated circular motions, from the shoulders then down to her artistically sculptured breasts. The white foamy lotion brought by her skilled hands to the breasts was greatly contrasting with her tanned skin and dark brown nipples, thus providing a spectacle which he was not prepared to watch, a spectacle to which he was not ready to participate, an unexpected show about beauty, perfect shapes and unmatched contrasts. -She is beautiful, isn’t she, John? John felt how instantly his spine froze, how his face was tingling from the same cold currents sent by his brain (which was trying to signal that without any doubt is under enormous stress), how all the events of the day were fast tracking now in front of his eyes like shadows, like personages of a play with many actors wandering around without knowing whose line is whose. He turned around and realized that the man standing behind him was the same individual he saw the first time through the cracked door and then into the restaurant together with the woman who was now showering in front of him. This man was massive…not as tall as John was, but the broad shoulders and the thickness of the arms and the neck made John believe that the man he was facing was or still is a heavy weight judoka or a wrestler or a martial arts guru. To make things even worse, he was standing right below the thing John intuitively assumed it was a hunting trophy. The opened door of the bathroom was allowing enough light to illuminate the creature on the wall…it was indeed the head of a formidably massive hart. The span of the horns must’ve been at least six feet from tip to tip. John’s palms were all sweaty. The man of the house and the trophy were now almost aligned making the scene hilarious – if it wouldn’t have been dramatic. It was almost like the gentleman who entered the room was wearing a hat with two massive antlers. John tried to sketch a smile, but he realized that he was the last person in that room to be in a position to do so. John’s interlocutor moved slowly on the side towards the middle of the living room and lit up the remaining of the candles. Soon, that profound and delicate, yet invasive and alluring smell was making John feel like he was welcomed, feel like he was the expected guest of the house for the Saturday night dinner. The room was now lit up at a level at which John could guess the decorations hanging on the walls…and there was plenty of them! He realized that the room was full of paintings and framed photos. One particular painting drew his attention: it was a fighting scene between two armies. However, the light did not have enough intensity so he couldn’t pick all the details. Nevertheless, something was telling him that he saw that painting somewhere. His investigative mind started right away to process this information, but he couldn’t exactly point in time when he saw the painting…his mind even considered the fact that he has never seen it and maybe it is just his imagination playing games on him right now; imagination based on the many stories he has heard since landing in Shanghai, or maybe even based on the dream he had. His brain was trying to absorb and put in order so much information, so many unusual events, all of them leading to…leading to what? He had a job to finish. Unfortunately his task got tangled and hijacked by this unusual story about late Ming Dynasty and this feud (which has been stretching over so many centuries) getting somehow anchored into his assignment and thus making it so much more difficult to take it to the end. -Sit down, John! The big fellow in front of him showed John the white tatami on the floor. He realized that the man wanted to have a discussion with him. He hesitated. Something was telling him to stay on guard. His host smiled: -John…if I wanted to kill you, you would’ve been dead by now. Please, sit! John took his shoes off and entered the tatami; a deep bow of his interlocutor (a sign of respect and thank you), made him understand that he did the right thing when removing the shoes. Both of them were now standing on the tatami. A slight sign (a stretched hand pointing to the floor), invited John to have a seat. There were no chairs, so he realized that he has to take the well-known lotus position, which he did. A slight and barely perceptible head tilt from the opposite side, let John know that his efforts are appreciated. John’s attention switched to a particular area of the wall: it was the one which was close to the large glass wall facing Huangpu River. In spite of the obscure lighting, he realized that a weapons collection was hanging on the wall. It wasn’t hard to figure out that few swords, a shield, few lances, a bow, a quiver of arrows and few other shorter swords and long knives actually represented a whole arsenal which must have belonged to a warrior. “So, this guy is a warrior. What if he is just a collector?” He wanted to ask his interlocutor if those were real weapons but didn’t get that far, as the man in front of him, with calm and deep tonality in his voice dissipated any doubt from his mind: -Yes, John. They are real…they are very real and they are very sharp. Latest few words fell like a hammer over John. He took it as a threat: “they are very sharp”. Cold sweat was now again running down his temples, over the cheeks, only to meet at the chin level and finally drip on the tatami in front of him. He didn’t know what to expect from the big fella and most of all, he started believing that the man sitting in the lotus position could read minds…this was troubling him. All of a sudden, a melodious voice behind him asked a question which made John tremble with excitement: -Why are you two sitting into the dark? The very next moment, she turned the lights on at the maximum luminosity the switch allowed her. A spectacle of balanced forms revealed themselves underneath the exquisite short pink silk robe. The long black hair was flowing down her right shoulder covering the right breast. However, the robe was so fine, delicate and transparent that John could once again admire her tanned skin which was contrasting so discretely with the color of the vaporous robe. John was trying to keep a straight face and not show his emotions, but one could sense that the up and down motion of his Adam’s apple was a sign of distress and nervousness. She turned around and headed for the kitchen. Half way she stopped, turned her head, tilted it with a sensual motion nobody expected and from the tips of her lips, with a waggish smile on her face asked: -Do you like jasmine tea, John? John didn’t expect this sort of question, so he mumbled a “Yes, I do like jasmine tea” which was neither convincing nor cheering. -Very well, gentlemen…in few minutes I will bring you some tea. This time she discretely slipped into the kitchen leaving the two men once again alone. John shook his head, thus signaling that he needs to wipe out the image of the gorgeous woman who just stood in front of him. Right away he realized that the man sitting at the other end of the tatami was carefully watching his expressions and reactions to the environment. This made John get into an even more defensive position, calculating every move he was making. The room was now invaded by good lighting and he couldn’t stop but resting once again his eyes on the great weaponry collection on the wall. This couldn’t have passed unobserved by the big fella who was scrutinizing John’s emotions. He slowly got up, headed towards that section of the wall and stretched his left hand towards John, in a sign meant to say: “please come closer”. John hesitated, but his interlocutor insisted. As he was getting closer to the wall, he realized that he was facing a treasure…three stunning swords were placed in the middle of the “exhibition”. The engravings on their scabbards were exquisite to say the least. The materials used for the decorations were gold, silver and few precious gem stones. The background was black, which was making the precious metals shine even more. It was a spectacle of fine art, great taste, exquisite refinement and unmatched craftsmanship! John guessed that the characters depicted were part of the Chinese Mythology as they did not make any sense to him. However, there was a little detail which his trained eye picked up right away: all three of the scabbards had a fairly large hart head (similar to the real one which was displayed on the wall) executed in gold and silver, while the eyes were represented by two superb bright red sapphires each encapsulated into a silver pocket. He was stunned! Flashbacks from that night when he was driving on that dark road in the middle of nowhere back home, kicked in. The eyes of the creatures sculptured on the scabbards were large and goggled, frightening but captivating in the same time thus reminding him of the majestic hart he almost hit that night, a night he would never forget for the rest of his life. Next, he moved his eyes on the handle…yet another piece of artistry! It was most likely blackened forged steel, but the amount of detailing (also in gold and silver) made John whisper from the bottom of his heart: “incredible!” Slowly he moved his eye sight on the other two swords which were placed above the “master piece”. They were made probably by the same craftsman, as the detailing on the scabbards was similar. However, it was not made into gold and silver but the mythological scenes were identical. The same hart head was cast into the upper guard of the handle on both sides, but this time, it looked like the antlers were “coming out” of the whole scene and were pointing up. John realized that this particular and unusual design had a functional role: to stop the enemy’s blade from reaching the hand and in the same time to trap it between the openings of the antlers. Curiously, he took a look at both swords…the same design was employed by the master sword maker but the engravings were done into a different material on the same black background. In spite of the fact that these two swords were maintained at the same level of quality as the “master sword”, John’s keen eye picked up an element which many would’ve missed: both had some scratches and scuffs on the scabbards and on the handle in spite of the efforts done to hide them. This pointed him to believe that these two swords went through some hardship during their prime. -I can see that you set your eyes on my swords, John. -They are beautiful! His sincere exclamation put a smile on the man’s lips. A deep sense of pride was now flooding his entire face. One would realize that the swords were playing a significant role in his life in spite of the fact that they were obsolete into a modern world. -They belonged to my ancestors going back few hundred years. He slowly grabbed with both his hands the one in the middle and handed it over to John while slightly bowing. It was a moment of great hesitation from John’s side to accept it, but finally he carefully took it into his hands without removing his eyesight from it and involuntarily bowing as well. This gesture came naturally. The politeness of the large fellow he was facing demanded politeness and John’s keen eye and sharp fifth sense picked up the unwritten rule on the fly. He was now holding a masterpiece of swordsmanship and a symbol of few centuries of rich Imperial Chinese history. “This sword must’ve belonged to a powerful and rich family! The amount of gold, silver and precious gem stones used for engravings as well as the amount of details describing the nobility symbols was definitely out of reach even for noble families unless they belonged to high aristocracy or royalty”. John didn’t realize, but the little monologue which just came out of his chest, was not quite completely silent. The man who handed the sword to him must’ve heard it or at least part of it, as his smile became larger and a sense of proudness one could’ve read on his tanned face. -Yes, John. Both of us (I and my sister) belong to one of the greatest aristocratic families during the Ming Dynasty times. We were a family of warriors and we produced great generals. At the sound of Ming Dynasty, John startled. Also, he couldn’t help but cover his mouth with a gesture signaling great wonder while pointing towards the kitchen. The large fella, nodded: “Yes John, she is my sister”. John was baffled…in the last ten seconds, he found out that his neighbors are descendants of a high nobility family and that they are brother and sister. His mind just couldn’t comprehend the legerity the woman was employing when showed up in the room, her libertines gestures and the fact that she didn’t have any problem not covering herself when he looked at her showering. His brain was telling him to watch his back, open his eyes and sharpen his hearing. Next question he asked himself was: “Is Tony part of this clan too? How do they relate to each other? Do they work together when they are draining funds from Glenworth? Are they doing this with other companies too?” On top of all the questions he already had, on top of the fact that he was trying to understand the role of Zhaohui in this story, the role played by Vic and Mr. Wang, now he was all of a sudden facing another set of questions and doubts. One more time, the question that was tormenting him since he stepped into China, popped up again: “Why am I involved into this strange story? I had my life back home. How did I get myself dragged into this intricate and complicated string of events?” He realized that it was futile trying to find answers, given the particular situation he was facing. The coldness of the scabbard and the handle, made him come to reality and redirect his attention to the beauty he was holding. The weapon felt so light in his hands but under the influence of the value this sword was bearing, John wanted to squeeze it so he won’t drop it. His eyes were now scrutinizing every single element of the exquisite precious engravings. The handle was another great piece of artistry: it also had a black background and every groove (meant to hold in place the fingers of the both hands) was coated in silver, making the contrast stunning. But when he moved his eye sight towards the end of the handle, he realized that another element (he missed when the sword was still hanging on the wall), was making this weapon truly unique: a very large green precious stone was buried into the butt of the handle. John didn’t quite understand the significance of that stone being placed at the bottom of the handle, but he realized that this sword must’ve represented more than just a fighting tool. The multitude of colored shades thrown by the giant green pearl were dancing, were playing and marching in the same time into an array of columns and rows one would think it was a military formation. This deadly beauty was designed and executed the way a composer writes a symphony: first movement was the black background – like a “pianissimo”, the second movement was the great gold and silver engraving – like a “mezzo-forte”, the third movement was that frightening hart head and its red goggled sapphire eyes – like a “fortissimo”, while the fourth movement was represented by the majestic green stone finishing the symphony on a “mezzo-forte” note. Everything about this piece of art was unique, fascinating, mystic and powerful. John moved his right hand to the handle area…a strange feeling encompassed him, making his face lighten and his whole body recoil switching from a crisp and tensioned state of mind to a more relaxed and at ease tune. His curiosity did not stop here. Something inside him was asking for more. He was now holding the sword with his right hand by the handle and the left on the scabbard. Slowly, he started drawing the sword. The squish was quiet and low pitched. As the weapon was coming out of its housing, a magnificent blade, shining like a morning rising sun was presenting itself to the viewers. It was another piece of artistry which made John hold his breath. It was so delicate, yet so deadly judging by the sharpness of its dual cutting edge. An inscription running in the middle of it for about a foot in length was probably a motto of the aristocratic house the two hosts belonged to. Nevertheless, at the joint area with the handle, another engraving of the hart head was signaling the fact that the master did not leave anything at the mercy of chance and everything about this sword had a meaning, had a philosophical significance and followed a ritual known by just a handful of people. -What do you think, John? -Stunning, to say the least! -I thank you for your words. This sword has been in my family for many generations. It has been passed along the lineage line from father to son. -Why is this one different from the other two? -This one was not used into the battles. It is a ceremonial sword. The other two are war swords, are weapons which have seen many battles and spilled lots of enemy blood on the ground. John felt like asking: “who the enemies were?” but stopped short from placing this question into the conversation. Something was telling him to be cautious on how much he was getting out of his chest and focus on listening. – I noticed that the war swords are curved a little towards the tip. Why isn’t the ceremonial curved? -You have a good eye for detail, John. I would’ve been disappointed if you didn’t ask me this question…after few seconds of silence, the large fellow started explaining that the war swords were more effective if they had a curved tip as this will help with slashing during the close combat. The tip was sharp as it was used for piercing while only one of the edges was sharp, as there was no point to have two sharp edges into a man to man fight on the battle field. John was absorbing all the details while having his eyes still at the “master piece”. Eventually, he handed the sword back to his interlocutor. Moving now his eye sight from the swords, he couldn’t help but notice the lances hung on the wall. Their stick was probably seven feet long with an area at one end showing a certain level of weariness. Clearly it was the “handle”, even if it was not quite a handle. The other end, had a metal piece riveted to the stick, which was double edged and was as sharp as it could get. The metal was mirror polished making the light bounce off of it and thus maintaining a certain level of repulsiveness which made John tremble with fear. He was encompassed by an inexplicable feeling of fear and unease and couldn’t quite understand why the black stick with the sharp metal at the end was more frightening than the sword he held into his hands earlier. Ultimately, it was just a piece of wood with a sharp triangle at one end. His intuition was telling him that there is a lot more to it than what he thought. -I can see that you are now studying my lances. Is there anything in particular you need to know about this weapon? Before he even finished the sentence, he took one from the wall and handed it over to John. It was a moment of great wonder and admiration from John’s side. The lance felt was so light, that he tried not to squeeze it too hard and break it. Many questions popped up into his head and before knowing it, he started asking, so his interlocutor could hear them. -This is so light, so fragile and so delicate! Why did I feel like it is repulsive? He tried the sharp edges with his thumb…they were razor sharp! How do you defend against swords with this thing? How does it work? A large smile flourished on the man’s face. He slowly removed the spear from John’s hand and placed it back on the wall. -This weapon is the most deadly weapon on the battle field if it finds the right man to handle it. You can easily keep two swords away from you while inflicting deadly wounds into other attackers. It is meant for defense, but if you know its true capabilities, you can turn it into an offensive weapon too. I prefer the lance over the sword. -I am assuming that you can handle both of them equally well. -I am the descendant of one of the greatest aristocratic families China ever had…remember? His tone was now firm, commanding, filled with that type of proudness which only a great and glorious background can bring to the surface and make some ordinary human being special, noble, or even royal. John was about to ask him: “And who that great aristocratic family was?” when his guest’s sister came out of the kitchen with a small chair (a wooden holder) on which she had a stunning china set. Judging by the clean, crystal like noise made by the cups and the kettle when touching each other and by the fact that his guests belonged to an old aristocratic family, John could only assume that in front of him was laid down a famous tea set made probably from the most expensive porcelain possible. He took a look at the themes on the cups and the kettle…they were stunning to say the least! Everything was painted in a beautiful blue color and the amount of details and the intricacy of the scenes made John grasp for air. The white background was only emphasizing the amount of work the master invested in these cups. The kettle, due to its bigger volume than the cups, was a true representation of what fine taste and true craftsmanship can produce when placed under the skillful hands of a talented ceramicist. The mysterious woman made a sign with both her hands inviting the men to sit. Then she started pouring the tea with calm, calculated and almost like with religious type of movements. Everything was balanced, weighed, studied and rules were followed to the latest detail: the way she was holding the kettle, the perfect imaginary line she followed to fill the cups, the way she presented the cups to the two men, all of these denoted fine knowledge and long training into the hosting science. When she got closer to John to serve him, he couldn’t help but deep inhale the smell of her perfume, a perfume which was now impregnated into her skin and into her hair and was radiating a scent which he was unable to recognize, a scent which was already playing games with his mind. It was powerful yet delicate, it was mysterious yet so tangible! The vaporous pink robe was still reveling the beauty of a tanned skin. A trained eye would immediately realize that she was taking good care of her epidermis as it was shining from the body oils she was using. After she was done pouring the tea, she deeply bowed the head to the host (her brother) and to John, signaling the fact that she was asking for permission to leave. The large man who was entertaining John up to this moment bowed his head as well, thus reveling his acceptance to her request. John caught the movement on the fly and when the hostess turn her head towards him, he slowly bowed, imitating the gesture of the big fella who was carefully watching every motion his guest was making. A smile came on his face when he saw that John mimicked his ritual and bowed to John in a sign of: “thank you for respecting our traditions”. John replied and from there on, the tension he felt from the first moment he saw his neighbor, just disappeared. He was now encompassed by a strange feeling of acceptance, of neighboring and good faith. Few minutes passed by; the two men were simply minding their business sipping the wonderful hot liquid from the cups. It looked like they almost forgot about the existence of the other and were in no mood whatsoever to open up a conversation. In spite of the fact that John was looking at his host trying to guess what he was thinking at, his mind was now busy with the image of the woman who just served the tea. “So, both she and her brother belong to the upper aristocratic class and this could have been seen by the exquisite things from the apartment and also by the way they are behaving…it does have something different in it, special, something I am sensing that it does not belong to the ordinary people” The large fella at the other end, was closely watching John. His eye sight was focused on John’s mimics, on his face, on his shown or hidden emotions thus trying to pierce through an armor which was kept intact quite well until now. It was a chess game between two masters, everyone playing a defensive style in the beginning in an attempt to gather as much information as possible about the opponent’ strategies and tactics. Finally, the host placed the cup on its plate and then the plate on the little wooden stool brought by his sister. John did the same. He realized that the wait is over and the “hostilities” will eventually start. sergiu Action, America, China, History, Shanghai, Uncategorized Leave a comment June 1, 2019 June 4, 2019 22 Minutes Shanghai Sun – The Curse of the General; Chapter 32 (Dinner at Zhaohui and Vic’s) Dinner at Zhaohui and Vic’s -So, John…how was this day for you? You were going to go see Mr. Wang. -Yes, Vic…I did go and saw Mr. Wang. -Did you tell him about last night? Did you tell him about the two guys who followed you? -I did, but it looked like he really didn’t care about this episode. His reaction reminded me of an advice I received from J.J. before I headed for Shanghai…he told me: “always look at the big picture, John…always at the big picture” -Wow! I never thought at looking at things from this point of view. -Yes…so I went there and he showed me the book again. However, the highlight of the night was the fact that he showed me a wooden box which had two arms on two different levels. It was almost like two clocks on top of each other. But here it is the kicker: these were not normal clocks, as the display was only divided into nine sections. If I could say it like this: the clock had only nine hours. -Wow! What device is this? Would you know the meaning of this hybrid clock? Vic’s question was directed towards Zhaohui. She looked at him and at that point John realized that Vic’s fiancé is familiar with the meanings of the “clock” and the story behind it. But there was something else into her eyes…something which John couldn’t really understand or put his fingers on it. It was a sudden sadness, gloominess and melancholy, which transpired almost unnoticeable. But John’s fine eye for reading people’s faces and sentiments caught every single detail of her physiognomy after Vic asked the question. -I am sure that John knows the meaning of that “clock”. Vic’s eyes moved to John. -Yes, Mr. Wang told me the story of the box and the meanings of the two “clocks”. John looked at Zhaohui again and his eyes this time were actually asking her for permission to tell the story. A barely imperceptible affirmative sign came from her direction. -Well…is anyone of you two going to share the novel of this “clock” with me? -This devise is not a clock per say, as I said. But it does the same job as a regular clock does. The difference is that it measures generations instead of hours. -What? You must be kidding! It measures generations? Unbelievable! -Yes, it measures generations. And apparently we are getting close to the end of on cycle of nine generations. -When did it start measuring those nine generations? -It started in 1630. It was the year when Chongzhen Emperor executed the supreme military commander of the North-East army: General Yuan Chonghuan. -And what does the clock have to do with this event? -The General cursed the Emperor not to rest for nine generations and also to reach a point in which he had to kill his own children. -He did kill his own children when the peasants took the Palace. -Not all. Two boys escaped the events and also a daughter who later on became a famous sword fighter and tormented the next Dynasty for years. One more daughter escaped the Emperor’s rage. She was away at the time when the Emperor decided to take the lives of his children. -Did Wang tell you all of these? -Yes he did. -So, it looks like right now we are dealing with the Curse of the General, which is about to end. How will it end? -I don’t know…Wang didn’t tell me. -Zhaohui, would you know how will it end? It was a moment of silence before she stood up and with a large smile on her face she asked: -Ready for some sweets? Her question left both John and mostly Vic speechless. It was clear that she didn’t want to answer her fiancé’s inquiry. It didn’t take too long before she came back with a large plate of sweets. But neither John nor Vic were in a mood for eating anymore. Their faces were showing concern and wariness were showing the fact that they understood the severity of the situation. -Please, let’s have some dessert. Then we will talk. John picked from the plate whatever he could reach first and so did Vic. Both of them were eyes and ears, waiting for Zhaohui to speak. It was a long ten minutes, minutes as long as an eternity, as long as waiting the judge’s decision in sentencing a dangerous criminal… -John, please tell me how many orchids were on that shelf and what were their colors? John startled and looked Vic’s fiancé straight into the eyes; her black, large, beautifully almond shaped eyes returned the favor and in that particular moment were so expressive and were irradiating such a kindness and luminosity that almost made John swallow his Adam’s apple. -There were seven of them: one was of purple color, one was pink, one was white, one was orange and another one was yellow. Then the other three, were all mixed in color: pink with white, pink with yellow and pink with orange. Zhaohui dropped her head and same like the other times when she was feeling a little uncomfortable (or she felt like thinking), she started pressing with her pointing fingers two invisible points on her temples. Vic knew right away that this was a sign of deep disturbance and refrained from saying anything. And so did John. Another few long minutes passed by. Nobody was saying anything anymore. The silence was so deep that one could probably hear a pin dropping. -John, please tell me how did you decide to buy me the purple one? -I don’t know…honestly. All of them were so beautiful, but at the end I decided for this particular one. I am sorry, Zhaohui…but I do not have an answer. I just felt like you would want the purple one. -There is a reason why you made this choice, John. It’s a reason you do not understand, but it was meant for you to make this pick. -I was meant to pick this particular one? Zhaohui tilted her head forward into a “yes” sign. John felt how a cold sweat was running down his spine. Vic had his temples covered with beads of sweat. His face turned red and a sentiment of fear and uneasiness one could read into his eyes. Both men were waiting for Zhaohui to continue. -When all seven of them will be sold, the curse will have to end. All those who are in possession of a flower, will participate at the grand finale. This is how they will meet for the final countdown. -Wait a minute, how would they know how and where to meet? -They will know. Mr. Wang is the time keeper, he has the clock, and he knows everything. He will be the judge. Once again, John was mesmerized! “So, Mr. Wang knew everything about my trip here? He probably even knows how this thing will end!” John started re-memorizing his encounters with Mr. Wang…all of them were strange – to say the least. This man intrigued him from the very first sight and especially after the last meeting when Wang advised him to only look at the big picture – same advice he received from J.J. Things were getting complicated into John’s mind and he didn’t like this situation at all. He was trained to simplify, to get rid of the unnecessary details which do not matter to the final outcome. -So, you believe that soon the other six flowers will be in the hands of the right people who apparently will have to bring the curse to the end and close this cosmological destiny stretched over nine generations? -Yes John. You got it right! The curse will end sooner than you expect. And you are the one who triggered the final countdown by buying this flower and offering it to me. John felt like the ceiling dropped on top of him. -Zhaohui…I can only say that I am sorry – I didn’t know… -John, you have to understand that you are part of the curse, that you are destined to play an important role in bringing it at a closure and that you cannot hide from your destiny. I think one of your forefathers actively participated into the events of 1630 or 1644. You are the ninth generation and this is why you are here on this assignment. -So you are telling me that J.J. knows about this story and he sent me here on purpose. Is he also part of it? -He definitely knows more than you do, John; the fact that he sent you here is yet another way of confirming that he is tighten up to the facts through his ancestors. You both are. I do not know what sort of relationships were between your forefathers and J.J.’s, but you both belong to the same cosmological circle of destiny – the Curse of the General. John dropped his head as Zhaohui’s words fell on him the same way a hammer would fall onto the anvil. “So, it is not just Wang’s imagination, it is not his intricate investigative mind playing games on me. This story, the curse, is for real and I am an intricate part of it, I guess” Few moments of deep silence followed the conversation. Everybody at the table was trying to gather their thoughts and into the quietness which encompassed the room, one could’ve actually heard a pin dropping on the floor. -Vic, did you tell Zhaohui what Yuhuan found out? -Not yet…Vic’s fiancée threw a questioning look into his direction waiting for an update. In few words, he narrated the story again, the same story John heard upstairs. It was Zhaohui’s turn to drop the head and another moment of uncomfortable silence settled into the room. For both Vic and John felt like an eternity passed by before Zhaohui raised her head and with a firm, determined and commanding voice said: -It is time! Tony and your neighbor probably met with the Grad Master of the Seven Orchids Order. The clock is ticking. John felt like a torrent of cold sweat was running down his spine. This statement corroborated with the discussion he had with Mr. Wang, made him understand that the final countdown was set, that it is now just a matter of time before the actors will have to step on the stage for the grand finale. “What would my role be when the time comes? What do I have to do? How I can help?” -Do you have pictures of the two men they met? -Yuhuan is processing them as we speak. -Great! Tomorrow I would like to take a look at them, maybe I can recognize the personages. -Don’t we go tomorrow to visit Suzhou Gardens? -Only if we don’t have the pictures…I would also like to take a look at the books John bought. Maybe I can get a hint on where the final scene will take place. Once again, a deep silence settled into the room. John felt like he was able to listen to his heartbeats. There were so many thoughts circling through his mind right now, there were so many unknowns and questions he wanted to get answers to! Suddenly, Vic broke the silence: -Let me try to reach Yuhuan or Zihuan…most likely they are still up and didn’t go to sleep yet. He pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed a number. To everybody’s surprise his phone call was picked up right away. It followed a short conversation in Chinese. Upon hanging up, Vic showed the well-known “thumb up”. It looked like he managed to speak to one of the two detectives. -Tomorrow we can have everything…all the pictures but it will only be in the evening as they are still working on getting everything put together. -Ok, then. We can take John in the morning to see the Gardens. -Sounds like a plan. -John, what do you think? Vic’s question remained unanswered, as John was still trying to find answers to the many questions which were crossing his mind. Finally, he realized that whatever he was trying to achieve was futile, was a fight similar to Don Quixote’s fight against the wind mills and was an unnecessary effort to solve a puzzle without any sort of leads on hand. -I am sorry, Vic! I didn’t follow what you just said. -Tomorrow morning we are heading to Suzhou to visit the gardens and in the afternoon we summon at your place to take a look at the pictures. Zihuan and Yuhuan will bring a stick with all the pictures, compiled in an orderly fashion, based on the time they were taken. -Sounds like a plan to me. It is already getting late, I should be going now. -Let’s have a glass of sweet wine first and some sweets, then I will call a taxi for you. John nodded a “yes” and the atmosphere in the room became again relaxed and open, cheerful and joyful. It was like all three of them forgot about the curse, about the grand finale which was apparently rapidly approaching and wanted to release some pressure through a good conversation and a hard laugh. The wine helped, of course! John mentioned the “Leo story”…Vic was laughing so hard, that tears were flowing down his cheeks. He explained Zhaohui who Leo was and she immediately joined into laughter. -So…Leo took your car for a spin into the hood, huh? Vic threw this question while trying not to choke from laughing. -Yeah…imagine how mad I was when he thought he could take me for a fool: “Mr. Parker, I am a great financial contributor to my church…” John was trying to imitate as much as he could Leo’s voice. Vic was laughing so hard, that he was now holding both his hands onto the stomach area. -Stop it, man! Please stop it! John weighed in even more, imitating Leo: -“Mr. Parker, I had to show some financial power into the hood, if you know what I mean. I couldn’t take my 2003 Escort there”…Vic dropped a knee onto the ground. His face was now completely red and the cheeks covered by tears which were freely flowing from his eyes. The scene was hilarious and provided that so much needed relaxation John wanted in order to break up the seriousness of the overall picture. It was a good way to end up a fantastic dinner and a wonderful evening spent with two great friends. -I really have to go now…it is eleven o’clock already. You guys must be so tired! All the preparations which you did, must have exhausted you. I had such a wonderful time, the food was absolutely fabulous and your company was again so charming! I am thanking to both of you for a delightful evening! -It was our pleasure to have you over for dinner, John. Anytime you feel like you need to talk to somebody, please do not hesitate to pay us a visit. Let me call you a taxi. While Vic was dialing, Zhaohui packed some sweets into a container and handed it over to John. -Just in case you need something for the sweet tooth tonight or tomorrow morning….please take this container with you. -Thanks a lot, Zhaohui! Appreciate. -You are welcome John. They go well with your coffee tomorrow morning. -I am sure they do. What time do you guys figure that you want to drop by and pick me up? -Not sure. We don’t want you to wake up too early, but the Gardens are large and there will be a lot of walking to do. Also, we will need about an hour to get to Suzhou. I would say that we should be leaving Shanghai by nine or nine thirty. -Great, nine o’clock it is. I will be down at the Reception area. -Alright, in five minutes you will have your taxi. -Fantastic! I already spoke to Zhaohui. You guys will pick me up at nine tomorrow morning. -Great! Your cab is here. I will walk you to the door. -Thanks again, Zhaohui! The dinner was absolutely fabulous! -Don’t mention it, John! Have a good night and we will see you tomorrow! Vic opened the door and both of them walked out to the main street where the cab was waiting. -Alright…we will talk tomorrow morning. -Thanks again for your hospitality and please extend my compliments to your fiancé. -You are more than welcome, John. -Have a good night Vic and we will see each other again, tomorrow morning. It was already eleven thirty in the evening and the traffic was still busy. It made one understand that this city never sleeps, especially on Saturday evenings. On the way back to his hotel, John tried to piece together what he heard that particular day from Wang and Zhaohui. It seemed to him that both stories were heading towards the same ending, towards the same finale: a confrontation between the two parties. “So, it will come down to Tony’s crew (whoever will be part of it) and…who will be on the other side?” While looking through the window at an imaginary point into the darkness, John was making up all sort of scenarios. His gut feeling was telling him that Zhaohui was the principal personage of the group which was supposed to counter Tony Gang. The way she behaved in few situations since he arrived in China and the fact that she somehow backed up Mr. Wang’s story, made him draw the conclusion that Zhaohui was talking to Wang. “If it was otherwise, why would Vic take me to his restaurant? Now I can see the picture: Wang’s ancestor was Emperor’s personal bodyguard. So he is clearly on the side of Tony’s opponents. But who is Zhaohui? And what is Vic’s role? He told me that he learnt Chinese so easily because he believes he has ties into the 1630 events too. So, J.J. sent him here because he is related to the story. Isn’t J.J. somehow the puppet master in all this so, so intricate and complicated tale? If so, what would be my role into bringing it to a closure? I am assuming that I will be on the same side as Zhaohui and Vic. Otherwise they wouldn’t help me with my assignment, right?” John realized that he was talking to himself, that he was asking and in the same time was answering his own questions. Soon, the cab pulled over in front of the hotel. He paid and headed for the entrance. The lemon trees’ flowers were releasing such a heavenly smell into the Reception area that made John stop, close his eyes and deeply inhale the air into his lungs. Involuntarily, he approached the trees, took a seat on one of the comfortable sofas and let his thoughts float into a maze of smells and aromas he never experienced. While keeping his eyes closed, he tilted his head backwards resting it on the nice, soft material and let his mind wander. It didn’t take long and his brain ordered a well-deserved nap. In his dream he found himself in the middle of a sword fight against many enemies on the battlefield. He was one of the most trusted captains General Yuan Chonghuan had; during the victory won that day by the walls of Beijing against the Jurchen’s “Eight Banners”, he was hailed as a hero by the great General. He also witnessed how Chonghuan was arrested by the Emperor’s guards immediately after the battle. He tried to defend his General, but was outnumbered and a sword blow split his crest and made a deep cut on his forehead and on the face. The blood was flowing in waves and his face was soon covered by a thick, red liquid, liquid which seemed impossible to be stopped from bursting out of the wound. He covered his face with both his palms, but the blood was squirting between his fingers and was now freely flowing down his chest, reaching the ground into a pool of blood. It was the moment when John woke up and jumped on his feet. He was sweating buckets! The back of his shirt was soaked in cold sweat while his temples were directing the same unbearable salty liquid down the cheeks and around the chin into a spring of perspiration. “That’s it! Enough of this nonsense! I am going to get obsessed with this story! I have to get out of it!” sergiu Action, America, China, Romance, Shanghai, Uncategorized 2 Comments May 25, 2019 May 25, 2019 14 Minutes Shanghai Sun – The Curse of the General; Chapter 31 (Purple Orchid) The purple Orchid The cab was already waiting for him. John had the bag with drinks in his hand. He realized that he was about to make a big mistake! “I am such an idiot! I am taking drinks with me and I have no flowers to give to the lady of the house! Unbelievable!” He stopped the taxi and speaking very slowly, he tried to explain the taxi driver that he needs to buy flowers. “This is great! He doesn’t speak a word English…now what?” He looked at the wrist watch and realized that there were just ten more minutes to six. The decision was quickly made: he picked up the phone and called Vic. -Hey, man…listen. I will be a bit late. I must apologize. -No worries, man! Are you on your way? -Yes, I just have to get some flowers and I am heading your way. -Cool! No rush, we are waiting for you. -Great, I see you in a few. -Bye. -Hey…do me a favor please. The driver doesn’t speak a word of English, please talk to him and make him understand that I need to buy flowers from somewhere. -Sure, let me speak to him… John passed the phone to the driver. A large smile flourished on the man’s face as he was speaking to Vic. The conversation was short. He gave the cell phone back to John and stepped on the acceleration pedal in a way one would think that he wanted to make up for all the time they had lost. “Jesus Christ! He is now racing” The cab driver was making the turns at such a high speed, that the small car he was driving was shaking from all the nuts and bolts, while the tires were squealing as loud as two squirrels fighting each other. “This guy is crazy! I am not sure I am going to make it to Vic in one piece!” John tried to temper the man by making the universal sign: “slowdown”. It wasn’t necessary anymore. The driver stepped on the breaks as hard as if he was about to hit someone. There were no seat belts in the back, so the hard stop made by the man almost made John pass through the two front seats. “What the hell is wrong with this guy? Why did he step on the breaks so hard? This guy is nuts!” He was at the point of showing (somehow) the driver that he drives too fast, but the smile and the happiness seen on the man’s face, made John realize that in his mind, the driver considered the little adventure a job well done. While getting out of the car, John felt like stretching his legs…the little leg room he had in the back and the suicidal way the driver drove, made him wanting to do some stretches right there in the middle of the walk way. It was Saturday and the night life started slowly to pick up steam in that particular area. Again, similar to the area where he bought the books from, this particular neighborhood was also a commercial like type of district. Lots of ma and pa shops, selling everything. The flower shop in front of him, was packed with freshly cut, nice flowers. John was baffled! “Now, what do I pick? How do I know which sort of flowers Zhaohui likes?” The owner, a lady in her late sixties (probably) showed up right away…she smelled a good sale as she knew that a westerner never goes cheap when is about buying flowers – especially if they are for the ladies. She didn’t speak any English, so all the Chinese she was using, was actually going right by John’s ears while he was looking around for something nice, for something that could have a meaning, an appreciation, a sort of: “my respects”. All of a sudden, his eye sight fell on a little shelf which was placed behind the counter…seven stunning orchids in seven separate pots were sitting on that shelf. They were magnificent, to say the least! One was of purple color, one was pink, one was white like the snow, one was orange and the fifth one was yellow. The other three were a combination of pink and white, pink and yellow and pink with orange. John was stunned! He just couldn’t take his eyes off the flowers on the shelf anymore…they were so beautiful, so majestic and the colors were so lively and genuine! For some reason, John thought that it was enough to whisper around them and they would simply vanish, this is how feeble and delicate they seemed to be. In a blink of an eye he decided: he will buy one for Zhaohui. “Now which color do I get? They are all so gorgeous, that it is almost impossible to pick one over the other ones” The old lady saw John’s dilemma and with a large smile on her face, walked behind the counter, looked John straight into his eyes and started speaking something in Chinese. It was a move which puzzled John as the shop owner was now standing between him and the flowers, trying somehow to protect them. On top of the fact that he couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying, he realized that the tonality of her voice has changed. It was not the same she used when he entered…now it had no commercial, or advertising inflections in it. It was flowing nicely, naturally and almost motherly like, a voice of a person who is giving you advice rather than trying to sell you a product. The confusion reached maximum level. Finally, John realized that he will be too late for the dinner and he must make a decision: he picked the purple one. Once again, the face of the old lady was flooded with joy and smile as large as her mouth could hold. John paid and the store owner moved to wrapping the flower. It was a whole procedure she went through: bringing a specially made plastic support (taller than the flower to protect it), then actually wrapping everything into a nicely colored and coated type of paper which was now encompassing the whole vase, the plastic support and implicitly the flower. At the end, she deeply bowed, leaving John with no option but to bow himself. “It must have a meaning…I think it is more than a thank you for your business. I will have to ask Vic” John grabbed the pot, and headed for the car. This time he didn’t want to take any chance anymore. He sat into the passenger seat and placed the pot on the seat, between his legs. He did not want any sort of accident to happen to the precious gift he was holding. The driver followed the same routine: sharp acceleration which made John sink into his seat, sharp turns, and finally a stop on the dime when reaching Vic’s condominium and town homes residential complex. John was fuming from frustration! His bottles in the back seat were all lose now and he was wondering if anyone was broken. But his flower was sitting nicely and protected in his arms. “This guy is mental! I can’t believe I ran into such a nut head! I hope my drinks are all OK” The security guard at the gate made the phone call and Vic’s voice was heard into the microphone. The barrier lifted up and the driver again stepped on the accelerator in a way which made John tilt his head backwards and hit the head rest at a velocity he felt that his neck muscles went under significant stretching. He was about to put the flower on the floor and choke the cab driver. But the very thought of ruining such a beauty, made him take another thirty seconds of abuse. Finally, the driver hit the brakes again…this time John was prepared: he knew that eventually the driver will have to stop, so he planted both his feet on the floor and pushed into the leg muscles as hard as he could, so he would defy this way Newton’s first law of motions and prevent his head from hitting the windshield. “What a numb nut! What a numb nut! How the hell did I run into such a lunatic?” The smile on the driver’s face made John understand that his driver truly believed that his customer liked the way he drove. It was a sort of excitement on his face, a satisfaction of a job well done. “He is definitely mental” whispered John. Slowly he got off of the car; his legs were shaking like spaghetti as he had to hold on to himself not to hit the windshield during those hard stops. Vic was waiting for him. -Hey, what’s up? You OK? -I will tell you…let me find my bottles first. Please hang on to this…careful, it is very sensitive stuff in it. John started collecting both his wine bottles and the hard liquor ones. He paid the driver and he swore that he would never get into the same car with that guy again. But in spite of all the hassle, he put his card into the pocket. It was that cautionary and self-preservation instinct which prevented him from tossing the card. Vic was living in a complex of condo apartments surrounded by individual townhouses. He owned one of the town homes. In the front, he had a little front yard and a small patio on which he was barbecuing and entertaining guests when the weather allowed. The unit he owned, had three bedrooms, a living room and two bathrooms on a two tier level. One bedroom, the kitchen, a small dining room, the living room and the master bathroom were all on the ground floor, while the other two bedrooms a small office and another bathroom were on the second level, to which nice wooden stairs were taking the guests for the overnight sleep. The open concept of the whole unit was providing a nice overview of the main floor from upstairs. The living room was superbly decorated with calligraphy written on papyrus; the red and black color of the writings didn’t mean too much to a westerner, but to a Chinese who valued the art of hand writing, these were art, were history and poetry. The black frames (on which the papyrus was hanging from), were made out of mahogany wood which was giving to the whole painting a sense of exclusivity, a sense of nobility, a meaning of aristocracy and fine taste. In the master bedroom, a library full of books was facing the bed and the opening into the middle section of the main shelf was providing a storage space for a TV and the other electronics. The dining room was actually an extension of the living room, as the overall open concept took care of removing all the unnecessary walls which would’ve made the house smaller and less welcoming. Zhaohui, came to greet John. It was a warm, friendly and inviting welcome and the sincerity in her voice almost made John shed a tear. He gave her the flower and then passed the bag of drinks to Vic. -No way, man! Why did you have to buy all of these? I have enough buzz in my house to keep us busy for the rest of the night. Both John and Vic burst into laughter. -It is a small gift, I really didn’t know what to get you…John felt a little embarrassed as he knew that his friend quit drinking and only on occasions he was still indulging in having a glass or two of liquor. -I thank you for your gesture. I hope you are hungry. Zhaohui has been cooking since this morning. -Like a wolf, man! Like a wolf. -Again you are using my line! Another round of heavy laughter came out of their chests and after taking the shoes off, they both headed for the dining room where the table was full of freshly home-made cooked food. The view was stunning and John could help but loudly admire the multitude of dishes laid in front of them. -These are just the appetizers. I suggest you pace your appetite and eat smartly. The main course will come a little later. -You are kidding, right? There is food one this table to feed a whole battalion! -I am not sure if we will be able to feed a battalion, but for sure there is enough to feed three hungry bodies. A large smile flourished on Vic’s face. It was a smile of satisfaction, pride and elation directed towards his fiance’s cooking skills. While chit chatting with Vic, Zhaohui was unwrapping the package which was protecting the gorgeous flower John brought for her. At the very site of the orchid, she covered her mouth in an attempt to stop a sigh of deep surprise. John saw this gesture and attributed it to the fact that she was pleasantly surprised by the gift. But soon, he realized that it wasn’t quite a sign of admiration as her face turned pale and her hands starting shaking while trying to finish unwrapping. John was stunned! He thought that he brought a great gift which will be appreciated. A great disappointment settled on his face. “She does not like it…I knew that I shouldn’t’ve bought orchids! Not everybody likes them!” Almost instantaneously, Zhaohui realized John’s dilemma and with a sincere but yet soft tone in her voice said: -Thank you, John! It is absolutely beautiful! John put a large smile on his face and a sigh of relief came out of his chest. -For a moment I thought that you didn’t like it… -Nonsense! It is absolutely gorgeous! And it is purple, my favorite color. How did you know that I love orchids and that purple is my color? -I didn’t…and I have to admit that it took me a while to decide. -Where did you buy it from? Vic asked this question while he was admiring the table and multitude of dishes on it; his fine ears picked up the conversation between his fiance and John and just felt like he wanted to but in. -A flower shop…don’t ask me where it is because I couldn’t memorize anything from the surroundings. I told you about the nut head taxi driver I picked up at my hotel. -Hahaha! Yes, you did. I would love to be once in his cab! -You are crazy! No, you don’t want to be in his cab. The guy is a maniac. John and Vic broke into yet another big laughter, following at the same time Zhaohui’s urge to sit at the dinner table. The scenery was magnificent to say the least! Little bowls and plates filled with all sort of dishes: spicy Sichuan pickled vegetables placed by deep fried prawns and shrimps marinated into a soy sauce (by the look of it), breaded chicken bits sitting right by the side of some lovely looking pickled Korean style cabbage and beets, raw shrimps on the plate with the choice of hot ginger sauce or Japanese wasabi, breaded calamari rings with a garlic sauce of sesame seeds, spring vegetable rolls with a great looking mango sauce sitting right by its side, chicken satay with a spicy peanut sauce and a paste of creamy hot paprika and finally, a fantastic looking grilled salmon and a garlic paste mixed with a light soy sauce; all these dishes were making this table look like heaven on the earth. It must’ve taken Zhaohui a long time to prepare all these dishes, which truly looked magnificent! The atmosphere at the table was jovial and cheerful and all three of them wanted to enjoy the multitude of the dishes in front of them at the fullest. There was little talking. Back home, John took his family many times to the Chinese restaurants and knew how to handle the chopsticks. However, he was no match to Vic or his fiancé. The food was so fresh and tasty, so well balanced and assorted, so well presented and it looked so good, that one could say: “you can eat it with your eyes”. Vic poured some drinks and “cheers” came right away out of everybody’s chest. The variety and the quality of the dishes on the table, made John wanting to try everything. The vegetable rolls were crispy but not hard, the chicken satay served with the spicy peanut sauce were a delight and the shrimps with Korean pickled vegetables were something to die for! Soon, everybody at the table felt like having a rest. It was the need for a break after tasting so many different types of entrees. Vic poured some white wine and by raising his glass, he signaled that he wanted to say a toast. Both John and Zhaohui looked at him waiting for the speech. -Guys…I am a bit emotional right now, so I will keep it short. I would like first and foremost to say: “thank you John”, for accepting our invitation. -No, I must say: thank you guys for inviting me. You prepared so much food and you truly are the perfect hosts. I really feel like home. -Thank you, John! Both Zhaohui and Vic tilted their heads forward, in a sign of deep respect and consideration. -May I continue, please? It was this question that brought a huge laughter out of everybody’s chest, making the dinner night even more interesting, funnier and the atmosphere open and friendlier than ever. -When I saw you at Pudong Airport, I really didn’t know how to approach you, John. It had been seven years since we hadn’t seen each other anymore. Lots of things are changing on daily basis, leave alone seven years…I didn’t know exactly what to expect from you (as you had your “Texas Hold’em” face on). Another round of laughter broke up and Vic took advantage by pouring some more wine into the glasses. But as days passed by, I learnt that you were still the nice, reliable guy I had the pleasure to be colleague with back home. John tilted his head forward into a silent “thank you”. Now, I am proud to call you: “friend” and I thank you again for accepting our invitation. Vic raised his glass and another round of joyful “cheers” was heard. At this point, John felt like he wanted to say something too. He cleared his throat, stood up and raised his glass: -Guys, I can only say that I am overwhelmed by your hospitality, by the warmth you are showing me, by the fact that you took the time to prepare such a wonderful dinner and of course by the fact that you are helping me so much with my assignment. Without you, I would’ve never been able to move forward. I hope I can one day re-pay you for your kindness, for your support and for the friendship you are showing me. -Don’t mention it, John…we are happy to have you over for dinner and that you like the food we prepared. Zaohui’s voice was crystal clear and the softness from the beginning of the conversation completely disappeared. She was now showing that she is indeed the lady of the house and she knows how to make a guest feel comfortable and relaxed. -The food is fantastic, to say the least, Zhaohui. There is so much diversity on this table that makes me wanting to ask for more… -There is plenty of it left and the main course will come as well. -I was just kidding! Both Vic and John burst again into a big laughter and shortly Zhaohui joined in. Everybody was having a blast and the time was passing by fast and very pleasantly. -Now, we should have a break so we can show you the rest of the house. -Vic, you go ahead and show John around. I have to wrap up the left over appetizers so we can make room for the main course. -Sure. John, you can take your glass with you. Vic picked up his glass and started showing John the main level and then the second level. It was a beautiful townhouse, built with a taste for utility and comfortable living. Once upstairs, it didn’t take too long to Vic to show the upper level to John. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom and a little office where Vic and his fiancé were doing their work from home. The bedrooms were nicely painted in lively colors and hand painted canvases inside beautifully carved cherry tree frames were hanging on the walls. -If you decide to spend the night over, you have two rooms to choose from. -Thanks for offering, Vic but I will be heading back to my hotel. Tomorrow morning I will have to call my wife. -I was just offering an alternative in case you decide not to head back to your hotel. -I know and I thank you for this, but I will stick with my initial plan. -Very good then. Now let’s sit down and talk. Vic showed John a couch he had in his office, while he took a sit into his chair. So, how was your day? Before you start though, let me tell you what kind of feedback I got from Yuhuan. -Yuhuan is the handsome guy? -Hahaha! Yes, he is the handsome guy from our team. Remember he told us that he has a friend in Beijing who is in the same business as he and Zihuan are? -Of course I remember. This is getting interesting…John put his glass on a table nearby, moved to the edge of the couch and started rubbing his hands showing a deep interest. -Well, apparently Tony went to Beijing and visited the Forbidden City. -And what’s so special about this? Anyone can go and visit the Palace. -Wait…don’t jump to conclusions. Inside of the Palace he met with four people, among them being your neighbor. -But we know that they are either friends or they are in a sort of boss-subordinate kind of relationship. -Yes, we know that. But who are the other two persons? Well, Yuhuan got a bunch of pictures and Zihuan’s sister is now working on compiling everything and putting them into a slide show. So, next time we meet with our detectives we will have a lot of viewing to do. -Fantastic! Well done! -Hang on, I am not done…after leaving the Forbidden City, they went together to the “Order of the Seven Orchids”. John startled…he looked deep into Vic’s eyes which made his friend ask if he is alright. -Vic, I bought today an orchid for Zhaohui… -So…what’s the problem? Everybody who has a decent income can buy orchids. They are indeed expensive, but… -Vic…please allow me to stop you right here…John took a deep breath and started rubbing his temples in a sign of deep disturbance. -Now you are scaring me, man! -Vic, when I was into that flower shop, the woman who apparently owned the shop looked very insistently into my eyes for few seconds. This made me a bit uncomfortable – I have to admit. She had seven orchids into the store…all placed behind the counter. It seemed like she didn’t want to sell them. I asked her to sell me one; she didn’t do it until she scrutinized me; it was a sort of: “I am only selling these to the right people”. I felt a little embarrassed, but I was happy that I got one as they were all stunning. It was Vic’s turn to hold his head with both his hands and few moments of silence settled into the room. -You have to tell this story to Zhaohui! -While we were chit-chatting, I couldn’t help but watch her face expressions: I am sure she liked them, but there was something else, there was something else into her eyes…I cannot describe it. It was wariness, prudence and nostalgia, it was a sense of avoidance and circumspection. -You have good eyes, John…I didn’t realize all of these. -Maybe I am wrong and overreacting because of the peculiar day I had… -I think you are not overreacting. We shall have a talk after the dinner…the three of us. By the way, did you meet with Wang? -Yes, I did. -How was it? -He told me a story which gave me goose bumps…he told me about the Curse of the General and the Curse of the Emperor. -What? There is another curse? -Apparently when the Imperial Palace was taken by the peasants of Li Zicheng, the emperor cursed General Wu Sangui. However, this curse is not due to meet its finality for another twenty years, I believe. -You must tell all of these to Zhaohui. -I will. -OK then, now let’s go downstairs and continue our dinner. She is calling for us anyway. -I hope you are hungry…we have: sweet and sour pork, we have deep fried chicken with mango, orange or apricot sauce, we have beef and broccoli with a black pepper, and chili sauce – be careful with this one, as is very spicy, typical Sichuan Cuisine – or if you would like, I prepared a sauce based on mustard and sesame seeds mixed in sesame oil and soy sauce. We also have fried shrimps with oyster sauce and to top everything, I cooked fried rice with vegetables. -Wow! This table looks unbelievably attractive! Zhaohui, I extend my compliments again to you. You are indeed an amazing cook! -Thank you! John I appreciate and I thank you for your compliments. -I am so hungry right now! Vic’s eyes were expressing his admiration towards the variety and the overall aspect of the dishes, while a mute appreciation pointed towards his fiancé’s cooking skills encompassed his whole face. -Well, gentlemen…dig in! Zhaohui’s face was expressing a sentiment of pride and accomplishment, it was that great feeling of a job well done as a host. The food was delicious and that could be seen on both Vic’s and John’s faces: joy and delight, satisfaction and appreciation. For the second time that evening, everybody at the table was simply minding its own business: eating. The food was so delicious and fresh, the spices used by Zhaohui to decorate the dishes: from fresh Thai basil, thyme and rosemary (spread on top of the broccoli and beef) to red chili pepper and sesame seeds sprinkled on top of the fried chicken, that one would think a famous chef prepared all this fantastically looking meal. Vic poured red wine into new glasses he brought from the kitchen and a joyful round of “cheers” broke up again into the dining room. -I am full! This exclamation came from Vic who leaned against the back of the chair in an attempt to catch a breath, to rest or to simply make room for some more food. -I am full too! The food was absolutely fantastic! Well done, Zhaohui! You are truly a great cook! -Thanks again, John. Your compliments are much appreciated. -Hey, how about me? -What did you do? -I did the grocery shopping! All three friends burst into a huge laughter and the atmosphere turned from quiet and sober (as they were occupied with the great food in front of them), into open, jovial and cheerful. It was the moment when they realized that it only takes very little to be happy and that good, quality friends are so hard to find. -Ready for some deserts? -I am so full, that I think I will skip the stuff for the sweet tooth. -Me too…I ate so much of that deep fried chicken with apricot and mango sauce that now I would probably be unable to even walk! -OK then. We will wait an hour or so and then we will try again. How does this sound, gentlemen? -Perfect! In the meantime, let’s wrap everything up from this table and let’s have a conversation. We have plenty of talking to do. In few minutes everything was nicely wrapped, packaged into containers and placed into the fridge. When the three friends found each other again sitting at the table, a sudden quietness settled in. There were a lot of things to talk about, there were so many unanswered questions and a certain level of uncertainty was floating in the air. sergiu Action, America, China, Romance, Shanghai, Uncategorized Leave a comment May 19, 2019 May 25, 2019 20 Minutes	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line935
__label__wiki	0.63258	0.63258	BC/BE Emergency Medicine Physician Needed in Elkins, WV Job description WVU Medicine seeks a board certified/board eligible Emergency Medicine Physician to join the faculty practice in Elkins, WV at the rank of Instructor, with the option to be an Independent Contractor. Practice community emergency medicine, with the right people, for the right reasons. Competitive private practice compensation anchored to an academic department. Successful candidates must have an MD, MD/PhD or DO degree (the employer accepts foreign educational equivalent) and be eligible to obtain an unrestricted West Virginia medical license. Candidates must have completed an accredited Emergency Medicine residency program by the time of appointment. Enjoy all the benefits of private practice schedule and salary while being anchored to a tertiary care academic medical center. The emergency department at Davis Memorial sees approximately 29,000 visits per year with a combination of double coverage ED physician as well as advanced practice provider coverage. Planning is currently underway for a new emergency department. Davis Memorial Hospital provides a continuum of care that includes acute care, emergency department services, advanced imaging capabilities, extensive laboratory services, therapy and rehabilitation, pain management, cancer center, a birthing center, orthopaedic and general surgical services as well as family practice. Widely recognized for its beautiful scenery and colorful four seasons, Elkins is a gateway community into West Virginia’s mountain playground and was recently named a top mountain biking destination in the country. Elkins, a charming community of 20,000 situated in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, offers a modest cost of living, good schools and one of the nation’s safest communities. WVU Medicine is West Virginia University’s affiliated health system, West Virginia’s largest private employer, and a national leader in patient safety and quality. WVU Medicine includes the physicians, specialists, and sub-specialists of the West Virginia University School of Medicine; four community hospitals; three critical access hospitals; and a children’s hospital, all anchored by a 600-bed academic medical center that offers tertiary and quaternary care. WVU Medicine has more than 1,000 active medical staff members and 15,000 employees who serve hundreds of thousands of people each year from across the state of West Virginia and the nation. Candidate Requirements State license requirements West Virginia Board Certification Candidates must be board certified/eligible. Interview requirement Phone interview	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line938
__label__wiki	0.827482	0.827482	Panthers limping into Flyers’ game By Ryan DadounJan 25, 2013, 9:37 PM EDT The Philadelphia Flyers are dealing with more than their fair share of injury woes, but they certainly don’t have a monopoly on misfortune. Philadelphia’s opponent on Saturday, the Florida Panthers (7:30 p.m. ET at the BB&T Center), might play minus their entire first line, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Tomas Fleischmann sustained a foot laceration that needed stitches on Thursday while Kris Versteeg (groin) and Stephen Weiss (lower body) are also questionable. “We’re cautiously optimistic that they’re going to be short-term injuries,” Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. That’s in addition to the absence of forwards Sean Bergenheim (groin) and Marcel Goc (ankle), who have yet to play this season. To help cope with those losses, Florida has called up 21-year-old forward Quinton Howden, who might make his NHL debut on Saturday. Under normal circumstances 23-year-old forward Scott Timmins would have also been a serious candidate to get promoted, but he is — you guessed it — injured. Meanwhile, Philadelphia Flyers forward Danny Briere (wrist) might be available to return this week, but they will be without defenseman Andrej Meszaros (shoulder) for about a month. Tags: Andrej Meszaros, Danny Briere, Florida Panthers, Kris Versteeg, Marcel Goc, Philadelphia Flyers, Quinton Howden, Sean Bergenheim, Stephen Weiss, Tomas Fleischmann	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line941
__label__wiki	0.932184	0.932184	Ted Nolan Report: Bylsma to meet with Sabres this week By Dhiren MahibanMay 24, 2015, 10:46 AM EDT On Thursday GM Jim Rutherford opened the door for teams to interview former Pens’ head coach Dan Bylsma without seeking permission. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Bylsma will meet with the Buffalo Sabres this week. Bylsma, 44, has not coached since being fired by Pittsburgh last June. The 2011 Jack Adams Award winner was behind the Penguins’ bench for six seasons posting a 252-117-32 record winning a Stanley Cup in 2009. As Friedman notes, Bylsma could appeal to the Sabres because he already has a connection with Jack Eichel, who is likely headed to Buffalo. The two were together with Team USA at the 2015 World Championship in the Czech Republic. Rutherford has given Buffalo and San Jose to speak with Bylsma. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports New Jersey GM Ray Shero has also gotten permission to speak with Bylsma and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes about the Devils coaching vacancy. Rutherford has not gotten to the point of seeking compensation. “We haven’t gotten to that point,” said Rutherford. “That [right to seek compensation] rule kind of works against itself. On one hand, you’re paying an employee who’s not working, so teams prefer to get their salaries moved on [to another club]. But at the same time, we have a rule that, in some cases, there could be compensation.” The Pens did not get compensation when the Devils hired Shero and Rutherford admitted they may go the same route with Bylsma in an effort to get a deal done. “We don’t want to jeopardize what [Shero and Bylsma] could do going forward,” Rutherford said. “We’ll just wait to see who Dan possibly could get hired by, and make that decision at the time.” The Sabres fired head coach Ted Nolan on April 12 after he led Buffalo to a 40-87-17 record in parts of two seasons. Nolan has since interviewed with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League regarding their coaching vacancy. Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Dan Bylsma, Jack Eichel, Jim Rutherford, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Shero, San Jose Sharks, Ted Nolan Sabres’ Nolan scoffs at notion his players have nothing to play for By Dhiren MahibanMar 12, 2015, 10:15 AM EDT The Buffalo Sabres’ current winless skid hit five games with a shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday night. Buffalo is now 3-17-3 in their last 23 road games and concluded its most recent road trip with just one of a possible 10 points (0-4-1). The Sabres (19-42-6) have a have a three-point cushion on the Edmonton Oilers (18-38-11) for the last spot in the league. Despite the aforementioned numbers, Sabres’ head coach Ted Nolan scoffed at the notion his club has nothing to play for with 15 games remaining on the 2014-15 schedule. “I beg to differ, these guys have a lot to play for,” Nolan said following the Sabres’ 4-3 shootout loss. “These guys are playing for their livelihoods and they’re playing to get a job in the National Hockey League and sustain that. “There’s all kinds of kids playing junior hockey and in Europe and all over North America trying to steal these jobs on you, so if you don’t stay on top of your game, you won’t keep them very long.” Nolan has been particularly happy with the way his veterans have responded to the situation this season. The line of Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson and Johan Larsson accounted for three goals and nine points Wednesday. “That’s why I have a lot of respect for Tyler Ennis and Matty Moulson and [Brian] Gionta,” said Nolan. “They have kids from the American Hockey League coming up here and they’re not complaining. They’re playing as hard as they can and those young kids are benefitting from it.” Buffalo returns to action Saturday night when they play host to the New York Rangers. Tags: Brian Gionta, Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Johan Larsson, Matt Moulson, Ted Nolan, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tyler Ennis Sabres’ Johnson could be done for the season By Dhiren MahibanMar 7, 2015, 10:30 AM EDT Goaltender Chad Johnson didn’t even get into a game for the Buffalo Sabres yet his season could be over. The 28-year-old, who was acquired by the Sabres from the New York Islanders on Monday, suffered a lower body injury during the team’s morning skate on Friday and did not dress against the Ottawa Senators. “Chad, unfortunately, hurt something lower body and he’ll be out for a while,” coach Ted Nolan said per The Buffalo News. “Not day-to-day, it’ll be for a while.” The Sabres recalled Andrey Makarov and the 21-year-old backed-up Anders Lindback in the 3-2 loss to the Sens. With 17 games left in the season, could Johnson’s injury be season-ending? “It possibly could be,” Nolan said. “We’ll get our doctors to look at him, and we’ll see what happens.” Johnson was 8-8-1 with a 3.08 G.A.A. and an .889 save percentage in 19 games with the Islanders prior to the trade. Tags: Anders Lindback, Andrey Makarov, Buffalo Sabres, Chad Johnson, Dallas Stars, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Ted Nolan Sabres’ Pysyk collapsed during a pickup basketball game (Updated) By Dhiren MahibanFeb 28, 2015, 1:15 PM EDT Buffalo Sabres property Mark Pysyk, who is currently with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, reportedly collapsed during a pickup basketball game at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. According to Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the 23-year-old was taken to hospital in an ambulance, but he was “fairly alert and his vital signs were close to normal”. Pysyk played in Friday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Marlies and was with the team this morning as they had a team breakfast and an off-ice workout. Oklobzija added that Pysyk hasn’t had a similar issue in his three seasons with the Sabres. Update: The Americans confirmed the Democrat and Chronicle story adding the defenseman is still being evaluated in hospital. Originally the Sabres’ first-round selection (23rd overall in 2010), Pysyk has appeared in seven games with the Sabres this season registering two goals and an assist while averaging 18:11 in ice time. He was reassigned to Rochester on Thursday following the Sabres 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Coach Ted Nolan expressed his desire to have the defenseman with the parent club this week. “Last time he was up, he looked ready for prime time,” said Nolan on Monday. Adding, “I know where he should be, but in the process we’re going through here, it’s out of our control.” Pysyk has appeared in 51 AHL games this season registering three goals and 15 points to go along with 30 penalty minutes. Tags: AHL, Buffalo Sabres, Mark Pysyk, Rochester Americans, Ted Nolan Sabres’ Hodgson will play vs. Montreal on Tuesday By Dhiren MahibanFeb 1, 2015, 8:35 PM EDT After sitting out Buffalo’s 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night, Cody Hodgson will return to the Sabres lineup Tuesday night in Montreal. Sabres’ coach Ted Nolan made the announcement following the team’s practice Sunday. “Cody will go back in. It’s just one of those things. We have to get messages across to some people and you try different ways to get it across,” said Nolan. “Cody is one of those guys… he has some skill and he has the ability to put the puck in the net, but unfortunately it’s not working. “We’ve got to find a way to get it out of him. Maybe by sitting him out, you get him mad and angry – maybe that’ll work.” Hodgson has two goals and seven points to go along with a minus-21 rating in 48 games this season. By comparison, during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season Hodgson had 15 goals and 34 points in 48 games. “I just have to respond and play hockey,” said Hodgson. “That’s all I can do. That’s all I’ve ever done my whole life, just play. That’s all I can think about. “It just comes back to what I can do on the ice. I still think I have confidence in my abilities to do what I need to do on the ice. Making plays, getting shots on net, generating offense. It just comes back to the ability to do that and I still think I have it.” Nolan hopes making Hodgson a healthy scratch sends a message to others in the room. “This job, you can’t take it for granted. You just can’t assume you’re going to play. That’s with everybody. Especially when we’re trying to turn around the cultural side of where we are right now,” said Nolan. “Hopefully its a statement to some of the younger guys like (Rasmus) Ristolainen and those type of kids. Don’t take things for granted.” Buffalo enters Tuesday night’s game having lost 14 straight overall and 14 consecutive on the road. The Sabres last road win came Nov. 29 in Montreal. Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Cody Hodgson, Montreal Canadiens, Rasmus Ristolainen, Ted Nolan, Vancouver Canucks Report: Bylsma to meet with Sabres this week May 24, 2015 10:46 am EDT Sabres’ Nolan scoffs at notion his players have nothing to play for March 12, 2015 10:15 am EDT Sabres’ Johnson could be done for the season March 7, 2015 10:30 am EDT Sabres’ Pysyk collapsed during a pickup basketball game (Updated) February 28, 2015 1:15 pm EDT Sabres’ Hodgson will play vs. Montreal on Tuesday February 1, 2015 8:35 pm EDT Sabres’ Reinhart to watch Saturday October 18, 2014 6:15 pm EDT What should the Sabres do with Zadorov? October 17, 2014 10:25 am EDT PHT Morning Skate: Grigorenko with highlight-reel shootout goal September 29, 2014 8:01 am EDT Sabres’ Larsson says he’s proven what he can in AHL August 21, 2014 11:00 pm EDT Trottier, Irbe highlight Ted Nolan’s Sabres coaching staff August 4, 2014 5:15 pm EDT Sabres’ Grigorenko: ‘No one’s fault but mine that I didn’t go into the NHL’ July 15, 2014 6:25 pm EDT PHT Morning Skate: Kessel takes blame for Leafs collapse April 9, 2014 8:20 am EDT Jets coach Maurice doesn’t relish playing spoiler to former team April 6, 2014 10:24 am EDT Interim no more: Sabres name Ted Nolan head coach March 31, 2014 8:41 am EDT Sabres struggles: Myers, Sulzer hurt — Ristolainen recalled March 15, 2014 1:48 pm EDT Lightning prospect Gudlevskis could start in goal for Latvia February 11, 2014 6:37 pm EDT PHT’s Pressing Olympic Questions: Do Austria, Norway, Latvia and Slovenia have a chance? February 11, 2014 5:14 pm EDT NHL on NBCSN: Sabres-Penguins, Sharks-Kings doubleheader January 27, 2014 9:41 am EDT Sabres send Grigorenko back to juniors… again January 11, 2014 12:06 pm EDT Sabres’ Tallinder out 1-2 weeks with upper-body injury December 31, 2013 5:12 pm EDT PHT Morning Skate: Where Ted Nolan is happy being a hockey dad June 13, 2012 7:30 am EDT PHT Morning Skate: Ilya Kovalchuk is getting good at silencing critics May 9, 2012 8:45 am EDT A recent history of racial incidents in the NHL September 23, 2011 7:30 am EDT Former Adams Award winner Ted Nolan takes job as Team Latvia head coach August 3, 2011 12:28 pm EDT Five years of Garth Snow as Isles general manager: Are things getting better? July 18, 2011 10:43 pm EDT Coaches-in-waiting most likely to land next open NHL job November 8, 2010 5:15 pm EDT	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line942
__label__wiki	0.849572	0.849572	Nirvana’s Legacy Posted: February 9, 2013 in Other Bands and Nirvana, Unreleased n' Posthumous Nirvana The website name had stuck in the head in the couple days before I got round to having to pick one. There was something punchy about it and I can admit it might be a steal from the title of Mick Wall and Malcolm Dome’s book Nirvana: The Legacy. I found the idea of that book inspiring but the content barely moved me being little more than a rehash of band bios of the time, an insipid quick dash over the top of the musical landscape of 1994-1997. The question remains valid, however; what has been the legacy of Nirvana? Many people argue that nothing changed, that many of the old names stuck around, that the indie revolution never happened as expected and the charts remained flooded with manufactured product. Certainly grunge was the last gasp of rock as simultaneously a mass market phenomenon and a vital creative force — just as jazz ceded its position to pop and rock, rock was succeeded by hip hop fuelled R n’ B. That doesn’t mean that there was no legacy for Nirvana, it simply means that the market and industry changed fundamentally and that legacy wasn’t the multi-million selling multi-band phenomenon/movement they were looking for. There’s a legitimate argument to be made that the hype around ‘alternative’ music was a gamble made by major label record companies who, deceived by the success of a small coterie of bands, were under the mistaken impression that a substantial market existed for punk-inspired or derived bands and therefore plunged energy into promoting the idea of the ‘alternative nation’. What they’d overlooked was that the triumph of Nirvana, Hole, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam was a victory for the bands possessing a sound close enough to existing mainstream rock to sell well. Most of the bands that made it onto majors simply weren’t even close to pop of the stadium-filling U2 et al. variety. On the other hand, while acknowledging the points around the ‘death’ of rock, hype and compromise, I’d argue that the quest to find direct musical heirs has led to the tangible evidence of Nirvana’s influence being overlooked. Direct musical heirs are an exceedingly rare phenomenon; popular culture may echo but it rarely repeats. The greatest artists are so inimitable that those who do follow their template precisely are never anything more than pale copies; that’s the category into which the saleable but critically distained bands that followed the grunge ROCK template in the late nineties (i.e., Creed) fell into. The zeitgeist had moved on. Usually what happens is a degree of inspiration, an element of the sound is taken. As an example, the successors to Jimi Hendrix were arguably the axe-worshipping legends Steve Vai and Joe Satriani — the fact that each of those artists moved in very different circles to Hendrix’s increasingly funk influenced last recordings and were more enamoured of his soloing side than his abilities with the brief quality pop mode, obscured the link. Guns n’ Roses meanwhile owed much to both the Rolling Stones and to Led Zeppelin while also tacking on aspects of punk. There are plenty of arguable relationships but in bands of top quality the relationship doesn’t mean cloning; even Oasis were never identical to their worn-on-sleeve influences. So, when looking for the legacy of Nirvana, simply demanding a carbon copy is a quest bound only for disappointment. The influence of Nirvana is of a different quality. Firstly, the wave of which Nirvana was the foremost exponent, hard-wired punk into the DNA of every key rock band that has come since. The solo-worshipping, high-note-busting style of rock that dominated the Seventies and Eighties was wiped from the mainstream map. Instead the high-achieving rock bands have spanned from Green Day, to My Chemical Romance, through Limp Bizkit (yes), to Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead and even Muse. Unless you want to try and argue the case of novelty band The Darkness, there hasn’t been a truly successful band mimicking the hard rock sound in over two decades. What died altogether was hard rock, that combination of pop production and slickness with the metal-edged volume and bombast. Secondly, Nirvana ushered in a new emotionally detailed vocabulary for mainstream rock stars; Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins certainly showed that there was a trend toward focused depression at the time of which Nirvana, arguably, was a part. Now, in the form of (oft-maligned) Emo, and with significant credit going to Weezer and The Descendants, there’s a greater openness to expressions of male emotional pain, a broadening of expression. Again, it’s not that Nirvana deserve the sole-credit for this but they showed it had arrived. Thirdly, the sexism departed from the guitar-led musical world. The leather trousers, groupies and uber-mensch look shuffled from centre stage — it’s now such an oddity it even receives a defined sub-genre label, Sleaze Rock, when in the Eighties the rock world was dominated by this form. While the punk world in general had an openness to counter-cultural currents — hence queercore, Riot Grrl, straightedge, outright Marxism and even Bad Brains’ spirituality could all coexist — it was Nirvana who stated openly, over and over again, how ridiculous and retarded the sexism of rock had become. Again, the alternative nation did birth something. Fourth and finally, Nirvana showed that there was finally an infrastructure that could give underground bands a sustainable means of living. The much vaunted Eighties underground scene had died a death — a bare handful of bands lived through it intact simply because there weren’t enough venues, enough music sales, enough fans, enough coverage to sustain them. Sonic Youth have stated that one of the best things about Daydream Nation as an album was that it meant they could finally give up having day jobs. The four shifts in rock music that occurred in the early-to-mid-nineties are underrated because they’re impossible to pin to a single instigator alone; it’s hard to say Nirvana were wholly responsible, of course they weren’t, they were simply a defining part and the most important figurehead signalling the shift. So, if one is looking for a musical legacy, one that isn’t a parody, or that wasn’t a broad social force, what’s left? The answer struck me most forcibly over the past three months as I’ve corresponded with numerous individuals worldwide about the book, the blog, Nirvana, life in general. Kurt Cobain was pure punk in that he wasn’t a guitar-worshipper, the music was a way of channelling emotion, spirit, fire, energy — whatever you want to call it. Krist Novoselic said in his eulogy on April 10, 1994 “…if you’ve got a guitar and a lot of soul just bang something out and mean it. You’re the superstar. Plugged in the tones and rhythms that are uniquely and universally human: music. Heck… use your guitar as a drum, just catch the groove and let it flow out of your heart.” This could serve as a rallying cry for any part of the diversified rock-influenced world from the indie end of the spectrum out to the wildest noise or drone. There are a vast number of musicians working today, rarely the famous, who were simply inspired by Nirvana to try something new, different. They may not sound too much like Nirvana but how are they not the heirs to Nirvana when there’s such a joyful racket being made as a consequence of that band’s short fire? Below is my copy of the Fuck Brett birthday LP courtesy of Feeding Tube Records — the eponymous Brett is a huge Nirvana fanatic and musical creator. On the shelf behind me is Nerd Table’s Chasing the Bronco CD, Adam Casto, leading light of the band, told me specifically that his way of creating something personally positive from the demise of Nirvana was to seek out every former member of Nirvana he could and try to collaborate with them; again, beautiful. A fellow called Adam Harding has shared a demo — you’ll have to wait and see — that wears his early Nineties alternative nation vibe loud and proud while taking it a step forward. There’s an artist I’m in touch with in Scotland, hi Marcus(!), with an intriguing Cobain-related project. I even heard from a member of Trampled by Turtles (http://trampledbyturtles.com/) the other day — so many Nirvana fans doing creative stuff, that’s the legacy. Heck, ever since Nirvana, and despite a complete lack of ability, I’ve always held up creative action as the highest form of human activity and life. There’s a lot going on out there even if the media would prefer straight lines, clear quotes and family ties. Will there be another Nirvana? It’s hard to find likely candidates given the most crucial elements of Nirvana were unpredictability and a soul-deep amount of damage residing inside…But keep looking. You Didn’t Build That, Nick: Dark Slivers and Friends Questioning the Naming of Incesticide	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line944
__label__wiki	0.686241	0.686241	Archive for the ‘Trends – Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative’ Category Trebuchet: Tyranny of the Beat Pt. 1 and Pt.2 Posted: October 31, 2018 in New Music and New Discoveries, Trends - Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative http://www.trebuchet-magazine.com/the-tyranny-of-the-beat-pt-i/ I was honoured to be asked by Trebuchet Magazine (thank you Kailas and Naila!) to contribute a brief article to their website…And I totally failed them by contributing a lengthy rant instead! Luckily they’re kind people and found enough of substance in my growling that they were happy to publish it as a two part discussion piece. In essence, have you noticed how inescapable ‘the beat’ is? In a world of infinite possibility how limited the possibilities used actually are? I’m not talking absolute rejection but I like the thought that my world might be limitless rather than limited by unconscious design. http://www.trebuchet-magazine.com/tyranny-of-the-beat-pt-ii/ When Oasis Ruled the U.K… Posted: October 17, 2016 in Trends - Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative http://www.wordsandguitars.co.uk/2016/10/oasis-be-here-now-what-happens-when-you-run-out-of-dreams/ Spent the last few days living with the three disc ‘Be Here Now’ reissue – Oasis, credit to them, they always knew how to cram a single with worthwhile B-sides (always the maximum number of fresh originals every time) and that gives them the depth to sustain a substantial reissue too where most bands can barely fish out a live show to fill up a supposedly ‘deluxe’ edition. Doesn’t mean I love ‘Be Here Now’ of course. But it’s a moment I recall, that time when Oasis really did feel like something everyone of any age could love. Speaking to so many musicians and journalists these past couple of years, quite a few have spoken of feeling the need for change after 1994 – things had become too pressured, too precious, something lighter was needed to refresh the palette. Oasis provided that to the popular mainstream in the U.K. and for a few years they felt untouchable. Musical Ability IS in the DNA: Darn… Posted: July 8, 2014 in Trends - Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21606259-musical-ability-dna-practice-may-not-make-perfect A side bar topic really, research indicating that there is a genetic component involved in whether someone is able to master a musical instrument or not. In the tales of Kurt Cobain’s upbringing there’s much emphasis placed on the presence of musical relatives and his acquisition of instruments and ultimately on his meeting with the Melvins and other local punk fans which all leads him toward developing a particular style and approach as well as solidifying his musical direction. Actually, none of that emphasis is invalidated by saying that some of his abilities are innate and nothing to do with the environment in which he found himself. An inbuilt ability is nothing if there’s never an opportunity to exercise it (yes, that’s why the socio-economic divide in education matters; some kids would be just as good as the privileged few but are never given that chance – what a waste), likewise a gift for something will come to naught if not pursued and encouraged. Cobain’s family members encourage him to practice which means he gets better, his new friends point him toward a particular sound, his own self-motivation and satisfaction keep him putting in the hours that ensure his instrumental and vocal abilities are sufficient to get him noticed. Where the genetic element makes a difference to his tale is simply in allowing him to be more responsive to practice and to musical stimulus. One of Cobain’s greatest traits was that he seems to be able to listen to other facets of the underground music scene and very rapidly cherrypick those styles to incorporate them into his own idiom. The Fecal Matter demo covers most of his nascent influences, the January 23, 1988 session is an entire new world of alternatives and options, he takes less than a year to create something tailored to Sub Pop’s specific sound, then between January and September leaves it behind and lets his power pop influences show for the Blew EP bonus tracks, by April 1990 only Lithium has the Pixies-ish dynamic going but by the end of the year he’s perfected it…His talent for hearing things and knowing how to use them within his own vision is what puts him above a lot of players who perhaps had a more singular sound throughout their career (perhaps altered only by changing the cast of collaborators) but couldn’t match Cobain’s very good ear for what made things new and different. Just placed this one here because it intrigued me. Essentially the modern age in which money goes to technology firms not to publishers, agents or – god forbid – the majority of writers has its plus side (i.e., yes, the majority of people can now create and upload art, photography, music and writing in a form accessible by others) at the same time as it’s hugely reduced the opportunity for anyone to actually practice a creative skill as a full-time occupation outside of the designated corporate business outlets and career paths. An occasional one-off will rise to the top but basically, as those running technology firms and financial institutions can’t comprehend things that aren’t processes of manufacture with a pre-defined and near-guaranteed outcome, there’s an ongoing effort to convert it into something they do comprehend; delivery mechanisms that systematically undermine the power of any individual creator and derive profit from the agglomeration of a large number of micro-payments from which they take their cut with the majority seeing little fruit from their work…Until they re-enter the standard and approved path. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/08/authors-incomes-collapse-alcs-survey Oh, and this one is just a glorious example of the wealth of random connections the world possesses – intricate ol’ place isn’t it? http://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2014/07/02/the-crazy-history-of-the-3-3-million-ferrari-tied-to-a-du-pont-heir-and-kurt-cobain/ The Reformations Posted: August 7, 2013 in Trends - Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative http://news.sciencemag.org/scientific-community/2011/07/scientists-play-worlds-oldest-commercial-record In this age of endless reformations it’s easy to overlook the bands who survived as ongoing creative concerns. The indie superstar perennials (i.e., the only bands making enough money to continue to live on music) stand out — Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Melvins — but most others are a rebooted and rehashed occurrence giving bands a chance to finally take the bows they never get first time around. It also somehow feels reasonable, bands that have gained significant posthumous popularity receiving the chance to earn the money they never had an opportunity to first time around — I’m strangely accepting of it. What’s most interesting is that this is a genuinely new mass phenomenon in music akin to the BBC’s discovery a few decades ago that, contrary to their policy right through into the 1970s which saw them erase numerous tapes of their shows, people often do want to watch repeated content and that there was a market for video recordings of such material. Music, to an even greater extent than television, has been a market piling new trend on latest fashion on quick fad. We’re not much over one hundred years from the first commercially available sound recordings and still witnessing new deviations and adaptations of this cultural element. The release of greatest hits recordings started fairly early and has never ceased being a critical source of sales. Live recordings soon followed and archive recordings got going by the late Sixties when Jimi Hendrix had appalling trouble with unscrupulous characters reissuing his pre-Experience material and when the first major bootleg releases (Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes) commenced. Tribute records were more recent, the first came out only in 1981, and they’ve maintained a minor league existence ever since. The biggest shift though was the reissue of albums on CD from the mid-Eighties onwards — this gradually led to the desire to move beyond LP lengths and to fill space with bonuses and extras to encourage purchases. Discovering that people were indeed willing to pay to buy material that, essentially, they already had was a crucial moment. Gradually reissues gained the same weight as new releases, magazines began reviewing them side-by-side, entire reissue sections entered magazines. The record company’s responded to this by placing more weight and effort into the reissues, ladling on the b-sides, the demos, the live shows until eventually the market diverged into straight reissues (usually with the pointless word Remastered emblazoned to try and claim some justification for the release as the reissued albums became CD-era) and the larger Deluxe edition for the fanatics. The arms-race didn’t cease there, however, soon Deluxe editions edged over into three disc versions until eventually the entire concept of the Super-Deluxe came about. Next the programme of reissues became a matter of packaging; the long established concept of the box-set (way back in the 1930s substantial 78 RPM vinyl sets used to come in boxes which was part of their elite cache) became a regular part of the armoury and still people were willing to buy in sufficient quantities to justify further box-sets and anniversary editions. Somewhere in amidst it all, the same concepts became applied to live acts; if people were willing to pay to repurchase the music, there’s no reason they wouldn’t pay to see the bands essentially engage in high-quality karaoke. Reformations had always happened going right back to the Elvis ’68 Comeback Special, but usually a reformation involved new material being written and an attempt to resuscitate a career because of the feeling that progress had to be made. Other artists had never gone away, they’d simply been repackaged into Golden Oldies tours and smaller venues and package tours — but the last decade has seen a fresh development. The idea of progress has come to a halt. A few decades of seeing that people were quite happy to pay an inflated price to see a band that they never caught in their heyday (i.e., Sex Pistols Filthy Lucre Tour of 1996), as well as the realisation that most long-term artists increasingly end up playing a greatest hits medley as a crucial and favourite component of a show (i.e., everyone from Elton John to Bon Jovi), led to the realisation that a band could be resuscitated and pushed, zombie-like, onto a stage without any need to do anything new at all. This was a cheap and easy way to make substantially more profit than a lot of new acts and ongoing artists would reap — the ticket prices can be higher, the band will take a lower cut to get the second chance, there’s no need to plan around album releases or recording commitments; just get ‘em up, on stage and done. And, of course, that’s a perfectly satisfying music product for the audience; there’s nothing wrong with one quick evening of nostalgia, or that one-off sight of the heroes you never caught working through the songs you never saw when they were still a natural entity. One element may be that the pop world has degenerated into an endless remarketing of echoes whether in the form of the kareoke contests that fill primetime TV or the reappropriation of tunes wrapped into beat-heavy remixes and major league pop product that fill the charts. With audiences used to the small endorphin thrill of recognition even the most non-mainstream audiences are simply more used to hearing the past reiterated. And that’s the truth…There’s nothing wrong with it. A few artists, still caught in their own desire for artistic authenticity and a sense of creative validity, take the chance to whack some new music out; but Swans are a rarity in that they’re currently doing phenomenally well by being one of the few outfits to genuinely go someplace new with the music even if I don’t enjoy either of their newest recordings anywhere near as much as I did Soundtracks for the Blind or Swans Are Dead. Victory and the Damage Done: The Shift in U.S. Rock Music Posted: August 3, 2013 in Nick's Philosophies on Nirvana, Trends - Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative “Is there a clean white shirt ready for the bomb?” This film will make more sense to those who are aware of a film called The Snowman — it’s a Christmas tradition in U.K., a whimsical and nostalgic piece in which a young boy enters his garden on Christmas Eve to find his snowman has come to life. The piece is wordless, story conveyed in drawn figures and landscapes and a swooning soundtrack; a warm dream. The piece above is by the same author/artist, Raymond Briggs, very familiar drawing style, childhood associations…And naturally disturbing because of the sheer Englishness of the characters’ responses and discussion — the myth of ‘the last war’ circles through the entire piece. The serious point being that in 1983-1984 the Soviet leadership was genuinely of the view that NATO was preparing a strike against the Soviet Union. Rhetoric from the west was sparking a reaction and that, in turn, led to escalating responses. The Able Archer exercise in November 1983 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83) was the closest the world had come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis with the Russians genuinely believing the war games were our cover for a pre-emptive strike. Direct cause-and-effect relationships are hard to find when tracing the interaction of the background scenarios that rule over the lives of entire societies and the cultural outbursts those societies then enact. Musical motion arises on the back of and in relation or reaction to previous music; technological shifts drive changes in instrumentation, sound, style and approach; musicians arise from familial, comradely, educational and psychological advantages, pressures or drivers; scenes arise supported by the emergence of supporting infrastructure whether broadcasting media, means of production, venues for dissemination. Music doesn’t, however, float free of the politics or economics that drive a society and that are so intimately intertwined. In the glow of victory, and contrary to what one might expect, the crime rate in the U.K. and U.S. after World War Two increased — the Golden Age of Bank Robbery was over the next two decades as demobbed soldiers, trained in the use of weapons and explosives, lucratively deployed their talents. While prefabricated homes spread home ownership across the U.S. and suburbia became a new reality, war industry used to churning out metal was retooled to churning out cars. The massive organisation of society that had arisen as a consequence of war never went away, it shifted objectives, names changes but the new institutions and the accepted levels of their intrusion into the daily lives of people had simply become accepted. (Threads — 1984) Rock n’ Roll, then whatever it was that was started by The Beatles in the Sixties and evolved into hard rock, heavy metal, punk and so forth tended toward less emotionally revealing lyrics — artful phrasings or vagueness substituted for stark self-examination. This evolved throughout the seventies and eighties, until the heart of mainstream rock music was a macho, dominant, hyper-masculinity that matched the defiant sense of ‘them and us’ that ruled everyday reality — in the U.S. punk barely made a dent on the mainstream leaving the Seventies rock motif to live on. Remember this was a society living under the very real threat of genuine annihilation not by zombies (heh!) but by nuclear weaponry that would halt real life in its tracks with a four minute warning for the U.K. and not much more for the U.S. The renewal of the core rock image, the penis-centric God figure, fitted like tight blue jeans to the early Eighties when figures within the U.S. military scene, in concert with the conservative figures around Ronald Reagan began focusing not on the megadeath perspective of mutual destruction, but on a belief that even amidst the graves of hundreds of millions, there was such a thing as victory in a nuclear future. There was no reason to relinquish the externally directed aggression inherent in the rock star image when there was a vast existential enemy always present. (The Day After — 1983) Nirvana lived out their entire youth in a world where everything was about to be blown to smithereens at any moment. By 1987 when Nirvana became a reality, nothing had yet changed. The Pacific North-West was potentially one of the few places where at least some portion of the outlying population might have made it through — a survivalist community did exist in State of Washington — but the background reality of atomic decimation and the collapse of organised society walked in step with a music culture that leaned toward Superman with a pumped up and screaming wild edge that was simply a demonstration that the superheroes of rock music were meant to show we could survive any excess, any destructive act. The drugs, the sex, the lunacy of the mainstream rock scene was part of showing that America was indomitable, indestructible — its denizens did not die when famous, when centre stage, when flaunting their power before the world. This would change. D.C. Hardcore — Salad Days Film: the Ubiquitous Mr Dave Grohl Guesting Posted: July 24, 2013 in Bleach and the Sub Pop Era 1987-1990, Trends - Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative http://saladdaysdc.com/ For the record, Ian MacKaye is on my list alongside Johnny Rotten, Kurt Cobain, Michael Gira and Thurston Moore as one of the most epoch-making figures in punk rock over the past thirty years. I make the judgment not on record sales or temporary tabloid worthiness but on being a catalyst for numerous bands and resulting strands of musical endeavour. A sincere salute. The gentlemen behind this film have entered the production phase but, as they’re essentially self-funding this, I can only encourage and support their request for donations toward the conclusion of this work. http://saladdaysdc.com/donate/ The film seems to provide the cinematic counterpoint to the excellent Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation’s Capital. The surprising quality of the footage, the slivers of revealing interview…And yes, Dave Grohl lines up to discuss his time in DC stars Scream. By synthesising two guys tied to the North-West grunge scene, with their new drummer from the East Coast hardcore scene, Nirvana essentially placed a full-stop on the underground scene of the Eighties. While various bands and outfits dragged the overall genre in new directions at various points of the decade, the defining geographic entities were Washington DC and Seattle, the defining labels became Dischord and Sub Pop. There’s a fair argument that the latter learned from the former. Their impact came from tying themselves so firmly to a specific location, they were not just labels based in a particular location, putting out bands who happened to be from a certain place; they made their identity synonymous with the city from which they were from and during their defining days they bound the bands on each label to that same specific identity. The more open geography of labels such as SST or Alternative Tentacles gathered up many of the best bands playing but never unified those bands. The DC/Seattle identities gave the illusion of a gang, a home turf, people known to each other and gathered round the label flag. That sense of intimacy made each label stand out and makes it impossible to separate the label from the city and the bands from either. It’s comparable to the way bands are regularly portrayed as ‘bands of brothers’. That united front can equally apply to a label or a place and seems equally attractive; a community of people choosing to believe in and support a sound, an approach, a philosophy. It’s, to some extent, illusionary, a projection of external desire for something to belong to onto the bands/labels/people at its centre, but it retains huge power as an idea. So! Salad Days! Take a look, support, encourage…And sometime soon I hope we’ll see the finished product. Here’s the Facebook group for further updates and beyond that…Scott Crawford and Jim Saah? I salute thee. https://www.facebook.com/saladdaysdoc Hunting Obscure Grunge & Alternative Music Posted: July 14, 2013 in Trends - Hip Hop, Grunge and Alternative I’ve posted before about the way in which the age of mass electronics has elevated the work of engineers to gold status, economically, while downgrading the goods created by musicians and writers to junk. Naturally I’m fan of incomplete answers, reality is far more complete than either/or will ever allow for. One massive benefit of the times in which we live is the ability for the willing amateur to project sigificant quantities of curious and (often) fascinating material out into the world. Over the past few months I’ve been awestruck by some of the work done out there by people tracking down and posting out-of-print and little remembered music from the late Eighties-early Nineties. I’m not here on Monday so I thought I could draw your attention to some of this now and it’d keep people indulged and amused through Monday. What I do is use http://www.NirvanaGuide.com to identify bands who crossed paths with Nirvana at whatever point in time then use these sites to locate them… My top four, all of which I’d like to recommend to you, are: http://myhairsprayqueen.blogspot.co.uk/ I bow down in awe to this guy…The very first thing loaded up today is a 1985 Seattle compilation released on cassette with Bundle of Hiss, with Jack Endino, with The Walkabouts all featured. Digging further into the site there’s music from Bible Stud (shared a gig with Nirvana in May 1989), music plus an interview with My Eye… Stunning work and enjoyably expressed. http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.co.uk/ Wilfully Obscure, meanwhile, does exactly what it says on the tin. This dude must have one incredible vinyl collection because I thought I had deep awareness of long-forgotten music acts but again and again I’m having to look up what this guy comes up with…Incredible. You could listen for days here and always find someone new. Well worth exploring. http://lamestainnorthwest.blogspot.co.uk/ Lame Stain meanwhile is leading with a comparison of TAD and Vampire Weekend; quite rightly pointing out the lack of sweatmarks, dampness and stomach disorders in today’s polished-to-a-sheen indie darlings. Useful, I admit TAD are a band I’ve known of without knowing and this is a good antidote. More to come apparently showcasing pre-TAD outlets for the various members. http://cosmichearse.blogspot.co.uk/ I like this guy for taking the time to put up his statement of belief at all times – it sums up most of what all these sites are about, sharing music that has been lost in time, letting people know about it, while not disrespecting the artists involved and their rights. There’s a lot of unusual material here straying across punk/metal boundaries and touring the U.S. in an eccentric and all-devouring manner.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line945
__label__cc	0.508077	0.491923	A Loss to the NCNM Community: Dr. David Howard PORTLAND, Ore (March 2, 2016)–It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the sudden passing of David Howard, PhD, a member of the faculty of the School of Research & Graduate Studies, an empathetic and beloved student mentor, a wise teacher, an inveterate aficionado of the arts, a practitioner of loving kindness, a caring friend and father. We learned Tuesday morning that David died in his sleep Monday night or Tuesday morning. He made significant contributions in his short tenure at NCNM; he joined the SORGS faculty in 2014. In addition to his teaching and mentoring, David had most recently been working on the development of a potential Master of Science in Expressive Arts degree. He had been in discussions with the Pacific Northwest College of Art and Multnomah College regarding the curriculum design and implementation of, respectively, art therapy and music therapy. This term David taught two classes in the Master of Science in Integrative Medicine Research program: mind/body medicine and journal club. With just a week left of the term, Morgan Shafer, chair of the MSiMR program, will step in to help David’s students complete their studies. David had been looking forward to teaching “Intro to Recreational Therapy” course in spring term, his specialty. That course will now be rolled out later this year. David served as a mentor for several SORGS students, a role for which he was especially suited due to his empathetic nature and consideration. He was especially thoughtful in helping address each student’s individual needs. Dr. Andy Erlandsen, chair of the MScN program, will now assist David’s current mentoring students. But David also believed in team building, whether the team consisted of his students or his colleagues. The SORGS faculty all looked forward to David’s monthly Happy Hour excursions. It was a time for us to wind down together, share laughter and stories. David came to NCNM from Charleston, West Virginia, where he taught at West Virginia State University and practiced social work at Charlestown Area Medical Center. His clinical experience included work in mental health and substance abuse, in both prisons and hospitals. He loved natural and integrative medicine and had been involved with it prior to NCNM. In Portland, he founded and helped advance the Portland Healing Arts Collaborative, and was a volunteer for Union Gospel Mission. He also loved the arts scene in Portland. He told us that that the entire month of February offered him no end of delight because he could watch film screenings every day during the international film festival. David leaves behind a family, including two daughters and four sons, and many friends, students, and associates who will miss him. Counseling services are available for students; please call 503.552.1780. We will share information about a memorial for in the coming week, as plans develop. The Hevert Collection An outstanding collection of naturopathic literature covering dietetics, vaccination, herbs and more.Purchase here. Food as Medicine Everyday cooking series Learn simple techniques for selecting and cooking tasty, nutritious whole foods in this 12-week series.Sign up today.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line946
__label__wiki	0.874663	0.874663	The Electric Cinema Boutique viewing. Writer Claudia Cusano View Entire Article Proclaiming itself to be the oldest working cinema in Britain, the Electric Cinema is a landmark on Station Street in Birmingham. The historic venue recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. The first film showed in December 1909, and since then the venue has had an interesting past, including a number of name changes over the years before reverting to its original title in 1993. It became the Select in the 1920s, and then the Tatler News Theatre in 1936. It was rebuilt after the Second World War, and later evolved into the Jacey Cartoon Theatre before showing pornographic films for much of the 1970s. In 1984, it became the Tivoli before it was taken over by yet another owner in 1993. The Electric closed in 2003. The theatre was a crumbling shell of a building with a leaking roof and a basement piled high with rubbish when its current owner, Thomas Lawes, purchased it in 2004. After a careful refurbishment, and large financial investment, Lawes has created his very own boutique picture house. The building has been returned to its former art deco style, and programming includes various genres of film including mainstream, art house, independent, repertory screen classics, and world cinema. The Electric is a small cinema, but the experience novel. Theatregoers can settle into comfortable red velvet sofa seats and text their orders to the wait staff for snacks and drinks (there’s a full bar, including a La Fée absinthe fountain) that are delivered sofa-side. The Electric Cinema is truly a movie-lover’s delight. Subscribe to NUVO Inquiring Minds	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line947
__label__wiki	0.984738	0.984738	Director secretly screened gay-themed ‘The Wedding’ in the Middle East By Sara Stewart December 13, 2018 \| 8:09pm "The Wedding" has had furtive showings in the Mideast. Courtesy of ArabQ films For a quiet, relationship-driven indie, director Sam Abbas’ first feature film is making some serious noise. “The Wedding,” which opens here Friday, is the first gay-themed film to screen in several Middle Eastern countries, and did so under incredibly tight security, Abbas, an Egyptian-born resident of Bushwick, tells the Post. The 25-year-old Abbas plays the lead in his film about a conflicted young New Yorker named Rami who’s engaged to his girlfriend (Nikohl Boosheri) and planning their nuptials, while continuing to have trysts with two male lovers. Abbas says elements of the film reflect his own journey (although he doesn’t believe in labeling one’s sexual orientation). He also says his parents, who also live in the US, still don’t know about the film, but he has come to terms — “with a lot of therapy,” he says with a short laugh — with the fact that they will eventually. The film was secretly shown in November by invitation only in Turkey, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt — all countries in which LGBTQ people can face persecution. For his own safety, Abbas was strongly encouraged not to attend. “So I was living vicariously through emails and WhatsApp messages,” he says. “It was a constant fear for people’s safety. And I’m an anxious person to begin with.” The film was shown with a strict set of rules: Guests had to be invited via email, with no plus-ones allowed, no cameras of any kind, and no re-entry. Thankfully, he says, all went “very smoothly.” “The Wedding” opens at the Cinema Village this weekend and will be accompanied by several Q&A sessions with Abbas, the film’s cast and crew, and fellow filmmakers, among others (more info at CinemaVillage.com). Abbas says he’s not worried about anti-gay violence at these showings: “In the US, worse comes to worst, you can call the police. In the Middle East, they’re the ones supporting it.” Abbas looks forward to the day when he can show his movies in his native country without secrecy. “We would love to have open screenings, where the public can show up. It’s just not possible now, in the Middle East.” Filed under filmmaking , gay rights , lgbtq , turkey Hey, Hollywood, Sarah Paulson is ready to do comedies	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line949
__label__wiki	0.812052	0.812052	Debates of Feb. 10th, 2014 House of Commons Hansard #45 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was election. Supporting Non-Partisan Agents of Parliament Act Yves Ryan Retirement Congratulations Canadian Human Rights Act Aboriginal Affairs 41st General Election National Defence Report of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Fair Elections ActGovernment Orders Jamie Nicholls NDP Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC Mr. Speaker, the short answer is no. I think this law makes things more vague in terms of spending limits. It does not get to the heart of the problem. I do not think, in its present form, that this legislation does that. The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton Before we go to resuming debate with the hon. member for Ottawa—Orléans, I will let him know that we have about eight minutes remaining in the time allocated for his remarks. The hon. member for Ottawa—Orléans. Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON Mr. Speaker, first I would like to take the time that you have generously given to me to say two words that we do not hear often enough in this chamber: “thank you”. It is with humility that I would like to thank the members of Parliament and the House of Commons staff for all their kind words of encouragement over the past few weeks and months. I wish to say a very special thank you to the members for Barrie, Brant, Burlington, Don Valley East, Kitchener—Conestoga—right here behind me—Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, Mississauga South, Okanagan—Shuswap, Sarnia—Lambton, my seatmate, Saskatoon—Humboldt, Scarborough Centre, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, Vancouver South, Willowdale, and Winnipeg South Centre, and to the very dedicated vice-chair of the veterans affairs committee for carrying my duty in this chamber and in committee. Also, thank you to the citizens of Orleans and my friends and family for their visits, their encouraging words and their prayers. Their support and assistance has helped me to feel better and to get better. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Even in the most difficult times, I made an effort to be in this House and to vote, as it is our duty to do. Voting is a fundamental Canadian right. It is a symbol of our identity. It is the oxygen that keeps our democracy alive. In many countries, much blood has been spilled and many diplomatic efforts have been made to establish democracy and the right to vote. It is our way of saying yes or saying no to the type of society that we want to build. Canada is a model of modern democracy around the world. Developing democracies call on Canadians when they want to ensure that their elections are free and fair. Our sense of duty and our expertise give us international credibility in election monitoring. Between 2009 and 2013, the Canadian International Development Agency, with the assistance of CANADEM, deployed more than 800 Canadian election observers in bilateral missions and 30 multilateral missions in more than 20 countries. These observers went to Haiti, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Senegal, and many other nations. Because I participated in one of these missions, I have a keen interest in this subject. In 2004, I was assigned by CANADEM to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to co-chair a team of international observers during the rerun of the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine. The other co-chair was a Swiss engineer. We were sent to Dnipropetrovsk. It was an exhilarating experience. I was able to see first-hand that Canada is synonymous with democracy and freedom. However, that which does not evolve is doomed to disappear. We can continue to be proud. We can continue to improve things. We will continue to be a model of democracy around the world only if we allow democracy to evolve. The separation of powers is a basic component of our system. Consistent with separating the administration of the law and its enforcement, the fair elections act proposes that the commissioner be under the authority of the Director of Public Prosecutions. In a hockey game, would we ask the owner of the Ottawa Senators to referee a game between the Sens and the Canadiens? Our Minister of State for Democratic Reform said it well: the referee should not be wearing a team jersey. Canada's government, which I support in this House, proposes that greater independence be given to the person with the power to conduct investigations and enforce the law. The fair elections act will make our legislation more stringent, clearer and easier to follow. It would protect Canadian voters from fraudulent and misleading calls by setting up a mandatory public registry. We want to establish a new public registry for mass calling. Telephone service providers involved in voter contact calling services, and any individual or group that uses these providers would have to register with the CRTC. We also propose that the fines for preventing or trying to prevent someone from voting be 10 times higher. Under this legislation, anyone convicted of impersonating an election official would face a jail term. These penalties would be more severe for individuals who deceive people out of their votes. According to the Neufeld report, identity vouching procedures are complicated and have a 25% error rate. That is one in four. This problem is threatening our democracy, and we must take action, and so we propose to put an end to vouching. The fair elections act would also require Elections Canada to tell Canadians which pieces of identification will be accepted at the polling station so that they know what to bring with them. Thirty-nine different pieces of ID can be used to prove a voter's identity. In addition, the voter information card would no longer be considered valid identification. Elections Canada must also inform voters which pieces of ID are valid and would be accepted at the polling station. These cards contain incorrect information one out of six times. The show Infoman highlighted the problems with voter information cards during a segment called the “Elections Canada two-for-one special”. To prevent the more powerful elements in our society from drowning out citizens’ voices, we would ban the use of loans to sidestep donation regulations. Some people have used unpaid loans to evade donation limits and make larger donations. As elected representatives, we must stay clear of this type of pressure. That is why we insist on standardized and transparent reporting for political loans. In addition, candidates and political parties that have exceeded the ceiling on election expenses, would see their reimbursements reduced, and we would maintain a total ban on loans by unions and businesses. I am pleased to say that Marc Mayrand, the current Chief Electoral Officer, lives in Orleans, as does his predecessor, Jean-Pierre Kingsley. While Mr. Mayrand does not seem to support this brilliant bill produced by the Minister of State for Democratic Reform, his predecessor appears to. Mr. Kingsley gave it an A minus, indicating that it is a good bill. When I received an A minus, I did not ask for a rewrite— The member's time has expired. The hon. member for Ottawa—Orléans will have two minutes to wrap up his speech when the House resumes debate on this motion. We will now proceed with statements by members. The EconomyStatements By Members Bruce Hyer Green Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives like to talk about job creation and economic prosperity, but let us look at the facts under Conservative rule. Unemployment has increased by 9%, and youth unemployment is double the national rate. Canada was 20th in the OECD for job creation from 2007 to 2012, and real economic growth per capita is the lowest in—wait for it—78 years. The number of consecutive Conservative deficits is six, and the number of deficit targets hit by the finance minister is zero. Personal debt for the average Canadian has increased 26%, and the increase in the national debt, over $123 billion, is a 25% increase. It is budget time and the finance minister will be saying the words “jobs” and “the economy” a lot. Yeah, right. Winter Olympic GamesStatements By Members Ted Falk Conservative Provencher, MB Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate the three Olympians from my riding of Provencher who are currently participating in the Sochi games. I want to congratulate Megan Imrie, who placed 31st in her first biathlon event of the games yesterday, the 7.5-kilometre sprint. I would also like to wish all the best to Jocelyne Larocque and Bailey Bram of the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team. We are all very proud of these young women for their hard work and dedication as they compete for our country against the best athletes in the world. I would also like to take a moment to recognize the families for their hard work and tireless support that helped make their children's Olympic dreams come true. Without their dedicated support, their children's success would not be possible. I would like to wish Megan, Jocelyne, and Bailey all the best as they continue to compete in Sochi. Canadians from across the country will be cheering for them. Small Business ProtectionStatements By Members François Lapointe NDP Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC Mr. Speaker, for over a year now, the NDP has been campaigning to lower the excessive transaction fees that credit card companies charge small retailers. I have had the opportunity to meet with dozens of entrepreneurs from Chaudière-Appalaches, who all agree that the problem with these fees is that they cut into the profitability of their businesses. In its most recent ruling, the Competition Tribunal dismissed the complaint filed by the Commissioner of Competition on this matter. It said that “the proper solution to the concerns raised by the Commissioner is a regulatory framework” and that this framework should be developed as soon as possible. Let us hope that the four elected Conservative members from the Chaudière-Appalaches region, including three ministers, will have reminded their colleague, the Minister of Finance, that not only the business associations, but also a tribunal are calling for immediate action. I would love to see the Conservatives make a liar out of me, but I fear that budget 2014, which is being brought down tomorrow, will be another disappointment for the small retailers. In 2015, the NDP will form a government that will not hesitate to regulate, when needed, to better protect small business. ElectricityStatements By Members Steven Fletcher Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia, MB Mr. Speaker, Manitoba is blessed with an abundance of cheap, clean hydroelectric power. In Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, electricity is often generated using carbon-emitting fossil fuels. If Alberta utilized a few thousand megawatts of power from Manitoba, it could significantly reduce Alberta's carbon footprint and help with the case for Keystone XL. The distance from Alberta's oil fields to the hydro dams in Manitoba is approximately the same distance as the existing transmission lines that go from the Nelson River to Winnipeg. Therefore, we know that technology for the transmission of power at these distances already exists. Perhaps infrastructure funds could be found for projects of this type of regional significance. Manitoba power generation could assist in the further development of the Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario. When it comes to power, we have to look outside the provincial boxes. Yves RyanStatements By Members Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC Mr. Speaker, it is with emotion that I pay tribute to Yves Ryan, a great man who has just passed away. He dedicated his life to Montreal North, first as a journalist and then as its mayor for 38 years. He was elected 10 times, six of those by acclamation. I knew Mr. Ryan because my family settled in Montreal North when we arrived in Canada. I voted for him and am now proud to represent him, as Bourassa includes Montreal North. There is no question that Yves Ryan worked hard, knew his constituents and was a stringent manager, but he was also an ardent defender of Canada. I offer my deepest condolences to his wife, Huguette Labrecque, his children and grandchildren, as well as all those mourning this loss. On behalf of all of us from Montreal North, I wish to thank Mr. Ryan for everything he accomplished. May he rest in peace, knowing that his was a job well done. Olympic Winter GamesStatements By Members Mr. Speaker, across the country, Canadians are thrilled and are coming together to encourage our 221 athletes in Sochi and to share the Olympic dream. Congratulations to our current medallists: snowboarder Marc McMorris, bronze; the members of Canada's figure skating team, silver; Charles Hamelin, gold in short track speed skating; and sisters Justine and Chloé Dufour-Lapointe, gold and silver in freestyle moguls skiing. I also want to commend the many extraordinary performances by all the Canadian athletes, who have truly outdone themselves. As our beloved Roch Voisine wrote and sings—accompanied by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, no less—our athletes are “living out their dreams”, and it is an honour for our government to support high-level sport and allow them to do just that. February 10th, 2014 / 2:05 p.m. Matthew Dubé NDP Chambly—Borduas, QC Mr. Speaker, what a weekend for Canada to kick off these Olympics. Canada has already won several medals and it is getting hard to keep up, maybe even more as we speak. I join my colleagues in the House to congratulate Mark McMorris, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Patrick Chan, Kaetlyn Osmond, Eric Radford, Kevin Reynolds, Kirsten Moore-Towers, Dylan Moscovitch, Meagan Duhamel, Charles Hamelin, and maybe more as we speak. What a group of athletes. Just this morning, Charles Hamelin gave us another thrilling performance when he won gold in the 1,500-metre speed skating event. Once again, what a memorable moment. However, I just have to mention the extraordinary story of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, who have been so dynamic that they have captured the hearts not only of Quebeckers and Canadians, but people all over the world. Two sisters appearing on the podium together is historic, but it also reminds us that behind every athlete and every Olympic performance are some extraordinary people. Congratulations to everyone. Let us keep at it, Team Canada! Retirement CongratulationsStatements By Members Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise and recognize Mayor Jack Wilson of Laurentian Valley Township. Mayor Wilson has the distinction of being one of only four elected politicians in Ontario to have held office for 50 years or more. This year, after 50 years, 18 years on council and 33 as mayor, Jack has decided it is time to retire. Jack Wilson is my mayor, and as a fellow ratepayer I appreciate the steady hand Jack has had as mayor and as a Renfrew County councillor. To quote Jack, “I always tried to use common sense. I am a farmer and I tried to run things like I tried to run my farm—if it ain't broke, you don't fix it”. Jack used the same common sense he used on the farm to run our municipality. Jack was named acting warden for Renfrew County for 2014 in recognition of his years of service, and for being a true gentleman, by his fellow county councillors. On behalf of the residents of Laurentian Valley and Renfrew County, I would like to thank Jack and Evelyn for 50 years of service. PolandStatements By Members Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON Mr. Speaker, 74 years ago today, following the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Soviet regime started mass deportations of Polish citizens from invaded territories, deep into Russia. The first victims of deportations were the Polish military, prisoners of war resulting from resistance to the September invasion. Soon, the arrests, deportations, and murders were extended to government officials, politicians, civil servants, members of the intelligentsia, scientists, and any others deemed threats to the Soviet state. Then, deportations were extended to families. About 1.8 million Polish men, women, and children were forcibly removed and placed in labour camps, deep in Siberia, where they faced hard physical labour and miserable living conditions. Over 700,000 died of cold, starvation, physical fatigue, and disease. The accounts of daily life and loss in the harsh gulag are the personal histories that, to date, have largely been missing, lost, and underreported. It is my wish that this crime of Soviet communism is brought to light and remembered. Canadian Human Rights ActStatements By Members Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC Mr. Speaker, today marks three years since Bill C-389 was adopted by the previous minority Parliament. The bill would have filled a significant gap in our human rights legislation by providing equal rights and equal protection under the law to transsexual, transgendered, and gender variant Canadians. Unfortunately the Senate failed to deal with Bill C-389 before the election. After the 2011 election, I was privileged to pick up the work of Bill Siksay, the former member of Parliament for Burnaby—Douglas. My private member’s bill, Bill C-279, passed the House with support from all parties on March 20, 2013. Unfortunately, three years after Canada's elected representatives first acted and nearly one year after the House again endorsed equal rights for all, trans-Canadians are still waiting for full equality. Last June, the Senate justice committee completed hearings on the bill and approved it without amendment. Today, I am calling on the unelected Senate to act quickly to honour the will of the House. Trans-Canadians continue to face high levels of discrimination and violence on a daily basis. There is no time and no excuse for further delay. TaxationStatements By Members Lawrence Toet Conservative Elmwood—Transcona, MB Mr. Speaker, there are individuals who go to extraordinary lengths to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. They got away with it under the Liberals, but our government has made it clear that we will crack down on tax cheats. We have introduced more than 75 measures to close tax loopholes. Economic action plan 2013 introduced several measures that give the CRA new tools to go after tax cheats. For example, the Minister of National Revenue recently announced the launch of the offshore tax informant program, which provides incentives for vital information on offshore tax schemes. Tax cheats are feeling the pressure. This is evidenced by the fact that voluntary disclosures to the CRA have nearly quadrupled under this government. If the NDP and Liberals are serious about their commitment to middle-class Canadians, they will stop opposing all our efforts and join us in protecting honest taxpayers. Social HousingStatements By Members Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC Mr. Speaker, I rise again today to speak about housing and homelessness, because unless the NDP raises the issue, no one else will. Between 2006 and 2013, more than 45,000 housing units were affected by the end of long-term social housing agreements. This means that an additional 45,000 households may perhaps be wondering whether they are going to feed their families or pay their rent this month. If we let this happen, social housing will lose $1.7 billion in funding by 2030. Motion No. 450 would stop this hemorrhaging. To eliminate poverty we must start by ensuring that everyone has a roof over their heads. The Conservatives have moved the focus of the HPS to housing while maintaining that they are looking after housing and homelessness. At the same time, they have eliminated a range of services that tackle homelessness. We need housing and services. The budget will be tabled tomorrow, and I hope that the government will finally listen to reason. FirearmsStatements By Members Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB Mr. Speaker, Canadian firearms owners know that only the Conservative Party will stand up for their rights. The leader of the Liberal Party has already mused that he would bring back the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry should he ever get the chance. Shockingly, we have now learned that the Liberal Party has a plan to confiscate rifles and shotguns from law-abiding Canadian firearms owners. At its next convention, the Liberal Party will be discussing the best way of “reducing the number of firearms in Canada”. This shows that the Liberal Party has not moved beyond the days when former Liberal justice minister Allan Rock said only the police and military should possess firearms. Let me assure the House and all Canadians that, unlike the Liberals, a Conservative government will never engage in a scheme to confiscate firearms from law-abiding Canadians. We will always work to develop common-sense firearms policies that benefit hunters, farmers, and sport shooters. If the Liberal leader wants my guns, he can pry them from my cold dead hands. Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Team Canada on winning the silver medal in the figure skating team event at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Among the nine-member team was Kaetlyn Osmond, who is from Marystown in my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's. This weekend I joined in the excitement at St. Gabriel's Hall in Marystown with Kaetlyn's family, friends, and fans to watch her outstanding performance in the short program. As a two-time Canadian champion, Kaetlyn continues to show the world she is a world-class figure skater. She placed eighth at the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ontario, and now she can add an Olympic silver medal to her growing list of accomplishments. People in the entire province of Newfoundland and Labrador and many throughout the country, including in Alberta where she trains, look forward to cheering Kaetlyn on as she contends for another podium finish, this time in the ladies' individual competition on February 19 and 20. I ask all members to join me in congratulating Kaetlyn and her teammates on their silver win and letting them know how proud we are of them as they continue to compete in Sochi. EthicsStatements By Members Joan Crockatt Conservative Calgary Centre, AB Mr. Speaker, today is a big anniversary but not one that the Liberals will be talking about. It is one that my constituents in Calgary Centre are talking about: that is, the 10th anniversary of the Liberal sponsorship scandal. The sponsorship scandal exposed a culture of corruption through successive Liberal governments, and I am sure it is a big part of the reason it is the third-place party in this House today. The first action of our Conservative government was to pass the Federal Accountability Act, bringing in the toughest accountability measures in Canadian history. Last week we introduced the fair elections act, which would build on this record so Canadians can feel confident in their elections. The fair elections act would ensure that no big money from special interest groups has a place in Canadian elections. It would also impose tougher audits and penalties on those who exceed spending limits. Democratic ReformStatements By Members Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, the Chief Electoral Officer was the latest to speak out against the Conservative's unfair elections act. He said, “...my reading of the act is that I can no longer speak about democracy in this country”. This is unprecedented. The unfair elections act would undermine Elections Canada's ability to ensure a level playing field. Canada would be the only democratic country where the independent oversight body is told to keep its mouth shut about people's voting rights. Well, this is not surprising from the party that pled guilty to the in-and-out scandal, in which numerous Conservative cabinet ministers have been under investigation for breaking the law; and voter suppression in 2011 was traced back to the Conservative data base. Canadians deserve accountability and fairness when it comes to their voting rights. Instead, they are shutting down debate and ramming through changes that will help them and their friends in 2015. Well, guess what? The New Democrats will be there to stop them. James Rajotte Conservative Edmonton—Leduc, AB Mr. Speaker, despite a fragile global recovery, our Conservative government has a very strong record of carefully managing our finances. In fact, the IMF says we have the best fiscal position in the G7 and the lowest debt burden by far of any other G7 country. Canadians understand how important this is. They understand the importance of living within their means and they expect their government to do the same. Today, I met with someone from CIVIX, a national charitable organization with a mission to grow young Canadians into engaged, committed, and active citizens. They conducted a poll, along with Harris/Decima, and found that a strong majority, 81%, of students believe that the federal government should place a high priority on reducing the debt as much as possible. This is good news. It shows that when it comes to the economy, the high school students of Canada agree with the approach of the Minister of Finance and the Conservative government, a government that has navigated Canada through the global downturn. We continue to create jobs and growth while keeping taxes low, and the students will be assured that we will balance the budget in 2015. Consumer ProtectionOral Questions Outremont Québec Thomas Mulcair NDPLeader of the Opposition Actually, Mr. Speaker, those students were wondering when the government was going to do something about reducing their debts. Canada's largest reporting agency has just given us the figures. There has been a 9% increase in the debt of Canadians in the last 12 months. We are up to $1.4 trillion. That is why the OECD reminds us that Canadian families are the most indebted in the world. When is the government going to do anything about ATM fees and sky-high credit card interest rates? Crowfoot Alberta Kevin Sorenson ConservativeMinister of State (Finance) Mr. Speaker, every year the NDP comes with certain demands. It is usually a day or two before the budget is brought down. Each time the NDP's demands are that we pick the pockets of Canadians. This government is more concerned about putting money back into the pockets of Canadians. We have long spoken of consumer and household debt. We understand that interest rates inevitably will go up. We would remind Canadians to make certain that they keep their households in the black, as our government is going to keep this book in the black. Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of Finance was buying new shoes, I was wearing Phentex slippers in the Saint-Colomban home of Véronique Chiasson. Her mother lent me the slippers. Véronique is going through the same thing many other young Canadian families are going through. She and her husband work hard; they slave away. They want help from the government for themselves and their three children. When will the government lower ATM fees and put an end to usurious credit card interest rates in Canada? Mr. Speaker, our government has provided record support for low-income Canadians. For example, we have lowered the taxes 160 times in Canada. The average family of four now has $3,400 more in its pockets each year. In fact, we have removed one million low-income Canadians from the tax rolls altogether. Every time we have made any movement, this government—I mean, this opposition party—has voted against this government's initiatives.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line953
__label__wiki	0.838149	0.838149	House of Commons photo His site On the Parliament site Twitter (and Twitter messages to him) Crucial Fact His favourite word was offences. Last in Parliament October 2015, as Conservative MP for Fundy Royal (New Brunswick) Lost his last election, in 2015, with 37% of the vote. Statements in the House Government Appointments May 27th, 2014 Mr. Speaker, when we think of the source of that question, the party that member represents was the inspiration, in fact, for the Federal Accountability Act, when in 2006 the Public Service Commission reported that the Liberals gave ministerial aides free rides into the public service. We ended that. We brought in the Federal Accountability Act. We believe in accountability, and we have acted. Mr. Speaker, as I have already mentioned twice to the hon. member's colleagues—he should listen to his colleague's questions in question period, by the way—we accept the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's findings, and ECBC has already implemented his recommendations. In fact, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner acknowledges in his report that ECBC has already taken action and implemented a new recruitment and selection process, a policy that clearly incorporates fairness and transparency in the staffing process. Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in accountability. I have already mentioned to the hon. member's colleagues that we have taken steps to terminate Mr. Lynn's employment. On the other hand, what does the NDP have to say about its using taxpayers' dollars for election purposes to staff partisan offices? When will they take accountability for their own actions? Mr. Speaker, meanwhile New Democrats are busy using taxpayers dollars for election purposes to staff partisan offices. When will they be accountable for their own actions? We take accountability on this side. I have taken steps to terminate Mr. Lynn's employment. I accept the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's findings, and ECBC has already implemented his recommendation. Mr. Speaker, the member is referring to a report that has not been tabled yet. I do find it ironic that the member for Cape Breton—Canso claims to take a great deal of pride in having a professional, independent, non-partisan public service, given that in 2006, the Public Service Commission reported that the Liberals gave ministerial aides free rides into the public service. Mr. Speaker, of course our government's expectation is that ECBC conduct its business with integrity, accountability, and respect for Canadian taxpayers. I can confirm that the CEO of ECBC is presently on a personal leave. Questions on the Order Paper May 16th, 2014 Mr. Speaker, insofar as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, ACOA, is concerned, with regard to the Canada-European Union comprehensive economic and trade agreement and the subsequent creation of a federal-provincial fund of $400 million to support industry enhancements in Newfoundland and Labrador, with regard to (a), details of the federal-provincial fund are still being determined. The Government of Canada will be negotiating the approach to management provisions, project parameters, annual funding levels, and potential project approval process with the provincial government, in consultation with industry stakeholders. With regard to (b), details of how the funding will be used are still being determined. With regard to (c), this information is not available in ACOA’s departmental files. With retard to (d), this information is not available in ACOA’s departmental files. Mr. Speaker, insofar as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is concerned, with regard to projects approved for funding in Atlantic Canada for fiscal years 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2013 14, broken down by each of the four Atlantic provinces, the information can be found on the agency’s website at http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/eng/Accountability/AccessToInformation/Pages/home.aspx. Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency May 7th, 2014 Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, the Memramcook Institute is a provincially owned asset and as such decisions on its future are rightly made by the province. ACOA evaluates all applications based on their merits, and no such application has been received. Questions on the Order Paper May 2nd, 2014 Mr. Speaker, regarding the responsibility of Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, or ECBC, for the former Cape Breton Development Corporation’s early retirement incentive program, or ERIP, and compassionate disability benefit, or CDB, with regard to (a), ECBC assumed responsibility for the Cape Breton Development Corporation’s assets and liabilities, including the ERIP and CDBs, on January 1, 2010. With regard to (b)(i), from January 2010 to March 20, 2014, the Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Board rendered 13 decisions. There were seven in 2011, five in 2012, and one in 2014. In all cases, ECBC’s appeal was denied. With regard to (b)(ii), the Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal, or WCAT, rendered only one decision regarding the ERIP, the Hogan decision, in 2012. ECBC’s appeal was denied. With regard to (b)(iii), no decisions have been rendered by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, given that WCAT decisions are appealed directly to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal pursuant to section 256 of the Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Act. With regard to (c)(i), from January 2010 to March 20, 2014, ECBC used third party legal services for all NSWCB cases related to ERIPs and CDBs, with the exception of two appeals that were completed in-house, one in 2012 and one in 2013. With regard to (c)(ii), ECBC used third party legal services for all cases related to the ERIP and CDBs at the WCAT. Question (c)(iii) is not applicable. With regard to (d)(i), the total cost, including HST, for legal services from January 2010 to March 20, 2014, by year, for NSWCB cases is as follows: $18,987 in 2010; $39,202 in 2011; $19,204 in 2012; $1,515 in 2013; and $0 in 2014. With regard to (d)(ii), the total cost, including HST, for legal services from January 2010 to March 20, 2014, by year, for WCAT cases is as follows: $0 in 2010; $92,762 in 2011; $2,007 in 2012; $37,198 in 2013; and $11,537 to March 20, 2014. Question (d)(iii) is not applicable. With regard to (e), ECBC does not have a specific fund or budget for legal services. Costs are covered by the corporation’s appropriation. News articles via Google News.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line954
__label__wiki	0.5196	0.5196	Home » Columns » Dele Agekameh » Issues of the Day » You are reading » The Ruga Conundrum, By Dele Agekameh Premium Times July 10, 2019 The Ruga Conundrum, By Dele Agekameh2019-07-10T15:25:00+00:00 Columns, Dele Agekameh, Issues of the Day No Comment Without proper dialogue, institutional measures to address concerns and safeguards to the cultures and ways of life of host communities, people will continue to assume the worst and kick against any insinuation of government coordinated settlements for herders, be it through ruga or the NLTP. There has been a deluge of issues and controversies in the Nigerian polity in the course of the past few years. Asides the very real and present danger that Boko Haram poses to the country everyday, equally grave security concerns have been at the head of many of the controversies. Particularly, the matter of exacerbating violence in the communal clashes between nomadic herdsmen and rural communities across the country has been a subject of perpetual concern and debates. It is creating resentment and other negative sentiments between ethnic groups in Nigeria. Based on this background, it is worrisome to see the policy misdirection that characterised the now suspended ruga initiative of the federal government. The issues arising from the attempted implementation of the initiative are numerous. First is the poor communication. From the government’s gazetting of lands in all 36 states of the federation for the initiative, to the said approval of funds for same, the public seems to have been caught by surprise. Word only got out after contract award letters went public, at the same time that some state governors cried foul over the usurpation of their powers by the federal government. The confusion lingers, even after the suspension of the initiative. Then there is the issue of the relationship between the ruga initiative dan the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP). The NLTP, according to government sources, is a result of wide consultations and collaboration with communities, state governments and representatives of cattle herders since as far back as 2017, culminating in the National Economic Council (NEC)’s adoption of the plan in January 2019. The NEC comprises all state governors and is chaired by the vice president. The NEC-approved NLTP is a broad programme that involves conflict resolution, humanitarian relief for victims of communal clashing and elaborate schemes to transform the practices in the livestock industry to reduce friction and conflict. Part of that programme includes an option for ranching. For reasons still unclear to the public, the Federal Executive Committee (FEC) is said to have approved funding for the ruga initiative, which supposedly involves the allocation of land for settlements for cattle herders and other animal farmers. The initiative is also said, by government sources, to include parallel programmes for education and other measures to increase productivity in the livestock industry. The initiative bears remarkable similarities with the part of the NLTP that deals with ranching. However, Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president and spearhead of the NLTP, has made a statement dissociating the ruga initiative from the NLTP. The FEC comprises of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet ministers, the vice president and the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), with the president himself as the chair. Before we talk about the crux of the public dissatisfaction with the ruga initiative, it may be important to note the policy shortcomings of the move. As an initiative arising from the Presidency, it is remarkably suspect that a carbon copy of parts of a separate programme was launched, almost out of thin air. What’s more, the claims by the spokesmen of Miyetti Allah, the herdsmen association, that the initiative was being driven by the vice president (since debunked by VP Osinbajo), is testament to the fact that the group has knowledge of the NLTP and must have misconstrued, or been led to believe, that ruga is an implementation of that section of the NLTP. The question then is, was there a deliberate effort to misrepresent the ruga initiative? If so, who is responsible? And why? No matter how sound the policy is, there are external or related issues that need to be addressed before such a move can be made. The architects of the ruga implementation must not have taken the public pulse about the donation or appropriation of land for ranching or settlements. If they did, they must have miscalculated or misunderstood the readings. In the reckoning of most of the members of the public, especially from the southern parts of Nigeria, including many of the southern governors, the answers to these questions are clear. It supposedly falls in line with the alleged “Fulani/muslim agenda”. With notable public figures like Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate; former President Olusegun Obasanjo and others toeing the same line, the public has run with that narrative. When one marries the impact of a misapplied ruga policy with the already raging inferno of ethno-religious sentimentalism, the result is the wild speculation of an invasion in the South and ultimatums made by some representatives of Northern herders. None of our elected or appointed officials needs a history lesson – none is young enough, by law or reality, to need one. With the knowledge or consciousness of history, no official would have been expected to embark on ruga, or relevant parts of the NLTP for that matter, in the manner that was done these past few weeks. No matter how sound the policy is, there are external or related issues that need to be addressed before such a move can be made. The architects of the ruga implementation must not have taken the public pulse about the donation or appropriation of land for ranching or settlements. If they did, they must have miscalculated or misunderstood the readings. Also worrisome is the propensity of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to fall into obvious pitfalls around the issue of a “Fulani/muslim agenda”. Even if the allegations are total rubbish, it is enough that large sections of the public are concerned enough to be discussing it and/or acting against it. Poor management of public sentiments in this matter could later justify the fears of the public figures that have been advising caution. In a country with a long memory, as far as ethnic/religious bias is concerned, valid fears are being raised about possible government-backed mass resettlement of herders from all over the country and beyond, in places where their numbers have been minimal. True, we are all Nigerians and free to reside where we choose in our country. But in the context of the very recent conflicts and violence between herders and host communities and the government admission of compromised entry points and infiltration of herders from beyond our borders, the fears are justified. The government needs to be able to assume all the different views, no matter how outlandish, for any lasting solutions to be found to this issue. The first attempt at implementing ruga does not suggest that it does. May God save Nigeria! There is also a fear, based on some historical precedents, that creating settlements that would most likely be dominated by the ethnic group comprising traditional herdsmen could lead to an eroding of local cultures in the host communities in the long run. The eventual emergence of emirates in parts of Kwara State is a ready example of this, with other examples and attempts of the same model in many other places. Such an occurence may be a natural, innocent, eventuality and not part of an elaborate plot to erode local cultures; but then again, it could be. Without proper dialogue, institutional measures to address concerns and safeguards to the cultures and ways of life of host communities, people will continue to assume the worst and kick against any insinuation of government coordinated settlements for herders, be it through ruga or the NLTP. Issuing award letters for ruga contracts in Benue, for example, without carrying the governor along or consulting with the local people, can be likened to the government pouring fuel to the fire it is trying to put out. Also, in a public administration point of view, the ruga/NLTP confusion exposes, yet again, the dysfunction in communication, motives and coordination within the Presidency. The vice president is a member of the FEC. Was he absent when a parallel policy to his NLTP was being approved and given the implementation green light? Even if so, why were the issues not ironed out when he was made aware? He must have become aware of ruga before the general public. These questions, yet unanswered, do not help to put to bed the more serious concerns that the public has about the ruga initiative, especially in the Middle Belt and in the south of Nigeria. Whichever way one views the issue of ranching or settlements, as a policy direction or as a conspiracy, one is bound to identify problems with its reception in host communities in the context of the violence that triggered the idea in the first place. The government needs to be able to assume all the different views, no matter how outlandish, for any lasting solutions to be found to this issue. The first attempt at implementing ruga does not suggest that it does. May God save Nigeria! For comments, send SMS to 08058354382 Boko Haram, National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), Ruga Project « The Conscience of A Nation, By Louis Odion How A Widow, Widower Light the Way For Others, By Zainab Suleiman Okino »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line956
__label__wiki	0.92104	0.92104	Rebels survive pool play, advances to state DENVER — Kelsey Hoff walked into the Denver Coliseum early Friday morning, checked out the surroundings complete with five volleyball courts and felt at home. Two years ago Hoff and her older sister, Brittany, left the coliseum with the coveted gold volleyball trophy after the Weld Central Rebels beat the Eaton Reds for the state championship. Hoff, 17, would like nothing more than to relive that championship feeling again. The Rebels (21-9) are on the right track after sweeping Faith Christian (25-23, 25-17, 25-15) and Middle Park (25-6, 25-15, 27-25) in pool play at the Class 3A Volleyball State Championships on Friday. The No. 4 Rebels qualified for today’s semifinals, but first have to finish pool play by taking on No. 1 Colorado Springs Christian (27-1). “It was just fun to be back,” Hoff said. “I know what it feels like to be here and win a state championship.” Rebels senior middle hitter Kristin Bell said Hoff is more than just a star player on the court. “She is the most terrific leader. She puts things together so well, and she can do anything on the court that she wants to,” said Bell, who was a standout performer for the Rebels in the 2002 title season. “If she wants to set, she’ll set. If she wants to hit, she’ll hit.” Both girls battled ankle injuries all season, but they look to be at full strength. Hoff does something else for Bell that few teammates can do. She calms Bell’s nerves. “It keeps me really calm knowing that she’s there for us when we need her,” Bell said. Hoff had to come back from two ankle injuries during the season. A little more than three weeks ago, Hoff was in street clothes as she watched the Rebels lose a nonconference match to Windsor. Hoff was waiting for test results on her left ankle that had bone bruises and ligament damage, and she wasn’t sure if she’d play again this season. Hoff, who has lived in Keenesburg all her life, came back to give the Rebels the veteran leadership that they needed. Hoff had 29 digs, 17 kills and two aces against Middle Park and Faith Christian. The 5-foot-5 Hoff, a four-year starter who has played rightside hitter, setter and outside hitter during her career, and her sister have a lot in common beside their excellent jumping ability. They both look alike. Brittany was No. 1 in her 2003 graduating class at Weld Central with a 4.0 gpa. Kelsey is also No. 1 in her senior class with a 4.0 gpa. Brittany is at Colorado State University studying pre-med. She walked onto the volleyball team at CSU, but gave that up to concentrate on her studies. Kelsey also plans to walk on the volleyball team at CSU next fall, and she will also study pre-med. Hoff has been a joy to coach for Tia Self, who is in her third season as head coach for the Rebels. “She is so focused on the court and in her life,” Self said. “She can play anywhere on the court.” Hoff said it’s been special following in her big sister’s footsteps. “She set the pace for me. I think that helped me to set my own goals because I know where she’s at and I want to be up there, too,” Hoff said. “She’s really smart, athletic and everything, and I want to do the same thing.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line959
__label__wiki	0.674055	0.674055	I was compelled to write a post about this new series purely because of how much of a guilty pleasure it became for me. A friend posted a clip of it online and urged people to give it a try and after watching the clip, I was hooked and sped through all the episodes that had already aired in the US. This past week the show ended and I wait with bated breath to see if it may get a second season. Oh, did I mention this show is a reality game show? Capture’s concept is a little like Hunger Games except of course no one dies in it; there are 12 teams of 2, and each week one team is selected to be the ‘hunt team’ while the rest of them are left to be the prey. They are released into a large area called the hunting ground, and the hunt team basically has to catch two teams. The hunt is spread across a two day period, and if the hunt team do not catch two teams before the time runs out then they are in danger of getting eliminated themselves. The teams are forced to live outside, in cold conditions and with basic rations. Each week the show throws in twists and turns, offers tasty treats and presents the chance for teams to sabotage each other in the hope that they will be eliminated. I say this show was like my guilty pleasure just because that’s exactly what it is – reality game show at its best. Contestants are quite the characters, and several teams I became to love particularly a team of British twins and two gay neighbours. Others became your typical bad guys such as two college buddies which resulted in a witch hunt to see who could get them out first. The series unfortunately has suffered in the ratings in the US, so I’m not sure if this show will ever be seen again. However, please go give it a try – it’s been my guilty pleasure of the summer and now that all 10 episodes have aired, it can be yours too. Here is the trailer for the show to give you a taste of it. Posted in Rachel, Television Tagged Capture, Guilty Pleasure, Rachel, Reality TV Hugh Jackman returns to the role that made him a household name in this second standalone Wolverine movie. Set after the events of The Last Stand, Logan is still dealing with the emotional aftermath carrying the baggage and guilt of Jean’s death, living in solitude in the mountains. Until a Japanese woman seeks him out and brings him to Japan to help a dying man’s wish. At the very start of the film Logan gets in a fight at a bar after he finds a bear injured after a group of men hunt it in the woods. It’s great to see Logan get so angry over the bear, seeking justice even for such small a thing – it allows him to have a connection to something, despite him seeking solitude. It’s also brilliant to see cameos throughout the movie from Famke Janesson, reprising her role as Jean Grey in Logan’s hallucinations. The film gave a sense of closure to fans that felt short-changed at the change of direction The Last Stand took us in and I felt the new director James Mangold did a great job with everything. Hugh Jackman is still the perfect Wolverine and he proves it again with brilliant action sequences, raw emotion and that same sarky manner we’ve come to know and love. It’s been 10 years since the first X-Men movie and he is still physically fit and toned. And a moment in the film where he’s naked in a bath tub – a highlight for many I’m sure. The film suffers a little because of the storyline that they’ve come up with; the idea that it boils down to a family business rivalry and argument about money that’s gone wrong is a bizarre concept for a comic book movie, and viewers have come to expect bigger, with much more at stake. That’s not to say the film doesn’t have its plus points. As I’ve said the action sequences are great, particularly the bullet train fight and the sequence at the house towards the end. The film is a little typical, and you can certainly see some angles coming from a mile off but the action sequences, Hugh Jackman and a much more Wolverine focused film, it’s a good solid feature. Soon after the film opened, word spread of an end credits scene that may or may not be a teaser for the hotly anticipated Days of Future Past. Filming has officially wrapped and original director of the first two X-Men films Bryan Singer is returning to the helm. The film will combine the original cast from the first three films, and incorporate the newer cast and seeing them all take the stage at this year’s Comic Con panel was slightly epic. From Singer’s tweeting to the emotive words the cast and crew gave, you can feel the passion coming from this project. The end credits managed to fit in Trask industries, the return of Magneto and Charles Xavier back from the dead and I bet James Mangold was happy to hand it back to Singer and say ‘you explain everything’. Overall, The Wolverine is a solid movie, filled with some nice moments and ties up a few loose ends, but nicely teases fans for next year’s movie. Mariko: This is the hotel owner’s grandson. He’s the one who fixed you up… (Boy draws back fearfully) And you may have cut him a few times. (The Wolverine) Tagged Hugh Jackman, Rachel, X-Men US TV Pilots 2013-2014 Season US TV Pilots of 2013-2014 The end of spring and the start of summer is a familiar time for many in US television shows – it’s predominately the period where US TV shows air their finales before they go on hiatus over the summer, and it’s the time for pick-ups, cancellations and for new TV pilots to be commissioned. This year was no different, and as I waited patiently for my favourite shows to hopefully get another season (all 5 that I religiously watch got picked up again), I also was intrigued to see what new pilots the major TV networks had in store for us come September. Here are just a few that I’m excited to try: Joss Whedon helps bring Marvel to the small screen in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which also sees Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), come back from the dead. It’s still shrouded in secrecy why and how he is still alive, but the preview already looks great, and it unites two of my favourite things – the Marvel universe and Joss Whedon’s wit and banter. This new crime thriller starring James Spader looks brilliant, psychologically intense and with a hint of Criminal Minds and The Mentalist, it looks like it could be a hit The 100 – midseason This isn’t appearing until midseason but the trailers are already out for this sci-fi drama and again it looks strong. The CW is perhaps a strange network for this futuristic drama to be put on, but the cast look relatively young and cute so hopefully the network will be good for this show. Intelligence -midseason Josh Holloway, best known as Sawyer on Lost is back on out TV screens. I’d say that was a definite reason to watch. Add the involvement of Marg Helgenberger (best known for CSI) and a great storyline and again you’re onto a winner. Sadly this won’t appear til midseason again. The new J.J. Abram’s TV show starring Karl Urban, it’s based around a future where artificial intelligence helps law enforcement. This starts in November, but has come across some problems recently when its show runner left the project for creative differences. I still have hopes for this though – Karl Urban turns anything into gold. Jonathan Rhys Myers is the latest incarnate of Dracula in this new adaptation of the most famous vampire in this NBC drama. It looks sleek, stylish and has a great cast including Katie McGrath (Merlin). Robin Williams is finally brought to TV in this new comedy and he’s brought Sarah Michelle Gellar with him! After Gellar’s last show was cancelled after the first season, I’m hoping this goes better for her (I did really like Ringer). It looks alright, I’ll watch purely for Gellar, and hope it’s great. The spin-off from Once Upon a Time, this brings us into the world of Wonderland with a bunch of other fairytale characters, and ABC will be hoping that this can generate the same fanbase as the original. (trailer starts at about 0.45) Period drama for the CW which reminds me of Gossip Girl but historical style. It looks okay, I’ll certainly give it a go but it’s not high on my list. ABC comedy as a group of people who are in a lottery sweepstake together suddenly win and their lives change forever. The CW are re-launching this old sci-fi show and it looks really good; the extended trailer is really intriguing and asks questions but answers a lot of them. This is probably one of my top picks – I just really hope it lives up. Believe –midseason The child actor for this series looks like a great young talent, and it’s another sci-fi drama for the books. Again this doesn’t start until around midseason so I’ll be looking out for it to start. Another ABC comedy, a single mother who moves with her child becomes a coach of a lesser little league team so that all the kids can have a go at playing baseball. It looks funny, the trailer certainly made me chuckle. Crisis = midseason Gillian Anderson stars in this tense midseason thriller; a group of young students who all appear to come from important families are kidnapped as families become embroiled in blackmail outside as law enforcement try to figure out who is behind it. A new drama about a woman who cheats on her husband, which seems to be the least of her worries as she finds out the man she’s been having an affair with will soon be facing off with her husband in a court room. It looks quite good, I’m intrigued by it already. Fox’s new comedy about two families that are brought together when their children start dating and the young couple become pregnant. Starring Mike O’Malley (Kurt’s dad in Glee) this looks like a funny comedy. CBS drama which sees a family been taking hostage as the baddies attempt to convince a woman who’s operating on the President to kill him, botching the operation in order to save her family. It stars Toni Collette as the surgeon and I’m interested to see how the show will progress. Most start within the next week, and I’m going to be a busy bunny, but I’m determined to give these shows at least a go, and hopefully I’ll pick up a few other TV shows to watch. Agent Ward: I’m clearance level 6. I know that Agent Coulson was killed in action, before the battle of New York Agent Coulson: (walks out) Welcome to Level 7 Tagged Clark Gregg, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Karl Urban, Pilots, Rachel, US TV The Mentalist Season 5 – A Game Changer The Mentalist left its fans at the end of season 4 with Patrick Jane disheartened at being the closest yet at discovering the identity of Red John, the man that murdered his wife and child. With Red John’s accomplice Lorelei in custody, it seemed that it was only a matter of time before Jane would get what he wants. The show has had the Red John storyline angle from the start and it’s made a fantastic arc for the series, played out fantastically by the enigmatic and gorgeous Simon Baker who plays Jane. Season 5 was a really strong season as well; the Red John storyline developed in leaps and bounds, and the show also incorporated other smaller storyline arcs and standalone episode making it a really strong season. The show suffered a small bump along the way as it emerged that Amanda Righetti (Grace Van Pelt) was pregnant; the first half of the season, Van Pelt was mostly chained to her desk, allowing the actress to remain on the show but to hide her baby bump well, offering helpful information about the week’s case to the team. She was then written out for a few episodes and returned with a more active role in the rest of the season. The show handled it well, and this season also saw the show celebrate its 100th episode. I’ve picked out a few of my favourite episodes from the season. Devil’s Cherry – This was the 2nd episode of the season and proved to be a beautiful episode – after taking some tea that wasn’t very kosher, Jane begins hallucinating about his dead daughter; the young actress playing Jane’s daughter is great and the episode is crushing, especially because you can see how great a father Patrick would have been. Red Sails in the Sunset –We’re back to the Red John storyline, and Jane comes up with an elaborate scheme to get Lorelei out of prison, and whist they are together, the team discover that Lorelei had a sister who died mysteriously and as it turns out, it was Red John that murdered her. She takes off, but not before a parting shot at Patrick, which turns into his big break – “I only wonder why the two of you didn’t become life-long friends the moment you shook hands.” It makes him realise that Red John is closer than he thinks. Days of Wine and Roses – Two aspects to this episode – the case of the week is a murder at a rehab clinic and a theft of a ruby necklace to offer motivation for her murder. The Tommy Volker case that has been building for the past few episodes also escalates in this episode, leading to Lisbon reluctantly asking for Jane’s help. The following episode Little Red Corvette is the conclusion to a great storyline arc. There Will Be Blood – Lorelei re-emerges looking for revenge and answers from the people that killed her sister. Jane continues to let Lorelei go in the hope that once she finds out the truth, she will reveal Red John’s identity. Lisbon gives Jane an ultimatum in the hope of getting him to relent on his mission. In the end Lorelei refuses to give Jane the information, and he is blocked from getting any information. It’s another case of so close, yet so far, but certainly builds up the storyline even more. But at the end of the episode we lose Lorelei as she is found murdered by Red John, a sad loss as she was an enigmatic character, and at the actress was a great addition. Red Velvet Cupcakes – CBI enlist the help of a radio therapist to help solve their latest murder, and once they begin to suspect him of the murders, they send Van Pelt and Rigsby to couple therapy. This episode is the first in an epic trilogy of episodes to end the season and along with a solid storyline, there is also the moment that fans have been waiting 3 years for – Van Pelt and Rigsby getting back together. Red and Itchy – A mystery that began a couple seasons ago that has remained visible through small mentions, fans finally learnt more about the contents of LaRoche’s Tupperware box. It’s a great storyline, and reveals the identity of the mole inside CBI. And the contents of the box are gruesome and hair-raising. Red John’s Rules – In the season finale, Red John resurfaces and puts Jane on edge as someone from his past is murdered. Through the episode he also teases Lisbon (and consequently the audience) with his list of 7 suspects for Red John, which is dramatically revealed at the end of the episode in quite possibly the best 5 minutes of The Mentalist. This season’s finale was good, but the last 5 minutes said it all really – we got a glimpse of what happened to Lorelei, as well as the reveal of Jane’s 7 Red John suspects – some we saw coming and some that were leftfield. Those last words of Red John and his warning gives me goosebumps each time –it’s the perfect cliff-hanger. What’s for certain however is that one of these men is in fact Red John. The red herrings have ended and the fact that Season 6 has the tag line of Red John: The Final Chapter tells fans that the 6 year-long mystery of who killed Patrick Jane’s family will come to a close this season. The 7 suspects are: Brett Partridge Bret Stiles Gale Bertram Ray Haffner Reede Smith Robert Kirkland Sheriff Thomas McAllister Season 6 starts on September 29th on CBS in America, and will air soon after on Channel 5 in the UK. After watching the series from the start, I’m so invested in this program that I can’t wait for the reveal and conclusion of the Red John storyline Lorelei (reading Red John’s words) But fair’s fair Patrick – you’ve changed the game so there’s new rules now. Eileen Turner is the first of many; I’m going to star killing again – often. Until you catch me….or I catch you. (Red John’s Rules) Tagged Rachel, Robin Tunney, Simon Baker, The Mentalist Don’t Tell Mummy Toni Maguire tells the heartbreaking story of her past, and the whole time I am reading I have to keep telling myself that this.is.true. The book is so well written that it is so easy to forget that the events you are reading actually happened to her, constantly I had to keep saying to myself ‘this really happened, it really, really happened’. Following her through childhood, living with little money, an abusive father and a mother who won’t come to her rescue, Maguire’s past slowly unravels. I would definitely recommend this book, it’s an insight into the terrifying horrors abused children are subjected to, and how it affects the rest of the family’s relationships. When I first read this I didn’t know there was a sequel and so I was very disappointed when I didn’t find out how she finally managed to escape her father – and I still don’t know. But now I am aware, I am desperate to find out so I shall report back at some point. For the time being though, go and read this book, cry for Toni, and enjoy her finally found happiness. Posted in Books, Kat Tagged Books, Don't Tell Mummy, Kat, Toni Maguire	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line962
__label__cc	0.54622	0.45378	« The Blessings Of Children How the Pill and Other Contraceptives Work » Sensible Sex Three old friends, middle-aged mothers all, are having lunch together. Nancy is a Methodist minister; the other, Mary Ann, is Catholic and a pro-life executive; the third is myself, a convert to Catholicism and freelance writer. The subject of contraception comes up. “Why can’t you Catholics just do it the sensible way,” says Nancy in a good-natured crack. “It may look sensible to you, Nancy, but you know the facts as well as I do: the society that accepts contraception inevitably comes to accept abortion, too.” states Mary Ann. As for me, like the tar baby, I ain’t sayin’ nuthin’. I listen to my two friends argue, their kind faces rigid and defensive now, and I am silent because I feel the “tar” of my own sins. I once thought, like Nancy, that artificial contraception was sensible. But Mary Ann is right; a contracepting society becomes a society that sanctions abortion and euthanasia, as experience and research have shown. My friends are deadlocked within these two irreconcilable attitudes toward unnatural contraception: Is it sensible? Or is it a preliminary to genocide, or at least infanticide? The Catholic Church recognizes that there can be no resolution and no compromise between the two attitudes, as incompatible as oil and water. … the difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle … is a difference which is much wider and deeper than is usually thought, one which involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality. (Familiaris Consortio, section 32, p. 30) Nancy, Mary Ann, and I are pro-life and pro-family Christian women; we are educated, responsible, and experienced. We have a host of subjects to discuss and many things in common. Yet we cannot discuss contraceptives. It isn’t just that birth control is a tacky and taboo subject. Like all proper women have always done, we might (and do) freely talk about other equally tacky and private matters – labor and childbirth and nursing, child rearing (up to puberty, at least), piles and constipation, indigestion and canker sores, crime and pornography. But not contraception. It divides friends and ruins lunches. To Nancy, the method of Natural Family Planning seems so unsensible, so unnecessary; it seems like the Amish using candlelight instead of electricity. To Mary Ann, the means are everything, since as she says, “they may lead to other ends than those intended or desired.” What’s going on here? There’s more than personal preference for an archaic technology, more than candlelight and electricity, that causes friends to fall silent and defensive. We don’t talk about, don’t ask about, don’t discuss contraception. Easier just to swallow a pill, have our husbands put on sheaths, or have ourselves “fixed.” Why can’t we talk about it? Are we too ashamed and hurt to do so? Too tarred? We women have submitted our female sexuality’s cyclic nature to the constant male sex drive of our husbands. Are we ashamed to have made ourselves always available to our spouses, from the very beginning of marriage beyond our menopause? Ashamed to admit that we sophisticated and independent women have followed the Old Wives’ Tale that a woman MUST be available for her man? Why do we not ask ourselves, if not other women, why we should feel ashamed and exploited in having done so? Are we afraid that the answer just might be another Old Wives Tale: that a man will leave her for another, more accommodating woman, if she doesn’t “turn on the heat.” Or that he might find her boring if they have to talk only and not work out their tensions in the bedroom. Most self-respecting women won’t admit to themselves or anyone else that they, too, share petty jealousy, suspicion, resentment, and even secret sympathy with the radical feminists, whose politics and tactics are deplorable. Yet, we should talk, for the answer is none of these phantoms. It is true that women who contracept do feel exploited by their husbands; husbands who resort to condoms feel resentment towards their wives’ fertility. Here is another social rift; husbands and wives don’t talk about contraceptives, either. As our own beloved children grow into puberty, we who are using unnatural contraceptives cannot talk to them about sexual chastity and self-control, even in the face of AIDS and STDs and every sort of promiscuously born disease of soul and body. Even while we are told that we are free at last, we know that we are helpless; we give our children condoms and are silent about chastity; we feel heartbroken, not knowing why. The tar is on us all. The Contraceptive Mentality I am going to “break silence.” I have a story to tell. I want to tell this story so that other married couples may have the courage to know themselves and to begin talking again about their marriage and their love, and so come to find between them a truly Christian theology of the body. My perspective is unusual, but hardly unique; I am Protestant in heritage, Catholic by conversion. Having been connected since birth with a science and medicine-friendly family, I am quite familiar with the marvels of modern medical technology, including the whole hog of contraceptive devices, which are hardly conducive to health and well being. Since a story is a story, it can not be a rational argument. However, my story may be useful as an example for the arguments put forth by others who have the gift of apologetics, as I do not. Janet E. Smith’s fine book, Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later, has just been published by the Catholic University of America Press; its 425 pages contain a very complete and convincing rational argument in defense of the Catholic Church’s unbroken teaching on unnatural contraception. In addition to offering a new translation of the encyclical Humanae Vitae, it is a very sensible book. I grew up with the two great Protestant imperatives: first, the importance of the individual’s responsibility in forming a great love bond with his Creator (achieved through reading and meditating on scripture, through personal prayer, through charitable acts); second, the realization of the good of passionate, romantic love between man and woman. It would take a book to discuss the particulars of these two Protestant pillars and how they have been pulled down by the permissiveness of our age – a modern God-hating Samson. While the pillars remain standing for the Evangelical Protestants, who strongly oppose abortion, they may yet topple because of these sects’ general acceptance of contraception, a silent destroyer of just that married love and mutual respect which Protestants have so long recognized and properly praised. Yet, there are indications that at least some evangelical Protestants are beginning to rethink this issue; the January, 1992, issue of the journal First Things had a feature on this new trend. The Catholic view is that contracepted sex is inherently sinful, an offence against God’s will for the purpose of human sexuality, and divisive of the two aspects of sacred marriage – the unitive and generative. Despite widespread civil laws (the Comstock Laws, enacted by Protestant legislatures, which were in effect until the 1930s in this country) which banned contraceptive devices, modern Protestants cannot understand all the fuss; they think it’s mere ecclesiastical and legalistic hair-splitting. An impassioned Anglican friend said to us recently, “It isn’t these silly rules over contraception that we should be quibbling about! The affirmation of LOVE is what is so needed today and you Catholics don’t seem to realize this!” Of course, it is true that the rules, and the quibble over rules, can lead away from love and from the vision of love. However, it is not a neat set of rules that is at stake. The sacredness of marital sexuality and its place in a greater divine order is what is at stake and under attack, and divorced from that order, the loss of love, indeed. Under the guise of helping love, artificial contraception cunningly establishes a tyrant in the marriage: the sex act declines from a reaffirming of the whole marriage covenant, true lovemaking, to joint seeking of mutual satisfaction. A subtle shift, but a decisive one, away from God and the covenant of marriage. The well-documented symptoms attending this shift are the grist of many marriage and sexual therapy manuals; yet, the authors of such books, many of them Christian, never consider that the contraceptive devices could be causing the familiar problems. The nuptial exchange between man and woman is replaced by a woman’s sense, vague and minuscule at first, that she must be “available” to her husband; anxiety develops about “performance” and sensual attractiveness; she may begin to feel used by her spouse. The husband, in an equally subtle way, ceases to delight in his bride and begins to think of her as an object to arouse and satisfy passion. He has a vague sense that something is wrong; he feels restless and unsatisfied. If they try to talk about “what’s wrong with us?” it often draws up petty resentments. They suspect, vaguely, that “something sexual” is wrong. They may just as often conclude that “something spiritual” is wrong. A vast and foggy field, in either case. They just don’t seem able to come to an understanding over their difficulties. This couple may in every other way be moral and exemplary Christians; it has never occurred to them that artificial contraception could be destroying their marriage covenant and their love. They may seek help for what they perceive is a sexual problem; they are encouraged, and sincerely try, to be more loving, considerate, and attentive to one another. They may pray together, but as the secrets of their innermost hearts have already been shut to each other and to God, the Lord and Giver of life, their prayer is blocked; they may develop a distaste for religion in all forms. Over all, there is a secret resentment against the other for his/her lack of … whatever it was that used to make life so good. The husband thinks: “If only she would stop this complaining and snap out of it! I’m doing the best that I can to show her that I love her, but it’s not good enough for her.” The wife thinks: “He doesn’t love me anymore. He says that he does, but he doesn’t really mean it. What can I do?” When there are children present, there is usually enough shared love for these children to keep the husband and wife in charity, but there is no doubt that eros (and caritas, reverence, and respect) between the couple is lessened or nonexistent. The last thing that such a couple will do is consider jettisoning the contraceptive device. They are likely to heed popular remedies: develop more sex appeal or get more involved in the community, or even do more things together as a family. If a woman should have a surprise pregnancy at such a crisis as this, she is very likely to consider a secret abortion in a desperate attempt to save her husband’s love. She may seek among women (often of charismatic or even feminist or New Age persuasion) the emotional contact and spiritual fellowship which is ebbing away from the marriage. She is likely to develop a distaste for “maleness”; her own vile thoughts may shock and disgust her. For his part, the husband may begin to wonder if a little innocent flirtation with another woman could really be so harmful. He may begin to treat his wife disrespectfully (in ways other than having contraceptive sex with her). His own behavior may disturb him, so that, in order to avoid his wife, he begins to spend more time away from home. He may turn more energetically to his work and to companionship with other males. He may begin to keep an eye out for the opportunity for a sexual misadventure. At no point is either aware that the communion of their marriage is betrayed by that lie, which began as such a tiny thing, accepted with such good intentions. This tiny thing is so very subtle and slow in its tyrannical effect and usurpation; the small denials that anything is wrong (the unspoken concerns about damage inflicted on bodily health by the contraceptive device, the increased tension in conversation and in everyday life, the uneasy sense of future trouble, the steady growth of mistrust, the general boredom with family life in general and spousal sex in particular, the secret fantasies and desires) all go unnoticed until their cumulative effect has destroyed trust and made impossible the very love that the contracepting couple so fervently hoped to preserve. Yet, for most Protestants and a majority of Catholics, artificial birth control continues to be accepted and promoted as an unquestioned good. On June 24, 1967, Rollin and I celebrated our wedding with a traditional Anglican marriage rite and nuptial mass. The church organ was amazingly pure, and there was a professional choir to sing three J.S. Bach hymns and the beautiful music of the Anglican liturgy. Our wedding took place at the Trinity Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, which is a perfect replica of a 13th Century English church, complete with rood screen, painted roof, lych gate, and cloistered garden. On June 23, I was confirmed at that same church; only five people were present at this ceremony, Bishop Grey (a tall, elderly man, radiating the odour of Anglican sanctity), Fr. Lynch (who had given me instruction and who presided at our wedding), Rollin (who was my sponsor), and his elderly mother. The Bishop gently urged me to fight “manfully” for Christ and to give my life entirely into God’s care; he confirmed me with a light slap on my cheek. In memory, that tap, symbolic of the suffering that a Christian must endure, has become a stunning blow. It is significant that my vow of obedience to Christ came the day before our vows of fidelity to our marriage in Christ. The vow of unconditional love and fidelity from Christ, for Christ, was immediately followed by our vows of unconditional love and fidelity for one another. Because of the immediate proximity of these rites to one another, the symbolic blow of Christian suffering and the symbolic kiss of unconditional love have flowed over the years, especially at times of crisis, from one into the other until they have become one. Suffering and sweetness are indivisible; both are essential. The adventure of faith, lived out in sacramental marriage, is one, great, mysterious union of suffering and unconditional love. As we began our preparation for marriage, we talked with everyone we knew who could help us make a good start. One Catholic couple, very dear to us, talked of the importance of family life and warned us about the dangers of contraception; they called it “psychological infanticide.” Theirs was the only voice we heard that spoke of unnatural contraception as an evil; the encyclical Humanae Vitae was still a year away from publication. Everyone else with whom we talked looked on artificial contraception as a great medical breakthrough, a positive good, about which there could be no possible objection. Aside from the Great New Reproductive Technology, talking about sexual matters twenty-five years ago, even with a clergyman or a doctor, was a very difficult thing to do; other than “among the girls,” people did not discuss such private matters. Nevertheless, the sexual deviations were beginning to erupt on a vast scale and we needed to know how to establish our marriage in a Christian framework; there were few resources available. We asked Fr. Lynch, the venerable clergyman who married us, to help us with this matter of artificial contraception in our upcoming marriage. He replied that artificial contraception was warranted in some cases. He went on to state, mistakenly, that Catholicism had limited the purpose of sex to procreation only, and that the Anglican tradition held that while marriage must be open to procreation “in general,” it need not be open to procreation in every act. That sounded convincing to untried postulants; we did not spot the logical flaw until years later. We know it well now. By the same formula of totality, extended into marital fidelity, need every act of sexual union necessarily be with one’s spouse? Couldn’t one affirm, by the principle of totality, that if one affirmed marriage most of the time, did one have to be faithful to marriage all of the time, every single time? The widespread infidelity, which followed closely behind the argument for totality in matters of contraception, is no accident; in fact, contraception made the concupiscence and its justification possible. Although we did not foresee these unintended consequences in society, we were afraid of the consequences of choosing wrongly in our own marriage. We wanted to be faithful to God, to our love, and to the family we hoped to have. We were not sure what to do, and we were too shy about such matters to talk freely yet with one another. My doctor, parents, and friends (all well meaning) urged various methods and devices upon us; dire warnings were whispered about what would happen to our love if I were to get pregnant too soon. This was disheartening and very scary; Rollin was told similar well-intended lies. In the end, we decided to listen to our Catholic friends who had warned us about the inherent evil of contraception. We decided that we would begin by giving ourselves to the will of God. We strengthened one another in faith; we reassured each other that our high and holy love would endure. We also assured ourselves that we could accept and provide for children, if they came early in our marriage. Besides all this, it was highly repugnant to us, as to any romantic couple, to carefully plan out and buy “life insurance” for every risk of life. This was an adventure! We were certain of the high quest and vocation of marriage. We told each other that we could not give allegiance to Christ and at the same time dictate the extent and terms of His grace in our lives. So, we galloped off together with very high spirits and a bit too much self-congratulation on our great undertaking. During the first summer after our marriage, we conceived a baby, but I had a miscarriage in the first few weeks of pregnancy. The same thing happened again in the Fall, and again in the winter. My OB-GYN told us that, for one reason or another, we would probably never be able to have children. This was both disappointing and confusing; had we not eagerly given ourselves to the Lord of Life? Why were these tiny lives not carried to term? Didn’t God care about them and us as we thought? Things weren’t going our way. Of course, we hadn’t really surrendered to the will of God. We were eager to do so, but did not know about suffering, yet; we were young and looked only for the sweetness of God’s gifts of love. We reviewed our first year of marriage, how much it meant to us and how we had come to find both love and holiness, which we never imagined possible. Finally, we came to the certainty that we were wrong to demand that God give us children. Shortly after this, we became pregnant again, and our infant son, John, was born at full-term in December 1968. When John was born, we were blessed with a profound and awe-full experience of the holiness of life. Here was a child, a unique human being with a particular destiny in history. Where had he come from? How marvelous to have been so chosen to be his parents! This wonder, this awe, at the fact of a new life and at the certainty of his God-given origins has never lessened with ensuing births: Will, Katie, Austin, Ben, and Helen. They are all “wonderfully and mysteriously made.” About the time of John’s birth, the contraceptive controversy was in full fury. Six months previously, Humanae Vitae had been issued and everyone was talking about it, Protestants and Catholics, alike. The document was, above all, incomprehensible. No one could believe that the “men of Rome” could be so backwards, so insensitive, so benighted as to deny this “help” to married couples. Those crazy clerics ridiculously predicted that contraception would open a Pandora’s box of most dire ills: rogue male behavior, breakup of families, irreverence for women, cheapening of sex, increased violence and rape, abortion, child abuse, and euthanasia. It’s grim to realize how fast these evils did rush into society, just as the “stupid” encyclical warned that they would. One of the “help for new mothers” booklets that was given me at the hospital contained an advertisement for spermicidal foam. It featured a picture of a sweet young mother holding a tiny infant to her breast; the caption beneath read: “You gave him life. Now, give him yourself.” The serpent at his most eloquent! Foam was a fairly new product. Unlike the pill, it did not cause blood clots and high blood pressure; it did not interfere with the spontaneity of the sex act; it purported to prevent conception. Like Eve and her apple, I showed it to Adam and bade him eat. When we discovered that we were pregnant and would have another baby within a year of the first, we quarreled seriously and viciously for the first time in our marriage. I had hated using the foam; it made me feel cheap. Rollin, taken unprepared, was annoyed at the prospect of another baby; he felt tricked by me. The bitterness of this first quarrel should have alerted us to the effects of contraception on married love and trust. We did resolve, once again, to avoid using unnatural contraceptives, but were still unconvinced that Humanae Vitae was right as a universal statement for all Christians and all marriages. A half-educated, partially committed effort at the calendar rhythm method was, most happily, unsuccessful in avoiding new pregnancies. A year and a half after our second son, William, was born, our Katie came to us. One year later, our twins, Austin and Ben, were born. Then two years later, Helen came. A great multiplication of Love! It is a recognized trend that the older parents grow, the less they remember of unpleasantness and trials in their young families. We are no exception. Our memory of that time is of madcap joy, knee-deep in babies and toddlers, six of them, age five and under! That we were sometimes so dead tired that we could barely push through the day is remembered only vaguely. In truth, I don’t think we slept more than a few hours any night for at least seven years, and we were always worried about how we were going to support our family. We were filled with trust in one another and with a sense of purpose, and we drew strength from it; it kept us from being overwhelmed by anxiety and fatigue. There was a sense of divine protection and mystery behind everything that happened in those years. Because we had chosen obedience to the will of God and had entrusted our fertility, as well as our souls, to one another, we knew the gift of unconditional love. This was a shared secret between us, given us by Christ, whose presence was constantly felt as a “third” in our marriage. This secret, pondered deeply in my heart and cherished in Rollin’s, took the form of enormous confidence about what we were doing. This was not pride, though pride is ever a threat in every human being, but rather a certainty born of deep reverence for and awareness of the presence of Christ’s holiness in our marriage. During this time, we thought a great deal about the revealed mysteries of Christianity; I said the rosary regularly and meditated often on Mary. Sometimes my thoughts would flow out to the Mother of God in silent, loving exchange; these meditative thoughts, really prayer-thoughts, concerned the developing child in my womb. Every event, every new life, was embraced as a prayer answered, was known to be willed, under the mercy of God. Discouragement and Alienation Our faith and our confidence came under very heavy siege, however, as the universities began to crumble, the judicial system to capitulate, and the Episcopal Church to succumb to radical feminism and homosexual politics. Unknown to ourselves, we were becoming desperate; we were too much alone and we were afraid of the changing world’s condition and our children’s maturation into it. Everywhere, everyday, we met relentless hammering against our faith and hostility against us for our choices. Despair! Despair! Despair pounded against our over-tired minds, weakening our resolve and eroding our sense of purpose. In 1974, the year that Helen was born, Rollin sacrificed his tenured university position to begin studying for the ministry in the Episcopal church. The reasons for my opposition to Rollin’s decision to do this would serve as a strong warning against married clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. Briefly, I did not see how we were to continue our soul-to-soul intimacy of marriage when he, necessarily, could not confide to me concerns heard by him in the confessional and elsewhere. More important, there was no way that our domestic church could remain as important to him as the parish church was bound to become, and, sooner or later, this would surely cause great problems for me and for our children. At this time, Rollin and I decided that six children were all we could manage for awhile. Not being able to accept any known form of birth control as moral and consistent with God’s will, and knowing the unreliability of “rhythm,” we would observe total abstinence, we decided. At the recommendation of some Catholic friends, we sought the help of their beloved monsignor. We told our story and our intention and asked his help, advice, and prayers. He replied that abstinence was “too heroic,” and, as we were not Catholics, he did not understand why we did not just use contraception. (“Do it the sensible way,” I hear my friend Nancy echo). We tried to explain that we were seeking to be obedient to God’s will in both the procreative and unitive aspects of our marriage, but we failed to convince him or to receive any support. We observed total abstinence for many months. Then, I made a radical decision and had a sterilization operation. What made me change my mind, our minds? Two catalysts and a single cause. First, Rollin strongly and openly opposed the Episcopal Church’s trend toward the ordination of women, the endorsement of various sexual aberrations, and the acceptance of abortion. The Episcopal bishop, a liberal fellow, would not accept him as a candidate. The bishop’s rejection was devastating to him, and I determined that he didn’t need to feel rejected by his wife, as well. This well-intended wifely solicitude was as much tainted by the serpent’s pride as was the contraceptive advertisement for spermicidal foam that I’d bought into so many years before; it was just another variation of “You gave him life, now give him yourself.” The second catalyst was the growing influence of Jungian psychology and Jungian devotees in our life. Like the contraceptive mentality, Jungianism exhibits a definite cultishness in its proud rejection of revealed Christian truth and moral authority. Behind both catalysts was a single cause: loss of faith. Under severe pressure from calamity both within and without, we abandoned our faith and trust in God and in each other. Rollin was opposed to the ligation, but I had the so-called “Band-Aid” operation, anyway. (“It’s my body and my decision,” I had parroted). No one else opposed this surgery at all, quite the opposite, in fact. The very first effect of this, as in an abortion, was relief. That relief didn’t last long. Ensuing hormonal imbalance caused a deep, prolonged depression. In fact, as I later learned, my estrogen level dropped to a menopausal level, literally, overnight. I gained a lot of weight in a very short time, another common side effect. My mind was confused; and I was filled with irrational resentment. There was abdominal pain for months after the surgery, probably caused by the nitrous oxide gas that was used to inflate my abdomen for surgery. Periods became so heavy that twice I was hospitalized for excessive hemorrhaging, another common but seldom publicized side effect. At the age of thirty, I was forced by deteriorating health to have a hysterectomy. Until the hysterectomy, I had secret thoughts that the tubal ligation could be reversed, if we wanted more children. (N.B.: if we wanted more children; no longer Thy Will Be Done). After this second, more radical, operation, however, it was impossible to have any more children. Thereafter, Rollin and I seldom talked about the operation or what had led up to it. We seldom talked at all. We became very touchy about “slights”; we were impatient and sometimes rude to each other; we were often filled with self-pity. Despite a steady and comfortable income, we quarreled constantly about money. We became stressed and tense. Our fears for the children’s safety became exaggerated to the point of panic; we were terrified that we would lose one of these precious, irreplaceable lives. We lost our sense of humor and seemed to bicker over everything. He began to lose respect for me and I for him. Aversion to intimacy began to develop. Life became a horrid burden to us both, each secretly resenting and blaming the other. While we were still firmly opposed to abortion, we were no longer “pro-life” in any greater sense. Dark and cynical, we had become anti-life at a very basic level. When we talked about sexual matters, it was with a rather wry, sometimes bawdy, humor; it was no longer approached with reverence and awe. We seldom talked about anything else but our children, the one remaining source of delight to us both. It grieved me that I’d taken this veterinary approach, done this self-mutilation, to my body; quite irrationally, I blamed and hated Rollin for it. However, everyone who knew of it praised us to the skies: clergyman, relatives, doctors, and psychologist; we had finally joined the contraceptive cult. Women who have had abortions must surely feel like this, too. Everyone else – other women, medical personnel, their lover or husband, their family, their minister (or even some priests) – will try to “be compassionate and sensitive to the needs of women” and to tell the aborted woman that what she did was okay, but she knows it was not okay. Yet, she isn’t allowed by these “sensitive” friends and family to grieve or even mention it, not ever again. Who will listen to the “silent scream” within the agonized soul of such women? There was no one there for me, for us, and this was not even an abortion. At this time, we heard from the Catholic couple, who had talked so strongly to us before we were married about the dangers of contraception; they were not getting along and were thinking about divorce. This stunned us! Here was another couple with seven children. What had gone wrong? We snapped out of our own self-pity to try and turn them away from separation and divorce. Our friends told us that they had decided that the whole church was wrong, that it was just a power institution imposing rules on “little people” to spoil their sexual freedom. They renounced their former convictions about the evils of unnatural contraception; they ridiculed themselves for ever having held such convictions. We were embarrassed by their rude jokes; they were insulting to each other; their language had become coarse and vulgar. Both had come to support abortion. They encouraged their children to use contraception themselves. They talked about sex as if they were talking about a tennis match. The final severance came when a newly launched affair with a female graduate student became public scandal. We were really horrified by this; the same shoals lay dead ahead of us. The fact was that this couple had given up their faith. So had we. Like our friends, we had stopped going to church ourselves, but we had not gone so far as both to hate the church and to reject the sacraments. We had not quite despaired. We were very near despair, really in much greater danger than either of us knew at the time. We did know, however, that we had reached such a point of desolation in love that there were no more resources left to us and that we would soon be as lost as our lost friends. One night, while driving alone to the grocery, incongruously, I prayed a desperate prayer, asking God’s help and promising to do whatever I was told to do. God spoke to me then! He made it known to me that we could go no further until we ended our isolation and committed ourselves again to Christ’s Church. I considered this revelation and finally came to the conclusion that, although we would be rejected and shunned by family and friends, the Roman Catholic Church (progressive and trendy as it seemed then) was what I had to choose. I told Rollin that very night that I intended to become a Catholic. He did not seem surprised and by the next morning revealed to me that this was what he, too, wanted to do. On the day that we were formally received, I said to Rollin that it felt like we had just gotten married, again. There was no trained choir for this nuptial; the organ was preempted by a guitarist who throbbed the strings with heavy hand; the church building was ugly, a yellow brick, auditorium-like affair; the priest’s holiness was less than exemplary. It didn’t matter at all. What mattered was our surrender to Christ and to His Church; through this surrender the restoration of our marriage could begin. Our conversion to Catholicism brought great joy, but also great sorrow. We could hardly bear to see the American Catholic Church chasing after the very trendiness and politics that we had just left behind. Why would Catholics no longer want to say the Rosary? Why would they want to have the Stations of the Cross, and other images, removed? Why did they hate the Holy Father and the church’s teaching authority? How could they ever endorse abortion … or contraception? Why did so many Catholics seem to mistrust their own beautiful heritage? We began to think about these questions again. We were a long way from unconditional love or trust; that had been too badly shattered to be rebuilt in a week or even years. It was being rebuilt for us, however, by Him who had always been faithful, even when we were faithless. We admitted that we were WRONG to have done what we did in ever using artificial contraception and, above all, in having a sterilization operation; we were also WRONG to have given so much allegiance to cultish thought, to Jungianism. The former violated the unity of our marriage; the latter denied and trivialized moral absolutes. This dual admission of guilt did not make it possible to reverse a biological procedure, which had removed my womb. It did make it possible to return to holiness, to find forgiveness, and to receive healing within our souls and marriage. Until we came to this admission of error, we had gotten in the habit of denying that anything was wrong or, at most, justifying our actions, or casting blame on other people and each other. The most difficult act of all was admitting that we were wrong. We were wrong; we had sinned; we repented of that wrong and WE WERE FORGIVEN. We could, of course, have gone on living with no such admission of guilt; how heavy and sorrowful our lives, had we chosen self-pity and perpetual justification! Once such justification and blame begin, there is no end to it or the self-pity it generates. Yet, had we not sinned, there would have been no forgiveness, no grace – O Felix Culpa! Thanks be to God! Unconditional love and trust has been given back to us, but it did not happen right away. We agreed that it wasn’t enough to admit our faults to ourselves and to each other; we needed absolution. On our wedding anniversary, together we sought the sacrament of confession We remember these former betrayals of love as mistakes, not to be repeated. Nothing can undo the fact that these things did happen. Yet, the memory is without bitterness and without recrimination, though not without regret. We are terribly sorry to have ever been apart from God and from each other. The most dreadful experience, the most absolute evil imaginable, is to be totally cut off from the unconditional love of God and from its vessel, the love of our spouse. We regret its having happened because we never wanted nor intended to hurt one another, nor to despair of God’s presence in our lives. On the other hand, our experience has made us acutely aware of the power of unnatural contraceptives and of cult-like thought to effect just this horror in the lives of loving spouses. Some will no doubt say that had we not lost our faith, we would not have resorted to contraception and would not have been tempted toward any cult; no doubt this is accurate. Others may think that we were only looking for something upon which to pin the woes of an already troubled marriage and chose contraception as the goat. This is not accurate; we know the facts and have presented them faithfully. From the beginning, we were given a great love; we unintentionally betrayed that love through the deliberate choosing of an inherently evil act. It matters not that our original intentions were sincere and benevolent. Sincerity does not undo reality. Through consciously choosing unnatural contraception and through buying into Jungianism as a substitute for religion, we abandoned our faith and ushered in the unhappy consequences that followed. Those consequences are not to be underestimated, for nothing less than eternal salvation, our family’s permanence, and unconditional love is at stake. Christian newly-weds are not faced with the same isolation that we were at the time of our marriage. Nor do they have to rely on calendar rhythm. Thanks to doctors John and Elizabeth Billings, to John and Sheila Kipply, and to the research of others, the symptoms of a woman’s fertility are known and easy to determine now, as they were not twenty-five years ago. The Couple to Couple League (P. O. Box 111184, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45211) is reliable in teaching couples how to use Natural Family Planning, which is in complete accord with the doctrines of the church and which violates no aspect of marriage, neither the unitive nor the procreative. Through fertility awareness and a few days per month of abstinence, couples can be sensible in their family planning, spontaneous in their sexual union, and true to the will of God. That will is to offer every act of marriage thoughtfully, responsibly, and prayerfully to God who sustains us and our love. The choice of the natural rhythms involves accepting the cycle of the … woman, and thereby accepting dialogue, reciprocal respect, shared responsibility and self-control. To accept the cycle and to enter into dialogue means to recognize both the spiritual and corporal character of conjugal communion and to live personal love with its requirement of fidelity. (Familiaris Consortio, section 32) It is not, as our ignorant brethren assume, that a woman should have as many babies as she possibly can, no matter what her health or the family’s finances. It is that we should seek, first, the kingdom of heaven and to do no harm to others, to violate no life, no love. We are rational creatures and are expected to use RIGHTLY our reason and our free will when approaching the holy ground of our sexuality. These brief periods of abstinence, of shared sacrifice, become times of love-making of another sort, of thanksgiving for God’s gift of each to the other, each other’s love, and the miracle of being loved. In this context the couple comes to experience how conjugal communion is enriched with those values of tenderness and affection, which constitute the inner soul of human sexuality in its physical dimension also. In this way sexuality is respected and promoted in its truly and fully human dimension and is never “used” as an “object” that, by breaking the personal unity of soul and body, strikes at God’s creation itself at the level of the deepest interaction of nature and person. The spousal union remains one of unconditional love between the spouses, and each carries the grace of Christ in sexuality, a grace found in a thousand daily acts of intimacy and of love to the beloved other. “God does not ask the impossible, but by His commands, instructs you to do what you are able, to pray for what you are not able that He may help you.” (Casti Connubii, section IV, p. 31) In His boundless Mercy, He also forgives those who have not been able to “preserve in wedlock their chastity unspotted.” Blessedly, there can be granted a second spring, a second virginity within marriage. Through God’s forgiveness, chastity between spouses can be restored to its divine purity, its unconditional love. We women have always held the sexual standards of society and had the responsibility for our children’s moral education. Now, we have the knowledge of our own fertility. Is it unreasonable to ask our husbands to respect this, to center relations around female sexuality instead of the male sexual drive? In doing so, would it not then be easier to teach our children to save sex for marriage and to uphold standards of chastity for them? Would not widespread knowledge and endorsement of Natural Family Planning restore respect for women and the family to its rightful place in society? Would it not strongly censure or forbid pornographic material as the vile exploitation that it is? This “tar baby” has seen the consequences of contraceptives in her own life and marriage. I’d gladly endure the briar-patch, once again, to find the freedom and sanctity of married love that has been restored to us through familiarity with NFP. It really is the only truly sensible way of family planning. Copyright 1998 Ruth D. Lasseter. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from One More Soul, (1846 N Main Street, Dayton, OH 45405) except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews. This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Church Teaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site. Chosen and Cherished: Biblical Wisdom for Your Marriage Code: BCCH The Thrill of the Chaste Code: BTTC	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line963
__label__cc	0.5848	0.4152	Donate to PPW Join Pikes Peak Writers About PPW Join PPW Support PPW Key Volunteers PPW Awards Sponsors & Donors PPWC Key Volunteers Conference FAQ Latest Faculty PPWC Prequel Programming About The Zebulon Virtual Agency Writing from the Peak, PPW Blog Zebulon News Proposing a Workshop Underage Attendee Policy A Peak at the Fabulous Keynote Speakers for PPWC 2018 09-09-2017 3:42 PM Conference News Boy, do we have some fantastic keynote speakers coming in 2018! I’m so amazed at the selection of talent, well-known authors that have agreed to share their knowledge of the writing business with you. You don’t want to miss this conference. Registration opens on November 11, 2017. The well-known, New York Times best-selling author Jim Butcher will be our Saturday night keynote speaker. He’s the author of the well-known series, The Dresden Files, The Codex Alera and his new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. He also writes graphic novels and recently won two Dragon Awards at DragonCon: Best Graphic Novel for “Wild Card” and Best Comic Book for “Dog Men.” A dedicated gamer, he also developed the Dresden Files Cooperative Card game based on his Dresden Files series. Laurell Kaye Hamilton is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is best known as the author of two series of stories. Her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series centers on Anita Blake, a professional zombie raiser, vampire executioner and supernatural consultant for the police, which includes novels, short story collections, and comic books. Six million copies of Anita Blake novels are in print. Her Merry Gentry series centers on Meredith Gentry, Princess of the Unseelie court of Faerie, a private detective facing repeated assassination attempts. Her Anita Blake books have also been turned in a series of comic books. Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning suspense author, editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer, who writes in a variety of genres. His young adult fiction includes Rot & Ruin (2011) in now in development for film. His mystery novels include the upcoming Dylan Quinn mystery-thriller series for teens and the NIGHTSIDERS series of middle-grade horror/sci-fi adventures, which debuted in 2015. His horror novels include The Pine Deep Trilogy from Pinnacle Books, which won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel and named one of the 25 Best Horror Novels of the New Millennium. He was named one of the Today’s Top Ten Horror Writers. His books have been sold to more than two-dozen countries. Hugo-award winning author, Mary Robinette Kowal is a novelist and professional puppeteer. Her debut novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, a story of magic in Regency England, (Tor 2010) was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel. In 2008 she won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, while three of her short fiction works have been nominated for the Hugo Award: “Evil Robot Monkey” in 2009 and “For Want of a Nail” in 2011, which won the Hugo for short story that year. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov’s, and several Year’s Best anthologies, as well as in her collection Scenting the Dark and Other Stories from Subterranean Press. Pikes Peak Writers Conference was founded in 1993 by author Jimmie Butler under the auspices and sponsorship of the Friends of Pikes Peak Library. The inaugural conference centered on “Useful Tips for Writing Commercial Fiction,” and enjoyed sponsorship by the Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District and The Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration. July 2019 Writers’ Night Writers’ Night is two full hours of discussion, laughter, and fun with other local members of Pikes […] Enchanted Realms Games and Signing Come see some of your favorite Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Spec Fic and more authors, buy […] Colorado Writing Workshop The Colorado Writing Workshop is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop on Saturday, […] August 2019 Open Critique PPW Open Critique is open to anyone who needs a second set of eyes on a […] © 2007-2019 Pikes Peak Writers. Site Design by Clockpunk Studios	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line965
__label__wiki	0.850181	0.850181	Laura Michelle Kelly on Stage Door & Broadway.com Audience Choice Award Love May 26th, 2015 \| By Imogen Lloyd Webber The adorable Broadway.com Audience Choice Award winner and Vlogger Laura Michelle Kelly stopped by Fox & Friends on May 26 to talk Finding Neverland. "I get to go to work every day with Matthew Morrison and Kelsey Grammer…they're incredible to work with, they make work a happy, happy place," she revealed. Also making the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre a magical place for Kelly and the cast are "the many people at stage door." Host Elisabeth Hasselbeck brought up Kelly and Morrison's recent Broadway.com Audience Choice Award win for Best Couple and the leading lady went on to make our Monday: "We love Broadway.com!" exclaimed Kelly. Well we all love her! Check out the video below.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line968
__label__cc	0.586105	0.413895	User Requirement Specification Electrical Design E&I Design Electrical Panel Build & Installation Commissioning & Validation Robotic Services 5Dec.,2016 Pilz launches new E-Shop technology & web experience On 30 November 2016 Pilz Australia launched its innovative, new website which incorporates a new E-Shop for its customers. E-Shop will allow customers to not only browse the company’s vast portfolio of products, it enables them to access the latest technical information, view product images, and download the most up-to-date technical data sheets. This is a free service that will allow interaction with Pilz to be at a customer’s fingertips no matter the time or day. The new E-Shop covers the full portfolio of products that is Pilz, with all the technologies and application areas along with a quick and easy way to view associated accessories or add on features for its products. E-Shop is part of the new Pilz Australia ( www.pilz.com.au ) website that has been designed using the latest website technologies. It is compatible with today’s most common browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox and the native Apple browser Safari, which is commonly used on ipads and iphones. There is no need for Adobe Flash to be installed to view the full functionality of the new site. The new website has been designed to provide the ultimate user-friendly experience with improved navigation and functionality throughout, allowing customers to access detailed product information and videos with the option to share information across all major social networking sites. The site includes extensive product information to help customers understand Pilz's complete range of safety solutions. Technical data, videos and application case studies provide a detailed overview of Pilz's capabilities across a wide range of industries and sectors including manufacturing, food & beverage, mining, and energy. The new website and E-Shop means that customers can benefit from a far richer online content that is also easier to navigate and share with others. This was achieved as a result of talking with customers to gain valuable feedback. Visitors to the new website can become conversant with the latest company news, as well as industry information as the News & Media section features announcements, product inventions and opinion pieces from industry experts. Furthermore, the new website allows users to share products and pages that interest them with others across Facebook (Pilz GmbH & Co. KG), Twitter (@Pilz_Int) LinkedIn (Pilz Australia) and YouTube Channel (Pilz_INT). Visit the new website and E-Shop today and give us your feedback, email: eshop@pilz.com.au	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line972
__label__wiki	0.639766	0.639766	Plymouth Writers' Group Writing Competition 2019 PWG Writers External Competitions Potential Members Previous Competition Winners Writing tips, hints and resources Please update your bookmark with our new address here at plymouthwritersgroup.uk [ Alan Grant ] [ Lou Fletcher ] [James Walker] [Veronica Bright] [Sarah Adams] [Mary McClarey] [Mary Curd] [John Curry] [ Charles Becker ] We have a number of writers in the group that are published and self published writers. Many writers have won various competitions and you can visit their individual page to find out more about them below. Alan Grant’s writing experience, began with a night class in 2001, and since then, he has completed several hundred short stories, poems, stage and radio plays, some of which were included in anthologies. His premiere collection “Short Stories for Longer Journeys” was published by Authorhouse in 2008, and is now available on Amazon and Kindle. In 2014 he was the first author to win a regional newspaper annual contest for the third time. Having been shortlisted for the Kenneth Branagh new playwright award in 2014, his latest short play “The School Crossing” has been selected by the Theatre Royal, Plymouth for a performance in the Drum Theatre in January 2015. Alan states….”my personal and working life has resulted in a series of experiences, exposures and events relating to a mass of wonderful people, with significant strengths, characters, issues, weaknesses, and ambitions. My characters are composites of me, them and us, plus a large sprinkling of imagination. Find out more about Alan and his work – Back Lou Fletcher Lou Fletcher is interested in writing for writing’s sake. However, he has been published as a winner of the Western Morning News short story competition with his supernatural “The Rocking Chair”, is self-published on Amazon with a Plymouth thriller “The Bohemian Ruby”, and has completed its sequel “The Ivory Tower”. Lou has recently finished a novella, a Tavistock based detective story called “Mute of Malice”, and has been published on the website UK Authors, and in a number of good food guides. He enjoys writing short stories that have a twist in the tail. Find out more about Lou and his work – Back James Walker Plymouth’s own pot-poet. Uncensored and unread! A struggling writer with too heavy a pen. A comedian with no jokes! Damning the drinkers, the hypocrite who smokes! Find out more about James and his work – Back Veronica Bright Veronica Bright has won over forty prizes for her short fiction, including the prestigious Woman and Home short story competition, as well as places at the Winchester Literary Festival and the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School (twice). Her work has been published in over a dozen anthologies and online. She has published three collections of prize-winning short stories –– Cloud Paintings, A Gift from the Horse Chestnut Tree, and Rainbow Laughter. A former primary school teacher, she is also the author of teaching resource books published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd. Veronica is the short story adviser for the Association of Christian Writers; a competition judge; and she writes a monthly blog called ‘Let the writer out’. She gives talks locally on writing memoir; on the adventure that is writing (including readings); and on ‘50 things to do before I rest’. Veronica’s monthly blog LET THE WRITER OUT may be found on her website – http://www.veronicabright.co.uk Find out more about Veronica and her work – Back Sarah Adams Sarah Adams moved to Plymouth in 1983, to study Literature and Philosophy at Marjons. After finishing a degree she decided not to return to Surrey, but set up home in Plymouth to be near the moors and the sea. She has recently feature in the PWG anthology and now a regular member of the group. She plans to produce two children’s books and publish poetry in the future Find out more about Sarah and her work Mary McClarey I consider myself first and foremost a nurse. However, that broad career definition covers a multitude…. I travelled overseas with both the Royal College of Nursing and the World Health Organisation. I was also a nurse member on the board of NICE for eight years. I published a plethora ( well about 30, is that a plethora?) of academic papers before turning my hand to fiction, but lifes experiences always colour one’s stories and I leave it to readers to discern the fact from the fiction! I am now the author of two novels, both published by Matador. Long Road, Many Turnings , a family saga and ‘Time for a Change’, a fictional account of nursing during the troubles in Northern Ireland. Both books are available through Amazon, Waterstones or from me via my website. Being part of Plymouth Writers Group has encouraged me to develop my writing and sharing creativity with others is a great pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute with short stories and the occasional poem.’ You can read more about me and my work at: marymcclareyauthor.co.uk Mary Curd Having returned in 2014 from a long spell living in France, I am now able to engage more fully in writing groups and all the extra stimulation and encouragement which that can bring. I joined the Plymouth Writers’ Group in March 2015. I write short stories, novellas and novels, plus a little poetry. I have recently published the first in a trilogy of novels set in the Victorian period – ‘Broken Blood Ties’ by Mary D Curd, available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1979839522 Other achievements are being short-listed for the Wells Literary Festival Short Story Competition in October 2016 and for the 2017 wordsmag.com Lifeboats magazine. I have also had two short stories published in the quarterly Scribble Magazine, the most recent of which was published in the Summer 2017 issue. John Curry John ran away and joined the theatre in 1980 and has been a jobbing actor ever since. His main claim to fame was being part of the original West End cast of the Shakespearean Rock and Roll Musical ‘Return to the Forbidden Planet”. You may not know it but it was good enough to beat ‘Miss Saigon’ and ‘Buddy’ and win the Olivier Award. John has had two musical plays for children produced professionally and another at the Edinburgh Fringe. He has been writing songs for ages and a couple of years ago he recorded a CD of his own songs. He has also written songs for the last three pantomimes in Modbury where he lives. His play for radio (A Bench Encounter) was recently released as a podcast by Backwell Playhouse in Bristol. John is now trying to develop his writing seriously, he recently won his first short story competition. He has a crime novel set in the world of theatre in development. Charles Becker Dudley Moore: “I’m writing a book.” Peter Cook: “Really? Neither am I.” Finally, after a working lifetime of distractions (wine merchant, teacher, therapist), Charles has recently published his first novel, Murder at Royal William Yard. He has found writing monthly short stories for the Plymouth Writers Group a helpful discipline and the feedback from PWG members, who listen to them, both supportive and encouraging. You can find an example of Charles’ work here: The Girl In The Rusty Smock Dionne Haynes After retiring from a medical career in 2014, Dionne took the opportunity to follow her dream of becoming an author. An avid reader of historical fact and fiction, she began creating stories from real events with sparse recorded details, allowing her imagination to fill in the gaps. Although no longer practising medicine, her medical background occasionally influences the plotting of her stories. Dionne is exploring publication options for two completed novels: Running With The Wind tells a tale of what might have happened during the 67 days at sea during the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620. Mawde of Roseland is the story of a young Cornish girl navigating her way through the challenges of Tudor life, adapting to the role of household servant, and becoming involved with a royal scandal that has fatal consequences. Dionne is now working on a story set in the Regency era. Since joining the Plymouth Writers Group, Dionne has written several short stories, an example of which may be found on her website. For more information about Dionne and her writing, please click on the following link: http://www.dionnehaynes.co.uk	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line973
__label__wiki	0.685141	0.685141	What is the evidence for the “tyranny of the majority problem” in a direct democracy context? I have read about the ways to mitigate the "mob rule" or "tyranny of the majority" here, but is it a practical issue in the first place ? Has it been observed in a direct democracy context or in a referendum under non direct democracy ? In other words, is there an example in history where a people officially voted for the destruction of a minority ? Edit following comments: Replace "destruction" by "violation of basic rights". I am looking for examples where a specific popular vote occurred on a particular issue. direct-democracy marcmarc Frankly a proper question would be if there's evidence for "mob rule" in direct democracy over and above what's experienced in representative regimes. It's not clear for instance why you couldn't have supermajority rules in direct democracy, for instance. – Fizz Mar 22 at 18:43 Historic (and in some places, ongoing) persecution of homosexuals, for one example. The US experiments of Prohibition, and the current "War on Drugs" insanity, for another. – jamesqf Mar 22 at 18:51 @marc wasn't Hitler voted into power on a platform of rather 'racist' policies? e.g. Mein Kampf, purity of the Aryan race. It seems the German people had some idea of what they were voting for and weren't entirely misled. – Time4Tea Mar 22 at 19:28 @Time4Tea The NSDAP got at most 37% of the votes. That's hardly a majority. – dan-klasson Mar 22 at 19:35 This isn't really an issue about direct democracy but with democracy as a whole. People are just stupid. Just look at the United States. Case point. – dan-klasson Mar 22 at 19:37 I think your requirements are just too restricting to find many examples. There aren't that many cases of direct democracy in the first place, and "voted for the destruction of a minority" is a very high bar. There's a reason that people talk about the singularity of the Holocaust; there aren't very many places in time where people had 1) the desire and 2) the means to exterminate an entire people. A lot of discrimination is about exploitation, exclusion, or subjugation, not necessarily about annihilation. I know of at least one example of violations of basic human rights in a direct democracy though. The people of Switzerland voted with 57% to forbid the building of minarets (which goes against the freedom of religion). We can also see tyranny of the majority in non-direct democracies, such as the support of Germans for the NSDAP, the support of slavery and Jim Crow in the US, restrictions of basic human rights for LGBT people for much of the 20th century in western countries (proposition 8 would be an example of direct democracy), etc. @RobertHarvey There are really too many to list, but eg sodomy laws in the US which essentially criminalized being gay, §175 which did the same thing in Germany, restrictions on marriage (see right to family), ban of gay and trans people in the military (I don't know the English word, but in Germany we call the right "Berufsfreiheit"), requirements of sterilization for trans people (right to bodily integrity), etc. – tim Mar 22 at 20:23 "there aren't very many places in time where people had 1) the desire and 2) the means to exterminate an entire people." If only this were true. Genocide is horrifyingly common, whether the Holocaust, or Rwanda, or Bosnia, or the Armenian genocide, or forced kidnapping of Native children in the US and Australia; going all the way back to the wholesale slaughter (and, again, kidnapping generations of children, part of the UN CPPCG definition of genocide) of Huguenots in the 16th Century or the Cathars in the 1200s or the Inquisitions of the 1400s. – Tiercelet Mar 22 at 22:50 While it is true that the Swiss voted to forbid the construction of minarets, calling minarets a "basic human right" is quite a stretch? After all, only minarets (the towers on mosques) were forbidden, not the mosques themselves. The right of muslims to assemble and practice their religion was not affected by this vote. – meriton Mar 23 at 0:50 @meriton But it restricts the exercise of religious practices in a discriminatory way (church towers eg affect the surrounding area in a similarly negative way, but are not forbidden). You are definitely right that it's not the biggest restriction (eg not like the "Schächtverbot" which outlaws a religious requirement, which was also passed in Switzerland via direct democracy vote), but it still restricts basic rights. – tim Mar 23 at 18:46 True, but are such minor restrictions a "tyranny"? Frankly, if your strongest argument for the tyranny of the majority in a direct democracy is that the outward appearance of places of prayer may be restricted to comply with local cultural norms, direct democracy must be among the least tyrannical forms of political organisation known to man. – meriton Mar 24 at 0:13 In 1879, California held a referendum on Chinese exclusion that passed the all-white electorate by a margin of 154,638 for to 883 against. It was later codified into law by elected representatives, both in the California Constitution as well as Federal Law. In other words, 99.4 percent of the all-white California electorate voted to exclude all Chinese immigrants from the state forever. It was a remarkably unanimous show of nativist hostility toward a single immigrant group. Hatred of Chinese immigrants — the “indispensable enemy” — had become the one issue upon which white working-class Californians of all nationalities, religions, ethnicities, and political parties could agree. In 1901, Alabama held a state-wide referendum calling for a constitutional convention with the express purpose to "establish white supremacy in this State". The resulting convention ultimately not only disenfranchised almost all African Americans in the state, but most poor white people also. The second one may be a bit borderline, since it involved not only a massive amount of voter fraud in order to get passed, but the poor whites who were also disenfranchised were told that it was the only way to keep from being disenfranchised by the wealthy gentlemen who ran the convention. More information In 1910, Okalahomans passed Oklahoma Initiative 10 that required proof of literacy in order to vote. There was a grandfather clause included allowing anyone to vote who was also entitlted to vote prior to January 1, 1866 ensuring that the qualification only applied to African Americans. The vote was 56% for to 44% against. In 1963, the California Legislature passed the Rumford Fair Housing Act which attempted to prohibit racial discrimination by realtors and owners of apartment buildings built with public assistance. In response, the California Real Estate Association and other real estate groups helped place Proposition 14 on the November ballot, essentially nullifying the Rumford Act and ensuring a "right to discriminate" for housing sales and rentals, and was passed the same day Lyndon Johnson was elected president with almost 2/3 (65%) of the vote. Jeff LambertJeff Lambert That first article you linked is unabashedly, unapologetically, relentlessly partisan. I can barely hear the facts over the sound of axe-grinding. Here is a better reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act – Robert Harvey Mar 22 at 20:38 @RobertHarvey Coincidentally, yours is the second link in the answer. The Chinese Exclusion Act though isn't directly pertinent to this question (even though we both want to link to it), since it was passed by representatives and for this question I want to highlight the lopsided vote of the California referendum specifically, since that is direct democracy. I include the source specifically for the quote I used, since it is directly addressing the question. – Jeff Lambert Mar 22 at 21:39 As long as readers can get past the tone, the general purpose of the article is to highlight examples of victimization of minorities at the behest of the majority in the State of California. CA is one state that regularly exercises direct democracy through initiatives, recalls, and referendums, so it just so happens to be a pretty good source of information in this instance. – Jeff Lambert Mar 22 at 21:49 @Jeff Lambert: In that case, other examples include hundreds of monarchies. ;-) – ruakh Mar 23 at 13:49 @JeffLambert it is under the "one man, one vote" system. The king is the man, he has the vote. – Caleth Mar 25 at 15:34 A direct example meeting even your strict criteria goes back to the time when the first critiques of democracy were made, in classical Athens. In 427 BC, the Athenian assembly decided, by simple vote, to massacre about a thousand prisoners of war. (The assembly reconsidered and changed from nearly unanimous to barely voting not to kill them all, which seems like both evidence of the power of a bloodthirsty majority and a pretty solid argument against the idea that people vote rationally.) chrylischrylis Too bad we don't know for sure who decide to rase Melos. We might have been able to make some kind of comparison then. – Fizz Mar 23 at 22:35 Actually, the decision wasn't to kill 1000 prisoners of war, but to kill the entire male population of Mytilene and to enslave the women and children! Fortunately, the Atheneans reconsidered their decision after a debate the next day. However, about a thousand men were already dead, when the message arrived. – Frank from Frankfurt Mar 24 at 17:38 Frankly this is a pretty weak question (as tim answer's hints). Discrimination against minorities can happen in both representative and direct democracies. A better question would be if direct democracy really enables more discrimination than alternative (usually representative) democratic regimes. And it turns out there's an academic paper on tha (Gerber & Hug, 2002), finding in the negative. In recent years, one of the most debated questions about direct legislation has concerned its effect on minority rights. Recent theory suggests that these effects are both direct and indirect. Policy advocates influence policy directly by passing or blocking new laws by initiative or referendum. They influence policy indirectly when legislatures respond to the threat or use of direct legislation. However, most empirical studies focus exclusively on outcomes at the ballot box and so are limited to estimating direct effects. Theory also suggests that direct legislation institutions mediate underlying voter preferences in specific ways. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, we compare the probability of having various minority protection and antidiscrimination laws in American states that do and do not allow direct legislation. We find that permitting direct legislation has a minimal independent effect on minority rights policies. Rather, its presence and use changes the mapping between voter preferences and outcomes. Thus, depending on the nature of voter preferences, direct legislation institutions may either increase or decrease minority protections. But it's also worth noting that the topic is controversial, with prior research (not all US-based) having inconsistent conclusions. And even the US-based analyses are contradictory: A number of recent studies have addressed the question of whether direct legislation undermines minority rights [...]. Strikingly, they arrive at very different conclusions. Gamble (1997), for example, concludes that in American states and cities, direct legislation significantly curtails minority rights achieved through the legislative process. Donovan and Bowler's (1998) results, based on analyses of state level ballot measures on the civil rights of gays and lesbians, contradict some of Gamble's findings. And Frey and Goette (1998) show that in Switzerland, comparatively few measures restricting minority rights have passed in popular votes. So the controversy lives on, I suppose. I'll also point out that the conclusion depends on dataset and methodology. Gerber & Hug don't simply look at the direct legislation passed, but also consider indirect effects, i.e. in a state with a mixed (direct & representative) legislative regime, there's potentially a "threat of referendum" (my term) in which the population can overrule their representatives, which may change the legislative behavior of the latter, for better or for worse as far as minority rights go; it depends on the cultural inclination of the population. A contemporary (2002) California study also found that if instead of narrowly focusing on the discriminating legislation, minority rights aren't all that affected by direct democracy: Our analysis indicates that critics have overstated the detrimental effects of direct democracy. Confirming earlier critiques, we find that racial and ethnic minorities-and in particular Latinos-lose regularly on a small number of racially targeted propositions. However, these racially targeted propositions represent less than 5% of all ballot propositions. When we consider outcomes across all propositions, we find that the majority of Latino, Asian American, and African American voters were on the winning side of the vote. On the other hand, a more recent (2007) review more narrowly focusing on LGBT rights found that direct democracy is detrimental to this group. A 2011 study came to the same conclusion regarding same-sex marriage. A 2015 Swiss study found that direct democracy is more discriminatory over there when it comes to naturalization applications, particularly for minorities in the most xenophobic areas (but judicial review also plays a role): We find that naturalization rates surged by 60% once politicians rather than citizens began deciding on naturalization applications. [...] the increase in naturalization rates caused by switching from direct to representative democracy is much stronger for more marginalized immigrant groups and in areas where voters are more xenophobic or where judicial review is more salient. So I guess a tentative conclusion from all this is that direct democracy does enable more tyranny of the majority... in some contexts. FizzFizz +1 for actual science, and answering the question that should have been asked – meriton Mar 24 at 0:27 There is a modern example: in 1959 in Switzerland there was a referendum to give women the right to vote, it did not pass. In that occasion 67% of men voted to deny women the right to vote. To be fair, there were also women's organization that were against giving women the right to vote, but only men could vote. Women gained the right to vote in a second referendum held in 1971. There are also many historical examples in medieval Italy involving Guelphs and Ghibellines. These were the main political factions in Italy during the High Middle Ages: one sided with the Pope, the other with the Holy Roman Emperor. The supporters of the losing side in a city were usually kicked out from the city itself. Not all of the cities were democracies, especially in the contemporary sense of the term, but many were. gabrielegabriele Brexit is a very recent example. The referendum posed a binary question: remain in or leave the EU. When the decision to leave was made, the slim majority was able to strip away rights and freedoms from the minority. In a representative democracy the views of both sides would be considered and a compromise found. In fact the terms of leaving the EU negotiated thus far represent only the views of the leave voters, failing to preserve any rights and freedoms for the rest. useruser Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged direct-democracy or ask your own question. Have any systems of direct democracy ever been proposed that are specifically designed to mitigate the problem of “mob rule”? What are the main arguments in favour and against general assemblies as legislative bodies? Is there a website or online database of what policies different politicians have voted for? Looking for the name of a voting process by public token What are the differences (in principles and in practice) between direct democracy and anarchy What about this political process is useful for making the world great again? What is the biggest flaw with this Democratic Taxation system? Which nation is a direct democracy ? (At the national scale) Where to draw a line between representative democracy and a direct democracy? [Focus on the where] Would Switzerland's direct democracy survive EU membership?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line974
__label__cc	0.650928	0.349072	Democracy going beyond the ballot box In Wales, co-operatives and co-operation hold the key to challenge some of the everyday sense of powerlessness felt by many across the country. Emma Hoddinott Local Government Officer Of course, this sense of powerlessness can be seen within EU referendum results but it is also well demonstrated by recent UK wide polling which shows that 59 per cent of people say they have no control over the economy. This rises to 62 per cent for lack of influence over business (YouGov Feb 2016) and 68 per cent of people in work feeling they have no control in their workplace (YouGov Feb 2016). The Co-operative movement in Wales is made up of the doers – those who run the local credit union, staff the community transport schemes or run the community shares project. They are people who actively get involved and show by example that co-operatives offer an important way of doing business and community. The Welsh Co-operative Party has been standing candidates for elections in Wales for a hundred years. We in Wales have a fantastic record of promoting, developing and delivering co-operative and mutual solutions. Whether it be new co-operative homes being built, financial support for vital credit unions or groundbreaking Commissions led by the Welsh Assembly Government. Being blessed with this legacy does not mean the job to develop Wales as the first co-operative nation is complete. The upcoming local elections will provide a new crop of Co-operative & Labour candidates and sitting councilors who, will, if elected or re-elected, push for even more. Deeply embedded in the co-operative philosophy is the idea that ordinary people should have a voice in the day-to-day running of businesses, councils and the institutions which we depend upon. In a world where it increasingly seems to be ‘us vs them’, the co-operative model allows people to take control. The work of the wider co-operative movement provides an inspiring example to how things can be different – how employees and customers are able to influence the decisions often taken on their behalf rather than with them. The Welsh Co-operative Party will continue to shine a light on the movements work and the Government’s commitment. However, locally among much more we will using the principles set out by the Fair Tax Mark Campaign push for tax transparency and justice within public procurement. We will continue to work to ensure employees and passengers have a real say over local transport services and develop fairer access to credit for communities across Wales. In this case, democracy goes far beyond the ballot box. Caitlin Prowle – Campaigns Officer, Welsh Co-operative Party.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line977
__label__wiki	0.976257	0.976257	Crime/Rescue Bruce Pearl Patrick Mahomes II Braxton Key Magic Johnson Mamadi Diakite Matt Painter Carsen Edwards Malik Dunbar Jared Harper Chuma Okeke Tony Bennett Bryce Brown John Thompson III Charles Barkley Sports Men's college basketball College basketball Men's basketball Men's sports College sports NFL football Professional football Football NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Basketball NCAA Latest: Tech will be rolling with Mahomes By The Associated Press - Apr. 05, 2019 05:11 PM EDT Virginia's Braxton Key warms up during a practice session for the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 5, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) The Latest on the Final Four (all times local): Auburn has Sir Charles, Michigan State has Magic and Virginia has Ralph Sampson. Texas Tech will have Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs quarterback and reigning NFL MVP plans to watch the Red Raiders play the Spartans in the Final Four on Saturday night. Mahomes doesn't have any official obligations, though he may give the team a shout-out, but he's looking forward to the festive Final Four atmosphere. Mahomes played high school basketball and still loves the game, even though it got him into trouble recently. A grainy video of Mahomes making a slick crossover move in a pickup game went viral, and Chiefs general manager Brett Veach — concerned about a potential injury — put an end to those endeavors. He'll have to settle for getting his basketball fix as a fan. — Dave Skretta reporting from Minneapolis. Texas Tech assistant coach Mark Adams loves spinning a yarn, often telling of conflicts to motivate the Red Raiders. One of his favorites involves dogs named Sugarfoot and Foxy. "Actually, they're real dogs and coach (Chris) Beard has talked a lot about street dogs and has labeled this team that," Adams said. "He likes the underdogs, the street dog mentality, kind of a blue-collar guy anyway. Those were stories about two dogs, friendly dogs except when there was another dog in the neighborhood. There also were good fighters and we talk a lot about fighting." No word if Adams will use Sugarfoot and Foxy for Saturday's Final Four game against Michigan State. Rest assured, though, there will be a story or two. — John Marshall reporting from Minneapolis. Virginia's Braxton Key just can't get away from Auburn. The 6-foot-8 junior transferred after two seasons at Alabama, and received a waiver from the NCAA to play right away this season instead of having to sit out a year. Yet his first year with the Cavaliers now has him set to play the Tigers —Alabama's fiercest rival— in Saturday's national semifinals. Key said he's heard from "a lot of my frat friends, former teammates, everyone" from his Alabama days about the importance of beating Key's (former) instate rival. This will be the sixth time Key has faced Auburn. He scored 18 points and 17 points in two meetings during the 2016-17 season, but managed a total of 24 points in three meetings last season. The sun came up the next day for the Purdue Boilermakers, and coach Matt Painter kept his eye on the big picture. After that heartbreaking loss to Virginia in the Elite Eight, one way of looking at it was that the Boilermakers were lucky to be there. That's the approach that Painter took, at least. "It's part of competition," Painter said on Friday, after a presentation at the coaches' conference that runs in conjunction with the Final Four. "The thing you have to keep in mind about our loss is that we were very fortunate to be in the game in the first place." In the Sweet 16 game against Tennessee, Purdue's Carsen Edwards got fouled while taking a 3-pointer with the clock running down. He made two of the three free throws to get the game into overtime, and from there, Purdue won. Against Virginia, Cavs forward Mamadi Diakite made a buzzer beater to send the game into overtime, but that time, the Boilermakers weren't able to overcome. "Our guys are crushed," Painter said. "It's something that will stick with us forever, but you've got to move on." — Eddie Pells reporting from Minneapolis. Coach Tony Bennett has taken Virginia to the Final Four for the first time in 35 years, and his appearance has put him in even more exclusive company. He's part of only the second pair of fathers and sons to coach a team in the national semifinals. His father, Dick Bennett, took Wisconsin to the Final Four in 2000. The first family duo to accomplish the feat was Georgetown's John Thompson, who took the Hoyas there in 1982, 1984 and 1985, and John Thompson III, who went with the same program in 2007. Bennett said he was proud to be in such a small club, particularly because that means he's even with his dad. "Now he can't look at me and say, 'I'm one up on you, son,'" Bennett said. "At least he can't do t4hat. There's no bragging rights on his part now." — Dave Campbell reporting from Minneapolis. Injured Auburn star Chuma Okeke is not expected to travel to Minneapolis to be with the team when it plays Virginia in the Final Four on Saturday. Okeke injured his knee a week ago in the Sweet 16 victory against North Carolina. He had surgery in Birmingham, Alabama, to repair a torn knee ligament on Tuesday. An Auburn spokesman said Friday the team was not expecting Okeke to make the trip. Auburn players have rallied around Okeke, the team's leading scorer. Malik Dunbar wore Okeke's No. 5 jersey during warmups for the Elite Eight game against Kentucky and says he plans to do the same before the Virginia game. — Ralph D. Russo reporting from Minneapolis. Charles Barkley isn't the only big-name fan of Auburn. Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry surprised the Tigers — and another Under Armour-sponsored school, Texas Tech — with pairs of his new sneakers for their Final Four appearance on Saturday night. Curry recorded videos for both of the teams and wished them well as they compete in the national semifinals. "It was amazing. He gave us a special shoutout," Tigers star Bryce Brown said. "He said he was an underdog like us, that this run was like the run he was on with Davidson." Before becoming an NBA star, Curry led tiny Davidson to the Elite Eight of the 2008 tournament. Curry is one of Brown's favorite players, so getting a shout-out? "That meant a lot," he said. Auburn star Jared Harper and some of his teammates are dealing with an illness that he hopes will be better by Saturday night. Harper started feeling sick Thursday night and began taking some medicine, and team doctors gave him a shot Friday morning. He was still sniffling during his media rounds before taking the floor for the Tigers' open practice ahead of their semifinal date with Virginia. Fellow guard Bryce Brown felt the worst of it on Thursday, but was on the rebound Friday. "We've got a bunch of guys that are sniffling and hacking and coughing, be we don't play today," coach Bruce Pearl said. The flu bug swept through North Carolina last weekend in Kansas City, where the Tigers knocked off the Tar Heels in the regional semifinal. It's unclear whether Harper may have gotten the same bug. Harper is averaging 15.4 points and 5.4 assists. Basketball fans have lined up early for the first entry into U.S. Bank Stadium, as the Final Four teams hold open-to-the-public workouts. Auburn takes the court first, followed by Virginia, Texas Tech and Michigan State. There's no charge to attend the practices. The games, of course, come at a cost. According to secondary market ticket seller StubHub, as of Friday morning, the lowest price for the semifinal games on Saturday evening is $385. U.S. Bank Stadium opened in 2016, the home of the Minnesota Vikings and the host of the Super Bowl after the 2017 NFL season. The seating capacity has been expanded for the Final Four to 72,000.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line981
__label__wiki	0.821251	0.821251	Walking in the footsteps of Sara Plummer ... May 29, 2019 / Modified may 30, 2019 10:24 a.m. Walking in the footsteps of Sara Plummer Lemmon The story of a botanist and artist who had a mountain named after her. by Laura Markowitz TWEET SHARE Most of Sara Lemmon’s artwork was lost, possibly in the fires that followed the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. / Photo by Wynne Brown. Original at the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley. The Tohono O’odham call the mountain range to the north of Tucson Babad Do’ag, which means Frog Mountain. In the late 1600s, Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino renamed it the Santa Catalinas. And two hundred years later, the first white woman climbed to the top and the mountains became known by her name – Mount Lemmon. It’s just after sunrise up here on Mount Lemmon. At an elevation above 9,000 feet, it’s cold! You definitely want a jacket. “I’m just going over my mental checklist here,” says Wynne Brown, looking through her backpack. “The most important thing is water and I have about a gallon. I have my emergency space blanket.” Local author Wynne Brown on the Oracle Ridge Trail. Brown is writing a biography of Sara Plummer Lemmon, who is thought to have taken this route to the summit of the Catalinas. Laura Markowitz Brown is preparing to hike the Oracle Ridge Trail. The steep, 13-mile trail ends in the outskirts of the town of Oracle. She anticipates treacherous footing as the path descends 3,000 feet. “Let’s see. I have my phone. I have my notebook. I have a pen.” She’ll need the pen. Brown is the author of several books about the Southwest. Her latest project is a biography of the 19th century botanist and artist for whom Mount Lemmon is named: Sara Plummer Lemmon. Sara Plummer Lemmon was 33 years old when she left the East coast for health reasons. She went by sea to Panama and took a steamer up the coast to San Francisco. She knew no one in California. / Photo by Wynne Brown. Original at the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley. “There’s just something about Sara Lemmon that grabbed me, probably seven years ago,” says Brown. “I’ve read through 1,400 pages of her handwritten letters. I just walk around Tucson with her voice in my ear.” Today’s expedition is more of a pilgrimage than a hike, because Brown will be walking the same route that’s thought to be the one that Lemmon and her husband, John, took in 1881, to reach the summit. “Being able to put my feet on the same trail that she walked on,” says Brown, “I mean, what a gift to be able to do this! I never hiked this trail so I’ll be looking at it through new eyes. And I’m going to try to look at it through Sara’s eyes. What would this have been like this many years ago?” The trail starts just past the Mt. Lemmon fire station. The damage from past fires is evident all around, with charred trees dotting the landscape. There are also wildflowers just beginning to pop – yellow, daisy-like plants and white flowers in the raspberry family, penstemons and lupines. Brown says it would have looked very different when the Lemmons were here. She says John Lemmon’s letters describe maple trees. Sara Lemmon was born in Maine, and John was from Michigan. They met in California. What brought them to Tucson? The view from the Oracle Ridge Trail looking north. The landscape would have been much the same as what Sara Lemmon saw on her journey up the mountain, except of course Biosphere II would not have been in the background. Wynne Brown “There was a botanical frenzy going on in the 1870s and 80s,” explains Brown. “Everybody wanted to have a species named for them. Everybody was out just clambering up and down the hillsides and combing the streambeds for new ferns and then sending them off to the very few experts to identify." "So because this area had never been botanized, it was very tempting. It was Sara’s idea to come and spend their honeymoon botanizing the Santa Catalinas.” This was not your typical honeymoon destination. The train had only arrived in Tucson the year before, and there was the ongoing Apache conflict. Also, the Lemmons were not your typical explorers, says Brown. Both suffered from a host of serious health problems. “The whole reason Sara was out West was because she couldn’t survive the Eastern climate,” explains Brown. “She kept coming down with pneumonia, bronchitis, something called catarrh, which is basically a build-up of mucus in the throat and the lungs — attractive thought! She realized that she was going to die if they had another Eastern winter.” Sara moved to California in 1871, on her own (by steamer through Panama, stagecoach across Panama, and then a second steamer up the coast to San Francisco). She moved to Santa Barbara and later met her future husband. John Lemmon had fought for the Union during the Civil War and was captured by the Confederates. Brown says he never fully recovered his health after two years of near-starvation in the Andersonville and Florence prison camps. The trailhead is just past the Mt. Lemmon fire station, off of Catalina Highway. “They were both incredibly frail people,” she says. It is hard to imagine these two rather sickly characters spending three weeks trying to climb the sheer, prickly slopes of the Catalina Mountains. There was no trail. There were impassable ravines. And, like any desert hikers, they had to carry their water. What was their equipment like? “She wrote to her sister about her outfit,” says Brown. “She wore a deep olive green walking suit made out of broadcloth and corduroy, which had to be incredibly hot. And it was a short dress on top and then it had Turkish trousers on the bottom, and then she was wearing leather leggings, and hobnailed boots, and gloves, and a broad-brimmed hat." "And then they were also carrying plant presses. They had water. They had some kind of bran mush. They had little rubber cups because sometimes the water was scarce and they’d have to be able squish them into a crack in the rock to get some water.” Brown says botany wasn’t a very lucrative profession – at least not for the Lemmons. “They were constantly trying to find ways to make money,” says Brown. “They were collecting plants and then selling the seeds, selling specimens, shipping them all over the world and getting pennies per plant. They found about 300 new species in Arizona.” Sara Lemmon was “the frugal type,” according to biographer Wynne Brown, and to conserve paper she wrote on both sides of the page and then turned the page sideways and wrote across her own words. Brown has read transcribed, and logged 1,400 of these handwritten missives from Lemmon to her family on the East Coast. / Photo by Wynne Brown. Original at the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley. One of their finds was the mountain marigold -- “sometimes called Lemmon’s marigold,” says Brown, “named for him, not her. This was the first place where they found it. They apparently collected seeds from it. That plant from here is the stock that all the nursery plants we now get are from. And we have it in our yard. I planted it last year.” Not only was she a botanist, but Sara Lemmon was also an accomplished artist. Wynne Brown says Sara hiked with art supplies and she painted hundreds of detailed botanical illustrations, which she published in books that sold for twenty five cents a copy. Sara Lemmon painted this watercolor of Douglass Ragwort in June 1882, at Fort Huachuca / Photo by Wynne Brown. Original at the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley. “When John and Sara were up here, they were finding a lot of new species of plants,” says Brown, “and they referred to them as ‘new glories.’ And I keep finding these treasures about Sara and thinking of them, ‘Oooh! Another new glory!’ ” For example, Sara Lemmon studied physics and chemistry at Cooper Union in New York. She was the first woman to address the California Academy of Sciences and the second woman to be admitted as a member. “She also worked as a volunteer, nursing injured Civil War soldiers at Bellevue Hospital,” in New York, says Brown, “and that’s probably where she met Clara Barton” – the nurse who established the Red Cross. They became lifelong friends, according to Brown, and years later, Sara Lemmon helped establish Red Cross chapters in San Francisco and Oakland. “Sara also established Santa Barbara’s first library. She helped establish the first natural history association in Santa Barbara. A new glory that I just discovered is she founded the first training school for nurses on the West Coast. She once wrote that to her sister that, to her, ‘it’s like death to be idle.’ ” Brown says Sara Lemmon is a role model for her “because there are times when I might have wanted to quit on something and then I think, ‘I don’t have pneumonia and bronchitis, and I have all these tools, and I have the same curiosity and I try to be as resilient as she was.’ ” Sara and John Lemmon were both avid botanists and despite their fragile health they had many outdoor adventures in the Southwest and California. / Photo by Wynne Brown. Original at the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley. After weeks of trying, Sara and John Lemmon failed to reach the summit from the Tucson side. “They gave up,” says Brown. “They were out of supplies.” But actually, Sara didn’t give up. She and John heard that a rancher over in Oracle might know of a way up the north side. So they made the 40-mile journey to find Emerson Oliver Stratton, and he agreed to take them to the top. Sara Lemmon finally realized her dream of reaching the summit. Stratton was distantly related to Pima County Surveyor George Roskruge, and he convinced Roskruge to put Sara’s name on the map to honor her achievement of being the first white woman to make the climb. “What’s amazing is that Sara and John came back 25 years later to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary by doing this trip from Oracle,” says Brown (who notes that today is her one-year wedding anniversary. Her husband, Dave Peterson, is up ahead, taking pictures, and a friend has also come along on this adventure). When the Lemmons returned, they looked up Emerson Stratton, and the three of them – all in their seventies – once again hiked up to the summit. “And I hope I’m still doing that in my seventies,” says Brown. She also hopes that Sara Lemmon’s story of grit, perseverance, and living life as a trailblazer will inspire us all. - By Laura Markowitz, AZPM Contributing Producer MORE: Agriculture, Animals, Arizona, Arts and Life, Environment, History, People and Places, Tucson Dr. Mae C. Jemison: "Living Deeply and Looking Up" How Sisterhood Helped Make a Superstar in "Always... Patsy Cline" A century of family history helped create "The Journal of Sedona Schnebly"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line983
__label__wiki	0.502269	0.502269	Test Drive: The Mackie Micro Series 1202 12-Channel Mic/Line Mixer If you've ever shopped for a small mixer, whether it be for your home studio or for remote station broadcasts or even as a submixer for your present production console, you probably have a good idea of what these small mixers cost and what you get for your money. If the price tags and features you've seen have been less than attractive, you'll love what you see in Mackie's Micro Series 1202 12-channel Mic/Line Mixer. At a suggested list price of just $399, the 1202 blows the competition out of the water. Greg Mackie, the founder of Mackie Designs, Inc., may ring a bell to some of you veteran "musician types" as the founder of Tapco, a company whose mixers were quite popular back in the seventies. Mr. Mackie's extensive experience with mixers and an obvious understanding of the limited budgets of people in the music industry have come together in the 1202 to provide a mixer that both meets the needs of its user and comes at a price that makes it hard to resist. Mackie Designs, Inc. is only three years old, and from the looks of things, we will be hearing a lot more from them and seeing a lot more of their mixers as time goes on. The company does have larger consoles with more inputs and more features, and amazingly enough, the prices are still incredibly low. For example, their model 1604 16-channel mixer is priced at under $1,100! We thought about taking a look at this unit, but there's just something about a 12-channel mixer for $399 that made us choose the 1202 for this review. If you're looking at the photo and saying, "Twelve channels...I only see eight," that's because four of the "channels" are stereo. You get four mono inputs at channels 1 through 4. Channels 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 are the stereo pairs. The connectors and controls on the 1202 can be divided into three groups: the patchbay, the channel strips, and the output section. We'll begin with the patchbay. At the top left of the mixer are four XLR mike inputs. There's no need to have external mike preamps; the 1202 has four discrete, balanced preamps, and they're very quiet. "But," you say, "I have big, professional mikes that need phantom power." No problem. Each of the four XLR inputs provides phantom power controlled by the PHANTOM switch on the rear panel. You say you don't need that many mike inputs and you'd rather have more line inputs? Okay. Use the ¼-inch TRS line inputs on channels 1 through 4. These inputs accept balanced or unbalanced signals. Directly below these inputs are four trim pots for channels 1 through 4 which provide enough gain to handle virtually any input level you throw at them. The R.A.P. Cassette - September 1999 Promo demo from interview subject, Stephanie Snyder, Yahoo! Broadcast Services, Dallas, TX; plus more promos, imaging and commercials from UPS Recruitment, Pat White, WIL/WRTH, St. Louis, MO; Doug Ankerman, WHBC-AM/FM, Canton, OH; John Mangino, WFQX, Winchester, VA; Chris Nickles, WCFL-FM, Chicago, ...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line984
__label__cc	0.633424	0.366576	By: Jahnavi Patel April 25, 2019 April 25, 2019 ENTERTAINMENT, THE ARTSaditya roy kapur, alia bhatt, bollywood, India, kalank, kalank review, madhuri dixit, roop and zafar, sanjay dutt, satya and roop, sonakshi sinha, varun dhawan The Borders Between Roop and Satya: ‘Kalank’ Review “When someone else’s destruction seems like your victory, then there is no soul more broken than yours in this world.” –Kalank (2019) Kalank is a film that takes place in 1945 India during the pre-colonial era, and it is a film solely successful due to the web of words that the writers, Hussain Dalal and Abhishek Varman, have woven. Each dialogue is not simply something that is said, but the words chosen are so purposeful that it makes the viewer reflect on what message the characters are trying to convey. The grace and solace that was uniquely hidden within each syllable, each character, left me dumbfounded while watching the film. Unlike other Hindi films that utilize a modernized version of Hindi, Kalank utilized the original and pure form of Hindi and Urdu, the two languages that could only be found in the classic, black and white films made in the 1950s. The purity of the language and the brutality of the subject corresponded like raindrops on a rosebud. An example of a soulful line would be when the character of Dev, played by Aditya Roy Kapur, states that “certain relationships are like debts… we do not have to fulfill them, but we repay them.” The dialogue goes on to describe the value of a relationship within Indian culture, but also displays the burden that comes with it to the audience. In the film, the relationship between Dev and his wife, Roop, is not one of love but one of forcefulness and devastation; for both of them, this relationship is alive only due to familial pressures, not due to love. Therefore, the dialogue represents how each character feels in a clear and direct manner. Kalank is a film about six individuals that have been brought together due to one ill-fated decision. Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapur, Madhuri Dixit, and Sanjay Dutt are brought together in a tale that has destruction and pain marred throughout it. As the plot thickens, past connections between each individual begin to become more clear. The beauty hidden within Kalank are those hidden connections — the heart palpating relationships that became the scarlet thread of the film. A relationship that had me intrigued throughout the film was the relationship of Satya, played by Sonakshi Sinha, and Roop, who is played by Alia Bhatt. Roop is the second wife of Satya’s husband Dev, yet for some strange reason, there is a nameless bond between both women. One would assume that the bond that encases the two of them is one of sadness, maybe even regret for being responsible for the situation they’re in — but surprisingly, it is actually one of admiration. An uneducated woman suffering from cancer and a woman whose pride had lost against her sense of duty, both bound together due to unchangeable circumstances. Their unique relationship reminded me of the borders that exist between the women that live, breathe, and create in our society today. Whether it be an uneducated woman that works in the fields all day long in the gruesome heat collecting coffee beans, or whether it be a woman who works as a nurse all night and takes care of her three children during the day, or whether it be the old woman who has educated her children by taking up two jobs all her life. The borders exist. Borders can include education, wealth, propriety, and even caste and status, but these borders exist. The borders subsist between these women just as they did between Satya and Roop, but the admiration that we hold for each and every woman works as the fierce light that we utilize to break those borders down. Just as Satya felt a certain companionship with Roop, as women, there is something that binds us together. This bond helps us marvel at each other’s accomplishments, and brings us together to mourn and celebrate the failures and successes of our kind. Kalank is not a film solely about the power of women, but it also depends on how you watch the film. Kalank is about understanding the feelings that we take for granted every day, and how those same feelings can someday become our destruction. I will not speak on the cinematography or the camera angles, but I will advise individuals to watch this film with an open heart. Posted by:Jahnavi Patel Unlimited Identities A Travel Through Reality	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line992
__label__wiki	0.936287	0.936287	Movie Review: 'Battle of the Sexes' misses mark By: Register-Pajaronian Staff Report - Updated: 1 year ago Emma Stone is a terrific actress but there’s something off about her performance as Billie Jean King in “Battle of the Sexes.” Stone (“The Help,” “La La Land”) never blends into the role of the tennis superstar turned women’s rights activist. The look is off and, more importantly, the attitude never feels like classic King. I don’t think this is Stone’s fault — not completely — but because of this “Battle of the Sexes,” co-directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, ends up feeling like cosplay. “Battle of the Sexes” tells the true story of the famous 1973 tennis match between the world’s top female player, King, and Bobby Riggs, a former men’s tennis star and serial hustler who was hell-bent on making a joke of women’s sports. It was a great story then and is extremely pertinent today, too, which is why I’m disappointed with the finished product. Stone isn’t the only one in this movie that feels out of place. Everyone outside of the Riggs family seemed like a miscast. Steve Carell (“The Office,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”), however, was absolutely perfect as Bobby. There’s no doubt that he has the comedic chops but Carell is extremely underrated in dramatic roles. He has a knack of somehow blending into roles that at first don’t seem to fit him but later feel like he was born to play. All the wacky and chauvinistic acts that the real-life Bobby was pulling during the lead-up to the match was just a mask he used to hide the fact that he was a broken man, addicted to gambling and grasping for attention. Dayton and Faris did a commendable job in humanizing Bobby and his character always felt grounded. Every time he was off camera, I found my mind wandering away from the action on the screen and wondering what Bobby was doing. King is such a giant figure with a massive personality. Her role in women’s sports during that time period and today is tough to put into words. I would love to say that Stone, Dayton and Faris did King justice but they did not. Maybe my familiarity with the match ruined this for me. Either way, I left the theater wanting more. Much more. BOX OFFICE REVIEW 1. “Blade Runner 2049”: $32,753,122 (Week 1); Warner Bros. 2. “The Mountain Between Us”: $32,753,122 (Week 1); Fox. 3. “It”: $9,972,002 (Week 5); Warner Bros. Total gross: $305,250,480. 4. “My Little Pony: The Movie”: $8,885,899 (Week 1); Lionsgate Films. 5. “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”: $8,675,412 (Week 3); Fox. Total gross: $80,539,837. “Marshall” — About a young Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases. Director: Reginald Hudlin Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown “The Foreigner” — A humble businessman with a buried past seeks justice when his daughter is killed in an act of terrorism. A cat-and-mouse conflict ensues with a government official, whose past may hold clues to the killers' identities. Director: Martin Campbell Cast: Katie Leung, Jackie Chan, Rufus Jones, Mark Tandy “Happy Death Day” — A college student relives the day of her murder with both its unexceptional details and terrifying end until she discovers her killer's identity. Director: Christopher Landon Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” — The story of psychologist William Moulton Marston, the polyamorous relationship between his wife and his mistress, the creation of his beloved comic book character Wonder Woman, and the controversy the comic generated. Director: Angela Robinson Cast: Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, Connie Britton “Breathe” — The inspiring true love story of Robin and Diana Cavendish, an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease. Their heartwarming celebration of human possibility marks the directorial debut of Andy Serkis. Director: Andy Serkis Cast: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville, Diana Rigg On My Mind: On the hunt Protect Watsonville’s Police Activities League On My Mind: My days with Nancy Lockwood Mayor’s Update, April 2019	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line994
__label__wiki	0.805253	0.805253	UNFPA in Palestine Country Representative Population matters Home News Japan Grants $500,000 to Improve SRH and Breast Cancer Services to Vulnerable Communities in Palestine Japan Grants $500,000 to Improve SRH and Breast Cancer Services to Vulnerable Communities in Palestine 30 March, 2018 - Ramallah. The Government of Japan is contributing to women’s health in Palestine through a grant of $500,000 aimed to support implementation of the project Women’s health: addressing humanitarian needs for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and breast cancer services in vulnerable communities. The overall objective of the project is to support the provision of quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and breast cancer services to vulnerable communities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank affected by the current humanitarian crisis. Building on the achievements and lessons learned from the funds provided by the Japanese government during the last two years, the current project aims to scale-up interventions and ensure a sustainable impact of the previous projects. Specifically, this project seeks to improve the connectivity, continuation and quality of a sustained Ministry of Health-led breast cancer continuum of care by developing a model for early detection, treatment and post-treatment support in Palestine. “The Japanese Government and its people are pleased to continue its support to this important project that will lead to improving the quality of life of women affected by breast cancer; particularly improving their positive coping and self-esteem,” said H.E. Takeshi Okubo, Ambassador for Palestinian Affairs /Representative of Japan to Palestine. “Japan will provide a new package of assistance to the Palestinians in 2018 amounting to 40 million USD to support vital sectors and projects in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Jerusalem.” “UNFPA extends its thanks and appreciation to the People and the Government of Japan for their continuous commitment and support to Palestinian women. This contribution will allow us to further build a sustainable and straight forward pathway from screening to treatment of breast cancer and other women’s health challenges” said Mr. Anders Thomsen, UNFPA Representative. Anders Thomsen, UNFPA Representative, State of Palestine Tel: + 972 54 9201341 thomsen@unfpa.org Asma Ibrahim, Representative Office of Japan to Palestine Tel: + 972-2-2413120 asam@rm.mofa.go.jp Japan grants USD 446,428 to Reproductive Health Services in the Gaza Strip and Vulnerable Communities in the West Bank #AWomanEvenHere: Sahar’s story from Gaza My Rights, Our Power: Unfinished Business: the pursuit of rights and choices for all This year’s State of the World Population (SWOP) report comes at the 50th anniversary... Reproductive rights and demographic transition The global transition from high to low fertility Not so... UNFPA Global Site Report wrongdoing الإبلاغ عن مخالفات	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1001
__label__wiki	0.830812	0.830812	Born in Palermo, Italy, composer and conductor Salvatore Di Vittorio is heir to the Italian neo-classical orchestral tradition, “following in the footsteps of Ottorino Respighi” – Luigi Verdi, Philharmonic Academy of Bologna. He gained considerable attention with his completion of the first Violin Concerto (in A) and other works by invitation of Respighi’s great nieces Elsa and Gloria Pizzoli and archive curator Potito Pedarra. Di Vittorio is founding Music Director of Chamber Orchestra of New York, which debuted in 2007 at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. His Naxos recordings with the orchestra continue to air worldwide, receiving much critical praise. He has worked with numerous orchestras, including San Diego Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, and Teatro Massimo Opera Palermo. Di Vittorio is fascinated with the world of storytelling and best known for his lyrical symphonic poems, including program symphonies, which are often inspired by classical antiquity and show connections to the Italian Renaissance and Baroque. Under his baton, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia world premiered his Ode Corelliana in 2017, after the successful premiere of Venus and Adonis in 2016. “Di Vittorio’s Venus was an orchestral song, and often a beautiful one.” – Philadelphia Inquirer. “Venus…recalls Respighi, and is infused with Di Vittorio’s original imagination and ability to build musical architecture that ultimately fades, like Venus’s own loveliness. There is an appealing heft to this work, [influenced by] Bach and Ravel.” – Broad Street Review. In 2015, San Diego Symphony world premiered his orchestral Fanfara del Mare “Su un Tema di Monteverdi”, commissioned for the centennial of Balboa Park at Copley Symphony Hall. In 2012, Di Vittorio made his conducting debut with Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana at Teatro Politeama Garibaldi. Giornale di Sicilia praised the evening “From Pines of Rome to the Temples of Sicily”, depicting Di Vittorio’s third symphony as “a commemorative memorial with a dimension of insularity, which during great peaks reveals suggestions of an international musical palette.” La Repubblica acknowledged Di Vittorio’s neo-classical works and in particular his third symphony, as “his first composition to capture Respighi’s impressionism, together with [influences of] Berlioz and Richard Strauss.” Mayor Leoluca Orlando awarded Di Vittorio the Medal of Palermo, recognizing “the great importance of Di Vittorio’s work as a promoter of Palermo around the world” – Il Moderatore. Di Vittorio began his musical studies at an early age with his father Giuseppe, who introduced the operas of Verdi and Puccini. He studied composition with Giampaolo Bracali (later, conducting) and Ludmila Ulehla at Manhattan School of Music, and philosophy at Columbia University. He is a protégé of such esteemed conductors as Piero Bellugi (of Florence). His compositions are published by Panastudio/Casa Ricordi (Universal Music), recorded on Naxos Records, and listed in David Daniels’ Orchestral Music. With La Villa d’Este a Tivoli in 2016, Di Vittorio reached a significant milestone when he became the first composer to dedicate a work to The Morgan Library & Museum, and the first Italian composer during his lifetime to be invited to donate an autograph manuscript to the museum’s world-renowned music archive.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1007
__label__wiki	0.605058	0.605058	Paul Sanderson (Director) Paul has been working with computers and full time in a Computer Forensics/Data Recovery capacity since early 1993. The first six years were with Vogon International (formerly AuthenTec/Dr. Solomons) a large multinational Forensic Computing and Data Recovery company where he was responsible for the development of the Computer Forensic software suite, this was used by the majority of the UK police forces and investigating authorities. His time there culminated as the General Manager of Vogons Munich office where he was responsible for developing both the Computer Forensic and Data Recovery business in Western Europe. On leaving he worked for a year with Network Forensics, part of Network International/Control Risks, a major corporate investigations company based in London. Paul set up Sanderson Forensics in April 2000 to provide Computer Forensic consulting services to the prosecution and defence in both criminal and civil cases. He has advised, amongst others, a number of UK and Northern Ireland Police Forces, HM Revenue and Customs, the Serious Fraud Office and a number of large UK commercial organisations. He writes his own Computer Forensic software and sells to a number of organisations including the Serious Fraud Office, various UK police forces, the FBI and the IRS. During his forensic computing career he has worked on many different case types including Fraud, Murder, Arson, Terrorism, IP Theft and Child Pornography. Due to his data recovery background he is particularly interested in cases where the evidence is complex and hidden deep within undocumented system structures, often writing bespoke software in order to recover and present his evidence. Paul has an MSc in Forensic Computing and Cyber Crime Investigations from Dublin University and a degree from the Open University majoring in computer science.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1008
__label__cc	0.661535	0.338465	Responding to Kebettigollawa The Kebettigollawa attack defies comprehension. Our hearts go out to those who lost everything in a single moment – those dead perhaps more fortunate than ones left behind to deal with a loss too great to bear. The denials of the LTTE regarding the atrocity are very hard to believe, since the organization never seems to move from denials to the active support of an investigation into the incident. A brief look at the nature of terrorism may be helpful to help understand these acts that seemingly defy logic. The LTTE and by extension, terrorists, operate within what can be termed the paradox of comprehension – the need for the LTTE to help the world understand its struggle for Eelam that is in opposition to the active resistance to efforts made to understand the inner logic of the organisation. On the one hand, the LTTE requires legitimacy for its avowed struggle for Tamil rights and a homeland in the North and the East of Sri Lanka. This legitimacy is required in particular from the international community, especially in a world that after the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on 11th September 2003 has little patience with terrorism. It also requires the legitimacy of the diaspora community, who support willingly or by coercion, its military and administrative machinery. The random killing of innocents is not collateral damage – that can be countenanced to an extent in conditions of open (and urban) warfare. It is sadistic and unpardonable – unlikely to win the hearts and minds of those who support Eelam even from afar. Finally, it requires the legitimacy for its struggle by those living in the North and the East and by its representatives in parliament, the TNA – a task made very difficult by the active targeting of civilians. On the other hand, to be understood is to be defeated – to understand how and why the LTTE operates is to possess the capacity to think ahead and mitigate its ability to launch attacks and use strategies that hold the State hostage to its demands. So while the LTTE requires the world to acknowledge and understand its core struggle for Eelam, it will, as any terrorist organization, resist efforts to explain it away by the logic of conflict resolution theories which lay claim to clarify the inner logic of the organization – what makes it tick. This is an important distinction to make since it informs our appreciation of the nature of the beast we are dealing with. Terrorism and the LTTE are both essentially inexplicable – that is their power. We do not and cannot know what really drives them. We may guess as to what gave rise to the LTTE through an examination of Sri Lankan history, but the best explanations still cannot explain the essential mentality of the man who really defines what the LTTE is – Mr. Prabhakaran. The central disconnect between conflict resolution theorists and the essential nature of terrorism lies here – we do not really know the logic that drives terrorism, a logic so alien to us that we cannot even imagine it. It is a logic that driven by a rationale and psychological imperatives that may make little sense to us – the capture of the Jaffna peninsula, in this light, can be considered as a very real objective of the LTTE despite the myriad of arguments that can be made against such a course action by those outside of the organization. The LTTE in this light needs to be seen as an organization that cannot only be engaged by speaking with those who staff its Peace Secretariat, or the constellation of experts that guide its constitutional and political dialogues. For sure, the strategic use of such dialogues may in the long term be the creation of channels of communication that form the bedrock of a political settlement. This is not going to happen in the short term. Until we have acknowledged the failure of efforts within the ceasefire process to transform the LTTE into a organization that eschews terrorism and engages in democratic dialogues, we cannot begin to think of strategies that lock them in to what we desire as a peace process. This failure is two-fold. One, the erroneous assumption of those of us in the conflict resolution field that engagements with the LTTE on matters of governance and democracy would prise open their heart-strings for a negotiated settlement to the conflict. As noted above, it is clear that the transformative results of such engagements were extremely limited with outcomes that didn’t permeate to the higher leadership of the LTTE, which we must now believe is as committed to terrorism today as it was before the CFA. On the other hand, the political parties in the South need to recognize their pathological failure to establish a cohesive and inclusive national consensus to draw up political options in response to the LTTE’s ISGA proposals. We must not forget that to date, there hasn’t been an official response to the ISGA from the State, an exploration of how the ISGA can be a basis for negotiations on a political settlement, alternatives to aspects of the ISGA untenable for the State to countenance or the promotion of multi-party dialogues to promote the need for a political settlement amongst the core constituencies of each of the three largest political parties – the UNP, SLFP and JVP. It is inevitable that Sri Lanka’s tryst with peace will result in many move lives lost. A peace process that takes more lives is difficult to digest, but necessary to strategically plan for. And it is in strategy that the incumbent Government is the weakest. Bereft of those who can envision a process that locks-in the recalcitrant LTTE and opens channels for dialogue at various levels, the Government is bedeviled by the paucity of advice that strengthens the existing peace process and a glut of advice from advisors keen to promote a military effort. This needs to change urgently. Many claim the Kebettigollawa incident to be the last straw in the peace process. In this light, those in support of peace need to now consider the limited uses of violence to secure that which we hold most dear to our hearts – an end to conflict. However, the violence contemplated here isn’t necessarily in the nature of military offensives. It is the violence of the anger and despair in voices of the people – the millions of whom across Sri Lanka are as disgusted with the LTTE’s continued use of terrorism as they are with the State unable and unwilling to bring about the necessary foundations to strengthen a peace process. It is this voice that needs to be strengthened, amplified and overwhelm, by sheer numbers, those who seek to pursue terrorism. It is the animation of a civil society larger, middle class and business community to actively get on the streets, get on the phones and organize civil campaigns that bring together people to literally shout their approbation of continued killings. Well organized, strategically envisioned, carefully managed and sustained over the medium to long term even in the face of spikes in violence, we know that as with the most recent case of people power in Nepal, there is the possibility of progressive change. Even with a need as never before, this will possibly not occur – Sri Lanka’s socio-political make-up isn’t one that supports long term social movements in support of peace especially if the trigger events of terrorism that galvanise the voices of peace to action follow an unpredictable pattern and are spaced out. We are, after all, known for our art of forgetting. Which brings us to the elites in society who need to champion peace in a manner that policy makers cannot ignore. A resounding clarity of purpose towards the pursuance of dialogues with the LTTE based on clear political proposals from the South, a concerted effort that bombards the LTTE with creative constitutional options backed by the full force of a national consensus, is in reality a progressive policy that costs far less than pyrrhic military offensives. The resources for such a process are in abundance – in the knowledge capital within the elites, experts in substantive constitutional theory and process design within Sri Lanka and elsewhere and most importantly, in the aspirations of people tired of violence but articulate in their designs for a just and lasting peace. Surely, to talk about the end of the peace process is premature when in reality we have not even begun it? Related posts on the web I found interesting to read: WAS IT THE BUTLER? – Reflections on some recent slaughters in Sri Lanka Technorati Tags: Conflict and Peace, Human Rights, Peacebuilding, Sri Lanka The end of the process? (I)NGO accountability One thought on “Responding to Kebettigollawa” Pingback: Understanding terrorism better through technology? « ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) Lovely piece by Ramla. I commented to colleagues that it's so sad Sri Lanka today has lost so much - across communi… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 38 minutes ago	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1009
__label__wiki	0.865284	0.865284	The Detroit Tigers could be headed to old, (un)familiar territory Written by : Alex Jag Published on : November 11, 2016 2003 was a long time ago. George W. Bush was in his first term as President. Facebook wasn’t even a thing yet. The iPhone hadn’t even been thought of. And the Detroit Tigers were awful. Among the most awful baseball teams in the modern history of the game to be more specific. Their 119 losses in that year was 1 loss short of the 1962 Mets record for losses in a season. When the Tigers won that last game to avoid tying that record you would have thought that they had won a World Series. Players and fans rejoiced that they weren’t the worst. But they were damn close. Three years after that historically disastrous season, the Detroit Tigers had won the American League Pennant, after making the playoffs as the Wild Card team, and went on the the World Series. It was an amazingly quick turnaround that marked the beginning of a new golden era in Detroit baseball. The organization led by Dave Dombrowski, for most of the period since 2003, would go on to appear in another World Series in 2012, and win the AL Central four times. Under Dombrowski (now with with Boston Red Sox) and long-time manager Jim Leyland (retired), the Tigers and the city of Detroit enjoyed a decade of relatively good, competitive baseball. They got to see triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera destroy the baseball and Cy Young contenders such as Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and David Price destroy opposing batters. Acquiring and retaining such marquee talent isn’t easy though, and because of it the organization consistently found itself with one of the larger payrolls in the MLB, and a depleted farm system. And that leaves the Detroit Tigers and their fans here, on the edge of some potentially dark days. Shortly after the end of the 2016 MLB season, Tigers president, Al Avila, made it clear that the team would be retaining manager Brad Ausmus and cutting payroll in a big way. Neither of these things should sound like good news to Tigers’ fans. Brad Ausmus hasn’t necessarily been terrible as the manager in Detroit but he has failed to win a playoff game despite having a considerable amount of talent on the roster. The team isn’t doomed with him at the helm, but he probably isn’t the person to take them to the next level either. More of the same. What should really make fans shudder, is that this team seems determined to slash payroll. The most likely victims of the cost cutting mandate in the front office will be Justin Verlander, JD Martinez and Miguel Cabrera. Years of squeezing their farm system to acquire big name players and breaking the bank to keep those players left the Tigers with a payroll of $199 million last season. That was behind only the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox. All teams that made the playoffs. When you don’t make the playoffs two years running and you are spending that kind of money, it’s easy to see why ownership would want to re-examine their methods. That could mean saying goodbye to the players who have defined baseball in Detroit for years. The team says they are listening to offers for any and all players. If that’s really the case then there’s a good chance that Verlander is leaving soon. He is 34 and coming off of his best season since 2012. His value is high and he could net a good return in an offseason with a poor market for starting pitching. Trading him will help the team shed $28 million in salary this coming year. With a big enough return, I’m sure the fan reaction to the trade could be mostly positive. I’m not sure the same goes for a trade involving Miggy. His contract runs through 2023 and he is owed no less than $28 million in any of those coming seasons. For an aging slugger, that’s a lot for a potential trade partner to deal with. The team would probably be lucky to unload him at this point, but he is such a fan favorite that I don’t know that they could get enough in return to fill the void left in the hearts of fans. Will the fans really be able to withstand a prolonged playoff drought plus watching their favorite players leave town? That could be hard to stomach in Detroit and could leave Comerica Park looking a lot more empty than it has been for a long time. It’s hard to be too optimistic about the Detroit Tigers in the near future. Rebuilding is never an easy thing. Fans who have joined the team in only the recent good years, might have to suffer through a bit of losing. Something that isn’t the norm. For those that have been in with the team for decades, we might be returning to the dark ages of the 90’s. Nobody wants that but sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better. Al Avila, AL Central, Baseball, Brad Ausmus, Dave Dombrowski, David Price, Detroit Tigers, JD Martinez, Jim Leyland, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Miggy, Miguel Cabrera, MLB, Tigers	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1017
__label__wiki	0.714118	0.714118	Location: Finding Aid Database H. A. Betaque Papers H. A. Betaque Papers, 1918-1922 \| Special Collections & University Archives Title: H. A. Betaque Papers, 1918-1922 Harry Andrew Betaque worked as an inspector and later as a resident representative for the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation from 1918 to 1921. The US Shipping Board sought to expand the United States' merchant marines during and after the First World War. Because of steel and lumber shortages during the First World War, the government turned to concrete as an affordable alternative. Thus, the Emergency Fleet Corporation created its Concrete Ship Section and began building concrete ships. The Faith, built in 1917, was the first concrete ship built in the US. Having worked as a civil engineer in Washington State, and as the Head of Hull Construction, Betaque appears to have begun work with the Emergency Fleet Corporation in 1918 when he was appointed the resident inspector for the construction of the Atlantus, a concrete ship built by the Liberty Shipbuilding Company in Brunswick, GA. After the completion of the Atlantus, the Emergency Fleet Corporation transferred Betaque to San Diego as the Resident Representative to oversee the Pacific Marine Construction Company's construction of two sister ships, the SS San Pasqual and the SS Cuyamaca. Although the San Diego Yard had been commissioned to build a total of eight concrete ships, the US Shipping Board ceased concrete construction in 1921 because of a surplus of steel ships freed for use at the conclusion of World War I. The San Pasqual and Cuyamaca were the only two concrete ships built in San Diego. That same year, the US Shipping Board transferred the ship yard to the Navy, creating today's Naval Yard. Betaque left San Diego and pursued oil interests in Louisiana. Betaque had a wife, Cora, and two sons, Harry and Norman. Author: Amanda Lanthorne Betaque, H. A. I. Personal Papers II. Photographs Subjects (links to similar collections) Concrete ships--United States Merchant ships--United States Shipbuilding--California--San Diego United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation Acquired: 02/04/2011. Restrictions: This collections is open for research. Rights: The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Acquisition Note: Purchased. San Diego Chamber of Commerce Records Records of San Diegans, Inc. Preferred Citation: Identification of item, folder title, box number, H.A. Betaque Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Library and Information Access, San Diego State University. The H.A. Betaque Papers document Betaque's career as a resident representative for the United State Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation between 1918 and 1922, with particular emphasis the construction of the SS San Pasqual and the SS Cuyamaca in San Diego, California. Highlights include panoramic photographs of the San Diego Harbor and ship yard, as well as construction photographs of the SS San Pasqual and the SS Cuyamaca. The collection includes correspondence, reports, costs analyses, engineering formulas, Emergency Fleet directives, photographs and photograph albums. The collection is divided into two series: Personal Papers (1918-1921) and Photographs (1918-1920). The Personal Papers (1918-1922) document Betaque's professional activities with the Emergency Fleet Corporation in Brunswick, GA and San Diego, as well as his personal financial interests, including stocks and oil interests between 1918 and 1921. The series includes correspondence, directives, memorandums, cost analyses, reports, formulas, news clippings, and blueprints. The reports, formulas, blue prints and cost analyses primarily document Betaque's work on the Atlantus, the SS San Pasqual and the SS Cuyamaca. Reports on the Faith and the Palo Alto are also included. Of particular interest are letters from both Betaque and his colleagues referencing a depressed economy, lack of work, and a growing interest in oil. This series is filed alphabetically and primarily dates from 1918 to 1920. The Photographs (1918-1920) mostly provide visual documentation for the construction and launching of the SS San Pasqual and the SS Cuyamaca, although there are a few photographs of the Palo Alto and the Atlantus. The majority of photographs date from 1919 to 1920. Filed alphabetically by folder title, this series includes two photograph albums and many loose photographs, which appear to have been disassembled from albums. Most of the San Pasqual and Cuyamaca photographs have a number and a brief description on the lower right corner of the image. It is unclear what individual or corporation created these numbers. The photographs are arranged numerically within folders. Highlights include the two photograph albums, which include images of construction workers, panoramic shots of the San Diego Yard, and the launching ceremonies of the SS San Pasqual and the SS Cuyamaca in San Diego. Series 1: Personal Papers, 1918-1921 Page Generated in: 0.07 seconds (using 144 queries).	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1018
__label__cc	0.72353	0.27647	Upright Citizens Brigade: ASSSSCAT SF Sketchfest is proud to host this performance of one of the comedy world's most influential and iconic live shows: Upright Citizens Brigade’s A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T. This popular weekly long-form improv show will feature UCB founding members Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh and guest improvisers Mary Holland, Lauren Lapkus, Jessica McKenna, Zach Reino and special guest monologist Bobcat Goldthwait. $45/$35, All Ages Over the past several months, Bobcat has been on the creative fast track. As one of the most recognizable comedians in show business, Goldthwait unleashed his one of a kind brand of comedy in his new Showtime one hour special entitled “You Don’t Look the Same Either.” The new... Read More → Ian Roberts is a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. Along with the other members of the UCB, he owns and operates the Upright Citizens Brigade’s theaters and training centers in New York and LA. As an actor, Ian has starred in Comedy Central’s "Upright Citizens Brigade... Read More → Jessica McKenna Jessica is a Southern California native, born in Yorba Linda in Orange County. Not the Orange County as seen on TV. More like the Nixon and horse trail Orange County. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Theatre from Northwestern University. Since moving to L.A., Jessica has studied... Read More → Lauren Lapkus Lauren Lapkus is an actress and improviser best known for her role as Susan Fischer on Netflix's "Orange is the New Black," which won her a SAG award in 2014. Most recently, you can see her in "Jurassic World" as Vivian, a character that provides brilliant comic relief in the film... Read More → Mary Holland Mary Holland performs regularly at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in LA. Television credits include "The Mindy Project," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Comedy Bang Bang!," "Silicon Valley," and "Blunt Talk" on Starz. Film credits include "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates... Read More → Matt Besser Raised a proud Razorback in Little Rock, Arkansas, Matt Besser attended Amherst College where he learned how to collect CDs. After graduating, Matt toured the Midwest doing stand-up, while taking improvisation direction from Del Close at Chicago’s Improv Olympic Theater. In Chicago... Read More → Matt Walsh is a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade where he continues to perform and teach today. Credits for Walsh include starring in Comedy Central’s critically acclaimed "Dog Bites Man," acting as a correspondent for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" from 2001-2002... Read More → Zach Reino Zach is a performer/writer/composer from Santa Barbara California, which is like Los Angeles but prettier and with better weather. You’ve heard of it because Oprah lives there. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in theater from UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts, and is a house... Read More → The Sydney Goldstein Theater (formerly The Nourse Theater) 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Attendees (316)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1023
__label__cc	0.593565	0.406435	Shawn for i-D by Emily • 0 Comments/ Interview Photos Photoshoots Photoshoots & Portraits > 2017 > Session 002 i-D – Next month will be Canadian Vine star-turned-seriously massive pop heartthrob Shawn Mendes’ 19th birthday. The big day (make a note, 8 August) might be bang in the middle of his American tour, but he’s booked four days off work to move into the condo he just bought in Toronto. Hopefully his neighbours are braced for the inevitable double house-warming and birthday party situation that any right-minded 19-year-old would throw. If you’re reading this, it’s pretty possible that you’re one of the 28 million people who have watched the video for his most recent single There’s Nothin’ Holding Me Back. Or maybe you’re one of his 23 million Instagram followers. Given all this, we thought we’d invite Shawn round for a chat, and he turned up with the biggest entourage we’ve had at i-D HQ since Japanese pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu popped by three years ago. Thankfully, he ditched them for some one-on-one with us — the label reps, security and management team loitering in reception whilst we sat with the (still fairly, all things considered) down to earth popstar. So let’s get stuck in. Shawn, what do you do if you’re feeling a bit down, to help you get back to that place where there’s (sorry) nothin’ holding you back? When I’m home sick or tired because I’ve been on the road for a long time — which is where I am now — I remember how much I believe that people were meant to do certain things. So sometimes, when I feel like I can’t do something, I end up having my best day and making my best work. I’m like, “Come on Shawn, this is what you are meant to do!” Other than that, perspective is the best thing in the world. I’ve just begun telling myself, live day-by-day, and when things get really hard, live hour-by-hour. It completely calms me down. So mindful. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be an actor, like, so so bad. I took acting classes, I auditioned for Disney, and then I realised how nervous I got with remembering lines. Then music kind of fell upon me when I was around 13. I started watching YouTube videos and singing and it became something that I was obsessed with. Next thing I know, I was fully in it. What would you most like to change about the world? I think what I’d like to most change about the world is both a good and bad thing. I wish people would care less, but also care more. Do you know what I mean? People care too much about the wrong things. If people were a little more light-hearted and cared about the right things, then it would all be a bit nicer. Righty-ho. And what would you change about yourself? Same thing again. I think the thing I’d like to change the most about me is maybe the best thing about me. And that’s my ability to overthink everything and see everyone’s perspective. I can’t walk into the room and only be me, I have to think as though I’m everyone in the room. I’ve tried a lot, but I’m very logical so I think that having someone break things down and talk me through steps, really lay things out on the table for me, that calms me down. But meditating and leaving it all behind is very hard for me. That makes sense. What do you think you would look like if you were an alien? I think I would be massively tall. Like, so tall. With really long arms and a long neck. Maybe I’d be one of the tallest aliens. Like a slithery alien. What do you talk about when you get your hair cut? The person that’s cutting my hair. I always ask questions about them and their family. I usually get it cut every three weeks, and this is the longest that it’s been in like years. I’m debating on whether I want to cut it or not. It’s nice. You should grow it out. I don’t know, I’m gonna get judged for that. It’d look good! What do you think happens when you die? I don’t know, nor do I care. I like that life is a lot more important than the afterlife… whatever happens, we’re gonna be fine. What if you got reincarnated? I would love to be reincarnated as a bird, so I could fly. What kind of bird? A real good bird, like a hawk or something. It would suck to come back as a seagull. If you could do anything without repercussion, what would you do? I would just swear all the time. I would swear on stage a lot, because sometimes I want to so badly, but I can’t. Yeah that must be hard. Do you ever forget? That I can’t? Not on stage, ’cause there’s lots of kids in the crowd. But sometimes you just have to use a swear word to describe how amazing something is, and you can’t get it across if you don’t. What’s your go-to swear word?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1024
__label__wiki	0.965838	0.965838	WATCH ALEXIS FFRENCH PERFORMANCE OF BLUEBIRD FROM THIS YEAR’S CLASSIC BRIT AWARDS UK contemporary pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench has released his exceptional new single ‘Reborn’, taken from his brand new studio album Evolution – out in August 31,2018. Preorder here. This time around, Alexis has teamed up with renowned harpist Lavinia Meijer who guest performs on ‘Reborn’ – another wondrous example of Ffrench’s exceptional songwriting and ear for constructing punchy, digestible classical compositions for a modern audience. The new single arrives off the back of his electrifying performance at this year’s Classic BRIT Awards, where Alexis performed his track ‘Bluebird’. Ffrench was joined on the iconic Royal Albert Hall stage by opera singer Pretty Yende, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and provided a platform for young ballet dancers including his talented daughter Savannah, who performed a beautifully choreographed routine. Their performance received a standing ovation and, on seeing a teary-eyed and proud Savannah, Ffrench recalls “Suddenly I saw the enormity of the occasion and what it meant to her,”with a smile. That night has marked the start of a truly special journey for Alexis Ffrench. A stunning new album that sees Ffrench propel himself to yet further heights, Evolution features a host of guests, from Boston-based electro folk duo Tall Heights; to The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Adam Klemans and international classical harpist Lavinia Meijer. The album has already spawned a success in previous single ‘Moments’, seeing it feature on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist, a huge moment for a solo piano track. Earlier this year he signed with Modest! Management, home to a brace of all-conquering pop acts, including Little Mix, Olly Murs and Niall Horan. With over 75 million streams to date and now over a million active Spotify listeners a month, Alexis Ffrench is already an established star in the streaming world, leading the way for the new generation of classical artists, with his music speaking to a very wide and diverse audience and transcending all boundaries and genres. Ffrench said “I would love to look out at Last Night of the Proms and see a welcome mixture of white, brown and black faces, with people of all backgrounds. That would prove to me that classical music is alive and adaptable and I see myself as an artist who can help to lead the change.” As likely to be found listening to Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper as Bach and Beethoven, Alexis Ffrench’s combination of classical training and love for R&B and roots music has helped define his unique sound, noting “I listen to a lot of R&B and hip hop, and study the music videos. I see innovation and people pushing the envelope and doing daring things in the name of art, in a way that provokes thought. I wonder whether as classical musicians if we can do more on that front.” Trying to break the rigorous and academic preconceptions of classical music, Alexis Ffrench now finds himself as one of the leading voices of a new wave of composers, redefining a genre made accessible by artists of the stature of Ludovico Einaudi and Michael Nyman. Live, this month takes Alexis to Latitude Festival where he will perform alongside artists including, Solange, alt-J, Wolf Alice, The Vaccines and many more. A poignant statement of intent for a classical artist.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1034
__label__wiki	0.924742	0.924742	Bahrain is an island country in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia with a population of 753,000 and capital city of Manama. Headed by the al-Khalifah family since 1783, the country was a British protectorate between 1861 and 1971. The king is the supreme authority. [1] The country is a constitutional monarchy since the 2002 election of a 40-member parliament. "The country has enjoyed increasing freedom of expression, and monitors say the human rights situation has improved. However, opposition groups and campaigners continue to press for political reforms, including greater powers for the elected assembly", reports the BBC.[1] 3 U.S. military bases in Bahrain 4 Leaders 5.1 Related SourceWatch articles 5.3 External articles 5.4 External resources The BBC says of the country's media: Bahrain is keen to promote itself as a regional media hub; the London-based pan-Arab satellite broadcaster MBC chose it as the base for its MBC-2 channel. Most radio and TV stations are state-run. The country's first private radio station - Sawt al-Ghad - launched in 2005, but the authorities shut it down in 2006, alleging irregularities.[1] Weber Shandwick, the world's largest public relations company, has operations in Bahrain. Its website states, "Weber Shandwick Public Relations delivers reputation management and communications strategies for a host of clients – both local and international. In addition to medial relations, the company provides support in corporate communications, crisis management, public affairs, consumer public relations, investor relations, and community relations." [2] U.S. military bases in Bahrain The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet has its headquarters in the port of Manama, Bahrain, the headquarters of CENTCOM's navy and marine corps leaders. The downtown area of Manama, the capital city, devotes 79 acres of land to the U.S. Naval Support Activity. Elsewhere in Bahrain is the Sheik Isa Air Base. [3] The U.S. began its military relationship with the country in 1949 when it stationed three naval warships there. The Federation of American Scientists writes, "Since then, Bahrain has allowed an increased U.S. military presence and facilitated U.S. access to the Middle East in times of crisis, such as the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and Operation Desert Storm. In 1995, Bahrain became the headquarters for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. "The U.S. is the dominant arms supplier to Bahrain; according to the U.S. State Department, over 95% of Bahrain's arms imports from 1995-97 came from the United States. "The 2000 State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices describes Bahrain as a "hereditary emirate with few democratic institutions and no political parties," and warns that Bahraini "security forces committed serious human rights abuses." Although national law prohibits torture, the U.S. State Department stated there are "credible reports" that incarcerated prisoners have been "beaten, both on the soles of their feet and about the face and head, burned with cigarettes, deprived of sleep for long periods of time, and in some cases subjected to electrical shocks." Public demonstrations are rarely permitted, and individuals suspected of opposing the government have been detained for long periods without a trial. "Yet the United States has apparently not used its influence emphatically to advocate reform in Bahrain, undermining the efforts of allies that have pressed for changes. According to HRW's [Human Rights Watch] 2000 report, the U.S. government, “by failing to raise specific abuses with the government, undermined the demarches the British government made about those cases in 1998.” The United States has also delivered or authorized delivery during FY1996-99 of $693,000 worth of small arms, weapons which could easily have found their way into the hands of abusive security forces. Transfers to Bahrain include cartridges, ammunition raw materials and manufacturing equipment, pistols and revolvers, subcaliber weapons, non-military rifles, and shotguns." [4] In January 2008, George W. Bush visited Bahrain and the 5th Fleet. The press report from the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command read, "President Bush was greeted by applauding Sailors at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, home of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT)/5th Fleet headquarters Jan. 13, marking the first visit to the island by a U.S. president. Bush enjoyed breakfast with a representative group of the 25,000 Sailors serving in Bahrain and the 5th Fleet area of operations (AOO). Afterward, he spoke to the troops and took time to greet each individual. "NAVCENT/5th Fleet's AOO [Area Of Operations] encompasses about 7.5 million square miles and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. This expanse, comprised of 27 countries, includes three critical chokepoints at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen." [5] Joseph Gerson, the Director of Programs for the American Friends Service Committee, writes, "U.S. bases serve interventionist aircraft carriers, destroyers, nuclear armed submarines and other U.S. warships. This includes bases in Spain, Italy, Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, Japan, and "access" agreements in Israel, the Philippines, Singapore, and other countries. "Bases can function as jumping off points for U.S. foreign military interventions. With NATO's new "out of area operations" doctrine, the U.S. has reinforced its ability to use bases across Europe for launching attacks and wars against North African, Middle East and Central Asian nations. Bases in Okinawa, elsewhere in Japan were essential to the U.S. wars in Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf. This is also a function of the U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Ecuador, and Honduras. "Building on both the inherited infrastructure and new bases and installations, U.S. forward deployed forces are to be organized along a three-tiered integrated structure: 1) major hub bases like those in Britain, Italy, Japan, Okinawa, Guam; Qatar and Bahrain 2) smaller centers or "Forward Operating bases" like those in Spain, South Korea, Diego Garcia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Australia; and 3) "Lily pads", heavily stocked with pre-positioned weapons and munitions, will serve as jumping off points in countries ranging from Lithuania to Tajikistan, and Djibouti to the Andean nations in South America. And, to increase flexibility and augment its bare bones "lily pads," the Navy is exploring the development of essentially unmanned and strategically located floating platforms where munitions can be pre-positioned, and "sea basing" creating "a fleet of large maritime ships capable of launching and sustaining a combat force - either Army or Marine - thousands of miles from shore." [6] Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah, King Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifah, Crown prince, commander-in-chief of Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Related SourceWatch articles Bahrain Centre for Human Rights U.S. military bases overseas Ronald E. Neumann - former US Ambassador ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Country profile: Bahrain, BBC, accessed March 2008. ↑ Bahrain, Weber Shandwick, accessed March 2008. ↑ David Isenberg, "The ever-growing US military footprint", Asia Times, June 10, 2003. ↑ Bahrain, Federation of American Scientists, March 2002. ↑ "President Bush Visits Sailors in Bahrain", Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, January 13, 2008. ↑ Joseph Gerson, "U.S. Foreign Military Bases & Military Colonialism", American Friends Service Committee, accessed March 2008. Robin Lustig, "Bahrain offers dram of democracy", BBC, September 21, 2005. Bahrain, National Geographic, accessed March 2008. Timeline: Bahrain, BBC, accessed March 2008. Retrieved from "https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bahrain&oldid=470153"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1035
__label__wiki	0.738526	0.738526	Growing stronger by the day Originally published by UK Liberal Democrats "A consistent, positive party" Siobhan Benita, independent candidate in the 2012 mayoral election I'd always felt an affinity with the Liberal Democrats, and when I ran for mayor in 2012, I suggested to Brian Paddick that we join forces, as our manifestos were so similar. Having worked in the civil service for so long, I had become slightly cynical about political parties, and therefore nervous about joining one, but Brexit was the final 'stop thinking and actually do it' moment. I joined the Lib Dems on the day the result was announced. I had become slightly cynical about political parties, and therefore nervous about joining one, but Brexit was the final 'stop thinking and actually do it' moment. From a party point of view, the Lib Dems were the only ones with a consistent and positive message about EU membership. And the party's line now - that we will fight to stay in the EU, or re-enter - is a really important one that no one else is saying. There were big issues that were underplayed in the run-up to the referendum, such as the fact that the EU had been such a positive force for peace in Europe. I think it was only Tim Farron and Nick Clegg who were trying to say those things, and maybe it wasn't heard through the awful noise that was the campaign. The Lib Dems have a fight on their hands but they have won some council seats lately, and - depending on the Labour leadership result - I think there are going to be a lot of centre/centre-left people looking for a longer-term sustainable party. People are also beginning to realise you need a consistent, robust opposition - a party that is challenging and holding the party to account. Labour isn't doing that at the moment, so hopefully there's another way in which the Lib Dems can come through. So, yes, it might be difficult for a while, but the Lib Dems have already shown they can play a really significant role in this country. Now is the time to seize the moment. Agree? Join us today 'Fighting for our future' Clare Gerada, Former Chair of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners I had been a Labour supporter since I first voted, around the age of 17, but I'd become disillusioned with the party since the last General Election. At the same time, I was increasingly impressed with the Liberal Democrats. Since the Conservatives have been in power, it's been absolute bedlam, and I take my hat off to the Lib Dems because I think they did a superb job while in Coalition Government, but we never really realised that at the time. My decision to join the party had been brewing for a while, but the Brexit result was the final straw. Staying in the EU would have protected all the parts of Britain that we were proud of - our education system, health service and social services, which are rapidly disappearing. As the only 'all-in' party, the Lib Dems should have received more airtime, as all the public had to listen to were UKIP, Cameron and Osborne - who no one trusts - and a half-hearted attempt by Labour. What really strikes me about the Lib Dems is how young the members are. It's wonderful to see all these fresh faces, and it feels very different to other parties - it feels very hopeful. The Liberal Democrats have an unbelievable opportunity now to create a unity party, bringing in all those who are straggling at the edges. The Liberal Democrats have an unbelievable opportunity now to create a unity party, bringing in all those who are straggling at the edges, even parliamentarians. I'm very happy to do whatever is needed and to help them unreservedly, because I want my children to grow up in a society that's fairer than the one we've had for the past 20 years. Want a fairer society? Join us today 'A party for the economy and for business' Ivan Massow, entrepreneur and founder of www.equal.london I'd been with the Conservatives since I was 14, but moved over to the Lib Dems early this year. It's the second time I've left the Tories - the first was to try and force the party to become more centreground, and I knew that my leaving would make the headlines. This time I moved over quietly. I had no particular axe to grind with the Conservatives, but felt that my work to bring them more central was done, and that I could walk away and be a member of a party that is more relevant to my sensibilities. After seeing the Lib Dems' work in Coalition, and seeing them step up to the responsibilities of government, I felt I had more in common with them. I hadn't realised the Lib Dems could be a party of government before Coalition - and I know they took a huge hit for doing it - but I think they proved themselves and were a great party for the economy and a great help for business. My hope is that the Lib Dems becomes a natural home for those people who fall to the centre of the two main parties. My hope is that the Lib Dems becomes a natural home for those people who fall to the centre of the two main parties. I have a lot of friends in the Tory and Labour parties who I think are very close to the Liberal Democrats' philosophy. I'd really like it if they would consider joining up to strengthen the party and to help it take the position it actually deserves - second or, potentially, even first place.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1036
__label__wiki	0.763211	0.763211	Tag: Modern Warfare The Future of Tanks: Ground X and Scout Specialist Vehicles As armies continue to modernize, the challenge of creating new fighting vehicles that withstand the latest in battlefield conditions, and at the same time be more cost-effective, is a constant. And, as the latest announcements made by DARPA and General Dynamics over the course of the summer can attest, its been known to produce some pretty interesting and innovate design concepts. Known as the Ground X-Vehicle Technology (or GXV-T for short) the aim of this DARPA-funded program is to develop a lighter, more agile successors to the tank. Whereas tanks in the past have always responded to the development of more and better anti-tank weapons with heavier more elaborate armor, the focus of the GXV-T will be on protection that does not result in yet another bigger, badder, and way more expensive tank. Beginning in 1917, the development of the tank led to a revolution is modern warfare, which has led to an ongoing arms race ever since. In just the last half-century, the guns used to take out tanks have been joined by rockets, guided missiles, and high-tech rounds designed to penetrate the thickest steel. Tank designers have responded with composite armor, reactive armor, and even electric countermeasures to detonate warheads before they make contact. The result of this is a spiral of larger weapons, leading to larger tanks, leading to larger weapons until the mainline tanks of today have become behemoths so large that they are difficult to deploy, very expensive and can only be used in certain environments. To prevent this, DARPA wants to not just produce a more advanced tank, but one that moves away from relying so heavily on armor for survival. The GXV-T is intended to pursue technologies that move away from armor with the goal of making tanks 50 percent smaller, with crews half their present size, able to move at double the present speed, make them capable of operating over 95 percent of the terrain, and make them harder to detect and engage. As Kevin Massey, DARPA program manager, explained: GXV-T’s goal is not just to improve or replace one particular vehicle – it’s about breaking the ‘more armor’ paradigm and revolutionizing protection for all armored fighting vehicles. Inspired by how X-plane programs have improved aircraft capabilities over the past 60 years, we plan to pursue groundbreaking fundamental research and development to help make future armored fighting vehicles significantly more mobile, effective, safe and affordable. What this amounts to is finding ways to build tanks that can move around the battlefield like off-road vehicles, can dodge incoming fire rather than taking it, reposition its armor to its most effective angle, provide the crews with full situational awareness similar to that afforded fighter pilots, and make them stealthy against both infrared and electromagnetic detection. To achieve this, DARPA is soliciting new concepts and new technologies for designers. As you can see from the concept art above, some ideas have already been floated, but they remain very much in the design stage for now. The agency says that it hopes to see new GVX-T technologies emerge two years after the first contracts – which are slated to be awarded in April next year – with the hopes that the new technologies can be fast-tracked into demonstrators. Meanwhile, General Dynamics is busy producing what will amount to the next-generation of armored vehicles. As part of a contract with the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), the company has been contracted to deliver 589 light-armor Scout Specialist Vehicles (SV) to the Army between 2017 and 2024. The tracked, medium-weight armored vehicle is designed to provide state-of-the-art, best-in-class protection for its crews. The Scout SV is intended to fill an important role in the British Army’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability. The Scout comes in six variants based on a common platform with shared mobility, electronics, and survivability systems, has an open electronic architecture, a modular armor system, and places emphasis on the ability to upgrade in order to incorporate new technology and meet new threats. The Scout variants include Reconnaissance, Protected Mobility Reconnaissance Support (PMRS), Command and Control, Engineering Reconnaissance, Repair, and Recovery. According to General Dynamics, these are designed to provide the basics of protection, survivability, reliability, mobility and all-weather ISTAR capabilities for a wide range of extended military operations at a reduced cost. The Scout’s main armament in its turret-mounted 40-mm cannon, but it also comes equipped with acoustic detectors, a laser warning system, a local situational awareness system, an electronic countermeasure system, a route-marking system, and a high-performance power pack. The announced contract also includes the provision of support and training by General Dynamics for the delivered vehicles. The deal represents the single biggest contract for armored vehicles that the British Army has signed since the 1980s. It also comes on the eve of a NATO Summit, and at a time when Britain is contemplating the future of its forces as it prepares for future operations similar to what it experienced in Afghanistan and Iraq. In these cases, the warfare was unconventional and prolonged, requiring a whole set of strategies. As British Prime Minister David Cameron declared when speaking of the deal: With the second largest defence budget in NATO, meeting NATO’s two per cent of GDP spending target and investing in new capabilities to deal with the emerging threats we are ensuring Britain’s national security, staying at the forefront of the global race and providing leadership within NATO. As the saying goes: “necessity is the mother of invention”. Well, there is nothing more necessary in war than making machines that are practical, effective, and not cost the taxpayers an arm and a leg. Between dwindling budgets, improved technology, and the fact that future operations are likely to take place in war-torn and impoverished areas, the race to build a weapon-system that can handle it all is sure to be both interesting and productive! Sources: gizmag.com, (2) By storiesbywilliamsin Future, Military, News, Technology September 16, 2014 September 16, 2014 981 Words2 Comments Futuristic Guns (vol 3) AICW VX3: First up is the proposed Advanced Infantry Combat Weapon by Australia’s Metal Storm Ltd. Combining a 5.56mm assault rifle with MS patented stacked ammo caseless ammo grenade launcher, this weapon is truly futuristic! In fact, the concept is already catching on. Since it is still in the prototype phase, none of these weapons have appeared in any sci-fi movies, television or games as examples of future weapons. Give it a few years… CornerShot Gun: Holy future Batman! Here we have the CornerShot, the weapon accessory invented by Lt. Col. Amos Golan of the Israeli Defense Forces. Though technically not a firearm per se, this impressive invention gives anyone the ability to look and shoot around corners. Designed primarily for use by special forces and police units, mainly for terrorist and hostage situations, it is typically outfitted with pistols or other small handheld weapons. Already it has made numerous appearances, including the movies Wanted, Red, and Newsmakers (Goryachie Novosti), the tv shows CSI: Miami, Flashpoint and Standoff. FAMAS: The name stands for Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de Saint-Etienne, and it is the service rifle of the French military. Invented in 1978, it was one of the first rifles to utilize the bullpup design, joining such guns as the Steyr AUG. Its long term of service has also led to its wide representation in modern media. These include the movies Rebellion, District B13, Behind Enemy Lines, Hotel Rwanda, Tomorrow Never Dies, the Taxi series and the tv show The Unit. In terms of videogames, there are too many to count, but the big names consist of Rainbow Six, Battlefield 2, Perfect Dark, Modern Warfare 2, War Inc. Battlezone, and Counterstrike. FX-05 Xiuhcoatl: The name literally translates as “fire serpent” in classic Nahuatl, a pretty fitting description for a modern assault rifle. Produced by CIADTIM (Center of Applied Research and Technology Development Military Industry), this weapon is currently in use with the Mexican army. Making its debut in 2006, this weapon incorporates a lot of modern design features and is similar in appearance to the HK G36 and XM8. My apologies, I can find only two examples of this weapon being featured in the movie, television or gaming world, and that is Call of Juarez: The Cartel and Max Payne 3. QLB-06: No doubt about it, the People’s Republic of China has been producing some pretty funky weapons lately. Should we be worried over here across the sea? Well regardless, this next weapon is known as the QLB-06, an automatic 35mm grenade launcher. Serving extensively in the Chinese military and abroad, this weapon represents the next step in the direction of a portable, lightweight, infantry grenade launcher. Relatively new to the international armaments scene, this weapons has been featured in a few video games, such as Operation Flashpoint 2, and Jagged Alliance: Back in Action. Metal Storm: This is like, shock and awe got together and made a psychotic baby! Known as Metal Storm, this prototype series of weaponry uses stacked ammunition and with electrochemical ignition. Taken together, these advancements allow for an unprecedented rate of fire. In this case, we have the four barrel 40 mm cannon, which is the most powerful and fastest repeating cannon in the existence right now! Frontlines: Fuel of War, Command & Conquer Fallout, Shadowrun, and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and was also featured on the television show Future Weapons. A fictional, forty barrel variant was also featured on the show CSI: Miami. Micor Defense MD 50: Here we have yet another example of a .50 cal sniper rifle, one which is a lot bigger than it looks! Built in the US, this weapon represents a new generation is firearms technology for special forces and elite sniper units. I have to find an example of this one showing up on the public’s radar. My apologies, sometimes they just don’t show up in time for these posts. UC -M21: Ever seen a submachine gun that could fold up into a suitcase? I have… once… in a movie! And it was set in a futuristic setting, making this weapon a perfect fit. Based on an earlier model known as the Ares FMG (Folding Machine Gun), this weapon was developed in the 1980’s, apparently for the personal use of politicians, wealthy businessmen, and other people who were at a high risk for kidnapping. As I said, this gun made an appearance in a futuristic movie, known as Robocop 2. It was also featured in the anime series Full Metal Panic and the video game Perfect Dark. XM25 IAWS: Grenade launchers seem to be somewhat of a theme for this particular post, and this one is nothing if not futuristic! Known as the IAWS, or Individual Airburst Weapon System, this weapon was produced by the same project that created the HK XM29 OICW. A semi-automatic launcher, it is capable of firing four 25mm grenades from a bullpup box magazine that is loaded at the rear. Thus far, the XM25 has appeared in four major first-person shooters, including Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, Metal Gear Solid 4, Battlefield Play4Free, and Modern Warfare 3. XM307 ACSW: Wow, were it not for Metal Storm, I’d have saved the deadliest for last. Still, the XM307 was part of the US Army’s cancelled Advanced Crew Service Weapon (ACSW) project, intended to supplement or replace existing stocks of M2 heavy machine guns and Mark 19 grenade launchers. Combining the best aspects of a machine gun with a grenade launcher, this weapon is capable of firing 25mm rounds (the same as the XM25) at a rate of 250 rounds a minute. Thus far, the XM307 has appeared in only two videogames, Battlefield: Bad Company and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Wow! You’d think an automatic grenade launcher would have made more of an impact. Sorry, bad pun! Okay, third installment and still more guns to go. In the meantime, check out this video of the Metal Storm arsenal in action. It’s so cool, it’s stupid, and a little scary… By storiesbywilliamsin Movies, Video games May 27, 2012 February 10, 2013 1,002 Words3 Comments	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1038
__label__wiki	0.597085	0.597085	Why Taking Advantage of Luck Matters Most in sports and in business We are at a point in the football season where people like to say this or that team got lucky—that So-and-So wouldn’t have won the game if not for this and that. Sometimes it’s an insult, a way to dismiss somebody’s achievement. Sometimes it’s just a way to have something to say about a game. But it’s never actually framed as a good thing. Nobody says “that player’s really lucky,” the way we might say a player is fast or talented. Why not? What’s so bad about luck? It’s as if luck were almost like cheating, a thing that gives you success you did not earn. But is that really a fair assessment? As luck would have it, while I was thinking about these things, I happened to read a book by Jim Collins titled “Great by Choice.” In the last chapter, Collins discusses his research on luck and his reasons for believing that luck, good or bad (yes, there is bad luck, too) is what you make of it. Collins gives many examples of companies that found themselves in the right place at the right time only to squander the opportunity. Then he discusses companies that found themselves in a similarly enviable position but took advantage of it. Steve Jobs, for example, may have been born with an incredible mind—a huge stroke of luck—but he took advantage of it. Bill Gates may have had the luxury of an upper-class education and access to an early computer, but he took advantage of that good luck, too. Luck is real. Random events or accidents make things easier or harder for people all the time, in business or in sports. But the “luck” narrative in sports makes it sound as though nothing else is involved in winning, as though without that penalty, the opposition wouldn’t have won. As if the game was only that one play and there were no other opportunities at all in the game to win. Don’t get me wrong, I know there have been games that completely turned on a single fumble or a single missed call. There are days I hate refs! But I also know that, more often than not, those lucky teams win because they did what they had to so they could make the most of the luck they got. For example, take the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants game played at Met Life Stadium from late in the 2016 season. The Cowboys were favored to win, but the weather turned bad. Playing in the cold isn’t easy for anybody, but it does get easier when you live in it and practice in it. The Giants had had plenty of practice in the bad weather, but the Cowboys, whose home stadium is indoors, did not. The Giants won. Now, you could call it luck that the Giants got the kind of weather they needed to help them win—but that luck doesn’t mean that the Giants won without working for it. In fact, they worked very hard, practicing and playing in difficult weather conditions regularly. Had they not worked hard to make the most of their situation, the bad weather on Sunday would simply have made things equally difficult for both teams. The rhetoric around luck is frustrating at times. If the other team wins, or if somebody else closes the big deal, it might be luck, but it’s not just luck—why were they ready to take advantage of that luck and others weren’t? People can do themselves a favor by taking a look in the mirror—and give credit where it’s due. From my vantage point, it’s what a person does with their luck that makes all the difference. SeatGeek: App for finding tickets. BlueHost: Hosting service we use at KazSource and Sportsepreneur. Envato: Themes for your website. ConvertKit: Email marketing made easy. Leadpages: Landing pages for your business. How the Oregon Ducks Up-Tempo Offense Can Be Applied to Your Business The Cleveland Indians: How to Take Advantage of a Winning Streak You Make Your Own Luck Learn from a Buffalo Bills Fan: Blind Faith is Bad for Business Sometimes You Have to Hand the Ball to Your Running Back Why Stop When You’re Winning? By Eric Kasimov January 3, 2017 PreviousPrevious post:Enjoy the JourneyNextNext post:5 Reasons Why a Big Loss May Be a Big Win	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1042
__label__wiki	0.649943	0.649943	Zhinvali (Jinvali) water reservoir, also known as a lake is located on the Georgian Military Highway. Soviets constructed the dam in the 1980s. As Tbilisi was growing rapidly, there was a need of a new water supply. Government decided that the Aragvi Gorge rich with glacier water was the perfect spot. Ananuri Castle represents multifunctional architectural complex of the late feudal times in Georgia. Built on the right bank of Aragvi River in 16th-17th cc, it was the main seat of Aragvi Eristavi – Dukes dynasty since 13th c . The village Ananuri is located on the main trade rout leading to the North, to Russia and in past it was part of the Great Silk Road. Nowadays the road is called the Georgian Military Highway. The distance from Tbilisi is 74 km (1 h) – beautiful driving along the Zhinvali water reservoir damping clean and blue mountain river of Aragvi. The castle, the bell tower, three churches and beautifully carved walls are the highlites why the site is frequently visited. The Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument or Treaty of Georgievsk Monument is a monument built in 1983 to celebrate the bicentennial of the Treaty of Georgievsk and the ongoing friendship between Soviet Georgia and Soviet Russia. Located on the Georgian Military Highway between the ski resort town of Gudauri and the Jvari pass, the monument is a large round stone and concrete structure overlooking the Devil’s Valley in the Caucasus mountains. Inside the monument is a large tile mural that spans the whole circumference of the structure and depicts scenes of Georgian and Russian history. Kazbegi is located on the Khokh Range, a mountain range which runs north of the Greater Caucasus Range, and which is pierced by the gorges of the Ardon and the Terek. At its eastern foot runs the Georgian Military Road through the pass of Darial 2,378 meters (7,805 feet). The mountain itself lies along the edge of the Borjomi–Kazbegi Fault (which is a northern sub-ending of the North Anatolian Fault). The region is highly active tectonically, with numerous small earthquakes occurring at regular intervals. An active geothermal/hot spring system also surrounds the mountain. Kazbek is a potentially active volcano, built up of trachyte and sheathed with lava, and has the shape of a double cone, whose base lies at an altitude of 1,770 meters (5,800 feet). Kazbek is the highest of the volcanic cones of the Kazbegi volcanic group which also includes Mount Khabarjina (3,142 metres). Gergeti Trinity Church this architectural complex from the XIV century is located in the village of Gergeti, 6 km from the town of Stepantsminda, at a height of 2200 m. The complex includes Holy Trinity Cathedral, constructed in the XIV century, the bell tower built in the XIV century, and clergy houses from the XV century. You can hike up to the complex in about two hours, hire a driver, or even rent a horse! Start of Tour: 09:00 AM – 20:00 PM Meeting place: 8, Sioni Street (Karvasla Building) Payment methods: Card of Cash (on delivery) Booking: +995 555 99 88 33 Cost included 1 person price One tour per person 8, Sioni Street, Karvasla Building. Tbilisi, Georgia info@starlinetravels.ge © Starline Travels \| All Rights Reserved	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1048
__label__wiki	0.559476	0.559476	29th June 2019 \| Sunshine Tour Ferreira hangs on as Thimba charges through in Nairobi Stephen Ferreira’s domination of the KCB Karen Masters continued on day three of the tournament where he signed for a 68 to stay perched at the top of the leaderboard, albeit with a slender lead, on 20-under-par going into the final round at Karen Country Club. In a fashion similar to the previous two rounds where he picked up back-to-back birdies on the first few holes, the Zimbabwean made three birdies on the row after making a par on the first hole. Those were followed by two more pars before making an unwelcomed birdie, thanks to a three-putt on the par-three seventh. He would not make another birdie or bogey on the front nine as he turned in 34. Two pars after the turn were followed by a birdie on the par-five 12th and another one on 14. Another bogey, this time on the par-five 15th, made its way onto his card before he went par, par and birdie in the last three holes of the round. “I felt like I was running because it was a bit too pacey for me, you know, obviously, it being a two-ball,” he said after the round. “But the round went decent. I played really solidly; just two silly bogeys; two little three-putts but other than that, I hit the ball great and putted well despite those two little three-putts. “It was good fun going head-to-head with Toto (Thimba Jnr). He putted brilliantly and made putts left, right and centre. I think we kept each other going. It was good fun out there.” In another exhibition of great confidence and fine form, Thimba carded an untainted six-under-par 66 to total 19-under and narrow the Zimbabwean’s lead to just a single stroke. On the front stretch, the member of the Gary Player Class made gains on the second, the fourth and the eighth hole. Homewards, he picked up consecutive birdies on 11 and 12 before making another on that par-five 15th before closing with three pars. “I was so relaxed,” said Thimba who plays out of Silverlakes Golf Club in Pretoria. “I actually play very well under pressure and today I stuck to my game plan and didn’t change anything. I was putting really well so I can’t complain.” With an exciting final round anticipated in Nairobi where both he and Ferreira have a real chance of winning – and that’s not discounting the charge being made by JC Ritchie (14-under) and Garrick Higgo (13-under) – Thimba was bullish about his prospects in the capital of Kenya. “I’m not playing against him (Ferreira),” Thimba clarified, “I’m playing against the course and my goal is always to beat the course. If I do that I will win. I want to win it and I feel good about myself.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1059
__label__wiki	0.69934	0.69934	Guardians Of The Galaxy is Marvel's "New Groove" smi1ey Filed to: guardians of the galaxyFiled to: guardians of the galaxy emperors new groove While watching Guardians of the Galaxy, I felt something that I haven't felt since watching a very special children's animated feature. (For the record, there are no GotG spoilers in this article.) Guardians of Galaxy is the best Marvel movie in recent memory. This is high praise, as one can't deny that Marvel's ongoing plan to weave together their epic superhero universe has been a rousing success. Hell, even the "bad" movies are still entertaining in their own rights. Marvel could have very well stuck to their guns and continued to create movies based off their most famous characters year after year, and it totally would have worked. Lucky for us, they took a chance. When the first news of a Guardians of the Galaxy movie hit the internet, the collective response was, "Huh?" When the first trailer was released, the response was mostly positive, but there was still a lot of "Guardians of the what?" going around. We all knew that this movie was going to be different than the rest, but no one really knew how different it would be. Guardians is self-aware, irreverent, and uproariously funny. All of the phase 1 and phase 2 Marvel films have featured solid humor, but the comedy has always been more of a way to "lighten up the mood" in the face of ever-present dread and despair. Guardians will leave you laughing from beginning to end, not because it has to use humor to lighten up darker themes, but because it simply wants to make you laugh. Oh, and it also apparently wants to say "dick" as much as is allowed in a PG-13 Marvel film. I'm not complaining. Guardians of the Galaxy is a character-driven comedy first and an epic sci-fi superhero movie second - and it totally works. Ok, I swear I didn't mean for this to turn into a full review, so let's focus in on the reason I felt the need to create that poorly-photoshopped header image! After walking out of the premier last night, I realized that Guardians of the Galaxy didn't really feel like a Marvel movie. The entire tone of the movie felt different than any of the previous films set in the Marvel universe, and for a while I couldn't quite put my finger what exactly it was. It hit me almost as soon as I woke up this morning and tripped over my cat. The only other film that left me with a similar feeling was, you guessed it, Disney's 2000 treasure, The Emperor's New Groove. If you haven't yet seen The Emperor's New Groove, check out the clip below for a great example of the style of humor in this movie. Also, what is wrong with you!? It's currently on Netflix streaming! GO WATCH IT! Prior to New Groove, Disney films had always stuck to a pretty well-defined formula. Sure, they had comedy, and an occasional "parent joke" thrown in, but most of the movies didn't really feel "fresh." I don't remember why I went to see this, but as I walked out of the theater I remember thinking to myself, "Wait, was that actually a Disney movie?!" I wasn't the only person to realize how different this movie felt, in a good way, in comparison to Disney's previous animated efforts: "The unfussy, tossed-off quality actually helps give this original story zippy irreverence some of Disney's plusher cartoons lack." - David Ansen, Newsweek "Lickety-split banter between brilliantly conceived characters, chase scenes that leave you breathless with laughter and surprise ... this is a whole new ballgame for Disney." Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer "This Disney comedy makes a self-conscious and largely successful attempt to modernize the studio's format with a jive-ass sensibility." - Wally Hammond, Time Out I'm not completely sure what "jive-ass sensibility" is, but if you swap out "Disney" for "Marvel" in those quotes, they could easily be used as blurbs for Guardians of the Galaxy reviews. The Emperor's New Groove is chock-full of sarcasm, quick banter, and incredibly sharp humor that is easily lost on the majority of children who see it. There are no princesses to save, no evil relatives, and no all-powerful villain to defeat. I mean, the entire story revolves around an unlikable character that turns into a freaking llama! It is so different, and so out there, that it completely works. I truly believe that this movie lead to a general change in the way Disney approaches modern animated films, and I think we're going to see some changes from Marvel as they move into phase 3 of their master movie-plan. In a sense, this really is "a whole new ballgame" for Marvel. They took a risk in hiring James Gunn to direct and write this movie, as he doesn't exactly have a huge number of beloved films in his repertoire, even with a few cult hits like Slither and Dawn of the Dead under his belt. Gunn's "emergence" as a big-budget action movie director is akin to Brad's Birds transition from the family-friendly Ratatouille and The Incredibles to the thrilling Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. On top of taking a chance with the writing and directing, Marvel also put themselves out on a limb with the source material for the film. The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise isn't exactly well-known outside of the comic book community. Much like New Groove, which spent years in hollywood hell while the writers and producers fought to keep the unique tone of film, Guardians was undoubtedly a difficult sell for Marvel. But damn if they didn't sell it. Oh boy, did they sell it! Guardians of the Galaxy is to Marvel movies what The Emperor's New Groove was to Disney animated films, and I think it shows that you don't need be The Avengers or The Dark Knight to absolutely captivate and entertain your audience. Humor doesn't need to be a crutch to hold up more "serious" and "realistic" themes in big sci-fi adventures. Rather, it can effortlessly drive an entire movie with a sense of swagger that very few sci-fi films are able to emulate. If anything, Guardians of the Galaxy makes me even more excited for a future Deadpool movie! Joss Whedon once said, "Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke." I feel like James Gunn's version of that quote would be, "Make it self-aware, make it sarcastic, make it hilarious, but then, for the love of God, don't take yourself so damn seriously you dick!" Matt "Smi1ey" Dunn is a former mobile gaming journalist (which is why you haven't heard of him) and a newly-minted member of the TAY crew. Learn more about him and get in touch here! Recent from smi1ey How To Stream/Cast Video From Your Oculus Quest To Your Apple TV Or Mac Computer Ubi What Have You Done To My Mario Destiny Ruined Overwatch For Me	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1070
__label__wiki	0.543187	0.543187	Tag Archives: Toy Story 5/23/14: Let’s Talk Turkey A Bug's Life, Amy Poehler, animated films, Chico and Rita, cinema, Colm Meaney, colonial America, computer-animated, Dan Fogler, film reviews, films, Finding Nemo, Free Birds, George Takei, Horton Hears a Who, Inc., Jimmy Hayward, Jonah Hex, Keith David, life of leisure, Monsters, Movies, Myles Standish, Owen Wilson, Pilgrims and Indians, pizza, Scott Mosier, Shrek, Thanksgiving, the first Thanksgiving, time travel, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, turkey, turkeys, Woody Harrelson, writer-director-actor I’ve always enjoyed animated films but there came a point when I kind of gave up on the modern crop of “kids’ movies,” probably around the time that Shrek (2001) became such a huge hit. While I’ve never been a big fan of the movie’s animation style, I was even less impressed with the nearly nonstop pop-culture references that seemed to function as jokes. Similar to things like the Scary Movie series, Shrek and its sequels seemed to go down a kind of rabbit-hole of irrelevance: when every joke is about something “hot and current,” the whole film will be hopelessly dated within a week. Since Shrek was so successful, this “pop-culture-scattergun” approach seemed to become the norm and I resigned myself to cherry-picking the individual films that seemed to appeal more to my sensibilities. Lately, however, there seems to be a bit of a renaissance in more “traditional” animated films, movies that still appeal to kids with their positive themes, goofy sense of humor and bright color palettes, yet are composed of more than just mindless references to current films or cultural trends. In particular, the last five years have shown a real explosion in these types of animated films: Coraline (2009), The Secret of Kells (2009), 9 (2009), A Town Called Panic (2009), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009), A Cat in Paris (2010), Chico and Rita (2010), A Monster in Paris (2011), Rango (2011), ParaNorman (2012), and The Croods (2013) were not only great, “old-fashioned” animated films but some of my favorite films of their respective years. To this list I can now add Jimmy Hayward’s Free Birds (2013), a rambunctious, intelligent and big-hearted treatise on thinking for yourself, working hard and being your own bird. “Turkeys are so dumb, they think the farmer is their friend.” So begins Free Birds and so we get our first introduction to our hero, Reggie the Turkey (Owen Wilson). Reggie is a smart, introspective turkey who’s continually dismayed by his fellow turkeys’ lazy, lunk-headed behavior. He’s pretty sure that the farmer is fattening them up for dinner and he’s right: as the bearer of bad news, the group tosses him outside to serve as “representative”/sacrificial goat. As often happens in these kinds of films, however, this is not Reggie’s time to go into that good goodnight: turns out his farm has been chosen by the President of the United States as the site of the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning. When the POTUS’s daughter falls in love with Reggie, he gets whisked from the barnyard into the life of Riley: comfy bathrobes, all the free pizza he can eat and all the telenovellas he can wrap his peepers around. Nothing good lasts forever, of course, and Reggie’s luck runs out when he’s suddenly abducted by a strange turkey named Jake (Woody Harrelson). Jake has a plan: he wants to travel back in time, to the first Thanksgiving, and find a way to take turkey off the menu. Turns out he has a time-machine, by the name of S.T.E.V.E. (voiced by the legendary George Takei), and just needs a partner: whether he wants it or not, Reggie is tagged in and the way-back machine is set to Plymouth Rock. Once there, Reggie and Jake run smack-dab into a big ‘ol conflict: turns out that the turkeys, led by Jenny (Amy Poehler) and Ranger (writer/director Jimmy Hayward), are currently in pitched battle with the Pilgrim settlers, led by the dastardly Myles Standish (Colm Meaney). Jumping into the fray, Reggie and Jake do what they can to help their turkey ancestors but complications keep arising, namely that Reggie has gotten googly eyes for Jenny. To add to their problems, Chief Broadbeak (Keith David), the turkeys’ wise and venerable leader, is a pacifist and won’t let his group take up arms against the murderous settlers. What’s a turkey to do? If you’re Reggie, Jake and Jenny: plenty, that’s what. Will the turkeys emerge victorious, standing as peers beside the humans rather than food on their plates? Will Reggie ever find the peace and solitude that he (thinks) he’s looking for? Will Jake ever take two minutes to think before he does something? Will there be any unnecessary pop culture references? (Spoiler: just one, as the ever-patient Native Americans remark that the turkeys seem like…”angry birds”…ugh) From start to finish, Free Birds is a ton of fun. It’s a fast-paced, intelligent and, quite frankly, extremely funny film that relies on characterization and actually humorous situations to make its point. One of the best examples of this has to be the TV shows/commercials that Reggie watches early on. While the pizza commercial is deliriously good (for some reason, it almost reminded me of a Troma take on a pizza commercial), the telenovella is pure gold. For much of the film, Reggie considers himself to be an outsider, a “lone wolf,” as it were. As such, he identifies wholeheartedly with the telenovella’s cool, tough-guy lead, even though he bears not one white of resemblance to Reggie. It’s how he sees himself, however, which is all that matters. More importantly, it’s a great, smart bit of character development that also manages to be goofy good fun: talk about killing two birds with one stone. Not only is the film genuinely funny, but it’s also got equal measures of big heart and wide-eyed wonder. While Takei is absolutely fantastic as S.T.E.V.E., the time-travel sequences, themselves, are a sight to behold, reminding me (no lie) of the interstellar travel scene in 2001 (1968). There was a genuine sense of wonder, something that I felt not only through the characters but through myself, as well. I may be an avowed outer space fanatic, granted, but I find it hard to believe that “normal” viewers wouldn’t be just as impressed. Voice-wise, Free Birds is locked-down tighter than Fort Knox. Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson are dependably good, as expected (although I wish that Woody was a bit more over-the-top, which is kind of what I expected, going in), but Amy Poehler is the real heart and soul of the production. Her Jenny is such a delightful, wonderful, cheerful, smart and strong character that I wonder why we don’t see her type in actual live-action films. Regardless, Poehler is marvelous: I dare any (sane) viewer to not fall in love with Jenny by the credit roll. Even though Free Birds is very much a big, glossy, computer-animated production, I really enjoyed the look, finding it to be both surprisingly warm and delightfully detailed: there’s always something going on in the margins of the frame, giving the film a bustling, “alive” quality. While I’ve yet to see writer/director Hayward’s version of Horton Hears a Who (2008), I have seen his version of Jonah Hex (2010): while I wasn’t blown away, finding it to be fairly close to the forgettable Van Helsing (2004), it was still a bit better than other films of its ilk. Not much, mind you, but a bit. After being so impressed by Free Birds, I’ll definitely need to give Horton a shot, although I’ll probably stop short of re-examining Jonah Hex: some things are probably best left buried. If you’ve got kids, or are just young at heart, you could do a whole lot worse than Free Birds. While the film is occasionally silly (the coda is particularly eye-rolling), it also packs moments of actual emotional heft, such as the dramatic scene where Standish’s men set the turkey tree on fire. The performances are energetic and fun, the themes are smart and timely and the whole thing ends with Social Distortion’s cover of CCR’s “Up Around the Bend” playing over the end credits: it’s almost like they looked right into my head.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1073
__label__wiki	0.725877	0.725877	SVDP Thomas Frank Thomas Frank has lived in West Linn with his wife since 2004. His interest in participating on city government boards came about in 2006 as a result of wanting to help the City of West Linn during a period of crisis. Since then, his citizen involvement has enhanced the strength and transparency our city government needed. Thomas, a native Oregonian, received his Bachelors degree in Finance from Portland State University and an MBA from the University of Portland. Thomas strongly believes that economic development should be a main priority. His vision includes supporting area small businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and finding ways to welcome new business opportunities. This, he feels, will make West Linn financially stronger and remain a vibrant, vital community for all our citizens, young and old. Other top priorities include strong public safety, enhancing City infrastructure, and maintaining City services. Over the last several years Thomas has served on six (6) city/county boards: Tri-City Committee (Vice Chair), Transportation Advisory Board, Citizen’s Budget Committee (Vice Chair and Chair), Community Police Facility Development Committee, West Linn Police Station Steering Committee and, the Planning Commission for West Linn. He has also worked tirelessly on the West Linn Police Station PAC that successfully advocated for the passage of an $8.5 million bond measure to give our officers a safe and adequate facility. This successful bond measure election was the first to pass in thirteen years. Thomas is also active in Emerging Local Government Leaders (ELGL). ELGL are innovative local government leaders with a passion for connecting, communicating and educating. In 2014, he was active planning for their annual conference #ELGL14. Thomas was elected to the City Council in 2012. Joining the National League of Cities in 2014, he was appointed to the Small Cities Council. This national council’s purpose is to network and share ideas and solutions to challenges affecting small cities across the nation. In addition, the council shapes national legislation priorities to positively impact smaller communities. He has advocated for Small Cities priorities in Congress and the White House. Also in 2014, was voted unanimously to the League of Oregon Cities Board of Directors on Sept. 27 during the 89th annual conference in Eugene. The League of Oregon Cities represents the state’s 242 incorporated cities. It works, along with its volunteer members, to help improve how local government serves citizens in the state of Oregon. The LOC works in the areas of advocacy for cities as well as federal issues, information and research, education and best practices. “I am excited to represent, set legislative priorities and advocate for all the cities of Oregon to the Legislature and Governor’s office,” Frank said in a statement.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1075
__label__cc	0.71316	0.28684	Obama: Under President-Elect Trump, ‘This Is Going To Be A “Browner” Country’ (Video) President Barack Obama told Steve Inskeep of NPR on Monday that no matter what path President-elect Donald Trump decides to take on immigration, the country’s demographics have “inevitably” changed. “If you stopped all immigration today, just by virtue of birth rates, this is going to be a browner country [49:44 in video below],” Obama said. “And if we’re not thinking right now about how we make sure that next generation is getting a good education and are instilled with a common creed and the values that make America so special and are cared for and nurtured and loved the way every American child is treated, then we’re not going to be as successful.” He did not describe what he thought would constitute as the “common creed” and “values that make America so special,” The Blaze reported. Giving credit to himself, Obama also went on to say that he felt like he inherited the country at a bad time, stating: “[W]hen the economy’s not doing well some other tensions get laid bare — changing attitudes about sexual orientation, and about race, and about the nature of families. And all of this has been amped up by the revolution in information, throwing through social media and the Internet. And so it’s a big dose. It’s been a lot of stuff that’s been coming at people really quickly, and it’s made folks anxious.” He added that the nation is “long overdue” for a national conversation about race. “All these smartphones suddenly taking pictures are not documenting a suddenly worsening relationship between the African-American community and the police,” Obama told Inskeep. “They are recording what has been a long-standing tension and the sense on the part of police that they’re put in a very difficult situation of trying to manage law enforcement in poor communities where guns are easily accessible, the African-American community being rightly convinced that there is a long history of racial bias in our criminal justice system.” ”Obama continued, “And as painful as it is, that conversation is long overdue. So, my feeling is that if everybody takes a breath, and if we can structure a conversation that is less about how somebody else is trying to take advantage of me, and structure the conversation around how can we work together to solve problems that makes everybody better off, that America can emerge stronger.” “But that requires leadership. It requires citizenship. It requires all of us doing self-reflection at the same time as we’re fighting on behalf of the things that we care deeply about,” he said. “I can say, and I can demonstrate, I can document that the country is a lot better off now than it was when I took office in almost every dimension,” he added. He gave no actual statistics to back up his remarks. Obama then gave the country — and himself — some constructive criticism. “But what I can also say is that we could be doing even better. There are times where I reflect and ask myself, ‘Is there’s something else I could have done, something that I could have said slightly differently that would have led to additional progress and less polarization?’ And I’ll probably, you know, as I reflect on my presidency, once I’m out of just the day-to-day scrum of this thing, I’m sure I’ll come up with a whole bunch of things to add to my list. But I think all of us have to do that.” NPR’s Exit Interview With President Obama \| Morning Edition \| NPR Read the full transcript here. Newer PostFBI Ordered To Unseal Warrant Used To Get Clinton Emails During Weiner Probe (Video) Older PostObama Calls Electoral College ‘An Outdated “Vision” From America’s Founding Fathers’ (Video)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1078
__label__wiki	0.636836	0.636836	You are here: Home Regional traditions »Europe and North America »Embroideries The French term filet is used in some English language works for a knotted mesh or net, and also for the mesh/net with a darned pattern (also known as filet work or filet lace). Filet Brodé See filet. Filet Guipure Florentine Work Florentine work is a type of counted thread embroidery consisting of a series of straight stitches laid out in a specific, geometrical pattern to produce one or more motifs. It should be noted that the term Florentine work can refer to both the embroidery technique and the finished appearance of the work. Fontenoy Embroidery Fontenoy embroidery (Broderie de Fontenoy-le-Château) is a form of whitework using chain stitch and a tambour hook. It is associated with the town of Fontenoy-le-Château in the Département of Vosges (northeastern France), which is particularly known for its production of embroidery from the late nineteenth century until the 1970's. At its peak the town employed some 500 women working on this form of embroidery. French Canvas Embroidery French canvas embroidery is a form of canvas embroidery that was popular in Europe from the 1880's onwards. French Embroidery See Point de France. Gretchen Embroidery Gretchen embroidery is a decorative needlework technique that combines couching and embroidery, and popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the USA. Guimarães Embroidery Guimarães embroidery is a form of decorative needlework that derives from Guimarães in northern Portugal. It is known locally as Bordado de Guimarães. There are written references to the production of embroidery in this region dating back to the tenth century. Guimarães Whitework Guimarães whitework is a form of decorative needlework that derives from Guimarães in northern Portugal. It is a sub-group of Guimarães embroidery. Guimarães whitework was used to decorate both men and women’s clothing (especially chemises, shirts and waistcoats), as well as household items, such as curtains and towels. Hardanger Embroidery (Norway) Hardanger embroidery (Hardanger work) is a general term for various forms of counted thread and whitework that were originally produced in Norway. Hardanger work derives from the Hardanger district in the western part of the country. Traditional Hardanger work is characterised by the use of a white, even-weave cloth (sometimes with double warp and weft threads) with a fairly thick, white cotton or linen embroidery thread. Hedebo Embroidery. An Introduction (Denmark) Hedebo is a form of whitework embroidery, related to reticella work. It is sometimes classed as an embroidered lace. It originates from the Danish farming community of the Heden, 'heath', area between Copenhagen, Køge and Roskilde. Hedebo Embroidery. The Different Styles (Denmark) Hedebo is a form of whitework embroidery. It originates from a Danish farming community in the district of 'Heden', between Copenhagen, Køge and Roskilde. The term Hedebo embroidery covers seven different techniques, which were all embroidered on white linen tabby cloth with white linen thread. Hedebo Rings (Denmark) Hedebo rings constitute a characteristic circular pattern found on some types of the Hedebo embroidery from Denmark. They are normally worked separately in buttonhole stitch, linked together and attached to the linen. Hessenstickerei See Schwalm embroidery. Hooked Needle Embroidery See tambour embroidery or ari embroidery. Hungarian Embroidery The Central European country of Hungary has a tradition of embroidery that goes back to at least the twelfth century and probably much before. One of the oldest surviving pieces of Hungarian embroidery is the so-called Coronation Mantle of King Stephen (r: 1001-1038), which is now in the National Museum of Hungary, Budapest. Hvidsøm (Denmark) Hvidsøm is a form of whitework embroidery using drawn thread and cutwork techniques, developed in Denmark and belonging to the tradition of Hedebo embroidery. It is also often classed as a form of embroidered lace. Traditional Hvidsøm can be recognized by its one or two rows of chain stitches that frame the main motifs. Originally Hvidsøm was made by the women of the small farming communities in the Hedebo region of Denmark. Igolochky Igolochky is a form of punch needle embroidery from Russia. This type of work has traditionally been used to decorate household furnishings, especially curtains, and in some parts of Russia it can be found on regional dress, such as women’s blouses. This technique has also been used to make religious icons that are normally hung at home. Italian Cutwork Italian cutwork combines cutwork with whitework and needle lace techniques. The small designs are mostly geometric, but little figures or birds also occur. The ground material is linen. The cut-out designs are filled with stitches, generally buttonhole stitch. The stitches are attached to the surrounding ground material, which is further embellised with whitework worked in raised stitches, such as bullion stitch or detached overcast stitch.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1082
__label__wiki	0.995529	0.995529	Lisa Marie Presley Opens Up About Addiction 'Struggle' and Elvis in Rare TV Interview Lisa Marie Presley's Family The singer also releases a duet with her father. In her first television appearance in four years, Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie Presley, reflected on her famous father and how his music helped ground her at a time when she really needed it. Promoting a new duet with her dad, the gospel track "Where No One Stands Alone," the 50-year-old singer said recording the song made her feel more connected to him during a turbulent time in her life. Riley Keough Reveals What It's Like to Grow Up as One of Elvis' Grandkids Dealing with a nasty divorce and custody battle, as well as a late-in-life fight with substance abuse, Presley told "TODAY" that "this particular record and this song absolutely brings me closer and grounded me in the middle of the never ending tidal wave. It kind of came down and grabbed me." "I was overwhelmed when I was singing it and I was reading the lyrics and I was like, 'Oh my god, I don't know why this is happening right now but I'm going to go with it,'" she told Jenna Bush Hager from inside Graceland. When asked what she'd say to her father if he could hear her, Presley said, "I could use your help right about now." Reflecting on her recent battles, said said, "I've come a long way. I was not happy. By the way, the struggle in addiction for me started at 45 years old. It wasn’t like it was happening all my life." "I am proud. I've come a long way. I have a therapist and she was like, 'You're a miracle. You really are.' She's like, 'I don't know how you're still alive," she continued. "I'm not perfect. My father wasn't perfect. No one's perfect. It's what you do with it after you learn and you try and help others with it." The gospel album, also called "Where No One Stands Alone," is available now. Watch the music video with Elvis and his daughter below. View Photos Twitter Lisa Marie Presley's Family #Today#LisaMariePresley#ElvisPresley Lisa Marie Presley Hits Red Carpet with Son Benjamin -- See the Elvis Resemblance? Riley Keough Dishes On Stepdad Michael Jackson & Grandpa Elvis Presley -- While… Priscilla, Lisa Marie Presley & Family Celebrate Elvis Presley's 80th Birthday in… Kanye West, Christina Aguilera Pose with Kids for Harper's Bazaar That Time Goldie Hawn Talked About Her Son's Giant Penis with Andy Cohen (Video) R. Kelly doesn’t have freedom, money for this legal battle William Shatner shares touching Leonard Nimoy memory, explains why he's taking on 'The UnXplained' Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton are bonding over motherhood, share a ‘warm relationship,’ say royal experts	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1083
__label__wiki	0.830082	0.830082	AMC's ‘Low Winter Sun’ Trailer Starring Mark Strong AMC's Low Winter Sun Trailer Starring Mark Strong — March 21st, 2013 The first trailer for AMC's new series Low Winter Sun has debuted, giving viewers a taste of what to expect when the show premieres sometime this summer. Mark Strong stars as Detroit detective Frank Agnew, who murders a fellow officer in cold blood. The series, which also stars Lennie James (The Walking Dead) and David Costabile (Breaking Bad) doesn't have an exact premiere date, so stay tuned for that announcement. In the meantime, take a look at the first footage from the upcoming drama, based on the 2006 British mini-series of the same name, before the Season 1 Premiere debuts.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1084
__label__wiki	0.936305	0.936305	NBC's ‘Believe’ Featurette with J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron NBC's Believe Featurette with J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron — March 7th, 2014 Following the first two minutes clip from Believe that was released earlier today, NBC has provided us with a behind-the-scenes featurette, two clips and interviews with executive producers J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón. The story centers on a young girl named Bo (Johnny Sequoyah), who is blessed with exceptional abilities that several nefarious forces want to control. Delroy Lindo stars as her protector, Milton Winter, who enlists the help of Tate (Jake McLaughlin), a wrongfully-imprisoned death row inmate to watch over her. Go behind the scenes with the cast and executive producers before this upcoming series debuts Monday, March 10 at 10 PM ET, before moving to its regular time slot on Sunday nights at 9 PM ET on NBC. Levitation, telekinesis, the ability to control nature, see the future...Since she was born, Bo (Johnny Sequoyah) has had gifts she could neither fully understand nor control. But now that she is 10 years old, her powers have become stronger and the threat from malevolent forces that would use her abilities to control the world has grown more dangerous. With her life and future in jeopardy, Bo's protector, Milton Winter (Delroy Lindo), turns to an unlikely source to keep her safe - Tate (Jake McLaughlin), a wrongfully imprisoned death row inmate who's lost his will. Tate and Bo begin an extraordinary journey, one in which trust must be earned. On the run and traveling from city to city, every place they stop and everyone they meet will be changed forever. But they'll have to keep going to stay one step ahead of the sinister forces after Bo's power... because it will take a miracle to keep them safe forever. The show will have a special preview at 10:00 pm on March 10th and is premiering on Sunday March 16th at 9:00 pm.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1085
__label__wiki	0.81809	0.81809	Mergers & Acquisitons - Americas February 8, 2019 / 2:27 PM / 5 months ago Nielsen shortlists private equity bidders-sources Liana B. Baker, Joshua Franklin Feb 8 (Reuters) - A private equity consortium led by Blackstone Group LP and Hellman & Friedman LLC, as well as a grouping comprising Advent International and Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s buyout arm, are through to the second round of bidding for Nielsen Holdings Plc, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Nielsen said in September it would expand a review of strategic alternatives to include a sale of the entire TV ratings company, after coming under pressure to do so from hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. Private equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC and Bain Capital LP are also through to the next round of bidding in the auction for Nielsen, which is expected to be completed by March, the sources said. The sources cautioned that no deal is certain and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Blackstone, Apollo and Bain declined to comment, while Nielsen, Hellman & Friedman, Advent and Goldman Sachs did not respond immediately to requests for comment. Nielsen, best known for providing audience figures that are used to determine advertising rates for TV commercials, has been seeking to adapt to the media industry’s shift to digital advertising and video consumption on mobile devices. Before exploring an outright sale, Nielsen had said it was only exploring a sale of its “buy” segment, which provides marketing data on what customers purchase, and not its “watch” segment, which offers viewership and listenership data and analytics across television, radio, online and mobile devices. Nielsen, which has a market capitalization of $9 billion and debt of $8.6 billion, faces competition from start-ups using automated content recognition (ACR) to track viewing habits via mobile devices and smart TVs. It acquired Gracenote in 2017 in a bid to bolster its ACR capabilities. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker and Joshua Franklin in New York Editing by Susan Thomas)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1086
__label__wiki	0.980735	0.980735	April 5, 2018 / 12:46 PM / a year ago Gunman kills four academics at Turkish university - rector ANKARA (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead four Turkish academics at their university on Thursday whom he saw as supporters of a Muslim cleric accused by the government of being behind a failed coup in 2016, the university rector said. The state-run news agency Anadolu said police had arrested the gunman at Osmangazi University in the town of Eskisehir near the capital Ankara. An Anadolu reporter told broadcaster CNN Turk the gunman had surrendered and did not try to escape. Osmangazi University rector Hasan Gonen said the gunman had worked as a researcher at the institution and had fatally shot the assistant dean, faculty secretary, a lecturer and an education faculty staff member. Gonen said he believed the assailant was looking for the dean, who was not in the building at the time, when he entered the education faculty and opened fire. “This person had claimed that some members of the university were members of FETO, and he had made similar claims (previously) in court,” Gonen said, using an acronym denoting the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey’s government accuses Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, of having orchestrated the abortive July 2016 attempt by parts of the armed forces to topple President Tayyip Erdogan. More than 250 people were killed in the coup bid. Gulen denies involvement. Gonen said the gunman’s claim was being investigated by authorities prior to Thursday’s shooting. Ayse Aypay, a professor at the university, told Turkish media that some members of staff had “repeatedly filed complaints” about the gunman. “Who will pay the price for protecting him now?” Aypay said. She said she would file a criminal complaint to higher educational authorities over their alleged failure to deal with complaints about the suspect. Eskisehir Governor Ozdemir Cakacak said regional prosecutors had launched an investigation into the incident. Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by David Dolan, Dominic Evans and Mark Heinrich	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1087
__label__wiki	0.858398	0.858398	February 13, 2019 / 9:25 PM / 5 months ago Guaido's U.S. team has capacity to use Venezuelan embassy bank accounts -source Matt Spetalnick, Luc Cohen WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s representatives in the United States have the “capacity” to use bank accounts belonging to the country’s Washington embassy, but do not plan to do so for now, a member of Guaido’s diplomatic team said on Wednesday. “We’ve been made aware of the accounts,” said the team member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We have the capacity, the capability, to sovereignly act upon them, but our approach is to be incredibly conservative given all the circumstances.” Congress head Guaido, who swore himself in as president last month and argues that President Nicolas Maduro’s mandate is illegitimate, has appointed his own ambassador to the United States. Maduro announced plans to break off diplomatic relations with the United States in response to its recognition of Guaido. The team member said using any funds in the accounts was “not necessarily off the table” but noted that there had not been a budget process approved by Venezuela’s congress, which would normally be needed to make use of “outside resources.” (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Luc Cohen, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1088
__label__wiki	0.605327	0.605327	Mark Twain Prize Elaine Dance \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Clip: Season 2018 \| 4m 17s Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson perform the "Elaine Dance." Season 2018 Episode Season 2018 Season 2017 Season 2016 Season 2015 Season 2014 Season 2013 Season 2012 Season 2011 Season 2010 Season 2009 Season 2008 Season 2007 Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Preview Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The Mark Twain Prize premiers on PBS on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018. Preview: S2018 \| 30s Veep \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 The cast of Veep congratulate Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Clip: S2018 \| 3m 25s Julia Louis-Dreyfus Acceptance Speech \|Mark Twain Prize Julia Louis-Dreyfus Gives Her Acceptance Speech For The 2018 Mark Twain Prize. Clip: S2018 \| 13m Jack Johnson \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Jack Johnson Performs at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Stephen Colbert \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Stephen Colbert Performs at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Keegan-Michael Key \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Keegan-Michael Key Performs at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Kumail Nanjiani \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Kumail Nanjiani Performs at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Tina Fey \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Tina Fey Performs at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Clip: S2018 \| 1m 3s Illana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Illana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson Perform at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Clip: S2018 \| 58s Jerry Seinfeld \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Jerry Seinfeld Performs at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Larry David \| Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2018 Larry David Performs at the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mark Twain Prize. Season 2018 Season 2017 Season 2016 Season 2015 Season 2014 Season 2012 Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize Celebrate the work of beloved actress, comedian, and producer Julia Louis-Dreyfus. S2018 Ep1 \| 1h 25m 10s The Kennedy Center 2018 Mark Twain Prize Red Carpet An outstanding lineup of entertainers gathered in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall to salute Julia Louis-Dreyfus, recipient of the 21st annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on October 21, 2018. Watch HereWatch Here	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1089
__label__cc	0.664338	0.335662	Home Topics Social Issues Seeing People Through the Eyes of Christ Seeing People Through the Eyes of Christ This summer, I had the opportunity to travel with several other PLNU students and leaders on a LoveWorks trip to Selma, Ala.—a 17-day museum and mission trip with the primary goal of fulfilling a need at Selma high schools. “To look at people through the lens of Christ, I had to look at myself with the same lens.” Prior to leaving, our team led university-wide giving competitions and weight-lifting challenges, together dubbed the “Selma Strong Campaign,” through which we raised around $10,000 to upgrade and refurbish the gymnasium at Southside High School in Selma. The effect, which we eventually saw when we arrived, was remarkable. We started our trip in Birmingham and Montgomery, touring museums and historical locations. For me, the churches stood out; so much of the civil rights movement was born in congregations of the neighborhood churches, places where people like Martin Luther King, Jr. were moved toward greater callings. Large African-American communities formed around these churches and have carried on for generations, playing a huge role in shaping the direction of the civil rights movement. After touring these significant places, our team headed to Selma, where we spent more than a week with local churches and congregations, and were hosted by church members. We then got down to work at Southside High, where we were welcomed with open arms of gratitude from all the teachers and administrators, even some from the district. They were so thankful we were coming to work with students. Every day we arrived early, painted the gymnasium, volunteered in classrooms, and gave workshops to a specific small group of students. We focused on StrengthsQuest trainings and job-oriented workshops with about 20 students from varying classes, who were distinguished as Southside High’s highest achieving and most ambitious students. While there, we met a lot of great people, went to fascinating museums, hung out with amazing students, and learned a lot about the civil rights movement and the status of race relations in the South and the rest of the country. Rather than purely educational, at times the trip was very emotional for a lot of the team, myself included. At a museum, a picture of White crowds amusingly watching the lynching of a young Black man had a devastating effect on me. For some students, seeing a KKK uniform from 1992 was horrifying, since this was during our lifetimes. Topics that permeated team conversations were our identity as Christians, and how Christ’s presence fit into the South during the civil rights era. KKK members identified themselves as predominantly Christian, and Black Southerners equally identified themselves as such. Our team, myself in particular, struggled with the idea that the body of Christ could be so against itself. I felt so challenged going into the South, coming from my suburban life into the diversity and distant culture that is Southern America. The race relations are different there, and aren’t easily explained in media or popular culture. There is no legal segregation in the South, but there is cultural segregation. I asked people of both Black or African American and White American races how they conceived of the interactions between members of different races, and both groups made the point that, although there isn’t much outright racism, it is still a presence; it exists below the surface and is part of the way people think and react to situations. When our team debriefed each night in Selma, I was challenged even more when I heard the experiences of students on my own team; some had experienced racism from a place I never expected—my own school. We discussed an incident that happened earlier this year on campus: a student posted hateful and racist comments on an anonymous social media channel. This one extreme incident was addressed immediately by students and administrators to make known that our campus rejects such attitudes. What doesn’t get reported, though, is stereotyping and more subtle offenses, like the fact that my friend doesn’t eat certain food in the cafeteria anymore, because if she does, she knows there will be comments made without exception. Or when my other friend sat in a class last year and listened to fellow students claim slavery was a good thing, because “it brought black people over to the U.S. and civilized them.” During the trip, I found myself returning to Luke 9 with great frequency. In it, Christ tells His disciples, “Whoever wants to become my disciple must deny themselves and pick up their cross daily and follow me.” I sought answers to the question, “What does it mean to deny myself and pick up my cross?” To deny myself, I had to look for ways to identify myself in the first place. The LoveWorks training we did prior to leaving focused on preparing us for the different culture our team would be immersed in. Our leaders told us before the trip, “You can find your own culture in the differences you see in another’s.” I saw how the Southerners were different from me, but it only showed me how I was different from them. I said the words, “dude,” “man,” and “rad” a lot more than everyone else did. My hair was longer. A Hawaiian shirt and shorts were acceptable as church clothes back home but not in Selma. These were the noticeable behaviors and traits that conveyed to other people who I was. To deny myself, I had to admit the labels other people put on me or I put on myself, the characteristics and prejudices I carry with me, don’t make up my identity. When we accept Christ, He becomes our identity. As Paul says, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.” I think a lot of people interpret that verse as, “everyone is and should be the same.” Equality should be strived for, but when Christ remakes our identities, He also makes us unique. As Paul says, “We are all one body and the body is made of many parts.” One of our trip leaders, Glen Laster, assistant director of public safety, said several times during the trip, “You’re responsible for what you know.” What do I now know? I know there are still struggles between different races, nationally and here at home. I know this world can be a hard place. But I learned in Selma just how powerful Christ’s love can be and how important it is to act upon it with everyone. Now that I’m home, I want to do what I can to make a difference, for my classmates, for my friends, and for all people. To look at people through the lens of Christ, I had to look at myself with the same lens. I am nothing more than a person loved by Christ, just like everyone else. The task I have now that I’m back home, after 17 days in the South, is to figure out ways to fight complacency and listen to the voices of all people. I always had that task, but now, I’m responsible for what I know. And what I know is Christ’s love. By Joshua Morse Is Life Over After College? Recent PLNU Alumni Share About Life Post-Graduation	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1090
__label__cc	0.703584	0.296416	Posted in HYDERoom Staff Blog by vampsxxxusa Malaysia ~ Taiwan And Malaysia is the first site where most of the staff was removed. There were many people who went to Singapore, but that is a different country from Malaysia (although it was originally the same country, but became independent). And I was not very aware that we were close to the Equator line. In short it is hot. More than “warm,” this place is “hot.” And this type of feeling must activate all kinds of strategies. That is, people begin to prepare their coats. That’s right, even if you can not believe it, the interiors of this warm country are quite cold. If only one shirt is worn, one freezes. And there were many Japanese people who were having whose nerves were stressed because of that temperature difference. Today’s venue is the MCA HALL. It is the smallest of the venues of the Asia Tour, but in terms of its status, this is a splendid place with a structure that has two stories. And I was the one who noticed that, on these two occasions, the performances of the members had improved moderately, after we left the past places, however it seems that HYDE is still pursuing something else. On this tour, Hyde gave a somewhat nervous speech in the last Hong Kong live. “This was the only day in which I think the acoustic performance has progressed” I do not know what was the exact intention with those words, but I think it was a proactive mechanism on the HYDE’s part so that this tour continues to improve. Classical music is universal and in no way would it improve if one thinks in a common way. Since it’s a genre in which the melody is expected to go in perfect harmony with the lyrics. And I can perceive in the air the “answer” to that expectation, although perhaps that expression is not the correct one. However, HYDE’s music has gone through a wide variety of experiences, and has constantly changed without those answers, I suppose what he does is improve is pointing to “the answer that is expected.” However, it is difficult for a musician to express the connotation of the letters he carries in his heart. HYDE continued to change his way of singing in each moment and situation, and has continued in his attempt that this occasionally emotionally moves people and makes their hearts beat. And I can always feel that, somehow, he has been fighting alone. However, members of the acoustic band seem to have become sensitive to HYDE’s changes. And on each occasion after the shows we talk with the members so that our conviction deepens. The scores of chamber music are absolute. However, the margin of interpretation remains. They are maintaining the same interpretation as they go in the direction of the evolution line with HYDE. And I wonder if HYDE feels that flexible attitude in them. Then we went out to meet the live in Malaysia. I am sure that today’s concert will be something different! HYDE made his faltering appearance in the food catering room an hour before the live, while hiding his expectation and mental stress, and began to eat and eat saying, “I do not know what it is, but it looks delicious.” Eh? Somehow it seems to be exceeding expectations… And the live in Malaysia was the most powerful in terms of the emotion of the audience, as well as the greatness of the songs on this tour. The venue is the Plenary Hall. This is the largest of this Asia Tour, it is huge and even more beautiful than the Japan International Forum and Orchard Hall. Looking at the steps from the stage, you can get a wonderful view, but at the same time it conveys a sense of mystery and oppression. And on the final day, at last a spirit of emotion took part of him, of the members, and the staff, personally and that is when the good times were finally fun. By the way, at the Beijing live, Hyde planned a kind of trick to surprise us (he put sushi on the string equipment chairs when they went on stage) and has since continued to do so. In Hong Kong, they were barbecued pork loaves that had been offered to us and we had eaten together, in Malaysia we put something called petit boom “that was a kind of popcorn that looked more like bird food” inside the dressing room as a joke. On that occasion the girls did not stop laughing and smiling, that’s why here in our last destination called Taiwan we hope he tries something again in that same prankster nature. But this time what was on the chairs on the stage were… bouquets of flowers! What an ostentatious thing! And although we expected it to be an extreme joke with the “Xiaolongbao” (A kind of steamed dumpling stuffed with a dough similar to bread) and the “Chòu dòufu” (“Stinky tofu” is a Chinese form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor), wasn’t this a very nice surprise? More than that, was something as intriguing as these bouquets necessary? Wow! Even for people around the world who could not come to this venue today, I tried to set up a small part of the live from a different angle. And to fulfill the requirement that HYDE has to obtain and transmit a beautiful angle of the stage, the staff ran in the middle of the night to a night market to buy a smartphone tripod. However, would it arrive on time? 30 minutes of the live have already been lost! But it arrived on time. The last concert would start solemnly. And I tried to interview him just before the live. Finally, I wanted to investigate what had been worrying me for a long time, so I used it as a topic, and since he was kind enough to hear me, our conversation will be in a formal style. J (Jin): This Asian Tour is done without using the Iyamoni, and instead using the Air, what is the reason for that? (Note: “Iyamoni” is the abbreviation for the intraauricular monitors that combines hearing aids and ear plugs, it is basically a hearing aid used in concerts and that has a high sound quality, the “Air” refers to the atmosphere, but in this context refers to hearing the step marking on the monitor of the speakers without using the Iyamoni and only using one’s ear) H (HYDE): As I had thought, it feels very good for the one who sings with such only heard in the Air. I know that for those who sing using the iyamoni it is easier to sing and it has its advantages, but this is different from a rock concert since the stage is not an explosion of sounds where there are many limitations, so in that situation one sings freely. And I think it’s okay to give priority to the ways of singing that are simpler by making them yourself. J: How do you explain that although the Iamoni method makes singing easier, the Air feels better? H: To some degree, with the iyamoni, I hear my own sound, and thanks to that it is possible to do something delicate. And I think it’s feasible for the first time since Iyamoni’s invention that the correct way to express myself is: “I can sing in a whisper within an explosive sound,” that’s how I can interpret freely within VAMPS and L’Arc~en~Ciel. There is an advantage in leaving out all the noise, but it’s like a double-edged sword because it also blocks the response of the audience and the feeling that you have in the Air, and the best thing is that the range of the sound is completely different. Since the Iamoni is a hearing aid itself, and if you think about it, it is easy to understand that in a certain way it feels good to listen to music with headphones or listen to it on a big speaker. J: I see, the explanation is very easy to understand, but is it not surprising that you return to the Air after a long time of not doing it? H: Surely it will change the way I hear the sound just by moving from the position I’m standing in. To be honest, when you move around the back of the stage there are a lot of sounds that can barely be heard, so I prefer to believe, “Well, it’s a concert, right?” and that includes that kind of thing, and if I think about it, that was natural 15 years ago. Tokyo Dome or another large stage without the Iyamoni, surely it would have been impossible. J: If you look at the images of that time, surely now you will devote all your energy to concentrate on the speakers (XD) H: It’s like I want to breathe and there’s no air. With the repercussion of the exterior sound of the places where there is no monitor, the sound diminishes completely. Because the sound of my singing voice is delayed by 1 second. J: Doing that was a sublime experience, wasn’t it? H: Yes, but I realized that my skills have improved compared to those days. As I sang well, I did not feel that any problem was taking place, since I endured them and with the presence of the Air, I had a lot of fun and had a genuine feeling of wellness. J: And when in the future you return to Rock, do you plan to return to Air? H: Of course not. Because you can not make a delicate musical expression with the Air in an explosive atmosphere, besides that I must always sing with a strong voice, because of that I have not been able to interpret the songs from before. J: Sure, thanks for the easy to understand explanations, and I really am very grateful to the responses to the concerns I had since the end of last year. ….Yes, yes, I know it was a specialized subject, but I think knowing that I was able to have an exchange of words with him that way was very good. HYDE’s ideas are always clear and simple. Adjusting to his style, for him it is easy to change by himself, regardless of the type of clothes, they way he dresses immediately and for him, that is so natural. And finally, something that everyone will be able to enjoy. Since we heard a beautiful story before the concert, we will surely be able to enjoy this last live with very deep feelings, right? Since among you, some are amateurs. Having heard a talk like that, you absolutely can not make a mistake in today’s live. For those of us who always work from behind the scenes, there could not be a better “motivation switch” than that. The final concert of this Asian Tour of six lives was a complete success. And again looking like Jekyll and Hyde, we also saw a Dark HYDE again. So I want to finish the International Staff Diary by sending an image that will not be seen again for a long time. Today’s venue in Hong Kong is the STAR HALL in the Kowloon District. It is a large enclosure that is located inside a modern shopping mall, which is different to the precincts of Shanghai and Beijing which had a strong sense of history. And we are venturing into the second part of this Tour in Asia, in which the events have passed as well as the days. And seeing his schedule, there will not be a day off for HYDE-san. The promotions and interviews are packed, so there will be no space for walks. What a problem. I’m in charge of planning the fun we’ll have together, but we’re full of situations where I can not interfere, but I still had to write this diary! It was critical! But, here is the HYDERoom Staff diary! For that reason I have decided to transmit those things that pressed us and focus on the issues that happened during and after Hong Kong. So far I have been analyzing the responses to diarys and other things, and until now there have been unexpected sections with great reactions, and I thought “This is not different from approval” so I emitted great self-confidence, but in the things that are supposed to be the most valuable, “The answers are weak!” That’s why there will be parts that show the wonderful behavior, actions, and the discussions of HYDE, and even the absurd moments, that’s why basically they will not be ficitious information (sometimes I’ll speak very little) so I’ll do it in simple, easy to understand, sentences. And something that for me is difficult to do is… shall I say, “Take pictures.” There are times when I run into a common rule that says: “It is forbidden to take photos of artists in such a carefree way,” and it is just in those instances that they abruptly tell me: “Please take lots of pictures” that’s why I almost can’t photograph anything, of course I ask myself, “Hey, is that okay?” And HYDE had an expression of discomfort on his face from the beginning after expressing an “Eh?,” then pose for the photo, but lately and as expected of him, he has become able to be photographed very naturally and experienced, however in essence, I have not stopped feeling a slight feeling of nervousness, so I have not been able to erase the thoughts of: “I’m behaving like a snoop” or “Excuse me.” It is not necessary to say that since the theme of the photographs is the same, it has become as if it were a kind of painting. So should I walk with the camera hanging on my arm like a photographer? And although it may seem like an illusion, he has a natural expression and one that he uses when posing for the photo and that is how I have a number of photos that look professional quality. For example? In addition, the presence that was established by taking the photos from a later perspective made him look like an out-of-the-ordinary rockstar. However, I think that these photographs would have been even more of a wonderful quality if you had added the skills of a professional cameraman in addition to the techniques that are required. And doesn’t the staff have a large-caliber weapon? That feeling of: “Anyway, you are close to him.” And if I approached him in a range of 10 cm, it would be possible to take a series of macro shots in a very close range, and if you do not have those special zoom lenses that the professional cameramen have, then I have no another option but to get too close, which is quite rude and even daring, however that is practical now. And I took a picture behind him while he was checking something on his iPhone during his makeup session. (XD) With the previous photo in the dressing room, there was a great response, and they murmured, “I thought he was a prince of some country,” because by only “taking a photo very close,” I think I can convey how the material that he is using feels. We are in “Portrait Mode” of the iPhoneX, with which even amateurs can take photos easily as with a simple camera reflex. And this messy table with all kinds of things like gifts, coffee, water and his contact lenses case brings us completely to the real world. I wonder if choosing the necessary information, the genre of the documentation and the sense of reality in the photographs will make this diary completely different. Finding an interval of free time, he began to design something? After finishing his makeup and hairstyle, it’s time to choose his wardrobe. HYDE was deciding what to wear today, however how will he feel now? It seems that the choice of clothes will change depending on the atmosphere of the venue and in addition to his own mental tension, but he has changed clothes so many times because it is difficult for him to choose. Naturally, the fact that the change of clothes in the dressing room is repeated again and again, for us is a “familiar scene”… But as something that pressures me, I took a photograph of that moment so it seems to be a scandalaous behavioural act, click. No, no, no, I do not intend to provoke a fight, or boast of anything… (XD). And we travelled from Shanghai to Beijing on the Chinese bullet train! This is perhaps the most intense movement with “On the road feeling” that we will have on our Asia Tour. And it was enjoyed by the members, as well as by the Staff. Of course I took a picture from this angle of HYDE, as promised. Since when it comes to guys, the photo of the “Bullet Train and one with the couple” is essential. The station of this bullet train is very similar to ours, but the services offered by the train are similar to those of an airplane. The passport must be confirmed at the door, where the tickets are verified, as well as the name of each one must be written on the ticket. Also, inside we had the service of the food cart that we rented with sweets and water. And we toast with the stage director, who by the way is my namesake, with some beers and some snacks that we bought at the station. This is how the bullet train essentially became a pub, but then, this is the correct way in which one must travel within the world of music. On the other hand, HYDE… had a “Special Seat” even more special than ours in first class! And he said “Waaaaaaa, it’s a totally reclined seat!,” And being very happy, he laid down completely horizontal. Then, in complete silence… he went to sleep. How fast! In the end, Hyde did not get up once from there until we got to Beijing. In a way it seems to be a waste of space, but it also has a very modern meaning of luxury… And he said “I would have liked to see the landscape,” But you were asleep so you would not have seen it anyway, right? (XD) On the other hand, I had a drink, so I did not take any naps & I could contemplate the landscape from the window, and that is how I saw everything was rural, however when we got closer to Beijing everything began to cloud and the visibility became almost impossible. And although there were various rumors about Beijing, the first thing that came to my mind was: “Air pollution.” And when I saw the the weather app on my iPhone, the “Air Quality Index” appears and this information is between the name of the city where you are and the temperature, which indicated: “Serious Pollution.” Hey! It can’t be! And suddenly a lot of foreign people appeared wearing masks because of the concern for pollution, and the first thing that we Japanese do is put on a mask, so it is weird to see others wearing them, but this is not our country so we were surprised seeing other people wear masks. We also care about the quality of the air during our way to the hotel once we arrive at the station. The scene was so unusual, that it looked as if the white fluff of dandelions floated in the air throughout the city. And it was on the second day that these took the form of a large white cloud of cotton. But the next day, that is, the day of the live, the weather was good. And in the venue: “BJ-EXPO Theater,” which is a large amphitheater, the air quality improved and changed to: “Light level of Pollution”. And the place has a sublime appearance, the ceiling design of the auditorium is impressive and beautiful. It does not look like it’s going to be a live, but rather a [orchestral] concert, so the atmosphere became tense. For lunch, the catering was a Japanese menu that always fills us with inspiration. “Sushi!” A week after leaving Japan, our desire for Japanese food was increasing… Ummm? Now that I see it well, it seems that sushi is different every so often. What is this? Takowasa?* (Raw octopus seasoned with wasabi), corn? And Chanja?* (Korean spicy, marinated cod innards seasoned with soy sauce and sesame) and also several unknown ingredients, in addition there is a kind of orange paste that is not part the rest [of the food], but was on top of the gunkanmaki (*Gunkanmaki is sushi shaped as an oval shape, wrapped with a narrow piece of Nori sheet (seaweed) and toppings are added on top, usually Ikura (salmon roe).), but what made us tremble was the color of the wasabi! It looked like a sticky toothpaste, and it has an incredibly green color, which even looks chemical. And we were warned, saying “Even the taste seems different,” when our guitarist YUKI took that fluorescent wasabi and ate it all at once, it was when a tragedy occurred. And with an expression of pain he began to cough, showing great agony, apparently this wasabi was 10 times more spicy than usual. And Hyde likes wasabi, which means that among all the Japanese people who were there, he was the one who sacrificed himself. Your sacrifice will not be in vain! Yuki-kun! Although we were in the room where the catering served that awful food, HYDE was working in the dressing room right then and there. He did not even know what happened, however the ropes team was worried and said, “Will HYDE-san not have lunch?” And then Mane-san said “Please, if you want, give me this sushi.” He said it like a feeling of kindness? So we entrusted him with that weird sushi and wasabi. And when HYDE saw the sushi, for a moment he put on a happy expression like “Oh!” however, he would soon realize that it was a strange sushi. Surely this can be strange in many ways. But he realized something and then he smiled mockingly and whispered something secretly in Mane’s ear. …And the live began. As soon as the stage lights went out, “UNEXPECTED,” the instrumental version began to flow. It was a sacred beginning, full of majesty. And the strings section was on the stage from the left when they noticed an incident. There was something about one of the chairs. And there was one of the transparent containers where that strange sushi was served, and on the cover HYDE wrote something with a marker. “I’m not hungry” And inside that sacred beginning and full of majesty, at the back of the stage was the violnist Higashiyama-san, who did not stop laughing. Caption: “I’m not hungry – HYDE” And how do we spend our day off here in Beijing, the capital of China full of stories? If one drives for about 2 hours, one arrives at the world landmark known as “The Great Wall of China,” and as expected, it was a bit far. Today there are a lot of local audiovisual promotions, also, tomorrow we had to make the contract with the catering again and we had a tight schedule, so we are going to enjoy tourism at all costs in the city. Today, the city of Beijing also has that air that seems to have cotton fluff. And as I was worried, so I started to investigate and apparently in April and May, the Willow trees are wrapped in this material, it is something characteristic of this time of year in Beijing. Although I was relieved that it was not the chemical component that I imagined, does that not bring secondary health problems with pollen, like in Japan? I’m going to get more into the matter. And, here we have good news! It is possible to look at the Forbidden City, which is supposed to be closed today, but they will give us a private access! By the way, the Forbidden City is registered as a landmark. The last time special arrangements were made was for us to have VIP passes at Disneyland in Shanghai! Since of course, being next to a great rock star, I can have many valuable experiences, and I humbly think that this is more like an “extra bonus.” The first thing we did was to walk along a very long corridor surrounded by walls. And although it seems strange, I wanted to take pictures of this curious place, what would be interpreted as taking a picture no matter what you do… and the same scenery continued for a long moment without changes. And HYDE murmured: “It does not matter how much we walk… this is long,” but it was not impossible either. And we could see the end in the distance, but we could not get close to the corners, so mentally it was as if by walking, we were sightseeing in one way or another, right? Finally we stopped walking and arrived at a desired corner, and we turned around and then… oooh! The scenery changed! However, the left side of the wall is the same landscape, although the width between the walls seemed wider, in reality the “peripheral view” did not change. “Well, maybe we’re walking in circles?” We said, getting anxious, and then we started to feel disappointed. And then I found out that the part that was rented was only the peripheral circumference area, so “We can not go beyond here.” What a disgrace! And then HYDE got annoyed and said, “Ehhhhh!” as he laid back. And although I tried to forcibly change the route, we returned at the beginning walking the same distance but everywhere it was the same scenery. After, HYDE drank the specialty of a coffee shop as we went on our break, this coffee was called “carbonated coffee” and he drank it saying, “Maybe there won’t be a second chance, right?” Oh oh, why is it that the weather on our rest day looks gloomy? On the other hand, we went to the famous “Tiananmen Square,” and because the surroundings were full of cars and for the safety of the citizens, I wanted to take a picture but I was immediately stopped by some very strict officers. So I could not take the commemorative photo since it could only be seen from inside the car, so we had to eat something fast inside it. Oops. After lunch we explored a night market without really knowing anything about it, so we could take a look at the beautiful side of Beijing, which made our day of rest really come to an end, full of fun. Tomorrow we will go to Hong Kong!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1093
__label__wiki	0.681456	0.681456	Considering venous thrombosis at unusual sites Esther Kim At the THE VEINS at VIVA meeting (10–11 September, Las Vegas, USA), Esther Kim (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, USA) gave a presentation on venous thrombosis in unusual locations, noting that such thromboses tend to occur in younger patients and those with malignancy, and that thrombophilia has a role in most cases and testing for it may be considered. Kim also noted that aetiology of such thromboses differs based on local and systemic factors, and that recommendations for anticoagulation differ according to location and circumstance. Thrombosis at any site other than the lower limbs and pulmonary arteries is considered unusual, Kim said, including the cerebral veins, upper extremity veins, splanchnic veins, renal veins and godal veins. Such thromboses are clinically challenging not only because they are so rare, but also because their outcomes can be severe. The lack of associated clinical trials also means that there is little guidance to direct management. Cerebral vein thrombosis, for example, presents with headaches, seizures, focal deficits and altered consciousness. Patients have intracranial infarction, localised oedema, and haemorrhage. These thromboses affect 3–4 million patients per year, and are mostly found in female patients (75%) and those less than 40 years of age. One-month mortality is 4.3–13%, rising to 7.7–17.7% at six months, while 10% of patients suffer permanent neurologic impairment. Its annual incidence of recurrence is 2–2.4 per 100 patient years. Kim explained that contributory factors are identifiable in 85% of cases, the most common of which include oral contraception, pregnancy/puerperium, thrombophilia, vasculitis, myeloproliferative neoplasm, infections, or head injuries, neurologic procedures or lumbar punctures. Anticoagulation is the standard treatment for cerebral vein thrombosis, although endovascular treatment can be considered “if deterioration occurs despite intensive anticoagulation treatment,” according to a American Heart Association/American Stroke Association scientific statement. A recent trial—TO-ACT (thrombolysis or anticoagulation for cerebral venous thrombosis)— found that at 12 months, endovascular treatment did not improve outcomes for severe cerebral venous thrombosis patients. Kim also described splanchnic vein thrombosis, which includes hepatic vein, portal vein, mesenteric, and splenic vein thrombosis. Long-term effects include liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension, and recurrence over two years is 3.5 per 100 patient years. Anticoagulation is also the first-line treatment for splanchnic vein thrombosis, despite the risk of bleeding due to cirrhosis and varices. Kim said that there are no randomised controlled trials to guide treatment, and important elements of decision making include whether the patient is symptomatic or asymptomatic, and whether the disease is chronic or acute. Upper extremity thromboses account for 5–10% of all deep vein thromboses, affecting 16/100,000 people each year. The rate of pulmonary embolism for these patients is 5%, and of upper extremity post-thrombotic syndrome is 20%. Upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) recurrence is approximately 8% at five years. Renal vein thrombosis has a variable clinical presentation, including flank pain, haematuria, anorexia, nausea, fever, asterixis and acute kidney injury. At a mean followup of 42 months, a 2012 Mayo study found a recurrent venous thromboembolism rate of 1/100 patient years, with a mean time to recurrence of 30.5 months. The last type of uncommon venous thrombosis addressed was ovarian vein thrombosis, which presents with abdominal pain, tenderness, fever and tachycardia. It is often pregnancy-related, and occurs in up to 0.18% of all pregnancies. Non-pregnancy-related causes include post-abortion infection, pelvic surgery, pelvic inflammatory disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. A 2012 study found that 81.1% of ovarian thromboses were related to pregnancy, and thrombus extension was seen in 25.7% of cases. The recurrence rate was low at 40-month follow-up, 0% for pregnancy-related thromboses and 7.1% for non-pregnancy related thromboses. “Venous thrombosis in uncommon sites tends to occur in younger patients and those with malignancy,” Kim concluded. “Aetiology differs depending on local and systemic factors, and recommendations for anticoagulation differ according to location and circumstance.” Study proves need for anticoagulant strategy post discharge for hospitalised, at-risk patients	cc/2019-30/en_head_0018.json.gz/line1095

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